Ferret Photos. 23rd April.

Today my family adopted 4 ferrets, I have previously had 6 but sadly they all died. I love ferrets as they all have great little unique personalities, they are also great pets as they are easy to look after and do bond with their owners. Expect more photographs of these beauties as they are rather photogenic creatures (when they are not moving).

Street Dogs.

One of my ongoing side projects is called "Street Dogs". I photograph dogs I meet when I'm out and about, the dogs that are tied to posts while their owners nip into the bank. All the dogs react differently to me, a stranger, with a big camera... some are interested, some growl, and some have no care in the world.

I met a few dogs today: 

You can find the collection so far on my facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152145714440046.916242.407058550045&type=1

www.ruthjones.org

Peterborough Horse Fair. 2nd January 2013.

Every year around New Year a horse fair is held in the city of Peterborough. This is the first year I have visited this event... I found it was a very interesting environment to take photograph. I was one of a handful of women there; but there were men and boys of all ages looking at the horses, catching up with each other, and enjoying the event. A great little event to photograph with so many things happening.

(For more photos from the event: http://www.ruthjones.org/#!peterborough-horse-fair/c2i9)

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Horses in the misty fens. 23rd October.

I went out into the fens this afternoon (morning didn't work due to time constraints, but it stayed misty all day), I took my Mamiya & Nikon and headed off to meet some horses. My original idea was to find some nice trees and landscape scenes and photograph them, but instead I found these horses who were so friendly I had to photograph them!!

Hoping to get my film developed soon, so looking forward to seeing the results.. but for now here are some shots from my DSLR:

And a pylon:

In other news, I am off to London on Sunday as I start my time at Rankin on Monday.. pretty excited about this, I shall keep my blog very much up to date about everything which I am getting up to!

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Cats at the Abbey. 10th October.

I met this cat today whilst I was doing a RECCE shoot at the ruins of an old Abbey, as I was part of the film crew for a project at Kingsgate where we were making a short film about worship (the filming went great and I look forward to seeing the edit!). I was distracted for a short while as I chased this cat around the ruins, but then I felt a little bit guilty for interrupting its stroll and I went back to the job in hand.

(Crowland Abbey - Lincolnshire)

The Savoy, an empty town, and a little bit about the Ian Parry Award Ceremony with Don McCullin. 4th October.

It seems like I am in London a lot at the moment, I've been in London the past two Tuesdays and will probably be back in London for a week at the end of the month! There's a big contrast between the hustle and bustle of city life, and the empty streets of my local town at 6pm.. I'm not quite sure what I prefer. 

I also met this little dog today when I was wandering to my local shop:

Why was I in London last Tuesday? I was at the Savoy, there was a conference there for a Canadian company and I was the photographer for the event. It was a great conference set within an absolutely beautiful building, it was such a pleasure to capture the day and to work within such an iconic hotel.

I said I'd update you properly about the Ian Parry Scholarship award ceremony a couple of weeks ago, I have put together this very short video of the night.. I didn't take much footage as I spent most of the time talking to other photographers and admiring the work of the winners. One photographers I did get to talk to was Don McCullin, it was amazing to meet him as I have been incredibly inspired by his work. Don seemed to be very supportive of new talent as he gave me a whole load of advice, he urged me to not settle for photographing the easy things, but to get out on the streets and capture the things that happen. So I am currently looking for a project which will get me doing those things, sadly life in my rather empty town makes it quite hard at the moment!!

Ian Parry Scholarship Award Ceremony 2012. from Ruth Jones on Vimeo.

Sheep Landscape. 2nd September.

The Farmyard. 22nd August.

Took these two photos whilst walking around a farmyard today, such an interesting place! Don't really know what else to type, so I'll just let the two photos speak for themselves.

Movement. 20th August.

The Rainbow Teddy Bear. 11th August.

Just a quickie shot testing out lighting alongside shallow depth of field.. trying to prepare for a shoot coming up... news soon!

Post Dogs. 9th August.

Horses and Sunsets. 24th July.

This evening there happened to be a beautiful sunset, I spied it through my window.. and then rushed off to a location which I knew would compliment a sun set. I decided to face away from the sunset and focus on a group of horses who were running around a field, they weren't the easiest thing to photograph as they were constantly moving and the amount of light was decreasing... but I finally captured this shot, which I was quite happy with.

I did have to capture a typical "picture postcard" sunset shot though, so here it is.

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GradAcad day 19: Zed Nelson, Mother and The Park Study. 19th July.

Today was left quite free to allow people to recover from last nights party. I decided to do a little bit of shooting for The Park Study, which went alright until it started raining. But  I did meet this little squirrel, who was very friendly.. probably because he wanted food or something!

