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Chalkie Davies - the NME Years
CARDIFF MUSEUM
Chalkie Davies began as an assistant for another photographer at NME magazine, who then recommended him when he left for another job, so it was a case of being there at the right time and place which enabled him to get the photographers job.
Entering the room at Cardiff Museum, the exhibition was free and it was brightly lit and had plenty of space to walk around and look at the exhibits at different levels. The show was set up chronologically starting from his early years to his later images. I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was quite busy, some children where there and it was quite noisey at one point but they soon left.
One of the earliest images to catch my eye was of Debbie Harry sitting on a stool -
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/e8/17/7d/e8177df6d211af87e83009ff23816c25.jpg
The sitter is arranged against a black background with white clothes so really stands out. The way she sits, her legs lead you into the picture and the fact that she is wearing shades make you look harder and longer into her face.
Chalkie did a lot of portraits against black or white backdrops, but for some reason I find the black ones more interesting and think they stand out better. Its more of a statement!
A very young Dolly Parton sitting in the back of a taxi is another image that spoke to me as she she looks quite vulnerable. She looks quite chubby faced and young so this is before she had any surgery done and to be honest think she looks healthy and natural.
Some of the displays were media enabled so you could sit and flick through them on the screen and there was aslo a glass cabinet with music ticket stubs in, cameras and other memorabilia which was quite interesting to look at as some of the children there had never seen a film camera before.
The sitters were obviously used to Chalkie and payed up to the camera quite happily. The sizes of the images varied and some of them are even more poignant now looking back as some of the celebraties have passed on this year - such as David Bowie. Chalkie had a large image of Bowie as a mulitiple exposure/reflection where he was dancing about.
I would recommend going to see the show, loved seeing the groups from the '80's, it brought back a lot of the music and memories for me. My friend who isnt a photographer enjoyed it. It showed me that I like certain types of natural looking portraits and posed ones too. All in all the show was enjoyable and I would go and see another of Chalkies exhibitions.
I think the biggest thing Ive learnt from Chalkie is to keep shooting even when the portrait session has finished.
Heres a video of Chalkie Davies work from youtube -
Bibliography:‘Chalkie Davies: The NME years’ opens at the national museum Cardiff (2015) Available at: https://www.lomography.com/magazine/311392-chalkie-davies-the-nme-years-opens-at-the-national-museum-cardiff (Accessed: 14 September 2016). In-line Citation:(‘Chalkie Davies: The NME years’ opens at the national museum Cardiff, 2015)
Bibliography:marc thorner (2015) Chalkie Davies: The NME years 1080p. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6flStGi-J5o (Accessed: 14 September 2016). In-line Citation:(marc thorner, 2015)