First up, I owe Paige an apology. She was kind enough to let me make these images back in July last year...and I have been sitting on them ever since for now reason other than my laziness. Thank you Paige for your patience, and thank you again for letting me make these photos.
I first came across Paige's work in Artel (my coffee shop of choice in the fine city), where she had some lovely wax relief decorated terracotta tumblers for sale, one of which I quickly snapped up. Like most cermaics, the real draw for me was the tactile nature of the pot - and the decoration really added to that. There's a lovely spikiness to the relief which I really like...you have to hold it to know what I mean. Since then, I've snapped up a couple of flower pots, and a wax relief mug in a different colour (which is my regular mid-afternoon Chemex mug).
What I love about Paige's work, as you might have already guessed, is the physical nature of the finished product. I'm an obsessive about objects in general, but objects that tell a story in particular. Paige lets the natural clay shine through, and many of her creations are (like the wax relief tumbler) very tactile, with dribbles of glaze and other "Imperfections" that enhance the overall appearance and result.
I hope by now you're thinking "Where do I get to see Paige's work and...heck...where can I buy some?" The answer to the first question is on Paige's website...the answer to the second question could be the same, but if you're in Norwich I should also point you to Paige's lovely new store Elm, which can be found in the heart of The Lanes.
So...I should probably talk a little bit about the image making. As with the prior Companion Denim shoot, I wanted to use a mixture of techniques to show Paige at work, with a key goal being to show the movement and dynamism behind the art. Throwing a pot is a very physical activity, much more so than I imagined, and I hope that comes through in these images.
As is probably no surprise to anyone (at least anyone who has paid a passing interest in my work), pinhole photography was at the heart of my process (and you can see my trusty Zero Image 69 in one of the B&W shots above), backed up by Instax (using the Lomo Wide...which has become the bane of my life - a story for another day) and a digital camera with a red dot on it.
Part of the joys of this project is it is agnostic to the tools I use. I don't want to limit myself to one type of camera or a specific technique. Rather, I want to be able to have some fun during the shoot, and to explore different ways of showing the artists work in progress. That being said, I do think pinhole photography is a perfect tool for the more dynamic shots (yes...I could Big Stopper the heck out of things too).
...and with that, we come to the end of another short blog post. Once I have completed a few more of these shoots, I'll pull a page together bringing together the various makers. That, of course, means I have to get off my lazy ass and find some more willing artists. If you want to save me the trouble and volunteer yourself for this project then please do contact me...I would be more than delighted to hear from you.
All that is left to be said is to thank Paige once again for being part of this project, and to encourage you (dear reader etc) to check out Paige's work at the links above or on her Instagram.