Shouldn't really laugh but

 I know it's winding Aline Smithson from the very brilliant LENSCRATCH blog up and Aline I can understand your anger, it just appeals to my sense of the ridiculous. Whats happening is some fella from Poland is lifting Aline's posts and passing them off as his own.....including the post telling everyone! You've got to hand it to Pawel Filas from a blog called MIND-MAG.

Any road up here's our PAWEL FILAS the pirate, Johnny Depp he ain't. I understand him having to lift work from other blogs as he has to spend his time sticking bits of wire to bits of apple peel and that shit takes time HERE

copyright Mark Page 2012 (now it is)

Anyway in the spirit of the appropriation art of Pawel Filas here's a piece I made earlier. 

Why am I sticking my nose in? Oh you know me....... 

Cyber curb crawler Mishka Henner defending his right to experiment with the medium of photography.

Imagine that the cheeky bastard.

HERE.

David Dunnico's '1984 LOOKS LIKE THIS'

I'm aware that already the tone of the reinvented MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG has descended into negativity and bitchiness. So lets lift the mood with something positive. I don't mean CCTV that's not positive unless perhaps when I was a security guard and we would wile away the long nights watching people get jiggy behind the wheelie bins at the side of THE PRINTWORKS. No on the whole CCTV is a bad thing. Unless it helps catch rioters, muggers and other lowlifes, then perhaps? No CCTV is definitely a bad thing. Of course if it helps cut down acts of terrorism well... OK so CCTV can be OK it's BIG BROTHER who's a C##t.

And on a positive note David Dunnico's exhibition at Salford Art Gallery that's definitely a good thing.

Although harder to find than a BBC Salford employed Salfordian, it is worth hunting down PHOTOWORKS. The latest issue is out now.

New Cliches of Photography #26

FUZZY FANNY FIDDLING.........

Why Sean O'Hagan is a Big Smelly Fart...

I'm probably taking The Guardian's Sean O'Hagan REVIEW of Roger Ballen a little bit personally. So that's why I'm name calling, that and the fact that far from being a serious piece of Art criticism O'Hagan seems to be doing the same. Although at first glance it may look like a review of the show currently on at MANCHESTER ART GALLERY he seems more concerned with Ballen's personality and skill as a public speaker than talking about the work. I normally agree with much of what Mr O'Hagan has to say like HERE for instance.

This time though I think he has been bloody lazy I don't think he has even seen the show although with the links it leads you to believe he has and is reviewing it. I'm not putting Roger Ballen on a pedestal, hell the man has got a terrible taste in fleeces and corduroy trousers, I'm just expecting a Guardian Art critic to try a little harder and have a little bit more respect for one of photography's more interesting practitioners, but perhaps that's my mistake. For a more worthwhile read try HERE.

Babe I'm here again, I tell you I'm here again where have you been? Babe.

Mark Page 2012

Well here we go again. MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHY has risen from the ashes like a branch of CASH GENERATOR after a Salford riot.

This last year has flown by. Been busy working on my own photographs working on other peoples exhibitions and even did a bit of co-curating. I've been spending time over on FACEBOOK, oh it's OK but I've got tired of all the baby pictures and fucking Instagram photos. I hope FACEBOOK bought Instagram so as to close it down and save the web from another ten billion shit photos. Still at least it will give the new wave of appropriation artists something to play with. We could have an Instagram version of Mapplethorpes 'ALTARS' printed by Blurb perhaps. People must have been taking plenty of pictures of there own cocks with their smart phones surely?

Of course that's bollox and I'm a hypocrite, I actually think Instagram is fun and have been playing with it myself.

So how have you been this last twelve months or so? A lots been happening around my way. There's been riots a couple of murders, a racist acid attack, a gangster standing for mayor oh and the BLUE PETER garden is now in Salford. First thing I bet they did was put a big bloody trampoline in there. I'm looking forward to seeing the new BLUE PETER dogs........How to make a muzzle out of old egg boxes

Anyway you know how it works. You send me interesting (mainly) photo related stuff and if it fits it gets posted. Anything Manchester Arts related deffo gets posted. Cheers then,

Love Mark xxxx

Well after almost four years, 1,517 post's and 182,352 unique visitors I've decided it's time to hang up the blog. We've had some laughs, pissed plenty of people off and hopefully shone some light on some tip-top photographers and artist's. The time is right for me to call it a day. Nice one It's been a fucking laugh..............

Keep in touch at http://www.markpagephotography.com/

Back Soon.

Image copyright Mark Page

Just trying to find a little peace after the house move, clearing my head and resting my feckin back......

I'm hanging up the blog for a couple of weeks as I'm moving house. I will be off

line so answering emails/comments will also probably not happen for a while. I do have a Blackberry but the things tiny buttons and my fat thumbs don't get on so well. Not sure how long it will take to get back up and running, hopefully by the end of the month but as it's in the hands of BT, fuck knows. So until then.....

Great British Minds.

Can there be two greater intellects? Two minds with a greater sense of rhetoric and a more rigorous logic? This is how it must have been in ancient Greece.

Old Goat.

Chinese New year today which is always a big event in Manchester. Found out that I was born in the year of the goat which apparently makes me fun to know but prone to pessimism. imagine me prone to pessimism? Anyway suitable occupations for me include gardening which I like a bit and beachcombing. Not many beaches in Manchester but then I thought whats photography if it's not a form of beachcombing?

Obsolete Studios

Obsolete Studios is a new blog by photographer Rob Ball. I featured Rob way back in 2008 and it's great to see his new work along with the new blog. It's also great that we are still in touch albeit online. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have made some great contacts and got to see some really interesting work over the years through blogging.

Amy Stevens.

As it's nearly my Birthday and I will be off line due to the house move on the day, I thought I would celebrate early with the work of

Amy Stevens....

Image copyright Susan Burnstine

I've noticed in the last couple of years a lot of photographers 'tipping their hats' to pictorialism. Is it the recession? Is it a bit like the growth in knitting, allotments and wearing tweed while cycling? Are we harking back to a more Innocent time? Are we after a big photographic kiss off our Nana's?

The images over on the latest edition of FRACTION may have been shot with plastic camera's and pinholes, which is nothing new but unlike earlier HOLGA photography that shot colour and looked for happy accidents however samey it ended up looking, this new wave seem to be reaching back as far as Fox Talbots 'Window'. Although I enjoy looking at this type of thing in much the same way as I enjoy looking at a nice water colour, I'm a bit surprised at FRACTION for dedicating almost ( I really enjoyed 'Trailers Collected' by Nan Brown) a whole issue to it. The chaps at FRACTION normally give you with something a bit meatier to get your teeth into.

If anyone has anything (except Airport parking) that they want me to plug over the next couple of weeks get it in soonish cos I'm on the move again next week and will no doubt have to make several thousand telephone calls and wait weeks to get my broadband back on......

UNITED LEGEND!

James Robinson.

I've mentioned James before here on the blog in his capacity as Photographer at the John Rylands Library (you can check out much of the collection online HERE.) James has also recently put online some of his personal projects. The above image is from one of my favourites, VOTE. I think James has really captured the apathy that so many Brits feel towards politics. Even when people are trying to campaign there's a sense of 'can't really be arsed' about it.

I was thinking of making some kind of work out of rejection letters from all the submissions, competition entries, exhibition proposals etc. But then I remembered that the arrogant bastards never write back to you anyway.