Uploads from Miss Aniela

Joyride

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:42:46 -0700

I was walking by this well-known carousel on Brighton seafront the other day, and the sight of those frozen grins and sticky-outty legs instantly reminded me of Rossina Bossio's recent eerie paintings featuring a carousel - Three little pigs and Le Cheval Bleu. My boyfriend and I both thought, at the same time (that often happens) that we should do a picture with it. So the next day we returned with the kit. Equally inspired by his motivation, and by Rossina's paintings (the composition, and even the pose and stare, were directly inspired by them) I saw something weird and scary in something I must have passed a dozen times indifferently, something unsettling in the overly saccharine tempo of the colour and music of this giant toy on the promenade...

Ok so things have been a bit like an homage to Rossina on my stream lately, but I get to meet the woman herself this weekend!

Another inspiration, for the processing in this, is Rosie Hardy, whose use of dramatic and impactful compositions, and general 'wow' factor in everything from SPs to commissioned pursuits, really inspires me. Her particular fascination with the use of rain, water, and melancholy especially hit a chord in me. I was lucky enough to meet Rosie herself a couple of weekends ago! (in very apt Rosie-esque pouring Buxton rain) and she's a very kind and warm-hearted person. We did the quickest ever photo session with her fancy parasol, the result of which I will post on my blog shortly!

Things have been chaotic organising my exhibition 'Neurotica' which is going to be at Impure Art in Brighton. The show has been kindly sponsored by Spectrum and is on from Jul 4th to Aug 30th.

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No logos or pictures please!

Futility

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:14:13 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

For Rossina Bossio. I've wanted to mention Rossina for a while, particularly with this picture which I did a while ago, and now seems the appropriate time to do so, as Rossina is leaving Flickr. I recommend anyone who has not seen Rossina's photographs or paintings to visit her website, or her Flickr stream, with Safe Search off, of course - as her reasons, as spelt out here, are strong words against what alot of us feel about this site, that I would like to flag up.

Edit: I certainly don't want to discourage Rossina from changing her mind and sticking on Flickr! ...but even if she does, unfair moderation remains as much of an issue.
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This image and its title describe, for me, the worst feeling about life - of how one chooses to spend their time which rapidly speeds along, and with what purpose... the recent Susan Boyle phenomenon encapsulates, for me, how gender practices play their role within that lifetime feeling of futility, aided by articles like these.

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Please don't post any logos or pics and preferably be sparing with group invites :D
Thanks!

And the award for the glibbest headline goes to....

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:07:15 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

...The Sun, for 'I feel clonely'.

I'm in the papers today... The Sun (UK's biggest paper) and the Metro (every commuter reads it, if not their own copy then over someone's shoulder).

But The Sun's headline competes with the comments left on the Sun article online which are glibber than glibness itself!... one person who I've never met appeared to know more about me than anyone, stating 'she's not very friendly in real life'. Hmm, is this the local traffic warden?

This does gives the impression that I think multiplicity is all my own great, amazing and unique idea.. argh! ;D

The wording of the Metro article, however, made me laugh even more!

'A British student who started taking inventive self-portraits because she couldn't afford models'...
'Natalie Dybisz hit on the idea of modelling in her own photos after friends refused to pose'...
...'Miss Dybisz - who works under the name of Miss Aniela - dreamed of becoming an actress or model since she was young. "But I was too shy and realised I was too short and probably too ugly", she added.'

Lol... fair to say there was some exaggeration of my words. All press is good press... isn't it..?

Back to answering my emails! 4000 hits on my site so far today.. even people who have searched 'Debesh' have managed to get through.

For Elle

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:35:35 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

Silly upload just for Elle Moss as well as for your amusement. Elle bought me this mask for Christmas! Sadly it arrived four months later but that doesn't mean I can't still have fun with it! Check out Elle's work if you haven't already.

Thought I'd upload these before they get buried within the obscurity of my archives.

