westcountry snapper goes to town

Knocking your head against a brick wall

2012-01-14T20:32:00.000-08:00

A room with a view...Shrimp ponds in Bangladesh. © Mike Lusmore

I’ve been in Bangladesh for just over a week now with Benjamin from duckrabbit and in that time seen some wonderful things, met some lovely people and experienced some things I probably never would have anywhere else in the world. To add to that I have on occasions laughed pretty hard. This evening was no exception to that as after three days of shooting my way through all the cf cards in my bag it was supposed to be a special evening. Our videographer supremo and unofficial Bangladesh fixer Rajib had been trying to track us down a beer since he arrived a few days ago in Khulna. Ever since we arrived in the dry country (that would be Bangladesh if your not up to speed) Benjamin had assured me that Rajib was our man and would secure us some proper liquid refreshment just when we needed it. After a few failed missions including the promise of beer at a hotel in town only to arrive to the possibility of warm take away cans of Fosters for twice the price of our dinner (each!) at the Hotel Royal (Benjamin’s new fav hotel) we thought we had it nailed. One of the guys at our Hotel had arrange via a whole host of mobile phone calls passed back and forth with Rajib to deliver 8 cans of Heineken to the hotel in the day and put them in the fridge for our arrival at dinner. The day was long and I was looking forward to that beer a whole lot when Milton the manager of the hotel approached us in the lobby to say there had been a problem. It transcribed that our beer hadn’t been delivered but Milton had arranged for it to come now..only it wasn’t Heiniken anymore and it wasn’t fosters and it wasn’t anything I had actually ever heard of. ‘Was Royal Dutch beer ok?’ Having never heard of it we asked about the percentage to which Milton beamed a big smile and replied ’6%’. The six turned to eight and by the time the beer arrived it had changed it’s name to Barons Extra Strong and become a whopping 11.8% can of of warm lager. Naturally we declined the offer of what would be affectionatly known to me back in the UK as tramp juice and returned to the dinner table. I searched the beer online and found a review that described as ‘like knocking your head against a wall’. As a photographer I spend most of my days doing that already so a beer is supposed to have the opposite affect for me!

So having a beer wasn’t to be, and we settled for a couple of cold cokes, well a microwaved warm coke for Rajib and tucked into our rice, dahl, shrimp and oily potatoes. It’s a pretty basic menu here at the hotel but it’s been good food considering some of the stories I have read including the one I found when I typed in ‘Khulna’ and ‘food’ into google. The story of two women who went out to get food and died within hours of food poisioning two months back. Hmmm….yeh that kept everyone quiet for a bit, that was until our encounter with Ali Baba’s.

Rajib (right) looking for a beer. © Mike Lusmore

Ali Baba’s was it’s name – and strange looking food was it’s game. Now I don’t do restaurant reviews but I haven’t laughed so much over dinner as I did at this place, so for entertainment value I’m going to give it a four out of five. In the car on the way to the place we were told by the guy that recommended it that we weren’t getting the shrimp that we had pre-ordered (everything needs to be pre-ordered here in Khulna) as the last two people he had brought to this place had gotten food poisoning. I think these are the sort of things we should discuss before heading over to a place but by this time we were pulling up at Ali Baba’s. It said ‘Chinese Food’ in big letters on the doors which was a bit ominous as I figured we would be eating Bangladeshi cuisine but we pressed on and as I entered the place I realised half of the restaurant did Chinese and the other half did the rest. I say the rest as you seemed to be able to order fried chicken, burgers, dahl…infact it looked a bit like most kebab houses in most cities in the UK with an extended seating area and way to many balloons tied to the ceiling. Come to think of it I have never seen a kebab house with any balloons on the ceiling but this place was obviously celebrating something. We waited whilst our food was cooked/prepared/killed/warmed and Benjamin entertained us all by trying to read the back of a kebab box which he thought wa a menu – very funny. As we were no longer allowed the shrimp our mutton curry arrived looking like it was in a sauce made up of the chesty cough I have had all week (not good) and served with a dose of everyones favourite here, a lot of oil. To be honest I wasn’t hungry by now and picked away at my rice like a five year old as Benjamin tried to work out what had happened to the real Bangladesh cuisine we had come for. ‘I told you this restaurant couldn’t cook’ was the only words forthcoming from our host which I think just about summed up Ali Baba’s. I don’t think I’ll be heading back there anytime soon.

Dinner

It’s a shame Ali Baba’s was so damn random as when you step outside Khulna into the countryside of Bangladesh the food seems so plentiful and obvious it’s amazing. Rice paddies being planted and harvested all year round, vegetable plots, shrimp and prawn ponds, freshwater fish, saltwater fish, coconut trees, wonderfully sweet Bananas and fresh date juice being tapped from every other tree are just the things I managed to see on my small trip. I’m not saying every one of the estimated 170 million people here in Bangladesh are eating well but the farming methods are really something to marvel at. The mixed use small holdings are just how small time farming should be and provide within the villages and further afield it’s hard to imagine that anyone reading this wouldn’t have eaten some shrimp or rice that came from somewhere here in Bangladesh. I only mention it because it seems to always be mentioned how poor it is here in Bangladesh and I think that is a very relative thing. Don’t get me wrong it IS very poor here in a lot of ways. There aren’t many cars or modern machines, the roads are very poor and the mobile phone is about the only bit of technology I see on a regular basis but they are rich here in other ways. I have never seen people work so hard in my life, it’s almost like a race to get all of the fish fished or build as many things as possible before dinner coupled with the wonderful contrast in the villages that are so peaceful and unspoilt. I think we would all be jealous of the beauty and simplicity of some of the lives here.

