Kew, 'Jumping' with Sculptures

Goslar Warrior

You wait and you wait for a trip to the Capital, 20 years to be precise, then two come along at once. We're country bumpkins you see, anything bigger than Nottingham is quite the scary proposition for us, particularly given that London doesn't seem to be one of our lucky places. Mrs Fed Kandi was in London when terrorists bombed the Underground in 2005, and my limited experience of the city in recent years has been regular trips to St Pancras and back when I've ended up on the wrong train.

Three Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae

Our recent trip to the Royal Albert Hall for the Ballet was no different, coinciding as it did with a serious rail crash on our local mainline to London, and an unprecedented heatwave that practically closed the English rail network. As it happens, and despite all these problems, we had a jolly fine day out in Kensington, which went a long way to allaying our fears for a much-anticipated excursion south of the river to Richmond.

I've never been to Kew Gardens, and if I'm absolutely honest it's not somewhere I've ever felt drawn to. In fact my feelings on the matter is that it's a long way to go to look around a garden. We've got one of those at home, and there are some quite impressive ones nearby should the need arise. However, none of these options are currently playing host to the largest ever exhibition of outdoor artworks by one of our favourite artists and sculptors, Henry Moore.

Sheep Piece

The Henry Moore: Monumental Nature exhibition at Kew Gardens has been on our to-do list for most of the year. We were merely waiting for the inevitable rush to die down, and of course the weather to ease off a little, which it finally did in August. Mrs Fed Kandi does like a garden of course, albeit one less brown and crispy than it was on this occasion, and we both love a good sculpture, in fact we both have something of a history with Henry Moore.

Of all the monumental bronzes on show at Kew, Oval with Points (right) was the one we most wanted to track down. It was this very sculpture that at one time sat on the lawn in front of the Fielding Johnson Building at Leicester University. In fact the very same casting by Morris Singer that myself and friends would non-reverentially lounge on when attending Rock Discos at the nearby Students Union building. Mrs Fed Kandi remembers it too from when she worked at the University, neither of us had seen it since it was controversially reclaimed by the Henry Moore Foundation in the mid-80's. Needless to say we weren't allowed to lounge on it this time.

Much as I wanted to travel as light as possible on the day, a photographic opportunity of this magnitude demanded the very heaviest Soviet camera, and with the finest lens that my money had recently bought for a tenner. So I loaded up the Zorki 4K with a roll of Kodak Gold 200, and packed a spare too because this wasn't a day for eking out the exposures.

Double Oval

Large Interior Form

I'd already shot a test roll through the Zorki so I knew it could deliver the image quality I was after, but this would be the first opportunity to really test the Jupiter 8 lens on what would prove to be a gloriously sunny day. I didn't want to just record the sculptures though, I was aiming to 'photograph' them, show them in as interesting a way as possible, ideally with a bit of context. Opportunities to play around with Depth of Field were necessarily limited by the bright midday light, which meant that even at the Zorki's top Shutter Speeds the Aperture needed screwing down a fair bit. A late afternoon or early morning would have been a better choice, but needs must!

What of the actual exhibition itself? Well if I'm being really picky... perhaps too many Henry Moore's! Much as I love these sculptures, half a dozen statement pieces is probably enough for me. I think the experience would have worked better with a bit more variety on show, perhaps a few Barbara Hepworth's dotted about, the odd Jacob Epstein or Antony Gormley in the mix, perhaps even something new. For me this was a case of less would be more, although I'd have to say the exhibition of works in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art by Moore was worth the admission price alone. Henry Moore: Monumental Nature continues until the 31st January next year, and will of course be a much different experience should we get a proper cold Winter to cloak the landscape. I'd very much like to see photographs of these sculptures in the frost or snow...

Hill Arches

Three Piece Rclining Figure: Draped

Draped Reclining Figure

Two Piece Reclining Figure: Cut

Reclining Woman: Elbow

Large Standing Figure: Knife Edge

Large Spindle Piece

Two Zorki's, One Test Roll

The Soviet-era Zorki 4K camera shown here represents that thing I said I absolutely wouldn't do. An impulse purchase of a camera that's close enough to one I already have, making it entirely surplus to requirements. Because I'm not a camera collector, or so I keep telling myself.

As is so often the case though, it was the diminutive price of the thing that caught me off guard. That and a moment of weakness when the beloved FED was away for it's well-earned 70 year service. I was missing the heft and clunk of a mid-century Soviet Rangefinder, who wouldn't! Of course none of this explains why for a short period of time I had two Zorki 4K's. Oh deary dear!...

The image on the left goes some way to explaining why. The one disappointment of this otherwise fully operational £12 camera was a mightily scratched Jupiter 8 lens. Not to the point of being unusable, but certainly optically compromised and something I was never going to be happy with. The lens was also out of adjustment in some way that I've yet to fully understand. Something to do with the alloy shim that separates the focussing body from the optics which meant one of the rings didn't line up with the markings.

So I was on the lookout for a replacement Jupiter 8 50mm lens, or even better an inexpensive Jupiter 12 35mm lens. The 50mm lens is regarded as being pretty good optically, with good clean examples to be had for around £30 so nothing to break the bank. The 35mm examples on the other hand are regarded as being a bit average, but their relative rarity/desirability pushes the price up to around £100! So a Jupiter 8 it is then...

My preferred developers have a whole bunch of Vintage Camera relics gathering dust in their shop, for display, but no reasonable offer refused. After a good rummage in the cabinet we found a nice clean Jupiter 8 lens (above), safely attached to another Zorki 4K. A very reasonable deal was struck, a cheap test roll purchased, I now needed to decide which camera body would be the keeper.

