These are from a series I've been working on since late last summer. I've called it ' United Pilgrims' Or perhaps just 'Pilgrims' verdict still out on that. I'd wanted to make some work about UNITED for a long time and as this is the centenary year of OLD TRAFFORD it seemed like a good time. OLD TRAFFORD is arguably one of the most famous football grounds in the world and the single biggest visitor attraction in the Northwest, attracting over 300, 000 visitors per year (on top of match days) from all over the globe. Making portraits of these 'Pilgrims' was the starting point.
Image copyright Adam PańczukFound via Lens culture who love him and want his babies..... Sorry I'm being childish again, I swore that I would try to be more grown up here on the blog this year.
Sean Cousin is starting up a new PDF magszine looking at and featuring Polaroids.
Image copyright Kevin FlayHere's a bit of worthwhile research if ever I saw some....
"25 January 2010 - The chimpanzees residing in Budongo Trail at Edinburgh Zoo are set to become stars of the screen when they are featured in a BBC Natural World documentary on 27 January, 8pm - 9pm on BBC 2.
The 11 chimpanzees have been taking part in a voluntary study called The Chimpcam Project for the last 18 months. In this joint collaboration between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), University of Stirling and Burning Gold Productions, the chimps experience video streaming for the first time, learn how to use touch-screen technology and are even given a chimp-proof camera to shoot" MORE HERE
There is a rumour that Budongo has recently joined LIGHTSTALKERS and is currently seeking assignments and running photojournalism courses in Haiti.........
Image copyright Ivonne Thein
Perhaps that's what it is. Perhaps that's the reason for the mass snapper migration to Haiti. Kevin Carter syndrome. I don't mean the scum who are making profit running shitty journo courses but the reason so many are willing to throw their DSLR's into Billingham bags and hunt out death. The hope that they will make the front cover of TIME followed by champagne parties and NEW YORK shows. You'd think though that THAT would be a cautionary tale....... Anyway that's all I'm saying on the matter. Me posting about Haiti and the curious case of the rent 'O' journo's. It's as ultimately pointless and self serving as the photo packs images.
Image copyright Rimaldas ViksratisLithuania's Richard Billingham? Well that's what Martin Parr has called Rimaldas Viksratis, perhaps he is. The above image is from 1982, and the old fella with the tongue does look a bit RAY like. Viksratis was awarded the Arles Discovery Award for New Photography in 2009. So a discovery award at 55 years old. My friends the lesson is expect to play the long game, and forget all that under 35 shit, twelve months later and I am still banging on about the under 35 shit!
Image courtesy The GuardianI know I've said before that if all the western photographers currently in China left at the same time China would rise a good two feet. Nadav Kander's Yangtze: The Yellow River makes me glad that at least some go. This great film showing this masterpiece of a series found over on DUCKRABBIT.
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.