Farming with a view east of Khulna. © Mike Lusmore

In and around Khulna in four photos

2012-01-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post as I need to get to sleep before I become awake again or before anyone decides to treat the town to another megaphone church service.

Thought I would post a few quick pictures from the last few days in Khulna, Bangladesh. We headed down the river today with some help from local cameraman Rajib. It was great to get out of the city and see some amazing countryside and meet some lovely people.

Photographs below in order:

Khulna evening fish market.

The view from the roof of our hotel.

The rice paddies south of Khulna.

The pedals I want for my pub bike at home!

View from the car

2012-01-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

The rest of the light..and the first bit of beautiful light I have seen in Bangladesh.

Just sitting back not sipping on a beer (there isn't any) and taking five after a long day with our group working on photography and audio skills before heading straight into the field to record some material. We thought the weather was bad yesterday but thunder beckoned this morning over breakfast so when by lunch the rain had ceased we took the opportunity to visit a village working with World Fish. It's a bit of a trek to anywhere round here so it we packed up our vehicles and headed out in search of a story and to catch the rest of the light.

I'm currently hiding from the call to prayer underneath my lovely headphones. I'm sure I'll get used to it but it's driving me a bit insane at the moment. I think the speaker is on the other side of my wall..no seriously!

Everyone gets straight to work as we travel back to Khulna (I think Benjamin on the right is just playing games).

5089.1 miles

2012-01-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

The view from my room at Lake Hotel Castle, Dhaka

It's taken a few days to get here, including one very long sit down in Dubai's infamously boring shopping mall airport type thing, one cold, about 20 paracetamol, way to much hand luggage and my old favourite, a plane with a faulty engine. I always think it's time to worry when the air hostess is getting involved in the mechanics of the plane. Thankfully they asked us to leave whilst they completed this task. Honestly my confidence was low.

The captain and mechanic have a go at fixing our broken plane. Not cool.

Bristol to London. London to Dubai. Dubai to Dhaka, Dhaka to Jessor and Jessor to Khulna. It's 5089.1 miles as the crow fly's and seeing as it's more for us it's been a really tiring trip. Especially seeing as I managed to somehow get a cold just as I left somewhere cold! I'll thank the British weather for that.. Well if I thought I was entering the opposite side of the temperature scale I was wrong too. There have already been calls to head to the shops to pick up a jumper and that wasn't even me. Even so this looks like an amazing place. Over a million people live here in Khulna and it's the third largest city in Bangladesh. It's about the same as Bristol in the UK and I am hoping that as I get on with work I can explore it a bit.

For now I've been doing a bit of work with the group I am here training from World Fish and having a bit of dinner. They are a really interesting bunch and it's been great to here in a bit more detail some of the programmes they work with here in Bangladesh to improve food security in this region.

I'll leave you with the view from my room. To be honest the picture looks better as the visibility is super low but hey that's what a photograph can do sometimes.

The view across Khulna to the north from my hotel.

Fish & Fish

2012-01-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

For eighteen years of my life the only fish I would happily devour was that from the local fish & chip shop. I mean I have always loved fish & chips and it's still my favourite takeaway to this day, possibly one of my favourite meals.. So unless we were drenching dinner with salt and vinegar and wrapping it up in that day's misprinted papers, I wasn't interested. According to my parents I happily spent my youth referring to the dish as 'fish & fish', so I must have liked it deep down inside just not when it came to dinnertime.

So it comes as no surprise that I can remember quite vividly the first fish dish that stopped me in my tracks, and made me sit up and take note. I was at my Uncles in California (that would be you John - thanks again) enjoying the delights of the surf, the beach, my first surfboard and getting driven around in a lowered F150 truck (such a child!).. John suggested some fresh fish from this killer place on County Line that serves up the freshest fish, caught daily from the pacific opposite the restaurant. What with me being very British I felt it was a bit rude to say that I didn't really like fish so I shut my trap. What followed was a culinary delight though, Sea Bass sprinkled with flaked almonds, a generous pinch of salt and pepper and a hunk of butter. All wrapped up in foil and cooked to perfection on the barbecue of course. And perfection it was. Now I like fish, I said to myself.

I'm not the only person who now likes to eat fish. Statistics say that in 2009 the world ate over 120 million tonnes of fish. It's a staggering statistic and that rate increases by 6% year on year. So maybe we should be worried about running out of oil but we should also be aware of the rate at which the world eats fish. Some of the practices that directly affect fish heading for the UK markets were highlighted last year by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on a Channel 4 series called Hugh's Fish Fight. It was heart wrenching, educational and made me want to act. It also seems to have made another 770,617...and counting people want to act, which is great.