Here’s some shots from the test roll with this second camera, which seemed slightly more accurate to me at the 1s Shutter Speed when tested side by side. I must say that this lens is a good deal better (and faster) than the Industar 10, so whilst the FED will remain my principal camera, if only because of the sheer convenience of the collapsible lens, this Zorki will make a good alternative when I'm happy to carry a heavier lump around and want better image quality.

The other Zorki with scratched lens has now been safely returned to the display cabinet, because whilst I don't particularly need a second Soviet Rangefinder, I certainly don't need three…

 

The Monochrome Set Pt.2 - FED-1

So the second, possibly final Black & White film for me. A freebie from a mate though quite expensive to develop of course, although my preferred developer has a slightly cheaper option for processing now so maybe not the 'final' final film in fact...

I've heard people expressing the opinion that B&W is the best medium for photography, the serious medium for serious photographers, and of course this may well be true if you're a really good photographer, which of course I’m not. Yes B&W can deliver eye-poppingly 'graphic' images, closer to the realms of art than photorealism, but then so can colour film in the right hands. One thing is certainly true, with B&W photography you have to think much harder about the light in your composition, which perhaps makes it more a medium for the experienced photographer. Loading my camera with monochrome film didn't in fact turn me into Henri Cartier-Bresson, you'll be entirely unsurprised to learn...

So for us less experienced Camera Operatives, and where most of us are working with scans rather than prints, all the fun and creativity of monochrome photography can just as easily be achieved with decent editing software... yes?

As I say, I’m hardly qualified to express an opinion, I just know that my eye is more drawn to colour images, whether accurate, creative, or with more of the ‘vintage’ look that seems to be so popular now. If I think the shapes will look better in B&W then I’m not so puritanical that I won't tweak things that way, but the fact is I’m never going to be able to tweak these monochrome images to colour, and if I'm honest there isn't one of them that I wouldn't prefer in colour.

These images were shot on a day out in Peterborough, and at the Riverside Festival in Leicester, on Ilford HP5 Plus 400, kindly donated by a friend who's now reverted to old-fangled digital. In the absence of any other film stock in the house this became the test roll for the recently CLA'd FED camera, perhaps not the wisest choice but with the things I was looking to test, Curtain Shutter accuracy, Focus, dirt in the camera etc. it made little difference what film was in the camera.

I'm guessing this film sits at the budget end of B&W, and whilst it's sharp and not too grainy I do feel it lacks a bit of contrast, or is that the limitations of the Soviet Industar 10 Lens coming through... or indeed my lack of attention to the light. Probably a bit of both...

Art Crawling - Leicester University

As I've mentioned on here previously, there's little I like more than exploring Modern Sculpture in all its wild and wacky forms. All the better if it's public art, as epitomised by the kind of modern art that was introduced for our betterment in the white heat of post-war rebuilding. Civic art designed for the people by some of the foremost artistic minds of the time. Sadly much of this is now gone, vandalised, removed from display, worse still destroyed. Sadder still given that there seems to be so little appetite (or available funds) for commissioning new examples of public art from our cash-strapped councils, so more often than not it's fallen to our seats of learning to champion the cause of publicly accessible modern art in the 21st century.

Loughborough University has certainly led the way in supporting modern sculptural art, their impressive Sculpture Trail is something of a jewel in the crown of public art in the East Midlands, albeit one that few of us seem to be aware of. Having spent a wonderful afternoon exploring the campus earlier this year (see here), I felt sure there must be something similar in the grounds of Leicester University.

In fact I knew there was something to be found, given that as a youth I frequently lounged with friends on the Henry Moore sculpture 'Oval With Two Points' that sat on the lawn at the front of the Fielding Johnson Building, or at least it did until it was 'borrowed' by the Henry Moore Foundation in the mid-80's and never returned! The space is now occupied by the equally impressive bronze sculpture Souls by Helaine Blumenfeld (detail, right).

I went for a walk to the campus with the Baldessa 1a and a roll of Fuji Color 200, choosing the day after graduation when all the students had gone home. So other than a few staff and workers I had the whole site to myself, ideal for exploring the nooks and crannies of the campus for notable artworks without the aid of a guide. In truth the main campus is not nearly as expansive as Loughborough's so it was easy enough to spot the handful of sculptures and other artworks on display.

The first subject was the striking Portico for the Adrian Building (top) as viewed from University Road, a familiar sight as it was something we frequently passed on the way to gigs and discos at the Students Union back in the 80's. We thought it had something of the look of an Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars.

The first piece of actual sculpture I came across was toward the rear of this building, a bronze entitled 'Life' by Percy Brown (1911-1996), shown here against the backdrop of one of Leicester's most striking landmarks, the grade II listed Engineering Building (above) that's visible for miles around. From there the artworks kept coming...

The Astronomical Clock (1989) on the Rattray Lecture Theatre, designed and constructed by Allan Mills and Ralph Jefferson.

Hands of Freedom (2021) by Vishal Joshi on the face of the Attenborough Seminar Building, a celebration of difference, inclusion and unity.

Eye of Time (2006) by Allan Mills. An Analemma Calendar, the time of the year is indicated by a spot of light projected through a hole in the upper curve at midday.

Flight (2014) by Helaine Blumenfeld at the entrance to the David Wilson Library. Shown here against the Engineering building and monochromed for effect. There is another sculpture by Blumenfeld within the Library building.

The J Building, Wyggeston Queen Elizabeth College. I'd love to tell you more about this striking modern building, but in common with so much public art and architecture, details seem to be something of a secret known only to the few.

The grade II listed Engineering Building, University of Leicester, designed by James Stirling and James Gowan architects. I did cabling work in this and other buildings at the University in the late 80's and have little love for it given that almost all the steel cable ducts were rusted up and in some cases unusable. An extensive refurbishment of the building took place in 2016/17.