It is actually Tuesday the 14th as I type this. I still have no internet access while I’m in Bristol but I think it’s alright really. I do have the tendency to spend hours at a time sat at my desk, though being unable to send e-mails from here is very annoying.

The weather has been fantastic for the past few weeks. It’s done what I always hope it will in winter; just gone right from glorious summer to dry, crispy and colourful autumn to snowy winter with very little rain or wind. The sky has been so, so clear and blue on some days.

It’s been so beautiful I’ve been feeling very inspired by it all and have become a little obsessed with the trees. The branches look so amazing either frozen or totally bare. I’ve been taking pictures of so many of them. Foliage in general really.

I’ve been so busy. There’s work and I’ve been to a couple of gigs (Boy & bear and Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit, both fantastic) and all the traveling between my parents house, Bath and Bristol (which is starting to grate a little it has to be said).

On occasion I stop for a second and realise how dramatically different everything in my life is now to a year ago. A whole year can either seem like a very long time or not very long at all. It feels like both.

I’m on the verge of FINALY investing in a decent lens for my DSLR. It’s quite scary, like really dedicating myself to ensuring I carry on. Even though I know I will anyway, it’s like a contract with myself or something.

The 365 project continues! There have been some hiccups and a couple of missed days (I took photos the next day for these so there IS a photo, just not taken on the right day) but generally I think I’m doing pretty well. I thought I’d get more people asking WHY I am doing it but that’s not really happened, interestingly. I mean, it is sort of odd I guess. Especially to anyone not too familiar with the idea self-portraits generally.

I have been ignoring this blog terribly.

I've been so busy so I'll bullet point it for anyone who cares...

• New job in Bristol three days a week
• Spending other 4 days (usually) at parents
• cycling lots still
• spending a LOT of time on busses and trains
• 365 is still going on, over 100 days now

Summer is just clinging on.

Wolfgang Tillmans - The Serpentine

I finally got out of this tiny town last Friday and went into London. The primary reason was to go see a friends' MA graduate show but as I was paying the train fare I figured I should make the most of it.

I went to The Photographers Gallery and saw the Sally Mann show which I'd heard lots about, I didn't think I'd manage to get down and see it before it finished and I'm really glad I did because it was wonderful. I wish I could have stayed to watch the whole film they were screening, seeing her shooting and talk about her process was really interesting.

I also went to the Serpentine which is what really made my day. I've loved Wolfgang Tillmans work for years and getting to see that show was so good.

(Images from tillmans.co.uk)

He manages cover such a wide range of subjects and with so many approaches and then put it all in the same space yet it makes perfect sense to me. It all works so well together and I guess that's sort of what I'd like to try and achieve. In my formal art training the emphasis has always been so much on cohesion that I always took the 'safe' route to a final piece, relating images in very obvious ways or just outright repeating them (I did this for 'Embodiment', though I find repetition is very interesting in itself).

I also love his embracing of techniques perhaps considered on the edge of photography, such as photocopying and 'mistakes' in the darkroom (I do so love darkroom mistakes).

There were a few pieces in particular that really interested me. Some shots of the 2004 Venus Transit which I adored and there was some writing and newspaper clippings in the next room about how he felt about it which got me all excited about space and the enormity of it all. I wish I had known about it then because I would have loved to witness it myself (the next one is in 2012 for those who are well located to see it). Space, or my feelings about it, is something I'm wanting to interoperate into some images some how but I'm still working out how I'm going to go about doing that.

I went back to the piece on the left several times. This is something you really need to see in the flesh to appreciate. I felt like I should be able to dive right into it and swim.

There are some things that are just MEANT to be that big. Working out what sizes everything should be is a process I have always found very difficult. Getting it wrong can make things so uncomfortable to look at some how. I really admire Tillmans' editing and presentation because I struggle with that part of resolving my own work, but then I don't know how hard he finds it and he's been doing this a while now so I imagine that does help!

I think this approach appeals to me because I can get bored rather quickly and the diversity in this show meant I could have stayed a lot longer than I did (and I didn't rush myself) quite happily.

Thinking back on it now I'd love to be able to go back and see it all again. It had been so long since I last went to a gallery (if we exclude a brief visit to Spike Island last week) and it's really nice to feel so inspired again. It's got me back to thinking about putting together some work to show and creating new work, getting on with things.

I feel alive again!

The start of something?

This could well be the start of something I've been thinking about for a few months now. I didn't really know were to start. I managed to find approaches I knew wouldn't work but this is the first one that I think may grow into what I'm imagining.

Music.

Since Green Man my iPod has mostly been playing...

• Johnny Flynn
• Laura Marling
• Metronomy
• Jonsi
• Mumford & Sons

With Jonsi as the exception, I feel I need to update it or risk over-playing the lot.

Lotsa pictures for your hungry eyes.

, originally uploaded by Lauren Eldekvist.

Mmmmm, free colour developing with CD of scans and prints.

I got 3 of 4 rolls of film back (the 4th is B&W and I don't know what's on it) so you can see some of Green Man festival 2010 in yummy 35mm goodness.

There are rather a lot of images so I'm just going to say this: if you want to see them head over to Flickr and/or DeviantART as that's where they are.

Isobel

Long time no post.

My bike now has mud guards.

I've started packing for green man and I've had a pre-festival hair cut which is always nice.

The past twelve days have been hard work and the next six are going to be hard too but for much more enjoyable reasons. Green Man, friends, music, with any luck some sunshine. Can't wait.

Today has been fairly busy though it wasn't supposed to be.

We were only supposed to be popping in to Bath to grab a few things from the shops but ended up doing the tourist thing with my Gran. Rather enjoyed it really, never done the tour buses before.

More packing tomorrow and hopefully a good nights sleep before chaos ensues..