I'm glad to be heading out to Bangladesh at the end of this week with duckrabbit to work on series of photofilms for a Fishing & Aquaculture research institute there. It's made me think about how important fish are to this world, for sustenance, to provide livelihoods and in the environment as a species.

It's also made me think about just how hard it is to get a nice piece of fresh fish nowadays. Thankfully my brother is a chef so I had the nicest piece of trout I have ever eaten on Christmas morning this year.

And if you don't know my brother then perhaps it's easier to just go fishing. Like James Brown here..

Christmas Goose

2011-12-30T08:49:00.000-08:00

We had a very yummy Goose for christmas this year. We wanted to do something practical and discrete with the leftovers so we made this pie. It has pastry made from...yep you guessed it goose fat. Yum.

Even nicer when it's cooked.

October

2011-12-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

Quite why it has taken me since October to get this into my computer and back out the ethernet cable plugged into it's backside I don't know. It hasn't made a bit of difference to the photograph and I like this snapshot of Rebecca (Harley...she is a photographer - hence the camera..) on a beach nowhere near you. It was pretty windy that day.

Food Inc.

2011-12-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty passionate about my food, everyone else's food and the way we go about sourcing it. I think it's important to be responsible as we go through our lives taking photos or doing whatever it is that we do, responsible for our environment and the things we share it with, namely other humans and all those animals which provide a hell of a lot of our food. Even the plants, we should respect them too. They work their asses off for us keeping us all alive with their wonderful nutrients and all that oxygen they provide.

I can't help but get a little depressed sometimes when I realise that there are a lot of people out there who are not really that bothered about the next tree that's getting cut down as long as they have the latest flat screen tv. Not worried about an animal that's literally dying on it's feet to feed us along as they can read all about the poor thing on their shiny new iPad. Not scared to eat food that contains crap more crap and more crap because it tastes sooooo good. And just generally not bothered if we destroy our planet and disrespect every living thing on it as long as they can get everything cheaper, bigger and better.

This notion was revived in me the other day when watched the film - Food Inc. It was so good, so moving, so interesting and sad all at the same time I ended up watching it twice in one day. Ok once was on the train back from London but even then I had to fight back my emotions a little bit. When I arrived back I couldn't help but tell everyone I met to watch it and learn something, so I ended up watching it for the second time. Just as good, just as scary, just as disturbing.

Now I know a lot of people are not into watching documentary films about food nowadays, mainly because a lot of people have told me so. And whether that because they just aren't entertaining enough, aren't filmed in glorious HD or because they don't have Brad Pitt telling you to be nice to the world in them, I'm not sure. I have a feeling though that it's because people just don't want to hear the truth about the way their food is produced because it so bloody disgusting. And if they don't watch it they can ignore it for a bit longer. Well I want to see it all so I can make my choice with the food I buy and be responsible for the animals I eat and the way they have lived their lives.

Anyway my point was to tell you to go and watch the film, but I'll bring it back round to photography seeing as though I'm a photographer and all that. A point brought up in the film was that some US states were considering laws to be passed that would stop photographs being taken of industrial food processes. In Florida this year Senator Jim Norman put this bill forward

"[a] person who photographs, video records, or otherwise produces images or pictorial records, digital or otherwise, at or of a farm or other property where legitimate agriculture operations are being conducted without the written consent of the owner, or an authorized representative of the owner, commits a felony of the first degree."

See more here..

So if that was passed..it wouldn't be good for the transparency of the food system, or for investigative journalists/photographers...jail anyone? Bit scary though really that people go to such lengths to hide the very stuff that we eat three times a day.

Scary. Go Watch it.

If we need to end on a positive note, and I feel like we really should. It's so easy to buy good food that doesn't harm others around you, and you can start with your local humble and very great baker. Thankfully mine is amazing and here is a picture of Harts Bakery in Bristol. It's actually not even around at the moment and I'm making my own bread - it's really easy, really satisfying and only has water, flour and salt in it... not human hair like some bread..really that is a bit gross

Photofilms and Yurts..

2011-11-28T23:04:00.000-08:00

As winter approaches at a steady rate of knots and that inner cold sets in, I think it's good to have something to look forward to. Christmas holidays I suppose would do...maybe your new years celebrations....yeh did that last year..how about next years Hinterlands workshop..

If you have no idea what i'm waffling about then I'll get straight to the point. We (that's me, Rebecca Harley and the duckrabbit team) are running our second Hinterlands photofilm workshop on what I think is the best possible course in the UK. A five day residential workshop staying in mongolian yurts with log burners and eating wonderful food, you will break bread with other keen participants whilst learning all there is to know about photofilms. It's a very peaceful relaxing place to learn in but we still pack in lots of stuff to keep you busy. Last year we had cyclist, adventurer and photofilm creator Nick Hand talk about his work and where photofilms have taken his career, and Coventry University pioneer and creator of #phonar, Jonathan Worth talking about how to get ahead by giving your work away.

