Last week, Approaching Velocity was invited to the launch of Kevin Mason’s first book and second ever exhibition, Your Life is my Vanity Project, a photography project shot every Thursday for thirty weeks, featuring Storm model and Brighton girl Georgie Hobday. For Approaching Velocity readers unfamiliar with Kevin Mason’s work, a visit to his two websites (personal and studio), his Tumblr blog, and old Flickr account (rarely updated, but still containing much of his portfolio) is highly recommended as an introduction to his near breath-taking, often outrageous but always-punching-the-limit fashion editorial photography that draws on an incredible wealth of technique, fanaticism and knowledge of past and present photography and photographers to stretch your mind. In contrast to his past work, Your Life is my Vanity Project is a very different approach from Mason’s usual photography output. Gone are the elaborate set pieces, perfect make-up and outfits alongside intricate lighting set-ups; Your Life is my Vanity Project is simply a weekly collection of photographs documenting one subject, shot on a variety of film formats, almost all naturally lit and feeling mostly spontaneous.  The different direction is presented as clearly uncomfortable for Mason, at least to begin with. The first few weeks are very rigid, and there is a clear concept of Mason as ‘the photographer’ and the subject as ‘the model’, as fixed poses with identical expressions are abound in the first sets of photographs as Mason struggles to step away from his studio identity. Thirty-weeks of such rigid images would have created a very different exhibition to what Your Life is my Vanity Project actually becomes, for as the weeks progress, the photographs feel more relaxed, and the strength of Mason’s vision and the exhibition lies in this portrayal and relationship of the relationship between photographer, subject, and viewer, whilst documenting the growing friendship between Kevin Mason and Georgie Hobday. Certainly by week four, the photographs become much more free, and quickly a rapport is established between photographer and subject. By week seven however, the relationship has transformed even more rapidly and it is no longer always possible to discern just who is in control of who: the controlling photographer of the studio has blurred with the model, who slowly seems more in control in front of the camera, and it appears all Mason can do is capture Georgie as she decides what to do, resulting occasionally in blurry, poor focus photographs as Georgie moves onto something else before Mason can photograph it. It would be wrong to focus on just the blurred photographs of the exhibition (which are an integral part of the project in any case) without mentioning too the actual photographs of the exhibition, nearly all of which are jaw-dropping in one form or another and really let you appreciate Mason’s visual eye for capturing a moment with appropriate framing and delicacy. The actual exhibition (held at Garage Studios, Brighton, UK) certainly helps you realise this: the photographs are gorgeously displayed in a variety of original and full-frame prints in a purpose-designed space created by Mason’s long-standing art director and studio partner, M.Halls. Despite struggling with big crowds, the layout of the exhibition offers a clear and progressive path through the thirty weeks allowing you space to view the photographs, whilst not giving you too much space that the impact of a room full of the same girl over and over again is diminished; the exhibition is overwhelming, but this is no bad thing, and is a useful means of understanding the work. For at times, the relationship between photographer and subject can become extremely uncomfortable: Mason’s new style here is extremely close and personal, seeming a far stretch from his fashion editorial work, and can be very unforgiving to the subject. But this is purposeful, and if it is uncomfortable for the viewer to observe, as mentioned earlier, it is apparent that such an intimate approach, whilst undoubtedly embraced, was uncomfortable for the photographer too. Similarly, the repetitiveness of the same face never becomes boring, Georgie is an engaging character, and it is a mark of the exhibition’s success that upon leaving, its narrative makes you believe that you have not only met Georgie, you also feel you know her extremely well. On a last note, it is relatively easy to say that Your Life is my Vanity Project is simply about Georgie Hobday. It is also worth realising that the title is implicit to Mason’s intention that the project was not just about documenting another’s life, but also about Mason himself, as he moves a clear step in a different direction from his previous photography, and make a bold statement that he doesn’t need studios, assistants, or a clear final outcome to shape his photography output: he can achieve striking images with a strong narrative using basic camera techniques - and weeks of patience. Your Life is my Vanity Project succeeds in portraying at several levels the changing relationship between photographer and subject, documenting the growing friendship between two very strong characters in a narrative open to interpretation, and presents unashamedly the ever-evolving nature of a photographer still very much interested in exploring and challenging his own and others’ ideas and perceptions of the relationships involved in photography. ‘Your Life is My Vanity Project’, an exhibition by Kevin Mason, is open to the public on the 29th May - 31st May 2010, at Garage Studios, Brighton, UK. A printed 100 page book featuring photographs from all 30 weeks and an interview with Georgie Hobday is available to purchase here and is priced at £25 + postage and packaging.   /// Copyright 2010. Approaching Velocity Magazine. Photograph by Kevin Mason. Please respect our copyright. /// Join Approaching Velocity’s mailing list, or contact us at approachingvelocity(at)googlemail.com Join us on Twitter (wearevelocity), Tumblr, Facebook and MySpace. www.approachingvelocity.com “Never apologise for length”
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Your Life is my Vanity Project, an exhibition of photographs by Kevin Mason, reviewed in words Exhibition review coming Monday 24 May 2010… watch out…  UPDATE; now online

