Hundreds of members of the public are invited to participate in two revolutionary photographic commissions to create public art installations using Olympic finish line technology in London and Birmingham. In association with Rhubarb-Rhubarb, image maker Ádám Magyar will create two large-scale outdoor installations, working with Newham Council and Birmingham Cultural Partnership. A minimum of 300 local people will be needed to create each image. The camera used to create the installations records a scene one pixel at a time to capture movement. Using the same technologies as those used on the Olympic Finish Line, UK-based Hungarian photographer Ádám Magyar has built his own software to transpose the thousands of slices per second, captured by the camera, “to create stunning images which embrace time and space in a most intriguing way”. The Newham Walk for the Camera will be staged on Saturday 17 July at the Mayor’s Newham Show in East Ham, while the Birmingham Walk for the Camera will take place as part of the city’s participation in the London 2012 Open Weekend. To register, visit the website below.

Website: Walking As One

Press Release

Walking As One
Adam Magyar

Newham, London, and Birmingham
Newham: Walk for the Camera on 17 July at 5pm
Birmingham: Walk for the Camera on 24 July at 6pm
Rhubarb Rhubarb International Review: Collision 29 July – 1 August

Hundreds of members of the public to be invited to participate in two revolutionary photographic commissions to create public art installations using Olympic finish line technology in London and Birmingham

In association with Rhubarb-Rhubarb, the internationally renowned Photographic Development Agency, based in the West Midlands, image maker Adam Magyar will create two large-scale outdoor installations, working with Newham Council and Birmingham Cultural Partnership. In each place the public will be invited to take part to create a work of art for their city. A minimum of 300 local people, including young Olympic hopefuls and creatives from the different arts industries, will be needed to create each image.

In July 2010 the public are invited to Walk for the Camera and become part of two large outdoor installations using an innovative camera which captures a scene one pixel at a time to capture movement. The Walking As One image that is created will then be enlarged and transferred on to the blue fence around the Stratford tube station in London, and the hoardings around the Library of Birmingham, a new building which is currently under construction in Centenary Square Birmingham.

In London, the Walk for the Camera will take place on Saturday 17 July at the Mayor’s Newham Show in East Ham, at Central Park and Newham Council is calling on at least 300 local residents to take part. In Birmingham, the walk will take place on 24 July, as part of the city’s celebration of the London 2012 Open Weekend. Using the same technologies as those used on the Olympic Finish Line, Adam Magyar has built his own software to transpose thethousands of slices per second, captured by the camera, to create stunning images which embrace time and space in a most intriguing way. The world around it may change but the camera remains stationary and as one pixel is placed next to another, something intransient emerges. All that is moving becomes stilled and static objects such as buildings become background patterns, adding to the surreal ambience of motion and speed within the image.

Adam Magyar was one of the participants of the 2009 Rhubarb Rhubarb International Review which plays host to photography talents and experts from around the world and which takes place again this year 29 July to 1 August 2010. Magyar’s installations for the hoardings around the site of The Library of Birmingham and for Newham in East London were conceived and produced by Rhubarb Rhubarb Director Rhonda Wilson who said:

“It’s always amazing working with artists – they bring so much energy to the table, to the cities they profile and to the public environment. The International Review is a great resource to find such insight and we were delighted to meet Adam Magyar at our 2009 event and work with him around the Rhubarb ethos – to both develop opportunity and create Extraordinary Projects. There is an eloquent beauty in Adam’s images. They are also metaphorical – of people being united and travelling together. A hopeful message in troubled times.”

Adam Magyar said: “Walking As One is a challenging reinterpretation of my images. Working with Rhubarb Rhubarb gave my concept a new perspective and has turned it into something light and refreshing, I’ll be capturing what people do the world over… they walk.”

Walking As One – Newham

The Walk for the Camera will be staged on Saturday 17 July at the Mayor’s Newham Show in East Ham, at Central Park, High Street South, East Ham and local residents are invited to take part in the walk to create an innovative installation for their borough. The finished installation will be unveiled as part of the East London Photo Month in October 2010 on the blue fence outside Stratford Station and will remain there until July 2011. The installation will symbolises the journey of Newham residents towards the borough’s hosting of the Olympics in 2012, both individually and as part of the regeneration of the area. The tie in with the Olympics is further accentuated b y the finish line technology utilized by Adam’s camera.

Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham: “This is a great opportunity to showcase the arts and to encourage our residents to get involved and be part of developments in Stratford. This is part of our vision for the existing town centre to become the cultural heart of Stratford.”

Newham Council, Rhubarb Rhubarb and Adam Magyar are inviting 300 people to sign up for the walk on the 17th July at 5pm at the Mayor’s Newham Show, Central Park, East Ham. To take part please register at: www.walkingasone.net

Walking As One – Birmingham

Birmingham’s motto is Forward, which fits perfectly with the motion created in Adam’s images. Based in Birmingham, Rhubarb Rhubarb are delighted that the Walk for the Camera will take place as part of the city’s participation in the London 2012 Open Weekend – a UK wide participatory event which celebrates the cultural aspect of the games.

The finished work will be unveiled on 1 August at 5.30pm on the enormous hoarding outside the new site of the Library of Birmingham. Magyar’s print will be shown alongside a historical print by Eadweard Muybridge drawn from the nationally and internationally significant collection of photographs held by the Library of Birmingham and Archives Services. Like Magyar, Muybridge developed a particular technological solution to reveal everyday motion.

