Simon Keitch Photography Blog

A couple of recent portraits of artist (and former musician with Add N to (X)) Steven Claydon produced on location at Royal William Yard as part of a commission to document the British Art Show 7.

This past Saturday I was assigned by Groundwork South West to photograph Lucy Orta‘s 31st 70 x 7 The Meal on location at Sherwell Hall in Plymouth. 70 x 7 The Meal, act XXXI was a collaboration between internationally renowned artists Lucy and Jorge Orta and local artists Anne-Marie Culhane and Jo Salter. The concept of this 31st act of the dining project was a celebration of wild and local food: growing it, eating it and sharing it with the aim to provide an opportunity for an invited audience to enjoy a special meal in friendly discussion around the theme of food and sustainability. Regional foods from the South-West area of England were harvested and prepared by chefs from Fat Hen a small rural family enterprise set up by forager and professional ecologist Caroline Davey. Jamie Mclaren-Smith, environmental business manager from Groundwork South West carried out a carbon footprint calculation, taking in the total distances travelled by guests and food alike and the electricity and gas used on the night, therefore enabling him to work out a representative figure of the event’s approximate carbon footprint, comparing it to more commercial practices. Photographed above is the venue during the meal, and below is Lucy Orta herself photographed just as the guests were arriving. The next 70 x 7 Meal will take place in the ever so slightly more glamorous location of Venice…

I was in Plymouth last night to photograph the Late Night Lido Endeavour, an artist’s film event staged by the Plymouth Arts Centre over the last three evenings at the Tinside Lido amphitheatre on Plymouth Hoe and curated by the artist Tim Knowles whose Wanderlust solo exhibition is showing at the Plymouth Arts Centre currently. Mr Knowles himself is featured above just before Sunday’s screening, and post swim (and it was a cold evening… Paula Orrell from the Plymouth Arts Centre also had a swim but was wearing a wetsuit if that tells you anything). The recent heatwave seems a long time ago now but the clouds cleared and made for a dry evening at least and although not too many braved the water there was a good turnout and it was nice to see the Lido put to good use since its refurbishment. The theme of the event was films that ‘explore ideas of endeavour, where the artists place themselves in challenging, potentially dangerous and unpredictable situations’ which for some reason makes me recall a number of past assignments…