This afternoon GradAcad had a session at Mother with Sam Payne, there is a little exhibition inside the Atrium at Mother by Zed Nelson and it is about the transformation of Hackney, as it used to be seen as a dodgy gang-ridden borough of London, but now it has transformed into the trendy hipster part of the city. The series explores the merging of gang culture and hipster life within Hackney, it is titled "The Tale of Two Cities" and rightfully so as it explores two very different cultures which can both be found within Hackney. Another reason why I found the series so interesting is because I have been living in Hackney for the past month, I recognised a few of the places and also found out that a girl had been shot through the window of a fast food shop just round the corner from where I am staying, so it is a little bit haunting. 

I definitely recommend that you check out Zed Nelson's work: http://zednelson.com/

Our session with Sam Payne was great, he talked all about Lies Vs. Culture, so how adverts can either lie to sell their product or they could be culturally accurate so that their product appeals to the right audience. It was really interesting and the things which I learnt were easily transferable into my own photographic work. So thank you Mother and Sam Payne! 

http://www.motherlondon.com/

#GradAcad

www.dandad.org/talent/graduate-academy

The Park Study

As I mentioned earlier I went for a shoot earlier, but I also went for a shoot after our session at Mother, I shall definitely miss working on this project as tomorrow is my last day to get everything shot as it is sadly my last day in London!

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GradAcad day 14: Cass Art, Gardens, Jelly Brief and The Park Study. 12th July.

I started my day with a visit to Cass Art London, they kindly donated £10 gift vouchers to everyone in the Graduate Academy. They have tonnes of useful arty bits and pieces, and they even had a little Lomography corner of the shop. I bought an artist's mannequin and a few other little useful bits, I have wanted an artist's mannequin for years, not because I'm a great artist.. but because they look really interesting and I think it would be a great photographic subject.

Thank you Cass Art: http://cassart.co.uk/

Whilst walking back from Cass Art to the Bus stop I passed two little community gardens, Colebrooke Row Gardens and  Duncan Terrace Garden.. I couldn't help but photograph a few of the different occupants of the garden as it was all quite quaint!

So after spending most of my morning outside I had to spend most of my afternoon inside working on the Jelly brief, I have come up with a final concept which I am going to be pitching to Jelly tomorrow! I have created a photo montage of a number of iconic London buildings and then created The Shard out of jellies, as the brief was to promote the move of Jelly to The Shard (Jelly aren't moving to the shard.. it was just for the brief!). 

#GradAcad

http://www.dandad.org/talent/graduate-academy

The Park Study.

I have finally been able to get to the park to shoot this week! Today was a pretty great day to go to the park too as there was a juggling workshop going on, as soon as they noticed me a few of the guys in the workshop went a bit crazy in front of the camera! I am hoping that I can shoot tomorrow, but I can't make any promises as it is going to be another busy day as it is Pitch day! 

The Moth. 19th June.

The Moth

by Walter de la Mare

Isled in the midnight air,
Musked with the dark's faint bloom,
Out into glooming and secret haunts
The flame cries, 'Come!'

Lovely in dye and fan,
A-tremble in shimmering grace,
A moth from her winter swoon
Uplifts her face:

Stares from her glamorous eyes;
Wafts her on plumes like mist;
In ecstasy swirls and sways
To her strange tryst.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-moth-10/

The Swan Parade. 15th May.

I was walking by the riverside today and it seemed to be filled with swans, geese and ducks.. and as I walked they all seemed to follow me, no doubt they were hoping to receive a few crumbs which would be thrown their way! I captured the moment with the camera which I carry everywhere... my iPhone camera, it may not produce top quality photos, but it is still a brilliant camera as it's so portable and multi functional.

This week has signified the end of a very busy week of exhibition preparation, yesterday I was printing, today I've been cutting mounts so the prints are ready to frame.. add on all the other small jobs such as re-scanning negatives and printing artist statements/portraits and the week became pretty full. Would love you to come to the Exhibition... it is at UCP, Peterborough on the 26th of June at 7pm (preview evening) and it runs during the daytime until the 29th. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/335781213159820/

Also, well done to England for winning in the football against Sweeden.. 3-2, pretty good score! I'm no obvious football fan, but secretly I quite enjoy watching and playing it sometimes (mainly when England play).

Willow the street dog. 6th January.

This dog, Willow, is owned by a Big Issue seller who is now a well known face of Peterborough. Whilst walking through the streets of the city I noticed that his dog was wearing a hat to keep her from getting cold. I had a little chat with the man and photographed his dog, it was definitely a great part of today.

I also had a portfolio printing session today, I shoot mostly digitally at the moment, a lot of my time with my photographs is spent looking at them on the screen. But today as I was printing them out my love for photographic prints was reignited, prints hold your attention longer and the fact that they are physical objects mean that you can look into them and study the aspects of the photographs in greater depth. I love prints and do not think that digital copies of them would ever take over the beauty of a print.

Snow Horse. 5th February.