Last years participants were an awesome bunch and we really really had a great time working with them. This year we have another 15 places...actually 14 because I just took a booking..and I hope we can fill it with a similarly inspiring group.

If your still wondering what the hell I'm waffling about watch this photofilm with last years participants talking about their experiences.

For more info or to book a place head to www.thehinterlands.co.uk

#phonar

2011-10-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

I've just got back from giving a lecture and working with the #phonar class at Coventry University this week where I talked photofilms, transformative storytelling and transmedia. Interesting stuff and thanks to Jonathan Worth's approach to sharing and creative commons (it's his class), you can take part and hear the class too as #phonar is free to join and take part in online. Visit www.phonar.org for more details.

Matt Johnston who run's the course with Jonathan will be uploading the talk to the phonar class soon for you to hear but in the meantime he recorded my five top tips for photofilms..

Stray

2011-10-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

Anyone want to look after this beautiful stray cat. Got enough already. He's Freddie and he is super cute.

New Old

2011-09-23T03:55:00.000-07:00

I've started working on a new project in a way that's new to me, but old to many others. You see my first camera was digital - a fuji finepix. I don't remember the model but it had 1.3 megapixels and was damn cool. I took it to the states and took as many pictures as I could fit on to it's massive 16Mb flash card. The pictures are long gone on a hardrive that decided it no longer wished to take part in living, but I still remember the camera. So I never had a 'proper' camera and thus had never got my hands covered in developer, fumbled around in the dark and got used to the heady red lights of the darkroom.

Time for a change..

Paul

2011-09-08T02:50:00.000-07:00

Paul has a cigarette under the vine. Barratt Street, Summer 2011.

Life Bicycles

2011-09-07T04:09:00.000-07:00

When I embarked upon a trip to Alpe d'huez in the French Alps this year for some riding at the ever famous Megavalanche event I was excited. I expected to spend my time split evenly between the local bars, the chairlift and riding down mountains as fast as I possibly could. The reality was that I slept on a cardboard box, got a chest infection, didn't make it to the bar at all and spent less time riding than an average week at home. On the plus side I did race the Megavalanche and it was awesome. Really really hard and really awesome.

When I wasn't helping to make our super demanding chalet dinner or trying to take the tyre off my bike or just generally taking medication to make me feel less like dying I made a video of our travels. Life Bicycles. It's very very serious. Seriously.

Names

2011-08-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

I recently attained the title of odd-parent from my long suffering friend Gwyenth (yes - she's Welsh). Odd-parent as in a god parent with a lack of religious responsibility. The day was celebrated in traditional Welsh style with a rainy day, a few ales and a longer walk than expected including the standard pushing a heavy pram through a wet grass field whilst being chased by some angry cattle. My favourite.

Here's to lovely Gracie (that's my new odd-daughter).

River Usk.

Gwyn, Gracie and rain.

That's Gracie with a very well behaved (not very often) Rufus. More pictures on my flickr account here.

Greenman

2011-08-24T02:35:00.000-07:00

Went to Greenman festival on the weekend and had a great time apart from realising that I'm older now and that lack of sleep, carrying a box of wine around for sustenance and sleeping in a tent just doesn't help.

Some great bands most notably Coco's Lovers, Laura Marling and The Burns Unit who are now on my shopping list. Check out this video of Coc's lovers playing out of the back of a van powered by bikes - awesome!

Getting there

2011-07-23T04:59:00.001-07:00

I'm well on my way to Novo Mesto in the heart of Slovenia to take my seat at the 11th annual Fotopub photography festival. After a brief stop in Brixton to check up on the latest batch of gentrification and a trouble free but solo flight from Gatwick I arrived in Ljubljana with only a few hours to wait for Rebecca to join me. It's a long story but I booked the last seat on a flight out of Gatwick so we travelled at the same time from different airports to the same destination. I won't be booking any separate tickets ever again!

Rebecca and I have prepared a great schedule for the participants of the multimedia workshop at Fotopub and I'm looking forward to meeting our students and getting to work. It's going to be a busy week in Slovenia as the students have five and a half days to learn about photofilms, get out in the field and collect their material and build their finished pieces. The work will then be shown in Novo Mesto next Saturday as part of the Festival.

I've brought quite a bit of kit with me, the usual cameras, lenses and more cameras along with a laptop and additional speakers and a healthy dose of cables and headphones, so I ditched my current book for the trip. I was therefore left with the inflight reading material which is usually enough to drive anyone crazy. Not so as the Adria Airways magazine was pretty goo and even featured a piece on the Fotopub festival, which was nice.

Why Photofilms?

2011-07-19T03:04:00.000-07:00

Rebecca and I were asked to give a small interview online the other day to ready ourselves and our participants for the multimedia workshop we are teaching in Slovenia at Fotopub next week. I thought I was prepared for everything that morning, but not perhaps for having the camera turned on us. Borut Peterlin from Fotopub was obviously very persuasive and so the video was switched on. So if you are struggling with the tuesday morning blues and the remnents of the weekends hangover please feel free to enjoy this video.

