Sometimes I Bloody Despair Of Photographers.....

 

You may have seen this story and image floating around social media. It's a tale of a painter who's used a photo he's seen as the starting point for a painting he's made. Photographer finds out gets pissed off and thinks "nice one I can make a quid I'll sue the fucker"  it goes to court. It's a bit like the Richard Prince type thing only this time the photographer wins. Art world is a bit miffed, freedom of artistic expression they cry, conservative photo world declares victory for copyright and the status quo. Anyway you can read the tale and common sense comment HERE

Now you may be thinking that I'm having a go at the photographer Katrijn Van Giel well I'm not. It's a strong portrait that's been appropriated by a well known successful artist so I understand their reaction, although in this case I think both the photographer and the law are acting daft. If it was one of my pictures and a top artist like Luc Tuymans decided to use one of my photos I would not only be chuffed to death but I would also milk it like fuck. Still Van Giel is quids in.

It's not a good decision for art though and the reaction from a lot of folk in the photography world just shows their plain ignorance and lack of understanding when it comes to issues being raised by contemporary art. This worries me (as far as photography goes but not like global warming or the new bus lane on the East Lancs Road) because it's some of the movers and shakers of the photography world who think this is a victory. 

I copied the below post from someone on facebook. I've not said who it is so I hope they won't sue me over copyright.

"You can see from my photos that I brave the elements to make them-I am up in the middle of the night, or early morning- or outside in the very cold. They are my point of view- the way I see things - my work and the photographs are the end result, unless I want to do something else with them. I am always talking about how much I resent painters saying they want to paint my photograph. I think painters should find their own subject matter- and go out and take photos if they use photos as inspiration. I think, I can paint my own photograph, but other's should not. I get testy. Of course I have no control when I post them. The choice seems to be that my photographs get seen every few years in a gallery setting, and they are seen no where else, or I post them online, and obviously, I chose to post them. It is, to me, a question of morals, integrity and originality
http://hyperallergic.com/176138/luc-tuymans-convicted-of-plagiarism-for-painting-photo-of-politician/"

PS I just saw this! https://www.lensculture.com/articles/katerina-belkina-paint-a-series-of-photographic-self-portraits

Portfolio Reviews Are Fucking Nonsense.

Save your money..

Later.

Bah humbug 2 months early......

Image copyright Mark Page

What is it with Halloween ? load of of bollocks that's what it is. Another load of shit swallowed by a nation (us) losing it's identity and filling the void with Americana. Come round to my house trick or treating and you'll get 'short bloody shift' ya little bastards...

I'm Yosser Hughes....

Not posted for a while been up to my eyeballs in trying to find a job. My contract at the ART GALLERY comes to an end at the end of August and they can't afford to keep me on. No money see. The councils spent it all on football museums and paying to relocate bigwigs from Preston to come and run it. So I'm back in the job market, applying for jobs and getting less and less fussy as the weeks go by. Filling in endless application forms in a million different formats, online offline off kilter off their fucking heads with the stuff they ask you to fill in, for what boils down to a barely above minimum wage job. I swear to god. And after you've told them in three different variations what a great "team player" you will be and how you can "manage your own time" and how ever since you were a cheeky wink in yer dads eye you've wanted to sell GAS boiler maintenance plans or debt solutions to some other poor unsuspecting numpty you get told you are not what they are looking for. No they were after a Nazi camp guard crossed with a fuck wit who will take it up the shitter for 14k plus staff benefits. No more application forms, no more CV bollocks...They can ring me and I'll tell them why they are fucking lucky to have me work for them, the soulless cock sucking plebs.

Mind you when it comes to job hunting writing shit like this on the Internet probably doesn't help.......

