Wanted Dead or Alive.

As Greater Manchester Police continue there new found love affair with big photo's I wonder if they have really thought this one through. Take some sixteen year old males who have had their heads filled with guns and films and "gansta" and then you go offer them the ultimate status symbol, a new kind of kudos a giant "Wanted" Poster in the middle of the city centre. They then say that they think he may be in Birmingham anyway. Now that's a special kind of dumb.......

Music Town

Can there be any town anywhere that has had a bigger impact on music than Manchester?
Not just the usual suspects you know your, Joy Divisions ya Smiths, Roses etc. No I mean before that. Take the Halle for instance. Oldest symphony orchestra in Britain and fourth oldest in the world. And these guys above. Sweet Sensations. Ever heard of them? No me neither but we should have done. Sweet, sweet soul coming from Manchester town. For a good rundown of Manchester music from The Hollies up to more modern stuff go HERE. I knew Manchester produced bands but I didn't realise the complete quantity, quality and sheer diversity.

Lost In Manchester.

I've been meaning to flag this blog up for a while, I think I got a little confused because it's called Lost In Manchester but it's address is www.doorsintothepast.blogspot.com Not that matters. it's full of great little titbit's about Manchester.

Discuss.

Fancy 4 Grand to Photograph Bolton?

Image Humphrey Spender (cheers to Bolton Museums)

If you've gone and got yourself into more debt doing an MA in photography and you live in the North West here's your chance to clear 4 grand off the overdraft/loan with this grant to follow in the footsteps of Humphrey Spender. For more details go HERE.

Cheers to David Wyatt for the tip off, an old Manchester Photography friend, and a bloody good Documentary photographer himself.

Twice Today,

Image copyright Zhang Xiao

I've found myself agreeing with Joerg Colberg over on Conscientious and that almost never happens. First up his post Is Black and White Dead? Of course it's bloody not. And second up there's some really great images over on Zhang Xiao's site. So that's my post done for the day. I'm just pointing you to JC's site.

I'm a lazy bastard I am...........

I loved the hick American woman who during a debate on health care said she didn't want to be "socialised like the Russians". Free health for everyone, fuck we Yankee doodle don't want that?!!?

Keith Arnatt.

I'm a real big admirer of the late great Keith Arnett, and I still don't think that the importance of his work is appreciated as much as it should be, at least as far as the photographic world is concerned. Interesting little film here featuring his good friend David Hurn.

Image copyright Mark Page

Really sorry to hear about Miss Blears car. No honestly I am. No really really sorry. Honest. Swear to God, I'm proper upset. Cross my heart.........

Mirko Martin.

Images copyright Mirko Martin

Mirko Martin's series L.A. CRASH puts me in mind of Grand Theft Auto or maybe Burnout. Staged photo's from the movie city, fact? fiction? photography questioning itself again. Interesting images though are the result.

TORBJØRN RØDLAND

Images copyright of TORBJØRN RØDLAND

Well what can I say about TORBJØRN RØDLAND ? Fucking chaos. In a good way. Pop photography informs his work more than Art photography. Nothing wrong with that. So pop art photography then. Well kind of. Tell you what I'll let him explain rather than me, go HERE I just like looking at it and saying to you look at this fella's work. Again though I notice this stuff is free, raw, chaotic, work again by a Scandinavian, and again I see similarities with a lot of work from Japan. Why is this.

John Cooper Clarke - Chickentown

Something for the weekend.

New Cliches Of Photography #11

Diptychy Triptychy random white boarders...........

Although the coppers hate us taking pictures, they seem to like to use it themselves more & more.

HERE

Woolies..........

I'm still wallowing in nostalgia, and so is BBC NEWSNIGHT, who put out a call for it's viewers to send in photographs of how their local now defunct WOOLWORTHS shop looks. A more interesting call for photography from viewers than what TV normally calls for. You know COUNTRYFILE wanting nature shots, the WEATHER wanting sunsets snow etc.