If you got to the end are still wondering why you should make photofilms? Then maybe you can't be helped. No seriously, it's because it's such a wonderful way to tell a story, that engages not just the audience but the subject so well.

In fact I have a new one sitting here to show you, I Just need the client to give the thumbs up.

le kandahar

2011-07-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

I don't go on holiday often, although I'm sure my friends and family would disagree. I do constantly find myself in unfamiliar places but I'm usually working. This week is the exception to the rule (or perhaps not..) as I find myself in the French Alps in a town that the Tour de France has made very popular. The hill climb up to Alp d'huez has photographers stationed on the hill to capture the hundreds of amateurs that ride this section of the tour every day. It's not something I can really get behind as I am here to compete against nearly a thousand people riding the other way down the mountain and not on the road. To cut a long story short bikes require lots of spanners etc.. and this weeks spanner (in the works) is my spot of flu. So I haven't really ridden a bike at all. Instead I am sitting in our chalet working on material for the upcoming Fotopub 2011. I'm working with Rebecca Harley as a mentor at the photography festival that will be putting in it's 11th appearance in the small town of Novo Mesto in Slovenia. We are going to be passing on all of our skills to teach a dozen people on the multimedia workshop how to really wow people with their photofilms. I have a new photofilm that is with the client right now and I will be loading onto this blog as soon as I return to the UK. In the meantime...don't get the flu when it's sunny outside, don't ride up hills and go check out the Fotopub schedule - there really is something for everyone and I hope to see some familiar faces.

I leave you with this nugget. Shall we guess when this resort was built? Who would name their chalet Le Kandahar nowadays..

Multimedia at Fotopub

2011-06-23T01:17:00.000-07:00

As the weather repeats it's ever changing rain and sun game in the run up to the Glastonbury festival and you continue on regardless, although getting more use out of your waterproof trousers than you thought necessary in June. Maybe you should be thinking about what to do this summer? A trip abroad.. perhaps Europe.. hmmm been to France sooo many times, maybe further east. How about Slovenia, it's next door to italy, on the adriatic, you could swim in the beautiful lake Bled, visit the stunning Julian Alps, take in the capital Ljubljana, visit Maribor for the world downhill mountain bike racing or perhaps visit the small town of Novo Mesto for this years Fotopub festival.

If you hadn't guessed already I am excited about the Fotopub photo festival happening in Slovenia, 25th-30th July 2011. Not just because it's the 11th year this wonderful events been happening, and because I have heard and seen so many great things about it but also because this year I finally get to go. This years Fotopub has a great lineup of mentors and events with talent such as Ed Ou, Brenda Ann Kenneally, Epsen Rasmussen and more attending and I have been looking at the site with some excitement. So I guess being asked to be a mentor and to teach the multimedia workshop has only one downside - I won't have time to go and the see all these other great talents speak. I'm sure we will be able to catch up over a beer..

It's been a long week what with us not having a kitchen (long story), a photofilm commission on the go, another in the pipeline and with Fotopub asking Rebecca and I to come and teach. It all came about through our wonderful Hinterlands workshop in Devon that we (Rebecca and I that is) ran in collaboration with duckrabbit in May of this year. It went great, so great that duckrabbit felt happy to recommend us to the Fotopub team, and I am really happy they did.

So.. If your twiddling your thumbs at home and are wondering what to do in July - head to Fotopub. And if your interested in multimedia, slideshows, photofilms or whatever you call them then come and signup for the multimedia workshop. It's going to be a great place to produce a short multimedia piece and to have a stunning week all at the same time.

MSF in Kibera

2011-06-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

I worked with Médecins Sans Frontières the other day to produce the audio for three photofilms all about people living with HIV in Kenya's Kibera slums. The BBC world news had the piece on their front page today which I am really happy about. The pieces go back to visit three people from the Kibera slums with HIV who's lives have been changed as a result of taking ARV's over the last six years. If your interested in seeing the other pieces they can be found on the MSF site.

It was a challenging and very long day including not much sleep, too much driving, a lack of headlamps in the car and a super long edit so I'm really happy that the BBC decided to use the piece.

Hinterben

2011-05-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

I've finally made it home after almost two weeks away being everything Hinterlands. We wanted The Hinterlands to be an amazing way to learn everything there was to know about photofilms in a low impact kinda way with a bunch of like minded people. It ended up being so much more! The talks were so inspiring I would like to thank Nick and Jonathan and everyone else who graced the barns presence.

We (Rebecca and I) partnered up with duckrabbit for this workshop and were so happy to have a group of fifteen students who by the end of five days didn't want to leave. A cook who didn't want to leave and a few that didn't even leave.

What an amazing experience!

I'll just sort through the 1111 jpegs, 2 films, 1 timeplapse and several 3d photographs to see what might interest anyone.

Ben gets his portrait taken by Rebecca

Our workshop is finished...for now

2011-05-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't quite believe that our Hinterlands workshop is over. It's been so long in the making and has just flown by. I really enjoyed meeting all of the participants and am so happy tht they enjoyed themselves and went away inspired and with new skills to add to their talents.