Your Life is my Vanity Project, an exhibition of photographs by Kevin Mason, reviewed in words

Exhibition review coming Monday 24 May 2010… watch out… 

UPDATE; now online

Something to think about… ‘Why street photography is facing a moment of truth’ /// Photograph by Philip-Lorca DiCorcia,  ‘Ike Cole, 38 years old, Los Angeles, CA, $25’ (1990) /// Apologies for the lack of recent updates, AV has hit a hefty amount of studying to do… the printed magazine is still on track though, fear not, just reducing time spent on the online side currently…  Still need 2 interviews and 3 articles… deadline mid-June… approachingvelocity(at)googlemail.com  
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Photograph by Harry Mitchell. AV first met Harry Mitchell a week ago; a memorable night leading to debauchery of the worst kind on the dirtiest dance floor in Brighton. He’s an ace guy, and takes fucking good photographs. See more of him at: http://harrymitchell.tumblr.com/ and see more of us at: approachingvelocity.com harrymitchell: elenimett: iwantmybearsuit: fogandfoxes:suenosdulces / youreacunt by harry mitchel i think?? ..see this is why you got to credit cheers eleni. what the fuck is up with this? this is why i’m going to stop using flickr, because your pictures just get passed around by a thousand bloggers without any accreditation..
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I was shown this photographer (Noah Kalina) about a year ago… it’s compositions like this that make you want to go out and just keep trying until you get this good. His ‘Internet/Sex’ and ‘What Happens In Vegas…’ projects are fantastic (the room lighting… !) And so many questions I want to ask… and answers I don’t want to know. Sixth interview on Approaching Velocity now up. www.approachingvelocity.com noahkalina: Oregon
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Interview #6 - Ellie Harvey Approaching Velocity is proud to introduce our first photographer of 2010, and our sixth photographer so far, Ellie Harvey, a photographer who grabbed our attention with a desire to explore and challenge both herself and other’s perceptions. Please stay tuned over the coming weeks and months for more interviews, plus articles and some exciting new announcements from Approaching Velocity. Read More

Interview #6 - Ellie Harvey

Approaching Velocity is proud to introduce our first photographer of 2010, and our sixth photographer so far, Ellie Harvey, a photographer who grabbed our attention with a desire to explore and challenge both herself and other’s perceptions.

Please stay tuned over the coming weeks and months for more interviews, plus articles and some exciting new announcements from Approaching Velocity.

Read More

ApproachingVelocity.com is now live! Let us know what you think. New interview in the next few days, and some exciting new announcements shortly after… Photograph by Ellie Harvey ellieharvey.com
By Ellie Harvey ellieharvey.com Welcome to the redesign of Approaching Velocity! We’ve decided to switch to tumblr, as it allows a community-driven approach; we can engage more efficiently with the artistic community by seeing and reblogging the images and thoughts of the artists we like - hopefully you’ll like the redesign. Some of the older blogs still need tidying up - we’ll get on that as soon as possible. NEW INTERVIEW in the next few days once the servers transfer successfully. Don’t go anywhere. (ApproachingVelocity.com will eventually direct straight to here)
this is gonna be so good Read Eleni’s interview with Approaching Velocity here gangupmagazine: darkdaze: dont mess (via eleni.mettyear) We are coming out strong with the next issue of GangUp, this is too good to hold back on. Martha, being fierce, from a new shoot by our newest contributor 18 yr old Eleni Mettyear..
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darkdaze: I know I have blogged some of his work before but here is another polaroid from Johnathan Leder He has new updates on his site which is well worth a look. A lot of photographers shoot girls, especially half naked girls, and seem mainly to do it for the chance to hang out with someone beautiful for a while. Their work doesnt tell you anything about the girl, the personality, and its just an excuse to show some ‘tits’…. You know you look at the images and just kinda think they must be a sleazebag… just girl after girl with nothing new, interesting or intended.  But almost all of Mr.Leder’s work seems to have this incredible sense of narrative, a hint of stories still being lived outside of the frame. I feel I have seen the images before even though they also seem very fresh and new. Thats not a criticism at all for me, he builds on this great American Visual language and enhances it with his own work. I could look at it all day whilst both feeling inspired and inadequate at what I shoot.
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