The Ways of Looking Festival ^.^

I'll be going to the Ways of looking Festival in Bradford with my peers soon. This Festival runs all through  October,(1st-31st to be exact). 2011's Festival is exploring the theme of 'EVIDENCE'

Photographers such a Red Saunders, Jeremy Deller and Donovan Wylie will have their works showcased there - although one in particular photographers work I'd like to see is Craig Ames.

Craig Ames work began when he took training to be an Evidence Photographer while serving in the British Army. His job was documenting terrorist scenes of crime in Northern Ireland, which proved to be a catalyst for developing his fascination with the medium of Photography, this was all around 1991. Since then he has developed a range of interest for areas such as History, Politics, Science, Law and Conflict.

The thing that drew me to Ames' work when I was researching the Festival is the text that goes with his Photographs.
The text is titled 'Serious Incident Report'
Beneath the title headings are :

• Type of incident
• Location of incident
• Units involved
• Date of incident
• Witnessed and reported by

And Mainly (?)

• Witness statement

Making the Image aside it much more than just a snap shot, but a story! As you read the text you get a real feel for what has 'happened', which then in a way forces the viewer to put their emotions to the Photograph, it makes people think about how horrific the situation may have been etc.

This series to me, doesn't just seem like a series you could just quickly glance past in a gallery, it is a series that gets the viewer involved, this is why I definitely think it would be interesting to see. I'll look forward to it.



- Ashleigh Sawyer