Muybridge’s late nineteenth century image captured 24 phases of motion at intervals of 87 thousandth’s of a second. Magyar’s instrument captures thousands of pieces of data per second. Both explore the most universally shared way of moving through time and space - walking. Walking As One will remain outside the Library for 2 months, and there will be another chance to see more of Adam’s work, including the walks that didn’t make the final cut, at The Mailbox, five minutes walk from Centenary Square between 24th July and 5th August.Cllr Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member for Leisure Sport and Culture at Birmingham City Council, said: “The site hoardings at the Library of Birmingham have been the focus of much attention of late, with the unveiling of the first ‘Faces’ of the project together with the installation of the pioneering living wall, and we’re excited to announce this latest addition. We are delighted to be working with Rhubarb Rhubarb and Adam Magyar on this very special project to celebrate the National Cultural Olympiad Weekend, and we’re sure that the people of Birmingham will be impressed by the Walking As One exhibition.”

Rhubarb Rhubarb and Adam Magyar are inviting 300 people to sign up for the walk on the 24th July at 6pm at Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham. To take part please register at: www.walkingasone.net

Rhubarb Rhubarb International Review: Collision

Rhubarb Rhubarb’s International Reviews are designed to aid photographers with the professional development of their careers. Each year the International Review focuses on one particular element in the industry landscape. This year the International Review’s theme is Collision: Where Image Worlds Meet which aims to highlight the changes taking place in within the worlds of photography and new media.

The International Review: Collision explores the hybrid forms of practices which are being created by photographers who fall in between, or across, traditional categories and to explore where documentary and commercial practices cross over into the world of fine art. Participants will have the opportunity to display their work to specialist reviewers from different sectors. The reviewers in return view folios that may not usually come their way.

“Rhubarb has reached new levels. Every year, more diverse and challenging opportunities are offered to photographers whilst the professional, stress free and friendly atmosphere remains the same. Rhubarb was one of the key elements that kick-started my career in art photography.” Vee Speers The International Review is renowned in the photography world for its high success rate of matching the right photographers with the right reviewers, via its unique online booking system where photographers have the opportunity to choose who will review their portfolio. As such, Rhubarb Rhubarb continues to attract respected reviewers from across the UK, Europe and USA. Stephen Mayes, CEO of VII Photo Agency in New York and Harry Hardie from Foto8, sit alongside the more commercial figures – Tim Paton, Balcony Jump Management and David Birkitt of DMB Media, connecting to fine art aficionados including Stephanie Braun, Curator at the Photographers Gallery, London, and Debra Klomp Ching, of Klompching Gallery, New York. Participating in the International Review can provide photographers with a launch pad from which to further their careers. Success stories include Vee Speers who met publisher Dewi Lewis at the 2006 Review, subsequently creating her wonderful book, The Birthday Party. Vee’s images have appeared have appeared in The Sunday Times, Harpers & Queen, Arena, Esquire, and Black and White Magazine. She is also one of four artists, including Annie Liebovitz, to exhibit in the inaugural show at Fotografiska, the new museum of photography in Stockholm. Other successes include Adam Magyar, who has been commissioned to create two public installations in Newham, London and Birmingham, and The Jackson Twins who have exhibited at the Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney and Rhubarb East, Birmingham. Photographers participating in the International Review are also offered the opportunity to show their work to all the reviewers via the Portfolio Promenade, this year to be held on 31 July at the newly opened MAC (Midland Arts Centre) in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham. Rhubarb Rhubarb guests will also be joined by potential buyers and public.

Hungry Bursary and Exhibitions

At the heart of Rhubarb Rhubarb is the commitment to support young and talented photographers. This year Rhubarb-Rhubarb partnered with Arts Council West Midlands, Rhubarb East Gallery, Birmingham, Flowers East Gallery London, and Genesis Imaging to present the second set of the highly digestible ‘Hungry’ Bursary Awards Scheme.

This years successful applicants won the opportunity to display their work in front of prestigious figures from the industry, to have their exhibition prints professionally produced by Genesis Imaging and to be part of two prestigious exhibitions. The first will be held at Rhubarb East Gallery, 22 June – 21 August in Birmingham and the show will then move onto Flowers East Gallery in London 9 September - 9 October as part of East London Photo Month. Winners also have the chance to attend the Rhubarb International Promenade on 30 July at the MAC, Birmingham, to attend the Rhubarb International Seminar and to spend the day at one of Rhubarb tailor made events, dependent on which course entered.

The theme of the 2010 Bursary mirrored that of the 2010 Rhubarb International Review, Collision - Where Image Worlds Meet and was open to photographers whose work delved into the realms where documentary, commercial and fine art practices merge or cross over. The Bursary Scheme aims to show the best of UK photographers, alongside those in the West Midlands, in the three different stages of their development, outlined in the Rhubarb Rhubarb Pyramid of Opportunity, as starters, mains and desserts.

2010 Bursary Winners: Julia Curtin, David Plummer, Kelly Hill, Zhao Renhui, Kate Owens , Marcia Michael and Tom Lovelace.

Adam Magyar

Adam was awarded 1st Place at the 2009 International Photography Awards for Fine Art – Collage. He was also awarded 1st place at the International Photography Awards in Special - Aerial subcategory for his work Squares. Adam’s previous exhibitions include: Defining Urban Life and Art Sunday at the Karin Weber Gallery, Hong Kong 2009, József Pécsi Scholarship Annual Exhibition Hungarian House of Photography, Budapest 2008 and Bits, Bytes and Pixels at Island6, Shanghai 2007 Adam has spent extensive time in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kolkata and New York. His fascination with time and space, combined with the cityscapes he encounters influences and informs his work.

www.magyaradam.com

Photo credit: Ádám Magyar, Urban Flow # 1075, London, Digital Silver Gelatin Print

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