The Rock Trail

I am not a big fan of music photography, although I am a big fan of music. I think maybe I don’t know enough about it (the photography, I mean)… and to be honest there wasn't much that sparked my interest.

Although it did include one of the highlights of the festival for me; an exhibition of the portraits taken of Mick Jagger, apparently the most photographed artist, from his first shoot at the age of 19 to the present day. Seeing a series of maybe 50 portraits depicting the same face over time was quite incredible. It becomes a record of fashions through the ages – not only clothes and hair but also the styles of the photographs and what visual imagery was considered on trend. The show was a collection of the most famous names in the business; Anton Corbijn, Terry O’Neill, Cecil Beaton, to name but a few. Interestingly, David Bailey didn’t want to include his famous portrait of Mick in a fur hoodie, surely one of the most iconic images of the singer. Also, there were supposed to be quite few portraits by Annie Liebowitz, which were not there; I couldn’t help wondering if this was a reflection of her current financial situation.

But the best thing about this show was the way it was curated. In an enormous church on the main street, you had to go through a dark corridor before the cburch opened up before you, images adorning the walls in a somewhat haphazard fashion, lit from below. It was truly awe-inspiring, and perhaps, on reflection, it helped to idolise ol’ Mick.



The rest of the Rock trail was in the Ateliers, in an exhibition I sort of whizzed through as I had to get somewhere else. Accompanied by snippets of sounds from the punk era, including radio shows as well as the music itself, it managed to bring together both photographs of bands (concert pics as well as posed portraits for album covers or other commercial means) as well as work which was inspired by the punk era. Things I noted was a lovely display of artwork for one of David Bowie’s albums (love the picture resting on pink buckets), a wapping great typo under a portrait of the wonderful Susan Sontag, and some interesting collages by fellow Mancunian Linder Sterling.

The Argentinian Trail

Guest of Honour at this year’s festival was Argentinian artist Leon Ferrari. The exhibition was situated in a church on the main central square in Arles, a perfect location for his work, which is often a scornful comment on religion or politics. In pride of place at the altar of the church was hung a crucifix unlike any other; a figure of Christ as if crucified onto an American warplane. Other works continued in much the same vein, much of the time with use of press photographs or postcards to make up a satirical photograph. Mice and cats featured heavily too…

Unfortunately pictures in the church were forbidden - this crucifix is taken from the web, and doesn't do it justice. It's position at the alter was quite amazing.

Just across the square from this show was an exhibition of photographs taken by Leon’s father, Augusto Ferrari. A photographer in the turn of the 20th century, his work was mainly large format photographs of theatre sets and actors and actresses. Although interesting from a historical context, it was more the environment of this exhibition which was fascinating… a beautiful cloister with ancient tapastries hung on the walls.

More Argentinian photographers were featured in one of the warehouses in the Parc des Ateliers, a cluster of warehouses a short walk from the city centre where trains used to be built (and stored). These buildings are ideal spaces for exhibitions – large and spacious, floating walls can be erected in any manner of ways to create ideal spaces for the work.

Out of this selection of young Argentinian photographers, my favourite by far was a project entitled Mothers of the Disappeared by Marcos Adandia. This project is a series of black and white portraits of elderly women who lost their children during the dictatorship the late 1970’s. As a signal of solidarity and protest, they cover their heads with white linen; a tradition which still occurs to this day. The simplicity and poignancy of this protest is reflected in these portraits, which also portray the sadness and loss. There is a quest here for social justice and human rights, while also honouring the bond of a mother’s love.

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of this project either, which was wonderfully displayed on a curved wall at the entrance to the exhibition. Instead, here is a pic of the Parc des Ateliers... seemingly desolate, but full of treasures:

Les Rencontres d'Arles

A week ago I got back from Les Rencontres d’Arles, one of the biggest and oldest Photography Festivals in the world. And I was bowled over – it truly is amazing.

Arles is a beautiful town in Provence, its Roman history still apparent in the old town, which is complete with Arena and Roman Amphitheatre. For 2 months during the Summer, the town is dedicated to Photography – exhibitions crop up everywhere; disused warehouses, churches, bars and restaurants, empty shops… not to mention the projections which go on at night, at the Amphitheatre, in squares and in the streets.

The first week is that of the Rencontres (or “Meetings”); that is, a week for professional photographers or enthusiasts to meet one another and network. Seminars and conferences are held outside in a leafy square, portfolio reviews take place for those who can afford them, and every time you go for a beer you bump into a famous face from the industry.

It is apt that the first Rencontres I go to has the logo of a Rhino. Ever since playing a bit part in Ionesco's Absurdist play Rhinoceros while studying French at uni, I have been somewhat obsessed with these animals. Needless to say I bought the t-shirt.

It was for the Rencontres that I was there – in a rather budget fashion, camping just up the road. But this was also a great opportunity to meet other photographers from around the world – Eva Schwimmer and Holger R Weimann from Austria, whose project about Cosplay re-enactors takes them all over the word, fellow Londoner Andy Sewell, whose book The Heath is about to be published, as well as many photography enthusiasts from Germany and other parts of France.

Camping also meant that we got to pass this every night. A huge projection (or was it screening?) on the roof of an old warehouse, of waves tumbling against the shore.

The website says there are 60 exhibitions; in the week I was there I didn’t get to see every one. But the ones I did see were very inspirational – if not because of the work then because of the way the show was curated. The use of space (both dedicated exhibition space and “dead” space) was wonderful, a revelation to me. In the following few blog posts, I will break down my account of the festival into the way that it itself was broken down; exhibitions were curated under three themes: the Argentinian trail, the Rock trail, and the Analogue trail.

Bite! Magazine

Brixton People was featured on Bite! magazine last Sunday... thanks to Julie for recommending me!

Renaissance

On Wednesday night, I was honoured with the task of photographing the Renaissance Photography prize. Renaissance was set up 3 years ago by Fiona Gifford, who suffered from breast cancer at the age of 34. Impressed by the support she received from the Lavender Trust, she was inspired to give something back, and she dreamt up the amazing idea of a photography competition and exhibition. All entry fees to the competition, and proceeds from print sales, go to the Lavender Trust at Breast Cancer Care. Over the last 3 years it has raised an impressive £94,000 for the charity.

The event was at the Hospital Club, and it was a very swanky affair...

FLIPpin 'eck!

God that's a terrible pun... but I couldn't resist! My work is on the front cover of FLIP, the new look magazine of London Independent Photography, with an 8 page feature and interview inside...





















You can get hold of a copy at The Photographer's Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, The Serpentine Gallery (Koenig Books) and Viewfinder in Greenwich.

Turning the clocks back... for a hairstyle shoot.

Shooting on location on one of the rainiest days of the year... for a hairstyle shoot! But with many thanks to the owner of the Golden Hind in Marylebone, good things came of it...

Hair and stylist: Leigh Keates, from Michael van Clarke
Model: Jobe from Bookings Agency.