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Approached at the beginning of the year by Art for Life, Peter Goldfield was delighted to respond to requests the organiser had received for more photography to be seen and though in the midst of establishing his on-line gallery he eagerly set about going through negatives and more recent digital material in order to produce a completely new show of work that such a spacious gallery makes possible and a special setting – the hospital which cares for the family.

A visit to the theatre in Stratford set the title of the show, words from King Lear ‘Briefly Thyself Remember’.  So how do some sixty pieces of work tie in with that title?   Initial interest in the arts through the theatre led Peter Goldfield to play with the notions of fact and fictions, objectivity and (in the post-modern world) with truth, faction and docudrama.  Peter’s work recognises that there is always a little of ‘the real’ world’ in every image made by the filmic route, no matter how apparently abstract – he stretches the umbilical between art and reality to its limit – but never breaks it. 

This show is a new narrative through the deceits and the delights of the real world as revealed through the metaphor of black and white photography (his main medium in the 70s and 80s) and digital filmic processes since the early 90s.  Peter is one of the earliest workers exploring the digital medium and was included in a show at Photofusion, London, which was amongst the first to respect the new ways of working.

To use Goldfield’s own words about being an artist “Each decision of an artist (when making a picture) is a subliminal act of self-recognition, just as each response of you the viewer (looking at a series of pictures) is a subliminal act of self-recognition and thus the pictures become an individual narrative for each individual viewer.”  We hope you enjoy looking at this work and in so doing ‘briefly thyself remember’.

These sixty or so pictures are drawn from various bodies of work over the last thirty years of working as an artist, although starting out with an initial qualification in medical science (pharmacy).  This scientific desire for adventure and research meant that Goldfield has always tried to push the boundaries with ideas as well as materials.  In the late 70s frustrated that Agfa UK had decided to cease imports of fine black and white printing papers that gave Peter the ability to produce a print he wanted (soft, contrast, etc) he overcame the barrier by going to the factory gates in the Ruhr Valley and brought back a VW camper van load of materials that he also made available to others who wished to use these materials by setting up an emporium known as Goldfinger, it was in the corner of the pharmacy but eventually took over the selling space and even had a gallery space ‘Fingerprints’ which made space for little known photographers to have their first public exhibition.  Even at that time Peter owned a computer, buying second hand on an expensive lease Commodore PETs from Barclays Bank!  This was the means by which Goldfinger ran one of the earliest stock control sales accounting programmes (naturally developed in-house!)  But more importantly it was the software, with daisy wheel printer that enabled the output of a now legendary book on fine printing to be published in an edition of 5000 – The Goldfinger Craftbook for Creative Photography condensed in user friendly top spiral bound handbook the ‘mysticism’ of the Zone System of exposing negatives and then producing prints on paper – Peter wished to share the ‘science’ – the idea that the computer now ‘controls’ images is a denial that the able photographer and darkroom worker was perfectly able to control the medium – because they understood light sensitive material  (modern software uses ‘masks’ and feather-edge tools) in the fine printing darkroom, the able printer used their understanding of the density of their negative, the power of the enlarger light, the sensitivity of the paper – they made tests of the variety of blacks and whites any one type of paper coating could yield.  Feathering and masking was done by using the hands as barrier to light falling on certain areas of the paper (keeping the area ‘darker’) and a cotton wool ball blu-tacked to a piece of copper wire was used to ‘soften’ the edge of an area. Now the same is done in the ‘digital darkroom’ using a much wider range of materials, and with, it can be argued, a closer experience, more intuitively, and with greater passion!

Peter Goldfield was born in London but has lived in Somerset for almost twenty years coming here specifically to continue his exploration with the photographic medium through his own work and through masterclasses which gave people from all walks of life the opportunity for intensive study with leading artists, photographers and lecturers from Britain and overseas.

Peter’s contribution to photography has been recognised through many exhibitions and he was thrilled to have been amongst the first Brits to be exhibited at the Californian gallery named after one of the world’s most famous photographers Edward Weston. 
This exhibition has given the opportunity for a large amount of work to be exhibited in Somerset and has given a public showing of some of the work which was inspired by his commission as one of the artists invited to contribute to the Millennium Festival in 2000, The Year of the Artist.  Visitors may be interested to know that Somerset had a good number of artists in what was a national festival.  Peter’s Millennium work entitled ‘Drop to Drink’ was an artist’s response to a ‘flying colour’ – the flag being one of the earliest forms of visual communication known to man.  Its key pieces were three tall vertical banners around the theme of water as a valuable resource.  Peter’s banners have since been seen internationally on Sky Sport broadcasts when the banners were displayed over the Olympic pool and the fencing hall, for the duration of the 2001 Modern Pentathlon Games.   

Other work rendered on a horizontal plane and notably ‘Long Blue’ is in this exhibition at over 18ft wide.  This and other pieces shows an outcome of Peter’s exploration of ‘video-still’ and how it can be rendered as a two dimensional non-moving image, while contributing something ‘new’ to visual language – always the imperative for the experimental artist.  Not conventional panoramas, nor ‘joiners’ nor collage, Long Blue shows Peter’s experimentation with a highly specialised form of software known as ‘visual stitching’ which makes an invisible join but also a new space, though nonetheless starting out in the real world – a photon of light falling on light sensitive material.  This stitching software was originally produced for industries using repeat patterns – fabrics, carpets, flooring, wallpapers.  In the tradition of artists from Leonardo and further back to cave artists, Goldfield has used materials and tools to render his own ideas.  In this case Goldfield produces what he terms a new visual rhythm between the real and imagined worlds.  Collaboration with Epson UK combines 1.2mwide x30m long media with Epson’s 200yr archival ink technology.  Thanks to Epson’s sponsorship all output is under Peter’s own control in his own studio, just as it is in the darkroom.

Hospital corridors as exhibition spaces for contemporary work are truly remarkable – accessible 24/7, well-provided with facilities for disabled visitors and a huge daily footfall of viewers.  Peter plans to be present during the exhibition - times posted at the end of the gallery, or here on the website and will be pleased to answer your questions on aspects of his and your photography. 

If you wish to purchase please click on any large picture in the online gallery and follow the directions.  Commission on sales provides further activities and arts for the hospital as the Art for Life programme is not funded from the patient care budget.  Your support is an important donation to its continuance and there is a growing body of evidence that the presence of the works themselves (regardless of whether they are simply decorative) combined with arts activities for patients makes a positive contribution to recovery.

Peter Goldfield has been delighted to create and exhibit ‘Briefly Thyself Remember’ and thanks the Art for Life organisers for setting this corridor space aside for exhibitions and thanks you the viewer for your visit.