Open call for photography-savvy Hackney residents to participate in Ella Doran’s collaborative photographic art project

'Tour de France 2014 through Hackney Eyes'

What it is about:

To celebrate photography, shared excitement, participatory urbanism, the love of bikes and the creative Borough of Hackney within the context of the Tour de France coming through Hackney on Monday 7th July 2014 artist/designer Ella Doran is curating a participatory photographic art project.

The aim behind using different photographic eyes and vantage points is to emphasize the hybrid nature of an event being shared as a community, but experienced by everyone within their individual space. Accordingly, a staged set up of 14 photographers (referencing the year, ’14) will be positioned in front of the crowds across the short stretch of the Borough of Hackney that the Tour de France passes through.

Once the photographers have captured the images according to Ella’s brief, all the material will be collected and Ella will curate artwork from it that will form part of an exhibition. More details to follow later.

If you would like to participate:

Please send an email to info@elladoran.co.uk by Friday 6th June 2014, explaining your own involvement with photography and why you would like to participate in Ella’s project. If you have a link to your own work or think a few of your own images would be worth including, please feel free to do so. 

Because of the nature of ‘The Tour de France seen through Hackney Eyes’ we can only consider applications from Hackney residents.

Please note that because of the technical background of what Ella plans to do with the imagery, you will need to have access to an iphone for the event. Also, you will need to be available for a set-up meeting at the end of June. Please state your availability on Saturday 28th June and/or Sunday 29th June, indicating preferences for am or pm in your application. If possible, keep both days free, as the idea is to do a test run on location with the whole group. (We obviously can’t afford to run into difficulties on the day, as it is a live event.) Of course, you will need to be able to take Monday 7th July off for the big event.

What’s in it for you:

Any money made from the project will go to a Hackney-based charity, but you will get a fabulous photography-related gift and will be mentioned as a participant photographer.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Ella Doran

'Artist's Tools for the Tate'

I am very excited that the collection I have been tweeting and instagramming about in the last couple of weeks has now been launched by TATE!

Read on for a bit of background and some close-up shots of the range.

Photograph by Rita Platts

The overarching idea was to design a collection that would appeal to and create enthusiasm for the artistic process across the diverse community of the Tate visitors – the young and old, men and women, the professional creatives and the less artistically educated, who all have different tastes, but are united in their passion for art.

Photograph by Rita Platts

Colour, as we encounter it in its material form at the beginning of an artistic project, in paints, chalks, inks and pencils, was the starting point for 'Artist's Tools for the Tate'. To introduce a feeling of authenticity into the images, I explored my own creative process, photographing my personal artistic tools in my own studio (with my main creative tool, which is my camera, remaining backstage this time).

Photograph by Rita Platts

                                                                                                 

The material that carries an image and the printing technique that is used have a profound effect on the feel of an image. I wanted to highlight this aspect through the different production methods used across the product range of 'Artist's Tools for the Tate'. (The collection consists of notebooks, mugs, cushions, tea towels, a tray, a bag and a laptop case.) The tea towels, the bag (below) and the laptop cases, for instance, are screen printed, while the cushions like the one above are digitally printed.  

In contrast to the gritty texture of the screen printing on the tea towels or the bag in the image above, the print quality of the tray below is super real. The mugs are special because of their screen printed decals, made by a transfer company in Stoke on Trent (whom I consider to be absolute masters of their trade). I designed the decal to come right up to the edge of the cup and am so pleased that they came out as I intended.

Photograph by Rita Platts

The packaging for all the collection uses my signature cardboard
with a glossy sticker :-)

Overall, my aim was to create a playful, yet sophisticated collection that will enthuse others to pursue their own artistic ideas, perhaps make them go out and start 'that painting' or 'that collage' they have been dreaming about doing, after their visit to the Tate. 

You can now buy the collection in the Tate Gallery Shops and in the TATE Online Shop (they are still adding products as we speak). I hope you find a piece to suit you - as always we're happy to hear from you on our facebook page.

Here's to a creative spring everyone!

Ella x

Special thanks to Rita Platts who photographed me and the insitu products in my studio, and Louie Waller who helped style them, & the cut out product shots were kindly supplied by Tate.