The Black n White Issue.

Image copyright Daido Moriyama

Image copyright Mark Page

Image copyright Susan Lipper

Image copyright Jason Evans

Black and White small format photography. I've been thinking a lot about it lately. There's been plenty of discussion about it online as well. Commentators and bloggers questioning it's value as a tool for photojournalism. It appears to have fallen out of favour with curators and galleries at least in the US. If it's not shot large format, preferably 10x8 in colour and blown up to the size of a house no one seems interested. I can't remember the last time I saw mono work by any emerging photographer (God I am beginning to get to hate that phrase!)

Take for instance Fjord http://www.fjordphoto.org/ which is a collective of young (not many born before 1980) photographers. Out of over 70 photographers only 2, Grady O'Connor & Nils Orth had work on the site that was black & white, other than the artists who stick in just a couple of mono's all Juergen Teller style. I've used Fjord as an example because many of the photographers are the rising stars of the Art photography world at least the American Art photography world. It's funny because O'Connor and Orth's work stood out for me as well, not only because it was mono but because well, it was a little different. Most of the work on the site is a bit, formulaic, samey. Maybe photographers shooting black & white are the new mavericks!

Here's an interesting articlehttp://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/blogon/2007/03/tip_of_the_tongue_a_new_intera.php I found courtesy of Reciprocity Failure http://reciprocity-failure.blogspot.com/ I know Stan's been thinking about similar issues himself.

This writing seems to be more positive about the future of Black & White and also talks about the current trend for big and colour.

As a foot note I've been photographing a series on Manchester in Black & White for almost a decade. When I started it, it just seemed the natural way to go if you were doing a serious documentary piece. I'm still working on it in Black & White, all be it now digitally. I've still got a year or two till it's finished, maybe by then things will have come full circle and Black & White will be back in vogue, the new Colour !

Featured photo's from

www.moriyamadaido.com

www.susanlipper.com

www.thenewscent.com

Oh yeah and Me!

Christmas Photographic Zen.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, I'm just preceding all posts for the next couple of days with the word Christmas.

I found this a while back and it's fascinating, watching the way Daido Moriyama works. There's no sound to the clip which at first annoyed me but after watching it a couple of times I think adds to it. I've seen many a film of other well known for want of a better word "street photographers" work, and with Daido it's just less, I don't no, just less showy. You know all that sticking the camera in peoples faces, off camera great ferckin ring flashes, laser guided camera in bushes malarkey. He is after all in my Gods section which he is no doubt well chuffed about. http://manchesterphotography.blogspot.com/2008/08/daido-moriyama.html

Christmassy Goodies

It's become a bit of a Christmas tradition for me the last couple of years, buying myself a couple of photobooks. This year it was "When It Changed" by Joel Sternfeld http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/mshowdetailsbycat.cfm?catalog=DP522 and "The Day-To-Day Life Of Albert Hastings" by KayLynn Deveney http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/mshowdetailsbycatAmazon.cfm?catalog=PP034&i=&i2=&CFID=8936731&CFTOKEN=73050694 Both top books from different ends of the scale. Great big issues of world importance through to small moments that make an individual life.

Photography I bloody Love it!

Both books found in Waterstones on Deansgate.

Goodwill To All Men.

Well was it a good un? Mine was. I know I'm a moaning bastard but I do really love crimbo. That whole Christmas bubble surrounded by people you love, usually family thing. Keeping the world at bay for a while.

But that's over now so listen up. This fella is beginning to piss me off http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/ it was one of the first photography blogs I read. It's been around since the the begiining of the known blogging world......... about ten fuckin minits. But already it's become some kind of establishment as far as (western) photography is concerned. Oh God if there's one thing that Mancs hate it's establishment, http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/work/england/manchester/ always been a trouble causing bunch. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zgGTQgvCPOU So anyway a little bit like the Queens speech and the "alternative" message

Is this brave of Channel Four or do they just love playing Devil's advocate a little bit like me?

Anyway in response to this self opinionated fuck wit, (the blogger I mentioned not Mr Arab world, although you can see how ego's grow) I give you my Things I'd love to see less of in 2009

1. 10x8 Banal photo's that look like they were shot by Alec Soth's younger less talented brother (or sister)
2. Found photo's passed off as original art work.
3. Blogger's that voice opinions, but dismiss those of anyone else.
4. Crap photography books published because some photographers names will sell any old shit.
5. Shit photography posing as art.
6. Bad typologies posing as something else.
7. Photo bloggers who are arrogant enough to think that their opinion written over a couple of paragraphs is as relevant as anything written by Roland Barthes, John Szarkowski, Walter Benjamin.
8. Photo blogger's who can't even be arsed doing a top 10 of things they hate.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Well that's it I'm shutting up shop for the holidays. A very Happy Christmas to you all, don't eat & drink too much, oh alright go on then, and I'll see you soon and I'll leave you with this................

Head Of A Man (With Red Eyes) 1938 by L.S Lowry

It's one of my favourite painting's by Lowry. You can keep your Mona Lisa, if you want enigmatic, you'd be hard pressed to find a better portrait. And talk about intense, this picture is straight from the bowls of Lowry's darkside. Darkside the affable Mr Lowry?http://www.thelowry.com/lslowry/lslowryslife.html Yeah them matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs were the public face.



`I can't do a cat yet. The only way I can do a cat is by doing a very bad dog and then in a way decapitating it and it becomes a cat' - L.S. Lowry.



"Man With Red Eyes" is often thought to be a self portrait although Lowry himself described it as an imaginary portrait. It was painted around the time of his all controlling mothers death, there is some confusion as to whether it was painted before or after. Lowry also described it as a "Way of letting off steam"

Why am I telling you all this? Well having recently been to The Lowry centre to see Jem Southem's brilliant new work there http://www.thelowry.com/WhatsOn/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=3465 it's re-ignited an almost life long fascination I've had with both Lowry the man, and Lowry the painting's. Which goes to show you what a great job Mr Southem has done.

