Laura Ward

Spring is near

laurawardphotography — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:42:41 +0000

Months are zooming past despite this winter feeling long and dark. There has been a noticeable shift in moods surrounding me. So many glass-half-empty souls trying to fill up their cups but lost in knowing how to even try. I’m not immune to this but I’m happily and thankfully more glass-half-full. Coffee and running helps.

In years gone by I’d be photographing my through the bitter cold, but this winter has been different. I’ve been documenting a personal project and feeling the weight of a variety of deadlines; some my own and others not. There has been a little bit of photography loveliness though which is enough to keep going.

I’ll dedicate this post to my lovely friend A who is in my thoughts a lot at the moment. Spring is close and brighter times are coming, and I for one am very excited.

Views

laurawardphotography — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 19:58:58 +0000

I’m not emotionally connected to this window, but it’s one I look out of all the time. One of my most memorable windows was the large one in my bedroom in Germany as I was growing up. One that I had for many years. I could open it wide, curl up on the ledge and watch the clouds and our neighbours. Better when the storms came. Thunderous, heavy rain would pound the road, Horse Chestnut and Birch. I’d sit on the ledge, the window wide open and wait for my nose to bleed.

Snow days

laurawardphotography — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 19:20:33 +0000

2013: so far you’ve been testing, energetic and cold.

Start as you mean to go on…

laurawardphotography — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 17:14:29 +0000

Starting the year in with a windy photo walk and run with the ever encouraging Emma. It was cold enough to wear my new hat from santa (I love it). May you all have a healthy and snappy 2013.

Why I love flickr

laurawardphotography — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:09:25 +0000

Next month is my 8th year of owning a flickr pro account. A kind person donated the first year to me because ‘it was designed for photographers’ and I should have one. I struggle to recall life before flickr and my clunky self created html website. Since January 2005, I’ve discovered cameras, lenses, techniques and inspiration. I’ve met lovely, wonderful people on it. I’m spending Boxing Day with someone I met on flickr. I met my lovely friend Laura after someone introduced us via flickr and I went to see her play a show. I have traded heartfelt love letters through flickr mail with a beautiful boy. I have occasionally bared my soul to flickr. I’ve grown up with it.. 7 years spanning my life in London.. friendships, parties, career path, relationships, concerts, projects, dinners, festivals, holidays, babies (not mine), weddings (not mine). It’s all there like a diary.. a lot of it hidden from public eyes. But it’s there – bad photography alongside the photography I would rather people see. The stuff I like to photograph and share. And it feels safe. People can ‘steal’ or re-use my work but it still belongs to me and I have the right to ask for it back. flickr always made sure I knew it belonged to me and even gave me the option to sell work through Getty.

I’m not going to criticise Instagram because I have long loved phone photography, and I’ve never used the app. And though I’ve not actively taken pictures with my phone since 2010 while the rest of the world has gone crazy for it, I had wondered if I was missing out. But no. I still love my flickr pro account – it’s still alive and approaching 1 million views (oh my God).

Happy Christmas folks. Thank you for the love and see you in 2013.

Self by phone-cam, happy, cycling through Slovenian Alps

Ps. Get yourself on flickr.

2012 photography review

laurawardphotography — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:26:20 +0000

It may be a bit soon to post my favourite photographs of 2012 but I can’t see myself taking many pictures between now and January. I thought it would be an easy choice since I hadn’t taken many this year, and it’s only when I look at this selection that I can see how little I’ve enjoyed it. It’s only just started to feel good again. I’ve had some surreal moments, like getting approached by Vogue (and turning it down) and breaking my 5D in Hungary half way through a 3 day wedding and not freaking out. I also seriously contemplated Instagram but came to my senses (though some of my favourite pictures were taken on my phone in Slovenia but I haven’t published them), and hankered after some serious inspiration which still feels lacking. 2013 is another year.

Follow the links to see my favourites from 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Laura Kidd
Canon 5D
London, England (my flat)

Gina’s place
Polaroid 600
Herne Hill, London, England

Double exposed Self/Snow taken with James Higgott
Diana 120
Peckham, London, England

Hut
Polaroid ‘The Button’
Dungeness, England

Broken Lens
Canon 5D
Herne Hill, London, England

Aysha
Canon 5D
Somewhere in England

Self
Canon 5D
York, England

Flower/Sea
Polaroid ‘The Button’
Krk, Croatia

Budapest Cafe
Lomo LCA
Budapest, Hungary

Emma
Borrowed Canon 5D MkII
London, England (my flat)

Self
Canon 5D
London (my flat)

Double exposure with Susie Healey
PN919
London, England (Susie’s garden, my office)

Me Vs Originalhotsauce

laurawardphotography — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 09:21:11 +0000

Earlier this year, I went on a photo walk with Susie (originalhotsauce) and Michael for Chinese New Year. I shot a roll through my PN919, rewound and gave to Susie to shoot at her leisure. A month later I got it back, and re-shot over it in November during a walk through London. The whole year has been slow on the photo front but I like the chaos of these so I’m getting back on it. I barely picked up a camera for 6 months.

Baby, we are fine

laurawardphotography — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:38:11 +0000

Playlist inspired by Sal, Gemma and darling Annette x

Couleur Cafe – Serge Gainsbourg
Danse des mouches noires / Gardes du roi – Jean Claude Vannier
We Are Fine - Sharon Van Etten
The Rifle’s Spiral – The Shins
The Camera Loves Me – Wood-Be-Goods

Still November..

laurawardphotography — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 20:58:47 +0000

Re-used

laurawardphotography — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:07:42 +0000

I took this picture 5 years ago and it’s always been one of my most viewed pictures. If you type ‘deflated heart’ into Google images, it crops up in the search. It does have a fairly teenage-angst thing about it, which is quite fitting since I took it during a strange time romantically. It’s now licensed through Getty and has been purchased a few times. On my searches through the interweb, I’ve come across my image being re-used in instances you can see below. I doubt these were purchased through Getty, and I suppose I should be flattered. With this picture, I don’t mind too much. I was less flattered when I saw a recent photo I took used in a similar way because I really cared about that picture. I’ve blogged about this before.. once your image is out there, people just take it. They get reblogged through tumblr and pinterest (I’m a fan of both platforms for different reasons), and all connection to you as the photographer is lost. It’s a strange feeling. Not quite the same as seeing photos of my boyfriend on websites advertising churches and health insurance (which is amusing and legal since the images were purchased), but strange all the same. PJ Harvey once said that when she releases a record, it doesn’t belong to her anymore. Maybe that can be said for all art forms. See what you think to the below. At least I can say it’s global.