Project Two: Barry Comer and Richard Guest

Untitled (Project Two), 2017 by Barry Comer and Richard Guest

This image has been cooking for a good long while; Barry and I initiated our second project in September 2015…and finally, here’s the result.

Our previous project started with an exchange of self-portraits, and through a game of exquisite corpse in which each of us added and subtracted elements, resulted in two distinct images. For project two, we decided to follow the same procedure, but make the end result one image. And kicked things off with a still life…

Here are some of the intermediate stages:

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This is a project by Barry Comer and Richard Guest.

Barry and I have never met in the physical world. He is based in Louisville, Kentucky and I live on the edge of London. I have long admired his drawings. So I jumped at the chance when Barry suggested we work together.

Barry Comer, 2015

Richard Guest, 2015

 

Still Life With Shovel

– Still Life With Shovel, 2014 –

Originally, my intention was to post another street portrait today, but I don’t have any so instead you have a picture of a shovel. It caught my eye and I spent a minute or two taking shots of the back of a road mender’s truck. When I looked up I noticed the owner of the shovel looking at me quizzically. I thought I’d better explain myself, so I sidled over and told him I was a street photographer. “And you wanted to photograph that?” he said with a shake of the head. “I like the shapes and the colour,” I said. Suddenly, I felt like a tourist. I wish I’d asked his name.

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If you want to see some great street portraits, check out Cardinal Guzman’s blog. If you are interested in self-portraits, I recommend you visit Strata of the Self. It’s beautiful.

Still Life

– Still Life, 2014 –

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If you are interested in self-portraits, I recommend you visit Strata of the Self. It’s beautiful.

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Change: a collaboration between Richard Cooper-Knight and Richard Guest

Richard and I have just completed our thirty-first collaboration. If you would like to see the results, please go to Richard’s blog.

Here’s an edit of my image to whet your appetite…

Still Life #2

Untitled digital photograph, 2012

Untitled digital photograph, 2012

These were taken weeks apart. I’ve been imagining them together for a while, without knowing why. You know what, I think it just comes down to the fact they both have green in them…

Still Life

Still Life #1, 2012 (digital print)

Untitled digital photograph, 2012

I don’t think Peter Hammill, Van der Graaf Generator’s singer and main songwriter, ever wrote a song about fruit. He’s written about oysters, octopus, squid, but not fruit (feel free to correct me). The song Still Life is a science fiction short story condensed into seven minutes and twenty-four seconds and explores the horrors of eternal life.

Still Life is the second track on Van der Graaf Generator’s 1976 album, Still Life. You can read more about it here.