Kate Mellor vyštudovala fotografiu na Manchester Polytechnic School of Art (1974) a na University of Wales, Newport (Master of photography). V súčasnosti spolupracuje s katedrou Mediálnej komunikácie a Elektronického snímania Univerzity Bradford a pracuje ako lektor Výtvarnej fotografie na Bradford School of Art. Ako lektor a vyučujúci pracovala aj na mnohých iných školách, univerzitách (vrátane Cumbria College of Art a Dewsbura College of Art and Design) a v galériách.

Kate Mellor fotografuje krajinu, je známa sériou panoramatických snímkov Britského pobrežia. Pracuje hlavne na verejnú objednávku a pre galérie. Medzi jej známe práce patrí séria "Modrý posun (Blue Shift)" zaoberajúcu sa vodou, ktorá je výzvou voči bežným pohľadom na krajinu. Jej posledná tvorba zahŕňa falošný naratívny príbeh z Európskych kúpeľných miest "Po stopách Roberta Pinnacla". Podielala sa tiež na projektoch výstav "Pustatina" a "Regenerácia" pre Bezmennú (v súčasnosti Site) Galériu v Sheffielde a pre kardiologickú jednotku v nemocnici v Leeds. Vystavovala v mnohých mestách Británie a Spojených Štátov (bola vybraná pre výstavu "objavov" na poslednom Fotofeste v Houstone), jej práce sú súčasťou stálej výstavy na Britskej Ambasáde v Hong-Kongu. V roku 1994 získala hlavnú cenu Yorkshire and Humberside Arts pre fotografiu.

Žije so svojou rodinou v South Pennin-skej vysočine Yorkshirského kráľovstva.



Kate Mellor studied Photography at Manchester Polytechnic School of Art, graduating in 1974 She received her Masters in Potography from the University of Wales, Newport. Currently she contributes to the Imaging and Design module for the University of Bradford Electronic Imaging and Media Communications Department and teaches Fine Art Photography at Bradford School of Art. She has taught at other Colleges and Universities in the UK including Cumbria College of Art and Dewsbura College of Art and Design. She has a been a visiting lecturer giving tutorials, lectures and workshops at many other universities and galleries, and was a speaker at the last Changing Views of the Landscape Conference.

She is a photographic practitioner best known for her work with landscape, notably her series of panoramic images of the British coast Island: "The Sea Front" which was toured internationally by the British Council. She works mainly on public commissions and for galleries and other public spaces. Her most recent work is "Une Semaine de Bonheur" exhibiting at TRACE,in Dorset.GB. Other works include the commission from Photo98 "In the Steps of Robert Pinnacle", a false narrative set in European spa towns, for the European Year of Photography and the Electronic Image festival. This work was selected by IRIS at Staffordshire University for the publication and touring exhibition „Shifting Horizons“ Projects that she has been involved with include the exhibitions "Wasteland" and "Regeneration" for the Untitled (now Site) Gallery, Sheffield, and work for the Cardiology Unit at the Leeds General Infirmary. Her work has been exhibited widely in Britain, in the U.S. where she was selected for the "Discoveries" exhibition at the most recent Houston Fotofest, and is permanently sited in the British Council/Embassy building in Hong Kong. Recently her work was exhibited at Lichtblick Downtown in Cologne in the“ Declinations of Boundaries“ festival and in Halle in the "Ist Fotographie am Ende? " symposium. In 2003 she received a research grant from the Arts Council England and 1994 she received a Yorkshire and Humberside Arts major award for photographic practice.

She lives in the South Pennines, an upland area of Yorkshire with her family.



PANELÁKY

Keď som po prvýkrát videla Poprad, pripomenulo mi to niečo, čo kedysi povedala spisovateľka Beatrix Campbell o meste Sheffield - že je to krajina v prvom rade stvorená na prácu - kvôli prevahe starej sovietskej architektúry. Takmer každý býva v týchto výškových panelákoch - socialistických robotníckych príbytkoch. V prípade Popradu platí, že sú postavené uprostred veľmi vidieckej krajiny, a to spôsobuje, že vyzerajú tak čudne; zdajú sa byť dôkazom toho, aká radikálna bola k autonómnym vidieckym komunitám sovietska ideológia.