All pics aided by Matthew who kindly went without dinner for hours after getting home from work, in order to fulfil my strange street ideas.

I found myself back in England

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:30:01 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

Well first, I have been 'back in England' (rather too romanticised word used for artistic licence) for bloody weeks but I've had such a backlog of stuff to do and pics to process, that I thought this pic can help mark some kind of (temporary) closure from the 'americana'-type pics I've been uploading recently. It was taken a few weeks ago, during a fun stroll with Matthew through the streets, with our camera equipment, a mask, and the presence of a random cat...

Completely inspired by Helen Levitt!

Great news, I'm judging on this year's Photographer of the Year competition run by Digital Camera magazine. It's open to anyone in the world, entries are free and all submitted online, and you can submit up to 5 images to each of 10 categories... so I expect to see all your entries :)

For Tatus

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:20:42 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

Happy Birthday Tatus! 57 today :)

The final girl (ii)

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:30:00 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

I upload far too little onto Flickr nowadays, so here's some more from the ghost town :)

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The final girl

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:04:19 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

After running round doing scared faces pretending to be stalked by a mad killer, I decided to pull a final pose that we thought was more 'triumphant'. The result is a bit of a poser pic but it's my favourite of all the images we took (see more of the other images below).

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The dark continent

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:59:19 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

More from the ghost town series.
Inspired by... the zillion horror movies I watch.
Last night I had another terrifying dream, a cross between Exorcist & Poltergeist. There were these multiple demonic girls everywhere. It was like watching a horror film, a film of which I was a part of (again). My mind still is still haunted by the mysterious whiff of the dream though can't remember at all what happened in it. Really scary, one of those dreams where you fear seeing ghosts & spirits everywhere. It was nice to wake up into the real world.

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And ooh i found the link - a darkdaze pic I admired a couple of years ago which came back to me during this session.
These pics are all collaborative ideas with Matthew.

The bus

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:42:51 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

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And the mirror cracked

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:18:36 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

In Arizona we were staying in a place called Sedona. I decided we should visit a village a few miles out called Jerome, and we were just driving out of Jerome when we came across 'GHOST TOWN' sprayed on the back of a tanker that had an arrow pointing to the left. We turned in and drove into the yard and came across this massive, amazing array of hundreds of archaic broken down vehicles - a 'mine museum' - like a living horror film set!

We went further in to discover a few other visitors, as well as an inquisitive mule, and some wandering chickens. We realised that it was indeed a little outdoor tourist attraction with an entrance fee, which we paid to enter the main scrapyard - a whole world of more vehicles, props, and ominous old sheds with painted lettering like a 'painless dentist', inside of which were menacing looking equipment.
The place didn't have a website or advertise in any way. It was quite obscure, though the lady said that it is to be used in two upcoming horror films...
We had a few hours to take pics until the 5pm kicking out time. I found myself going to some dirt-smearing lengths to get some interesting horror 'final girl' pics. More to come!

Funnily enough, I may as well mention the dream I had last night - that I was in my own horror film (with Matthew). It was a kind of twisted version of our visit to the car servicing station we had when we were in the US - where Matthew was kidnapped by some hill-billies, and the dream ended in us having to stab the two men and watch their intestines spill out. Maybe we watch just too one many horrors?! I woke up at 5am in a sweat, thinking a burglar was playing music in the living room, when it was just a bird tweeting outside, sounding distorted...

Also, more to say - today is my Flickr birthday - 3 years ago today I joined the site. Happy Flickr birthday also to Kakhabad :)

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Noir

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:37:54 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

One would normally think that going away to another country would invite a whole host of opportunities for photographs. I regularly fall into this trap of delusional optimism everytime I go away. Even though we have new scenery in front of us (in this case, there was alot of great scenery) it doesn't make it any easier to get good images. If anything, it's harder, given that most of us won't get more than a few days or even hours in a certain place. The pressure is on to get the best you can in a limited time. Also, at magnificent places like the Grand Canyon - the places from which your friends back home will expect the best pictures - you'll inevitably be walking amongst an indundation of other tourists. Even if you're brave enough to pose in front of them in your pursuit of something beyond the typical tourist snap (forget your nude ideas) the pictures themselves are bound to capture a stray bobble-hatted loiterer or two behind you anyway.

