Black White Photography - UK (2019-11)

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B+W

INSPIRATION

ONE-DAY PHOTO

PROJECTS / 10

A GALLERY DAY OUT

Regularly looking at art is an essential part of our ongoing photographic

education. There is a wealth of things to see both at home and abroad –

and inspiration can come from anywhere, as Eddie Ephraums explains.

All images

© Eddie Ephraums

L

iving and working

in London, I have so

many galleries on my

doorstep. Yet do I visit

exhibitions as often

as I should? Daily life

seems to have a habit of getting

in the way and it sometimes

takes a trip abroad, like a recent

three-day gallery excursion to

Paris, to make up this shortfall.

So why aren’t regular gallery

visits an integral part of my

photographic practice? The

trip to Paris reminded me they

should be carved in stone in my

diary – if only my calendar app

made this possible.

Just before Paris, a dear friend

gave me a copy of Sally Mann’s

excellent autobiography, Hold

Still. By chance there was an

exhibition of hers at the Jeu

de Paume. I thought the show

would be the highlight of my

trip and in many ways it was.

But I also visited the Musée

d’Orsay and Eugène Delacroix’s

studio, and it was a painting at

the Orsay that really sparked

my photographic imagination.

I wouldn’t have expected a

museum specialising in 19th

century impressionist and

post-impressionist painting

to be the place for some B&W

Below The inspiration

The inspiration for this month’s project was a three-day gallery trip to Paris.

On this particular day I visited Eugene Delacroix’s studio, as well as the

grandiose Musée d’Orsay. I was particularly inspired by the leafy tranquility

and dappled light of Delacroix’s garden. There’s something containing and

inherently calming about photographing within enclosed spaces. I could

have spent many hours there.