A tak som začala fotografovať tieto budovy na vidieku, všímajúc si ako boli usporiadané do tvaru siete. Vytvorenie siete je v podstate spôsob, ako kontrolovať priestor, spôsob ako zjednotiť nesúrodé objekty, a používa sa v armádnych mapách na dosiahnutie prehľadu v neznámom teritóriu. Pomocou siete môže byť miesto jednoducho vytvorené z priestoru. A toto miesto bolo vytvorené na produkciu - na prácu. Potom som dostala možnosť fotografovať ľudí, ktorí žijú v týchto bytoch a rozhodla som sa pozrieť na opačný spôsob vytvárania miesta. Fotografovala som obyvateľov, ktorí sa pohybovali po svojom byte, ponorení do práce pri skrášľovaní alebo starostlivosti o svoj domov. Práca, ktorá vytvára miesto - ale pretože sa vykonáva v domácom priestore, je to práca, ktorá zostáva neviditeľnou a často je znevažovaná, pretože nevytvára bohatstvo. Začala som sa zaujímať o tradičné textílie, ktoré mnoho ľudí stále má a dokonca si ich stále vyrábajú pre svoje domovy.

Fotografie interiérov som uložila do istej schémy, ktorá pochádza z fotografie a bola vykreslená použitím vektorového grafického programu. Chcela som umiestniť fotografie do niečoho, čo by bolo akýmsi emblémom histórie a tradície slovenského vidieka. Veľká časť ikonografie v týchto schémach má svoj základ v črtách krajiny - ďalšie stvárnenie miesta. Digitálne som vytvorila veľké panely, a tie majú vyvolávať pocit silného materiálu zavesených textílií. Táto práca bola určená pre galerijný priestor a nedá sa veľmi adaptovať na iné miesto.

Keď posudzujeme nejaké miesto alebo identitu miesta, môžeme to vnímať ako výsledok komplexného vrstvenia udalostí, a práca je toho oslobodzujúcou súčasťou; práca a potreba vytvoriť prácu sa stáva súčasťou akejkoľvek krajiny.



"PANELAKS" BLOCKS OF FLATS

When I first saw Poprad I was reminded of what the writer Beatrix Campbell once said about Sheffield - that it was a landscape primarily made for work - because of the pre-dominance of the old Soviet architecture. Just about everyone lives in these high-rise apartment blocks - socialist workers dwellings. In Poprad, it is the fact that they are placed in the middle of a very rural landscape that makes them seem so anomalous; they seem to testify as to how radical the Soviet ideology was to the autonomous rural communities of Slovakia.

So I began to photograph these buildings from rural locations noting how they were structured upon a grid form. The grid is essentially a strategy for controlling space, it unifies disparate entities and has been used within military charts to achieve control over territory that is unfamiliar. With a grid a place can be just made out of space. This was a place made for production - for work. I was then given the opportunity to photograph people living inside the apartments and decided to look at a converse way of constructing place. I photographed the dwellers moving around engaged in some task of beautifying or caring for their home. Work which makes a place - but because it is in the domestic area it is production which remains invisible and is often seen to lack status because it is not wealth-creating. I began to be interested in the traditional textiles that many people still had and even continued to make for their domestic environments.

The images of the interiors were placed within a pattern which originated from the photograph and was drawn using a vector graphics programme. I wanted to locate the images in something that was emblematic of the history and tradition of rural Slovakia. Much of the iconography in these patterns has its basis in landscape features - another rendition of place. I designed large panels digitally and these are intended to have the strong material feel of textile hangings. This work was intended for a gallery space and does not really adapt to any other site.

While considering any place or identity of a place it can be seen to be the result of a complex layering of events and work is an extricable part of this; work and the need to create work becomes part of any landscape.

výber fotografií z projektu
"PRÁCE V PROCESE / PANELÁKY"

selection of photographies from project
"WORK IN PROGESS / "PANELAKS" BLOCKS OF FLATS"

Zo série "Z ostrova: Pobrežie", from series "From Island: The Sea Front"


Zo série "Po stopách Roberta Pinnacla", from series "In the Steps of Robert Pinnacle"


Zo série, from series "Une Semaine de Bonheur"