When I go abroad, I usually find I am most attracted to the trivial things, the little details: road signs and markings, people's houses and driveways, etc. Alot of the time I'll find that these details will be interesting because they are stylistically different from home.

We photographed the rocks of Sedona at both sunrise and sunset, and the Grand Canyon at alternating views from our walk on the Angel Trail, but I was most excited by this session: standing by a lamp post outside our motel in Williams (the last inn available after we discovered a week earlier everything was booked out within 25 miles of the Canyon), at night. After having watched Todd Hido's presentation in Palm Springs I was inspired to act upon my love of low-key lighting in some night images. We took loads, and it happened that the very last shot we took - where I was moving away from the lamp post ready to finish, and quickly stuck my head back in to catch the last frame - was the one I liked the most. We used a 28-300mm lens (as well as a spot of compositing in my post-production :)

Back at home, as a result of experiencing these feelings abroad, I am more encouraged than ever to take advantage of the subtle details to my own city which can be explored during as many long afternoons as I wish.

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:D

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:38:10 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

I don't share publicity features here on flickr much... but I made the cover! View larger

The image used is Self portrait with Lichtenstein and a thorned basket of fruit

The other images (below) are Splash and Portrait with a cup of light

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i was amused to read some people's comments about this elsewhere in flickr... cynically describing the cover choice as 'hot', 'blonde', 'long-legged', and 'nekkid'. Funny, I am none of those :P (though as for 'hot', i'd let you decide for yourself, if you met me in real life).

Thanks everyone for the messages on this thread.

More about the article, and interesting discussion, over here:
www.flickr.com/photos/kcarlos/3446192960/

Natmeg

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:15:32 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

I met the lovely Meganzii, her husband, dog and china cabinet at their home in California last week!

As soon as I saw the cabinet I recognised it from this pic of Meg's that I love, it was conveniently still empty, so in we piled!

Matthew framed these shots, Meg's husband Ian helped out with lighting, and the dog wandered in a few pics too (in what I know is not unusual for Meg's own shoots - if you haven't seen her stunning work already, be sure to check it out).

Thanks Meg & Ian for having us!

The fixation

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:56:02 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

Right, so I upload The adjustment and put this pic aside for my blog or suchlike.. but it grows on me, and continues to grow...

And I gave in. I find a different mood here than in the other shot; where there are no longer parallel lines, there are curves...

Nice to view larger on black. Not as crisp as high-res looks, of course....

I want to continue making images on a similar theme, to develop a series on the spine.
There are some pictures on flickr which will influence my attempts at pursuing this theme. It is not often I link to images before i've even acted upon my inspiration, but as a glimpse into my current thoughts, they include Brookeshaden's images here and here, Gosia Janik's picture here, Mark Velasquez Photography's pic here, and is a belle's picture here.

Might even start it during a killer trip I have planned next week. I go to California to present at the Palm Springs Photo Festival armed with books and Moo cards... I'm taking Mr Wolfy with me so after the festival we are driving to Las Vegas, Death Valley, Sedona and the Grand Canyon! - with a collection of garments and hopefully lots of ideas.

Blog

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Sorry to say this all the time, but just to save my deleting time, no pictures or icons please! And please be sparing with the group invites or I might have to delete.. thanks. (I'll also delete those weird one-lettered spam-like comments too...)

