Published on Thu Nov 4, 2021 by David J Colbran
A couple of weeks ago I was honoured to be asked to present and exhibit some of my artworks at the Unmasked Digifest and annual research conference 2021, based in Durban, South Africa.
Back in the deep lockdown of 2020 I joined an online art class organised by The Open Eye Gallery - a visual art project which reflected on our collective experience of the pandemic. We explored a variety of crafts and techniques with the goal of creating a series of anonymous postcards to our future selves. I have blogged about my finished pieces before - check the Postcards from Us post.
The programme for Digifest had close to 28 sessions, 48 virtual exhibitions and 56 speakers from South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Brazil, The United Kingdom, United States of America, France, Germany, Singapore, Italy, Greece and Mexico. And as it existed in the virtual world, I had to brush up on my Zoom / Team skills for my presentation.
Fortunately during lockdown I learnt OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) and tested out my new skils with some live streaming music sessions. It is clear that OBS is a great solution for offline video recording and live streaming. It has an open canvas approach to video creation and can mix a variety of audio and video sources to a single output. This output can then be recorded or hooked in to other broadcast applications - in this instance Microsoft Teams. So it enabled me to show the viewers my work, while at the same time my face appearing in a small box, as I was giving my presentation.
It really was useful looking back and reflecting on my work during the preparation for this event. Also it pushed me out of my comfort zone in developing and delivering a presentation. I rarely am seen the other side of a lens and hardly ever talking directly to camera - so that was a good challenge.
Below are a few screen grabs from the presentation and my certificates from the Festival.
Tags: presentation, personal, projectAuthor: David J Colbran
It is great news that the Labour movement returns its yearly gathering to the city. A great boost to the hospitality sector for the city and reinforces its role as a leading conference and event host destination in the UK.
Africa Oye is done and dusted - wow what a great weekend. Saturday's music and line up was a killer. So coming up a few highlights of the artists and some ground views. Anyways, my favourite festival and a highlight of my year for sure.
I was back with the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) at the Manchester Central Convention Complex taking conference photos and covering an evening gala dinner at Manchester Museum
"If you are looking for a creative and reliable event photographer, David is your guy. I commissioned him to travel to London to cover a business event where we were exhibiting and to also capture some staff portraits of the exec management team. His fees were competitive and his attitude totally positive & fun. David is an excellent photographic supplier. I highly recommend his services."