So much to remember from the past few days...the food, the wind, photofilms, gliders, dougie, the fire, extension leads, breakfast outside, early mornings, late nights, the groups, that fax, honesty bar, lovely cider, chorizo, jonathan worth, nick hand, beautiful photographs and my word....alive!

Leo & Briony....2/3rds of team steam getting their piece ready.

The participants, their subjects and the local community watch the weeks photofilms
The Hinterlands around the campfire
The remaining few...Rebecca, Fjona, Alice, Benjamin....Pete in the background and me (behind the lens)

The Hinterlands...continues

2011-05-23T03:58:00.000-07:00

As I type this The Hinterlands students are getting to grips with the finer side of editing down the material they gathered out in the field on yesterdays case studies. It was a great day with a lot of happy smiling faces and a few surprises thrown in.

They have a lot of hard work to get on with now so I better go and help out..

Captivated by Georgina's talk.

Our schedule for the evening.
Is this Wasma?

Finding our way home from the pub.
The classroom.

An ominous forecast.

The Hinterlands..day one

2011-05-21T04:24:00.000-07:00

Fifteen people arrived yesterday in the Devon countryside from around the UK and parts of Europe to participate in The Hinterlands workshop. We spent the evening getting to know each other, talking about photographs, audio and everything in between. It's on to the training today and we started with some lovely bright sunshine and a yummy breakfast out in the open.

The field kitchen
3d?

Glued to the screen

Sweden to Devon

2011-05-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

From Sweden to Devon in the last week and not a photograph to show for it. There are photographs (why of course..) but they haven't been processed yet. Although even when they manage to reach the processed pile on the desk downstairs they will then join the infamous scanning pile - it's not to be reckoned with - ask tom.

It's been a busy time recently - and especially in the lsat few days as I have been running around putting the finishing touches to The Hinterlands workshop which kicks off in the Devon countryside tomorrow! If you want to know how to make photofilms it is the place to be - and if you like the great outdoors more than the not so great indoors then it is the course for you. Unfortunately (for you - not us) it is all sold out this year...(not next year..) I'm doing a little paperwork now but looking forward to meeting all of the wonderful people coming along tomorrow. See you all in Devon!

The photograph is a 'bride not to be' in Bristol on the day of the Royal Wedding. So many wedding dresses. I always think when I see people wearing wedding dresses for fancy dress - where do they get them from..?

mull it over

2011-05-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

I was asked to do a small interview recently which appeared on the mull it over blog yesterday. It's nice to be asked - cheers Jonathan.

The pictured featured is from my upcoming series which doesn't really have a title. I could make one up but I would be sitting here far to long weighing up the possibles..

Holiday weekend

2011-05-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

Claire, Royal Wedding Celebrations - Castle Park, Bristol

It's been a busy weekend, holidays, workdays, royal wedding day, moving office, cooking, cleaning, lost cat, found cat, bit of building, more work, more play, choose camera kit, pack camera kit, download, upload and now a bit of catering for a Sunday afternoon..

Went along to Instant Coffee's last night which is a slideshow event held in Bristol. It was great to see some other peoples work and more importantly meet a few other local photographers and the curator and current exhibitor from Fox Talbot museum in Lacock.

I have loads of stuff to post. I just need to scan it first

Tyntesfield

2011-04-15T00:20:00.000-07:00

I helped my partner Rebecca with a wedding last weekend at Tyntesfield, a beautiful property on the outskirts of Bristol. A beautiful few days of celebration in The Old Saw Mill with weather straight out of the summer.

Guests outside The Old Saw Mill as the sun drops into the trees.

Mum

2011-04-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my 'People I know' series here is a portrait of my mother. If you know my family then you will know this is a rare moment when she wasn't talking to me (or I to her for that matter).

I will forever remember photographing her as she always giggles as soon as I even pick up the camera.

Mum - your the best. Thanks for all the talking, knitting, sewing, dare i say cooking, lending, lifts (lots of lifts) and for always being there.x

Power

2011-04-05T01:43:00.000-07:00

Power Lines

I have been experimenting with a new format recently. This is from an x-pan I have loaned from a friend with a roll of velvia in it. A great camera to shoot with - I love it's simplicity.

Boo the builder

2011-04-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

Fed up of sitting back to back in the office space I share with my partner we have been forced to partake in a bit of work at our home. I would normally do this myself although I was told more than once that we had to get someone else to help as I haven't finished my last building project yet. I haven't moved in yet but our lovely builder boo and his right hand man mike have gone now and all we are left with are these photographs and our lovely new room.

Blossom

2011-03-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everybody who came to listen to me talk at Bristol University the other evening. I really enjoyed it. Good questions - only one 'what camera do you use?'.

I talked a little about my current project which I have been working on for the last six months. It was the first time I had shown any images from the project so I was a little apprehensive beforehand. I will post some here soon but for now blossom.

