F.A.Q.
Q: How did the idea for the exhibition come about?
A: Very quickly in November 2008. I had only one week for emails and phonecalls to College Development Offices, the UL and the Whipple Museum, and five days the following week in Cambridge to take photographs of as many relevant items as possible for the paintings. The exhibition therefore represents what Cambridge University can come up with in one week, with no advance warning!
My mid-December visit coincided with admissions interviews and the Winter Solstice, so Fellows were very busy, the days were short and dark for photographing in natural light, and many books had been taken out for holiday reading, so were not available to be photographed! Nonetheless, I managed to collect enough photographic material to create the compositions for each painting.
Q: On what basis were the objects chosen?
A: I had an approximate concept or theme for each painting and a list of texts and objects, based on background reading and the historical period, and integrated further ideas into this from colleges, the UL and Whipple Museum.
Q: How were the images created?
A: The objects were photographed individually in their separate locations around Cambridge, and then combined into a composition using digital imagery software, which was then used as visual information for the painting process.
Q: How did you photograph the older books wide open or standing?
A: All of the books (except for the contemporary books in the 1909-2009 painting) had to be photographed laying upon full foam book supports in order not to damage their spines or pages. Most of the positions of the books therefore had to be created in Photoshop.