It's a good way to get an archive of a now lost institution or so I thought. They have only had 100 entries! Maybe we don't miss woolies as much as we thought. Or perhaps folk would rather take pictures of sunsets. Or perhaps the countries Community support officers and security guards have stopped them taking pictures. Again.........

Dirty Old Town.

Image copyright Mark Page

There's a misconception that the song written by Ewan MacColl Dirty Old Town is an Irish song due to the popularity of The Pogues and The Dubliners versions. It's not though, it's about Salford. You can hear a good version of the ditty HERE if you've never heard it. The first verse of the song goes "I met my love by the gas works wall" And then it dawned on me that after passing these towers twice a day and doing a little research that this is what remains of Salford Gas Works and there is the bloody wall!
Another bit of useless information is that Salford Council were so upset at being called Dirty Old Town that they managed to persuade MacColl to change the lyrics from "Smelled a spring on the Salford wind" to "Smelled a spring on the smokey wind", thus loosing this song to the Irish and another piece of Salford heritage to oblivion.............

Who's Guarding The Guardian?

Now don't get me wrong I've not always been a fan of The Guardian, I think they have a lot to answer for, for glamorising the behaviour of tow rags in certain parts of this town and by coining the phrase "Gunchester" how many little dicks wore that T Shirt? Guardian readers wind me up as well, sanctimonious Chorlton types, yeah I know I'm generalising but tough shit it's my blog, no doubt they to have at times taken that editorial line......

But wait I digress the point of this post is to big them up in their hour of need. They've hit hard times like so many of us. As Guardian media they've already binned some of the smaller concerns but now it looks like even the Actual Guardian and Observer brand are really feeling the pinch.

I'm not concerned because of their so called PC, left of centre leaning. In these crazy days it's The Right wing Telegraph that's been taking the politicians to task right across the parties anyway.
No the reason I'm concerned is far more shallow than that, I'm going to call it The Woolworths feeling. Pure unadulterated sentimentality. First off because it started here, as The Manchester Guardian in 1821 until it "got all above it's self" in 1959 and moved to London.
Reason number two is photography and it's use as a journalistic tool. It appointed it's first staff photographer as far back as 1908. It was one of the first papers anywhere to do so.
It kept a noble tradition using the talents of Don McPhee and Dennis Thorpe, and helped to invent and define the role of the photojournalist, for that alone it should be thought of as a national treasure and I hope it's future is brighter than Woolies was........

Sergey Maximishin

Image copyright Sergey Maximishin

Sergey is the first Russian I've featured on the blog. I checked and was a bit surprised. I think compared to a lot of European or American photography blogs Manchester photography has done a pretty good job of being "cosmopolitan" take a look down on the right under "Photographers Worldwide" there's all sorts.

Anyway the photojournalism of Sergey Maximishin is a good place to start. Take a breath before you view some of it. He pulls no punches. That pile of carcasses left over from the fur trade, Jeeez........

Dan Dan Daaaa Halina 6-4 !

That's the answer to the camera conundrum.

What Wiki says about them;
"The Halina 6-4 is a basic viewfinder camera made by Haking in Hong Kong. It has a focal-plane mask, allowing it to be set for taking either twelve 6×6cm or sixteen 4×4cm images on 120 film - and there are two viewfinders and two red windows to accommodate the two sizes.
The lens is labelled "Halina Achromat", with a maximum aperture of f/8, and Waterhouse stops for f/11 and f/16. The front-element focus is marked into three zones.
The shutter is single speed + B, with double-exposure prevention interlock with the winder. Flash can be connected using a PC plug.
The body has a lever in the base, detaching the back and baseplate for film loading. A small folding foot is built in to the bottom of the lens barrel to support the camera when standing on a flat surface"


And below some shots taken around Salford precinct with mine, it was my first camera and was given to me by my Nan, bless her.


Images copyright Mark Page

Sir Bobby Robson 1933-2009

God Bless ya and thank you for Italia 90 we my not have won but memories of that summer will last me and a whole generation a life time.......