Its just so beautiful

Innovative Interactivity (II)

2011-03-25T02:19:00.000-07:00

If you interested in all things multimedia you probably already read Tracy Boyers Innovative Interactivity blog. If you don't then you probably should and you would have probably read her write up on our workshop which is taking place in Devon this May. I may have already mentioned it but The Hinterlands is going to be an amazing event - great home cooked food, staying in beautiful authentic yurts in the peaceful countryside alongside some kickass training to get your photofilm knowledge rolling. We also have the wonderful Nick Hand coming along to tell us about his work and why he thinks photofilms are a great medium - plus he is an all round great guy.

This is a short piece of Nicks - part of his slow coast series..

Bush

2011-03-17T03:41:00.000-07:00

Frozen Bush, 2011.

I'm speaking to the University of Bristol photographic society this evening. They have titled my talk 'Film is not dead'.. I never said it was and I don't think it ever will be..but that doesn't mean the cost is coming down - and that's the issue for a lot of people. I enjoy shooting across formats and they both have their distinct advantages.

There is nothing quite like getting a film back though..

Then there are (photo)film(s).. I will also be talking about them. They're not dead. They haven't even gotten started yet.

A thin sliver of moon

2011-03-14T03:57:00.000-07:00

I saw this whilst on the way home from a commission the other day. Beautiful light and a thin sliver of moon - what a treat.

If you enjoy looking at my work then please don't forget to head over to my website at mikelusmore.com. I have been making a few changes with it recently so you might enjoy whittling some time away over there..

Pancakes

2011-03-08T01:24:00.001-08:00

I can't say I have been waiting with baited breath for pancake day this year, or last for that matter. I'm grown up now and realise that I can have pancakes any day I wish.

Alex James on the other hand wanted to test out some weird and wonderful recipes for his food column in Britain's biggest tabloid. Rolo's and white chocolate buttons got the man excited.

Christmas Photofilm

2011-03-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

Spring hasn't quite sprung (despite what the papers tell you) and winter still has its firm grip on the temperature here in the UK. So if your feeling like it's cold enough to be christmas and your missing all that festive cheer. Maybe this will lift your spirits..

This was a collaboration with Rebecca Harley and we both photographed, recorded and produced it together. We took it to the singing group for a preview the other night in a small house next to the river Wye in Chepstow. As we huddled round at the end of singing practice and watched it together it was so nice to see the smiles on peoples faces as they watched.

What a lovely reward..

Sweety

2011-02-25T08:51:00.000-08:00

I'm just catching my breath after a lot of photofilm editing, a one-to-one preview of the film along with handing in an application for a residency at Ffotogallery. I'm just mulling on my computer now tidying up loose ends so I thought I would post this portrait from a commission on forced marriage I undertook the other day.

Sweety, 2011.

Want to stay in a yurt?

2011-02-23T03:39:00.000-08:00

I'm really happy to be posting a photofilm I have been working on in collaboration with rebecca. We just finished putting the final touches to it for a small firm in Devon which provide Yurt accommodation on their smallholding in Devon.

We are also using these wonderful yurts as the location for The Hinterlands workshop which I am involved in putting on with duckrabbits Ben & David. So if you like our photofilm and you think you might like to stay a yurt maybe you should come on down in May and take part.. We still have places so head to www.thehinterlands.co.uk or click on the banner below..

Christmas Day

2011-02-21T05:05:00.000-08:00

I got this film back a few weeks ago from around christmas time and edited this frame up as part of a set to show the other day. It's just as it came out of the camera/scanner.

I love it and that's pretty much it really.

It's my old school just as the light was fading on christmas day. Before this lovely walk I had drilled through the electrics (accidentally obviously) and cut the power to the whole house and after this we barbecued some steaks for christmas dinner (with all the trimmings obviously). Yum.

Made in Wales

2011-02-17T04:44:00.000-08:00

I was sending word to howies today about our photofilm workshop (that would surely be ffotofim in Welsh..check it out here..) and I thought about these pics that I did of their wonderful printshop down in west Wales. I'm obsessed with doing things in a real and honest way and their printshop is just that. Every t-shirt is screen printed by hand by Tidy (Mike) and Tom.

Lovely t-shirts and lovely people all the way from Wales.

Anthony

2011-02-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

A continuation of a small series of portraits of people that I know.

Anthony stopped by briefly last week and I managed to catch the last of the light with this photograph taken three years and one week after the last portrait I made of him.

untitled

2011-02-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

not the ampitheatre view, the drakensburg

The Hinterlands workshop & duckrabbit

2011-02-04T07:40:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to announce that I am working with top photofilm trainers David White & Ben Chesterton from duckrabbit in a new venture called 'The Hinterlands'. Combining training with inspirational talks all in the beautiful Devon countryside sleeping in yurts and warming yourselves around the fire.

So if your interested in learning how to make photofilms and want to know what to do with them afterwards come and join us in May.....head to www.duckrabbit.info/thehinterlands for more info...

...and yes their is somewhere to charge your phone

Cornwall 1-4

2011-02-04T07:31:00.001-08:00

Polzeth (new), Noah post surf, Tom, Cornish sea view.

New years day, 2011.