Crosswinds

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:46:17 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

I drove up a track, couldn't quite work out if I'd been down it before. I parked up and an old hairy man riding a bike, wearing only a pair of shorts (you know what the British are like as soon as the sun comes out) started to talk to me. After establishing I was a photographer he started recommending I go and locate a peregrine falcon that lives on a cliff nearby, who only eats pigeons that are mid-flight, but it will keep still enough for photos. Hmm... I wasn't have any luck photographing stagnant branches successfully, let alone an elusive bird of prey.

I got on my way, took some pics, but it wasn't until I changed into my special 12 quid gown that I felt stimulated. I had half an hour before I wanted to go to the gym. Once I'd piddled by the car, drove round to find a new spot with a glum look on my face, I finally got out, rather reluctantly into a chilly breeze, and was inspired by the symbolism of a bridleway signpost.

..And by a number of amazing female Flickr artists who were in my thoughts - by all the work of Quizz, also specific images by Rebekka, Haggis Chick, and also when I was processing it I thought of Vanessa Thomz's billowing dresses. Throw in also some admiration of these pics by Lara Swift and Jaime Bley!

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I present at the Palm Springs Photo Festival on 2nd April! Blog

The adjustment

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:00:55 -0700

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

I had previously tried to take pictures by this shocked tree on the Downs a couple of weekends ago, but the frenzied, freezing wind blew Matthew and I numb-fingered back to the car.
Yesterday I decided to select a book from my shelf that I've never read and never will read (but its cover enticed me, as well as title, plus its coherence with the beige colour scheme that I had going on) and return to try something on a gloriously sunny, and somewhat calmer day.

I'm the happiest I've ever been, although I've had intermittent episodes of actually getting quite upset at my seeming inability, recently, of creating a picture sufficiently engaging enough to to transcend a 'photo' and become 'art'. I have even found it difficult to imagine what a great photo looks like, even with full freedom to imagine any feat whatsoever.... I felt like I was at a loss for ideas.
It wasn't until I arrived at this tree, book and blanket in hand, that an idea perfectly fitting to the distress series came straight to me like a brisk Downs breeze itself.
I used to say that I was never bothered about concept, I just wanted something to look good, letting meanings come later. Nowadays, I find myself much more inclined to working the other way round.

Inspired by? ...A Magritte-like pic I took in San Francisco of a gentleman called Peter, and my ideas for a starting point with the image's props came from a picture on a postcard I saw on my former landlady's mantlepiece the other day, a card she kindly let me keep. It's The New Novel by Winslow Homer.

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Read my blog

No insane logos please! Or any logos for that matter...ta.

The aura

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:44:48 -0800

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

Months ago I had a notion of an image that would be called 'The aura' and have been trying since Christmas to achieve it, not knowing exactly how I would present the symbol. I tried it at home with the telly and the dog, Poltergeist-fashion. But it didn't work out how I wanted, even with my sister's quirky fridge magnets of the Arabic alphabet stuck to the fireplace. Friday night, though, it finally happened on a cold Shoreham beach, with Mr Wolfy, my car headlights, and a torch.

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Blog

no logos please, just comments... invites ok but sparingly ;)

Arise

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:20:07 -0800

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

This is Alexandra who I shot last weekend in a studio as part of a community event in Seattle, which you can read about here on my blog!

Yes - she was really that tall ;)

The schoolhouse

nobody@flickr.com (Miss Aniela) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:12:59 -0800

Miss Aniela posted a photo:

Alrightie, so I'm having a 'totally awesome' time here on the west coast of the US...

Jeff Greene and I managed to squeeze into our itinerary of photowalks a hoodless Mustang ride up to no other than Bodega Bay - used in the filming of The Birds. It dawned on me how long I had this moment in my imagination - when I was a teenager I planned a gap year that seemingly focused on visiting this one place in California, and the image of walking up this hill has lived dormantly in my mind for ages. And now, here I am!

Jeff helped me do this shot - cheers!

I'm now in LA so come along to a photowalk (on Wed 4th) if you can! - check the blog

And view my blog here to find out about my book...

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