UPDATES

Manchester School of Art Degree Show 2009
was more my show than it will be next year when I actually graduate! I had 6 people's work featured in total (there's only 5 here) as well as all my work for the Fashion Design and Technology students a few weeks previous and of course the entire yeargroup of the Fashion course's catalogue... So all in all it was a fun night and very satisfying to see my work scattered around all the different departments.

Above is Sarah Burton's work which won a very commendable £20,000 at Graduate Fashion Week.
Laura Grunbaum - Textiles design for Fashion
Mariel Osborn - Embroidery. This was shot 3 times for Mariel - once as playtime, a second time as a design for the degree show poster (it is being used for our Dean's leaving poster instead.) and a third to please her tutor Nigel...
Lora Avedian - Embroidery.



And last but not least Sera Jones, also on the Embroidery course. Apologies for the shocking pictures here - camera phone!





I modeled some of the stunning garments designed by Rosie Keating for my friend Sarah Patel; we had a limited amount of time in the small and not very-equipped studio but I had fun playing and I think Sarah did too... It must've gone well because she's about to start a new job working for a photographer in London so well done to her!And last but not least I have just, after months of shooting to pay the rent, organized a shoot for ME! So, on Monday i'll be back to doing what I love... I've been thinking recently about the things I really want in life - for example if I had a few years to live or something (which may be the case, we never know!) what would I want to do with my time. The answer was very simple and it has made me realize just how much I live my job and photography. Once in a while (or most days really) I might have to sell my soul and do something I really don't want to do in order to pay the rent, but that gives me the means to continue to play and have time to follow my ideas.

Sleep

Sleep.
I've only recently learnt the value of sleep and how much it affects me. For our group exhibition most have chosen to focus their work on dreams - personally I find the subject a seemingly easy one to choose... simply because you can blur things and smudge things and hey presto a dream. Of course its not that simple. Anyway - I'm not interested in dreams. But over the past few weeks i've come to understand that without it I can't function. Tiredness has become overwhelmed and eaten up and has now evolved into exhaustion.

Testing recently and in the next few weeks for portfolio (assessment) and exhibition (assessment) as well as shooting commercial work for various clients.

Fun begins on Thursday - get back to playing instead of complying to art directors and designers!

x

March

Neglected this lately, been busy etc etc.
Finished reading "Annie Leibovitz: At Work" this morning and I didn't want it to end. Of course everyone is different in the way that they work, just as the work 'they' (we?) produce is, and it was enlightening to read how someone else does things... It seems that she got very lucky in some places, in ways that can't ever be repeated - therefore making her work even more poignant. Nevertheless, she is one of few that can put their hand to almost any genre of photography and produce amazing results. I love photographers and artists that have an undeniable style, whose work can be recognized anywhere without having to be told who made it. Signature.

I've been working hard to create 2 projects, as well as organize this exhibition - my own private exhibition is proving to be very successful... my website stats have gone quite literally through the roof and I had no idea how much they would be affected, so thank you if you've been to see it.

Last year, when I first started working with a full creative team, I worked primarily on location, with a small (and very grubby) workshop as a make-shift studio... The weather in Manchester doesn't warrant working outdoors really, and so i've been confined to the studio at uni. I've found something in there that I wouldn't have outdoors, and i'm excited to take it outside again, and work on location - got a location shoot this weekend with my old favourites Natalie and Josie...

India

INDIA HOBSON - NUDES

I've just created a new blog - INDIA HOBSON NUDES. Generally I dislike the term 'nudes' but really there's no other way of wording it without writing an essay (which, strangely enough, I have just done so.)
It is for my project that is currently running alongside everything else I do - it is something that I find to be much more fulfilling to my creative needs.

I'm having 2 exhibitions shortly; a small solo exhibition in Manchester's Oddbar (in the Northern Quarter, opening 9th March ) and a group exhibition opening at the end of April.

If you'd like to be involved as a model or as a make-up artist please contact me via email at indiahobson@googlemail.com

Check out the blog for examples of my nude work.

In other news, i've updated and re-arranged my website... I like to change its appearance and content every now and again just so I don't get bored of it! You might notice some more word-based work appearing on there over the next few weeks... Its something i'm chasing just because I want to share my musings and hopefully it'll encourage me to read more - I bought 3 books the other day so I'm off to a good start already!

India x

Chance

Snowing today... beautiful snow - dry and light and floating through the sky... The kind that permits poetry. And ruins new white shoes.

Inspirations:
- Botticelli
- Jem Southam
- Travis

Will update my website today... Have to write an essay on the representation of the body, which fits in really well with the work i've been doing at the moment. Its only a short one but i'd much rather not do it! More uni bother is that we have to put on an exhibition - we get assigned into groups of 11 (ish) and have to organize venue, advertising, funding and just about everything else - as well as the work that goes into the exhibition. Grrrr!!!

Apart from that tiny annoyance everything seems to be going ok, loving shooting at the moment, and as usual inspiration flies at me from everywhere...