Haiti.

I just hope photographers do the right thing here and don't turn it into some kind of career enhancing money making circus. Photographers and agencies have already had some mileage out of this poor fucked up country. OK I understand the importance of letting the world know etc etc but lets not turn it into the photojournalist equivalent of a Selfridges sale. Maybe it would do more good to take your plane fare/fixer money and send it HERE. Just a thought.

The exodus will no doubt start HERE.

COMING SOON

You may want to click on the flyer to enlarge it unless you have some kind of freaky super sight. I'll see whoever there, you can buy me a late Christmas drink.

Phil Toledano

Images copyright Phil Toledano

Phil Toledano seems to have pulled it out of the bag again with his series 'A New Kind of Beauty'. I love this blokes work, a mix of Art photography and Art & Photography and Photo Art at it's very photoartyphotography sculpture best. (My new years resolution is to engage more with critical theory)

He says of the project

"I’m interested in what we define as beauty, when we choose to create it ourselves.
Beauty has always been a currency, and now that we finally have the
technological means to mint our own, what choices do we make?"
Is beauty informed by contemporary culture? By history?

The works not on his website yet so you will have to go over to the new edition of FRACTION which is no bad thing. See more of the work HERE.

Cabin Fever

Cabin fever is definitely now setting in. I can't make any work, I can't get out on the bike, I'm sick of people saying "Gosh I bet you love all this snow for making pictures" what am I a fuckin Christmas card company? Oh and my brain is turning into centrally heated mush.......

Snow.

Image copyright Ed Watts

My favourite snow related photograph of the cold snap, from Ed Watts blog.

James Pomerantz

Image James Pomerantz

Just in case you haven't seen enough snow over the last week or so take a wee peek at
James Pomerantz wonderful snowy 'Detroit' series. Found via Flak who are at the moment running a winter series.

Have I!

MANCHESTER CONFIDENTIAL are interviewing Sir Richard Leese and asking if anyone has any questions for him. MANCHESTER CONFIDENTIAL are so far up his arse that the sound of those questions will surly be very muffled......... You could start by asking him why a load of people at URBIS are going to end up on the dole in the middle of a recession for a start off. No? I didn't think so........

oops......

Image copyright Mark Page

Dear God,
You appear to have fucked up and given us someone else's weather. There's lots of snow which is pretty and you seem to have made an even bigger mistake, we have sun. I would like to point out, and please forgive me you being Omnipotent and all of that, but this is Manchester in January, we tend to go for dark 'n' damp........

ISOLATION.

Image copyright Stuart Griffiths

I've been following the work on Homeless Ex-service men by Stuart Griffiths for a few years here at manchesterphotography. Stuart is a no nonsense no bullshit photographer who follows a strong and worthwhile tradition. I have many sympathies for many reasons with the ex squaddies that he portrays. As wars in far off lands continue and as the recession bites harder, he's found a story that sadly is not likely to go away anytime soon. Having found himself in this situation a number of years back, Griffiths is in a strong position to inform the rest of us.

ISOLATION is a documentary by Luke Seomore & Joseph Bull

"A quarter of British ex-soldiers sleep rough when they return home.

Isolation is an impressionistic portrait of the emotional and physical aftermath of war, following photographer and ex-soldier Stuart Griffiths as he travels across England uncovering the personal and controversial stories behind the military statistics." CONTINUE READING HERE.

Strange Snow.

Image copyright Mark Page

Strange effect by adding Snow, light pollution, digi camera, slightly dirty back window, hand held, a bottle of Red and stirring it all up for 1 second..........

Rik Pinkcombe

Image copyright Rik Pinkcombe

I had the honour of exhibiting alongside Rik back in November. Rik's a fantastically imaginative landscape photographer and I love his high vantage point scenes. SEE.

Loads of graffiti in Manchester over on the appropriately named manchester graffiti blog
following on from the last post and if graffz yer bag.

Fair Cop?

"A photographer who snapped Banksy-style images has been given an ASBO after he was deemed a nuisance.
But an impressive selection of art lovers – including a curator from the Tate Gallery in London and the authors of a heavyweight New York art book" CONTINUED HERE

I'm not sure about this one. My first reaction was fucking fascists! but having read the entire article now I'm thinking fair cop. I'm also thinking he's a daft c##t for getting caught. Of course I would say that in certain circumstances it would be a photographers morale responsibility and duty to break the laws of this or any other country if genuine issues of public interest, corruption etc were at stake. But documenting tagging in Reading? Now I like a bit of Banksy, as much as the next man but this sort of graffiti is no better than a dog pissing up a wall and I'm not sure we should worry if some photographer wants to risk 'getting his collar felt' just to snap his mates doing it......

Cheers to Brenda for the link.

Little Brown Mushroom.

No It's not drugs. It's a new(ish) blog that Alec Soth now writes at. HERE.

Glass Jars by Alec Soth. from Little Brown Mushroom Warning: it's a bit dark, no good for Monday mornings.....

Found this great bit of 'piss taking' via the SAVE OUR URBIS facebook page. Taken from the "Original Modern"council corporate squiggles designed at great expense by Jimm..... sorry Peter Saville.

LATEST FASHION IN PHOTOGRAPHIC FAD CHAV CHEESE!

HERE for more

BLURB Gets Royal Approval

If it's good enough for our Martin...................

ROMKA #4

Always good to see interesting and creative collaborations using the web. Plenty of interesting images if a little "yoof centric" over at ROMKA free online magazine.

Back.

Well that's Crimbo done, boxed off, my baubles are back in a bag under the stairs. Nothing left of festiveness cept half a box of snickers celebrations and half a bottle of Lidl mulled wine (which tasted of arse) And so now after my NOEL hibernation and too much telly, thoughts turn back to photography and this blog.

If I've learnt anything over the last couple of weeks it's that I actually am not as addicted to blogging as I thought and in fact I've been in two minds about whether to knock it on the head. I have always done it because I have enjoyed it but I'm not going to let it become a burden.

I've also got several projects that should be coming to completion spring/early summer that will need publishing and trying to find homes for.

First up SEMI'S which has already had a bit of a run out last year and I'm hoping to get finished off Late February as it's due to go to Rotterdam as part of a group show and then maybe on to New York later in the year. A Typology, that maybe my last for a while, I think I've got them out of my system for a bit at least. This work has been realised as small prints like in an estate agents window but I do see the final outcome as a book.

POMONA is also due to come to an end in May. At least that's when the year of documenting this post industrial area just outside the city centre is up. Landscapes, weird macro pictures and several plastic bags full of flower pressings (I'm sure enough of my manliness to carry my flower press with pride through the mean streets of Salford) will no doubt end up on my kitchen floor with me stood over it scratching my head wondering what it all means and what to do with it.

And third up RED ARMY PILGRIMS should be finished by the end of the 09/10 season. 100 compact camera, snatched portraits shot at OLD TRAFFORD to mark the centenary and printed at Boots for that authentic snap shot feel. Who are we?

All images copyright Mark Page.

(Image copyright of whoever. No file info no byline but no doubt they will moan for me using this picture which I may say as an image for a search of "Manchester fireworks Newyear" just about hits the spot so well done that photographer. Now always remember to add some file info if you want people to acknowledge your work which they should but can't if you don't let us know who it's by.)
Oh yeah happy 2010...........