Limited places available with CLUB DEATH PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS

So you want some disaster Rock n Roll photoboy? Then roll up roll up Third world fucked up country now with a great big earth quake. They've got piles of bodies, orphans, looting and for that extra nice & spicy photo opportunity they got some voodoo. This is a once in a lifetime chance. We will for a small fee ($1500) fly you into the "Heart Of Darkness" No no this is better than the Congo, for a start it's only 700 miles from the US of A.
If you enjoyed Katrina then you'll love this. You heard there was a shortage of transport even for aid workers, maybe but we are photojournalists we are needed and important, you can't have a good catastrophe without photographers now can you? Will I be able to sell my work? Of course Google images are sadly short having only 41,600,000 so far. So forget club 18 to 30 forget Club Med this year book your holiday with CLUB DEATH PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS but hurry while suffering lasts.............

Tous pour l'un.

Could you imagine a world where the fact that URBIS (my place of work) is closing down and people are loosing their jobs for no better reason than the greedy narrow minded will of a few Philistines, meant that MANCHESTER CITY ART GALLERY went on strike! Then MOSI close their doors to the public. Next THE CORNERHOUSE staff, closely followed by the CASTLEIELD GALLERY staff all forming a picket line. A little far fetched? Certainly since Maggie Thatcher surgically removed the spine of the British people in the 1980's. But there is a land not far from here where comradeship, solidarity and a healthy sized bonne dose of bloody mindedness still happens......... HERE.
Vive la France!

I'm not sure if I love this about modern Britain or hate it. We adopt something like "trick or treating" from America and put a very British spin on things. We don't bother dressing up or taking our cute little toddlers around for sweets. What happens near me at least is some 17 year olds turn up at your door wearing tracky's with a can of Stella in their hand. Now correct me if I'm wrong but that's not the spirit. That's at the very best begging and at the worst money with menaces.

And while I'm at it and full of Autumnal cheer, upon leaving our local supermarket I heard the charming chirp of a small urchin. "Penny fer guy mate?" "No change" I replied and doing a double take I noticed this little angel had no Guy. I question him. "You've not even got a Guy" I say accusingly.
The cherub looked at me and says, "Well I'm not goin to fucking drag it up ere am a?"

Tories,

Welcome to Manchester.

Bravehearts........

Scotland? I'm not that keen. Although this boils down to the last time Rangers came to Manchester and a particularly nasty dose of food poisoning I got in Edinburgh ( Dearest chamber maid I apologise about the sheets.) No, I hate kilts, bagpipes and Alex Salmond. I resent the fact that they have their own Parliament but also want to play in ours, they seem to want Independence when it suits them, a little bit like the student who moves out of home but still takes their washing home to mum.

However this last couple of days I've felt bloody proud of the jocks. This little country has stuck by it's decision despite of "warnings" from the self proclaimed king of the world, America. No real CHANGE stateside then, New face, black this time but still the same old arrogance.

Some people have said that it is disgusting to see The Saltire being waved in Libya, really? I thought it made a refreshing change seeing a western flag in a Middle Eastern country that wasn't being burnt. OK people may say that you never lost anyone in Lockerbie. Well no, but as far as I know neither has Obama, or any of the Obama administration and as it happened over Scotland wind yer fucking necks in.

If we ever want to stop all the shit that's going down we just got to forgive and forget sometimes. So well done my wild blue arsed porridge eating cousins, this time you really have been Brave at heart.....

Fuck The BNP, Lets Dance.

Don't forget to vote on Thursday! Don't let the fascists sneak in fer fucks sake.

You can take your ID cards and shove them up your fat corrupt arses.............

Why Are we Such A Spineless Load of Fuckers?

Well we are aren't we. We'll tut, tut And moan and then as usual do sweet FA. I include myself, I'll write here so what? The economy's shot, civil liberties have gone, coppers killing people, BNP on the rise and now MP's robbing us. Never mind can't wait till Saturday and Britain's Got Talent.

Change?