I have also decided that after almost two years of blogging I needed a "profile head"http://www.blogger.com/profile/07052975033689540251 and as often this blog is my way of letting off steam and the fact that there's many a morning when I look and feel like this, I thought yep, that's the head for me.............

P.S.
I will no doubt be posting about Lowry again February time when the professional art critic and fulltime "dick" Brian Sewell has finished his reputation assignation attempt on old L.S.
although Lowry's got Howard Jacobson fighting his corner so he's in good hands! http://www.thelowry.com/WhatsOn/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=3703

Lovely though it is, to think this is all that Lowry is about is to miss so much.

Funny As F##k Friday

There was a time when Christmas wasn't Christmas without Morecambe & Wise!http://www.morecambeandwise.co.uk/

Tram Heads.

Image copyright Mark Page

Over the Christmas period "Tram Heads" is going to have to take a back seat. (pun intended)

http://www.tramheads.blogspot.com/

Greg Stimac.

Image copyright Greg Stimac

You know me, I love a good typology.

www.gregstimac.com

Jim Turbert

Image copyright Jim Turbert

Like the gentleman in the last post Jim Turbert also has a beard, but Jim is much much better at self promotion and has lots of good pictures of himself. Here: for a fun way to spend some time http://www.jtfanclub.com/ I wonder how many T-Shirts he sells?

Face of Terror.......

Apparently this was the face of terror in Manchester! Is it me or does this bloke really need some PR shots doing? http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1086434_terrorist_jailed_for_life

Marcus Doyle.

Image copyright Marcus Doyle

Have been meaning to post about Marcus Doyle's www.marcusdoyle.co.uk stunning urban landscapes for a while. I hope he's got a publisher lined up as they'd make a fantastic book. He also blogs under the title of B-mode http://www.marcus-bmode.blogspot.com/

Second Time in Two Days and Again Posting About Pigs.

This time it's back to that old chestnut and the police having nothing better to do than harass photographers. Now it was bad enough when it was Mr photo enthusiast, but now they seem to have the right to do it to proper paid up card carrying jorno's. This is how the home office replied to questions by the NUJ. http://tenpercent.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/home-office-criteria-so-wide-it-effectively-bans-photography/

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

Manchester Markets.

Image copyright Mark Page

YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO ROCK n ROLL. old English proverb.

I've been a bit slow on the blogging front here at manchesterphotography I know. But there has been a reason for it, I've not just been "swinging the lead". I, together with Stan B from Reciprocity Failure http://reciprocity-failure.blogspot.com/have been busy plotting and putting together the skeleton of an online gallery that we are just about to release on an unsuspecting photo public. I say a skeleton of an online gallery because we need to fill it with some wonderful photography, and that's where (some) of you lot come in.

After various online debates about ageism within the art world and the fact that "emerging talent" really seems to mean "young talent" and the fact that if you've not made it by the time you're thirty-five you are going to struggle. read here: http://reciprocity-failure.blogspot.com/2008/12/too-old-to-f-stop.html and here: http://blog.magnumphotos.com/2008/12/allage_gut_strategy.html and other places as well which I can't find now. Add to this the fact that so many competitions have a cut off age around thirty and it was all beginning to piss me right off.

So me and Stan thought well lets play them at their own game only we'll put out a shout for over thirty fives. All that life experience, technical experience less of a willingness to swallow the latest art photography fad, and we should be onto a winner. We are going to do a proper press release after we've got Crimbo out of the way but I wanted you lot to be the first to know and hopefully submit. So if you want to appear in the first crop you need to be over 35 not have gallery representation and of course be fucking good!

For guidelines contact details and general info go here to our shiny new site. www.expirationnotice.blogspot.com

Vermeer'esque lighting..........

"The Potato Eaters" by Van Gogh

"The Kebab Eaters" by Mark Page

Interesting post over on Magnum blog yesterday. http://blog.magnumphotos.com/ It relates to a competition that they ran last month looking for links between magnum photographs and paintings. You can see their choices here: http://blog.magnumphotos.com/2008/11/surfing_the_archive_competition_entries.html The article then goes on to criticise photographers who compare their work to that of painters in order to give it some sort of authority.

You wouldn't catch me doing that.

Monday.

Image copyright Mark Page

Sad Loss of A Northern Icon.

Photo: Sportsphoto Agency

R.I.P Kathy Staff 1928-2008 A.K.A "Nora Batty" born Dukinfield, Greater Manchester.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3776252/Nora-Batty-Calling-all-battleaxes.html

Jem Southam "Clouds Descending" @ The Lowry

Image Copyright Jem Southam

Two great photography exhibitions on at The Lowry at the same time, brilliant! This one "Clouds Descending"http://www.thelowry.com/WhatsOn/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=3465 was especially commissioned for the gallery. The Lowry are good at this, using the work of L.S as a springboard for creating new work by artists. This time it was a chance for arguably the UK's leading landscape photographer Jem Southam to respond to the work of Mr Lowry.

I think it's fairly well known that when Lowry wasn't creating his painting's of Manchester/Salford streets he was to be found making some of the Twentieth century's greatest seascapes. To choose Southem to retrace Lowry's steps and create new work is a stroke of genius. Southem is renowned for choosing dull overcast light with which to make his work and this fits so nicely with the Lowry paintings that are displayed alongside Southams large format pictures. His placing of the horizon near to centre is also a nice tribute to Lowry.

The show is on until 22 March and I recommend you go see, It's the show area's photography show of the year for me.

PS here's an interview with Southam: http://www.seesawmagazine.com/southam_pages/southam_interview.html