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20
Oct 2010

Buzzed by a Spitfire

  This is probably one of the scariest shoots I’ve done – not least because I was expected to get the shot in one run as the Spitfire was very expensive to hire. I think it was around £700 for one fly-past. This was a discounted price too, as it was returning from an airshow in Weymouth. It took place at RAF Duxford in Cambridgeshire, where the car was parked in the middle of the runway. Using a long lens, I followed the plane pretty much as a gunner would have done in trying to shoot it down. It must […]
16
Oct 2010

Chrysanthemums…….or Chrymanthesums?

Every time I hear the word Chrysanthemum I think of the Monty Python sketch, Flower arranging, with DP Gumby.  When I went to my friend Lila das Gupta’s allotment yesterday, to photograph a few varieties of  Chrysanthemum, the picture of Michael Palin standing in front of a table with a knotted handkerchief on his head was never far away. Chrysanth’s have had bad press over the years, which has not been helped by the cliched petrol station flower. I don’t hate them. I might even be persuaded there are some nice ones. Some. Lila’s plants were willing subjects for portraits. […]

15
Oct 2010

Eadweard Muybridge

Last week I visited the new Eadweard Muybridge exhibition at Tate Britain. On leaving the gallery, I saw a note on the foyer wall saying visit the cafe and download the Muybridgizer app for your iPhone….. The exhibition was fascinating. There was a wide range of work on display and a lot was new to me. Before his experiments with time sequences, Muybridge made a lot of money in the United States from some of his landscape photography, particularly with stereographs. These were small cards with two photographs of the same subject, each from a slightly different perspective. Seen through a […]

3
Oct 2010

The Palace Art Fair and the New York Affordable Art Fair

Just a quick note to say that I will be exhibiting recent work at the Palace Art Fair, London, from 7th to 10th October 2010. Housed in the  splendid surroundings of Fulham Palace, and  arranged by the organizers of the Brighton Art Fair, it promises to be a great event. I’m also excited that some of my work, the Pinhole Impressions series, along with 43 Gardeners’ Hands, will be at the New York City Affordable Art Fair this weekend, represented by Will’s Art Warehouse.

3
Oct 2010

Car Photo – a classic magazine from 1985

A couple of weeks ago I was handed a copy of Car Photo by my friend and colleague Ian Dawson. A supplement to Car Magazine in 1985,  it was the benchmark of automotive photography at that  time, and certainly influenced the way I worked. As a rooky photographer on What Car? Magazine, with barely three months under my belt, I remember flicking through a copy in my local WH Smith and thinking bloody hell! Ian was one of the contributing photographers and he kindly searched out his last spare copy, as mine had disappeared after several house moves. What is great […]

3
Oct 2010

Helen Yemm and Thorny problems

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing the Telegraph gardening columnist,  Helen Yemm for a project I had just started. After we had finished, we chatted over several cups of coffee in her kitchen, where  I noticed a large wooden sign behind a door. It turned out to be a souvenir from a Q&A session she did for the Telegraph, and  I believe it will take pride of place on a wall somewhere, once a space has been found. In the meantime, I thought I had to get a snap of her with her prize!

2
Oct 2010

Adventures with an iPhone

My colleague Jason Ingram recently posted a few photographs on his blog, illustrating the use of his iPhone with an App called the Hipstamatic. This made me curious. Although I have owned several mobile phones with  built in cameras, I had never used them to take photographs. As I nearly always carry a bag full of professional kit, the photographic capabilities of a mobile phone have always been excess to requirements. That is until recently, after I finally succumbed to fashion and bought an iPhone! On a  family outing to A Garden Party To Make A Difference, staged at three […]

30
Aug 2010

Kodachrome – no more!

I’ve recently been reading postings on forums regarding the demise of Kodachrome, a film which has been used by generations of photographers, amateurs and pros alike.  Introduced in 1935, it was available in various forms until 2009, when Kodak announced it would cease production due to a fall in demand. If you are one of the few who have any rolls left, remember you have until 30th December 2010 to get it to Dwayne’s Photos in Parsons, Kansas, the last place still processing this film, when even they will stop. I shot my first rolls of Kodachrome in 1979 and […]

2
Jul 2010

I’m a Photographer, not a Terrorist – update

A quick update to the post in January, regarding Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The European Court of Human Rights has rejected the governments appeal against the ruling, which states S44 is in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. There are still ways the police can stop photographers, should they choose to do so, but it is a step in the right direction. For more information, see the I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist website. To continue with the campaign, another gathering of photographers has been planned for Sunday 4th July at 12 noon, outside Scotland […]

27
Jun 2010

The Somme memorial at Thiepval

Two days ago I had the opportunity to visit the Somme region in Northern France whilst on an assignment. I have driven past the area countless times on car shoots, but  this time I made a particular point of stopping and visiting some of the World War One cemeteries. The most moving was at Thiepval, which is the site of the largest British war memorial in the world. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and opened in 1932 by the Prince of Wales, you can see inscribed the names of the 73,357 British and South African men who fell at the […]