If you live in Britain you can't help but of heard of Susan Boyle. Apparently she's been all over the telly stateside as well. Watch the video of her singing, but watch harder the audience and judges before she starts singing. Cynical judges and spoilt little airhead sluts sniggering at the ordinary, nay, plain Jane on stage.
And then she sings and blows all them fuckers out of the water. And there at that moment was a split second when the west changed. As much as when the banks and capitalists got shown up for the Shylock's that they are, and the moment when Obama took office and we believed that some politicians could give us hope, there at that moment was the end of fucking talentless morons. Susan's microphone was a stake through the fuckin hearts of WAGs, Big Brother, fuck wits, Kate Moss, pretty boy racing drivers and all the rest of the wastes of skin out there, a split second when the earth shifted on it's axis and balance was restored.................... Well we can dream can't we?.

She's Not An Effing Saint You Know.........

I'm getting sick to the back teeth hearing about Jade fuckin Goody. Before you start telling me I'm mean, that link goes through to one of the UK's main newspapers and she get's all them column inches oh and heres the proud BBC give me a fucking break!

Now for anyone outside Blighty Jade Goody is a moron who appeared on Big Brother, I know that even if you are reading this in Kuala Lumpa you've heard of BB because it's the only thing that the UK's managed to export worldwide of late, makes me damn proud... So this stupid Essex (Essex, gobby like Mancs but without the class) pleb goes on BB and wins coz she's fick and we love a fick bird with big tits in England, and then she makes a perfume and goes back on to celebrity BB, but boo she's racist (youtube have removed video) to another contestant and we hate her then she get's cancer and we love her, and more British soldier's die perhaps their parents could get a magazine deal on the funeral? but she's got the big C don't be awful. Yeah? well ya dance with the fucking Devil............

The bubble in contemporary art is about to pop, blah blah blah

Getting sick to death about hearing how the art market is going to be affected by the credit crunch. Any one in this game for the money must be a bellend. If I wanted quick money I'd be a fucking armed robber............. http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/2008/12/a_second_tulip_mania.html

I Can't even begin to talk about the congestion charge vote. fecking ejits is all I can say.........

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1138237012/bclid1137745824/bctid4647288001

A.C.A.B

Well I see that if the police aren't busy shooting innocent Brazilians or arresting MP's then they're just as happy to kick the bejesus out of some bloke in Wigan. http://www.mirror.co.uk/video?vxSiteId=7cd4c63f-c7ed-4cd7-a07c-5104d6078368&vxChannel=Latest&vxClipId=1425_mir_3403&vxBitrate=300
It hardly surprises me though. When was it that they became para- military? Why do they need to dress like they are about to take out terrorists in Mumbai when in reality they are dealing with a piss head in a wetherspoons? It's this ridiculas machismo culture that they seem to harbour that helps to make them so obnoxious......................

Now don't get me wrong, I can see that smoking is a pretty stupid thing to do. That's the ex-smoker in me talking. I quit after 26 years of caning them. I'm proud of that fact, although it had more to do with the drug Zyban http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004174.html than any great will power on my behalf, I can't even open a bag of Haribo http://www.haribo.com/planet/sprachauswahl.php without scoffing the lot, but this new campaign is too much. It's just bullying, plain and simple.http://www.independent.ie/national-news/antismoking-images-for-cigarette-packs-1374934.html?start=2

Maybe we could start putting pictures of car wrecks on cars? yeah or rotten livers on bottles of Cotes du Rhone ? or how about pictures of fucking bankers on loan applications.............................

It's nice though to think that photography still has the power to shock.

Do I Moan A Lot?

It's just that Adrian Tyler, a great photographer whose work I love by the way www.adriantyler.net sent me an Email with "Hear you like to gripe" as the subject! well yes I suppose I do. You think this blogs bad you should try being my other half....... Anyway Adrian sent me a link here http://www.dearadobe.com/top_rated.php and having read through them, and agreeing with most of them, I can't help feeling that I 'm not that whingey compared to some.