Digital Literacies

Good to be in Paris again after a few years of not visiting. We really notice how the city has a nostalgic feel about it, somehow not feeling as busy as London (for example) and certainly not as covered in adverts etc etc. We have also noticed there is not as much traffic as in London – although the level of crap car-parking on the kerbs and over zebra crossings is as bad as it ever was in the city – and the authorities seem to be encouraging cycling. Ranks of bikes are easily seen across the metropolis and you can simply swipe your credit card and hire the bikes by the hour. Very cool, I think. (Although of course it keeps out those without bank accounts). Here’s a picture in sepia – just to give you a spot of olde worlde atmosphere.

I’ve been thinking ahead to my teaching next week – for the MA Educational Research – on Image based Research. So I have been enjoying the photography exhibitions. Loved it at The Polka Gallerie and saw some lovely portraits from Francoise Huguier like this one:

A life saver for us also, was our visit to The European Photography Gallery. It was completely pouring with rain (I took photos and will show later) and so we were pleased to dive in and see an exhibition which surpassed expectations. We saw the work of Delpire:

‘This exhibition looks back at Robert Delpire’s career and gives him an opportunity to thank the various people who have accompanied him in ‘this exciting adventure as a book publisher, advertising art director, exhibition curator and film producer’.

and it was interesting to see how much modern photography is influenced by the work of advertising – like Delpire’s stuff (with Sarah Moon and Henri Cartier Bresson) – for Citroen & Cacharel – which is all about selling a certain lifestyle and image. This was early work which thought about identity and consumption, presenting a lifestyle to identify with & buy into.

Other stuff of interest included images by Robert Frank – Les Americains - as they say over here. His work was controversial at the time of publishing the collection, since his social commentary style was less than complimentary about aspects of American Life – his depiction of institutional racism for example, as shown in this image of passengers on a trolley-bus in 1955 New Orleans:

Frank is often described as a journalistic photographer … presumably with an intention to show and report aspects of the political and social world in order to make people more aware. This is different of course to holiday snaps, to advertising images, to story book pictures … and probably also different to the intention of photographers who use images as part of their research data. I wonder – are the photographs only different because of their intention – or can we use the same photos for many purposes`/ Do we make different kinds of image when we have different purposes or audiences in mind?

Also saw some work on children’s book images – and we watched a French video of ‘Where the Wild Things are’ – and in French ‘Max et les MaxiMonstres’ (!!)

That’s it though … apart from to confess that we have had to come to MacDonald’s in order to use the free Wifi (pronounced WeeFee) as our hotel doers not supply it. Tant Pis.

I used to love reading this book to my kids (now in their 20s) when they were little.

Let the wild rumpus start

Although the text is quite sparse, the words are quite magical and we read it zillions of times. We used the same copy as I had read to my younger sister (now 35) when she was little. I am not quite sure what it is that gives some children’s books such a timeless appeal; perhaps it is that the fantasy characters and fantasy worlds are not set in a specific era but instead are rooted in a sort of imagined space that is shared by many. A childhood ‘third space’ maybe.

where the wild things are

Although this book was written in 1963, (when I was 5) I do not remember seeing it when I was a kid. Anyhow, I think I will not be the only adult wanting to go and see the new film. Its website is alluring and I am also quite taken by the Build Your Wild Self site and have made my own monster.

I must admit that I cannot quite imagine how the little book can be extended into a proper big film, but suppose they must have added quite a lot of stuff in. I am looking forward to seeing what mechandise goes with it – soft toys I presume and of course dvds … but maybe costumes? That would be fun. Perhaps props to turn your own bedroom into a forest; perhaps people will be able to have wild rumpus parties. Let’s wait and see.