Artists in Residence Week 9 - Karen Shepherdson and Nigel Breadman

In undoubtedly the busiest week of the summer season, The Old Lookout welcomed Karen Shepherdson and Nigel Breadman, with 3 exhibitions combining under the title Folk Week Photo Festival. Nigel presented images from his project 'The 56 Bus Project', Karen continued with her '100 Couples' project, and selected images from the SEAS archive of Sunbeam photographs completed the exhibition. Visitors were also given the opportunity to have their old Sunbeam 'walkies' photographs digitally archived to add to the SEAS Photography collection. Given that this week of the season falls within Broadstairs Folk Week, which always attracts hundreds of visitors to the town, there was much more of a busy atmosphere in the gallery, added to by the various goings-on throughout the week - scanning, photography, filming etc. On the final day of the exhibition the local BBC news came down to the gallery to film a short piece about the work in the SEAS archive, attracting media to the Old Lookout through the collection of Sunbeam images.

Our friend from The Beeb recording some archiving.

One of the main things I noticed throughout the week is the way all the work on show, but particularly the Sunbeam images, provoked conversation amongst visitors, encouraging them to tell nostalgic stories about childhood and take trips down memory lane. They also sparked off discussion about social history and our connection to the past. It was especially nice to hear how anecdotes about time spent near the seaside really enhanced the connection between artist and visitor. Given that there was so much happening in the town this week, Karen and Nigel decided to stay open past 4pm on most days, and found that on a couple of days there was a high influx of visitors in the late afternoon, between 3 and 5pm. This lead Nigel to suggest that it might be a good idea to really think about the opening times of the gallery. Most artists report that the morning is always much quieter than the afternoon, and particularly between 10 and 11am. Therefore, there could perhaps be scope to think about being a bit more flexible with the gallery's opening hours, maybe pushing it back to 11am - 5pm.
In terms of the public's reaction to the projects, Nigel noted that viewers seemed to really like and understand the concept of 'The 56 Bus Project', particularly those who live locally and can recognise the locations that he had photographed. He didn't want the work to turn into a kind of quiz, but most people were intrigued as to where the images had been taken. In contrast to some of his previous work, most visitors didn't seem to be as interested in the process of how the prints were made, which meant that the majority of the emphasis in the project's statement was placed on the concept and background, rather than technical details. Nigel suggested that having a local connection in his work was very important, including representing the area in a positive way and not alienating members of the community. I certainly feel that the project suited the space very well, being creative enough to carry a theme throughout the exhibition, but not so off-the-wall and difficult to understand as to create a barrier between the artist and members of the local community. In terms of suggesting potential improvements to the gallery, Nigel emphasised that he felt it should remain a very simple space - it doesn't need lots of gadgets and specialist fittings to be a successful place to show art. He also felt that the improved signage this year has definitely increased publicity.
With Karen's '100 Couples' project, she mentioned that visitors really responded to how tender the images were. The people who take part in the project are already familiar with the concept, and Karen said she felt that this year, she didn't need to justify what she was trying to show, the images speak for themselves. This was also reflected in the deliberately short statement, allowing the repetition and subtle differences within the images to be taken at face value. Spending time down at the gallery, it was great to see the way that each year the project comes full circle, both shooting new images and exhibiting older ones in the same location. The Old Lookout has really become a project site. In terms of how the gallery works, Karen kindly noted that it was great to have an intern in the team, and in an ideal world there would be another person there permanently to provide support in the organisational aspects of how the gallery is run. It was also good to see that artists showing at the gallery didn't feel that they were being neglected, with 3 people who can pop in and check everything is ok, (I promise these things were said, I'm not just blowing my own trumpet!). Karen also agreed that the flexibility of opening hours might be something to think about.
What I particularly noticed with this week's exhibition is the relaxed atmosphere that had been created. For me, the informal, non-judgmental feeling of the space seems to enhance the way that people can feel able to start conversations with the artists, and tell their own stories relating to the work. I also feel that during this week in particular, the positive atmosphere from events happening on the jetty leaks in to The Old Lookout, encouraging visitors to feel relaxed and comfortable within the space.