Snow

2010-12-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

Snow. Yeh we got a lovely dusting of snow down here in the westcountry... This photograph even made me late for my job. I think it was worth it though...just wish I had time to walk to that stile...looks lovely.

Please come back snow...

Noah

2010-12-07T15:04:00.001-08:00

It's been snowy here, but not that snowy. Still it's all hot water bottles, three layers, knitwear, hot-drinks, blocking up gaps, waiting for the windows to defrost, porridge oats, fires, finding the other glove, icy skids, cold swims followed by hot showers and all that fun.

I've been having a few problems with my Bronica as of late so I've managed to get my hands on a beautiful pre-loved Mamiya 7. I love it.

The portrait is Noah.

and this..

2010-11-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

Whilst walking in the woods photographing a story i am up to my eyes in at the moment - saw this. Oh to be a spider.

P&P

2010-11-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

I've been having a few problems with my dear Bronica. It was becoming so soft I spent more time thinking about getting everything sharp than the actual subjects of the photographs. I'm not sure what to do with it so I'll put it in the cupboard for a bit. New camera with a slightly different format coming soon.

Until then..

Paul.

P&P would be problems and paul then...

Ollie

2010-11-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

Merino

2010-11-05T05:31:00.000-07:00

It's definitely getting colder and I've found myself layering up already. I even thought maybe I should get some more merino stuff to keep me nice and toasty. At present I'm a slave to the howies merino which I do like alot but was looking around to see what else there was today and found Chocolate Fish. Now the only thing that ever bugged me about the howies stuff was where it was made....I'm not saying I could afford howies clothes if they were made in the UK - and I trust that they try their hardest to get stuff made in good places. But Choclate Fish make all their stuff in NZ where the mernio comes from in the first place - interesting stuff.

Anyway after a bit of tip tapping on my keyboard I did stumble upon this rather funny post from a slightly ranty forum talking about howies clothes...

It did make me chuckle....

Best jeans I've ever had though...

Tom & Lauren

2010-11-04T06:22:00.001-07:00

Tom & Lauren with their cat's Nim & Mo.

The end of digmore

2010-10-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

It would have been great to have been out on saturday night taking snapshots of peoples halloween costumes. Towards the early hours I saw one guy and I couldn't tell whether he was in fancy dress or had just left a&e. Maybe next year if the polaroid fairy comes to town and forgets her cargo I will make my wish come true.

Instead I joined some friends to say goodbye to digmore. I posted some photographs on this blog a few months back from digmore..(see here). I guess people would just think it's a place to ride your bmx - but I never went their to really photograph that. I wanted to capture the people and the spirit there - because to them - that was digmore..

I never wanted to stop taking photos at this place but i'll have to now as the story has moved on. So i'll be culminating my work in a short photofilm here on this blog soon. For now though some shots from the last evening where everyone enjoyed the warmth of a good fire...

Foraging

2010-10-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

My brother and I both share a passion for food. So when he invited me out on a foraging expedition with a friend the other week I could hardly say no. Paul (my brother) and Bradley armed themselves with receptacles, a flask of tea and a guide to edible wild plants whilst I loaded my trusty Bronica up for a days strolling.

Alex James

2010-10-24T03:34:00.000-07:00

When I was (even) younger it was all Blur or Oasis but despite being firmly not in the latter camp I'd be hard pressed to give any details. Obviously I love 'Girls & Boys', 'Song 2' and the toe tapping 'Country House'......who doesn't but I'd be hard pressed to give any more info on the band than that. So it was with surprise when I was tasked to photograph Alex James. Ok....so who's Alex James? Even my mother seemed to know of this brit-pop turned self proclaimed cheese aficionado. Oh well....I didn't who he was..

I'm definitely going to need an assistant if I have to photograph five kids a rockstar and his wife again......I'm not going to even post the shot's where they tried to get the family pet in too....

Murray

2010-10-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Van Trip

2010-10-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

I went for a small surf trip in the van recently with my mate noah. It was supposed to be time away from work and life, and as people who surf (not surfers) - try to get out on our boards more in three days than we have managed in the last six months. It was cold and my sleeping bag was inadequate, but there was some good surf, some big surf and plenty of searching for somewhere to park up.

Oh and lots of tea.

saturday..

2010-10-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last two days shooting portraits and editing previous assignments. I did manage to squeeze in a bike ride and the bike is now trying to take over the house..

i know..

2010-10-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

I know that some jobs leave a lot to be desired when it comes to the satisfaction of being a photographer. I like to feel like I have achieved something with my job...that sense of achievement after a day at the office...or out of it for that matter. That doesn't always come so naturally..

Now thats not to say that the work you (or me for that matter) is not good, hasn't achieved a brief or the client won't be happy - it is, has and they will... It's just that sometimes it's not exactly exciting or satisfying..

So I'm taking portraits of people I know for no other reason than that. Just portraits of my friends and the people I know..

Tom..or Timmay..photographed at his flat in Bristol.

Chutney..

2010-10-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

I'm on batch number three of chutney..making that is. Two successful chutney's already holed up in the larder. I did manage to pull myself away from the kitchen for a moment to elaborate on the photograph from my last post.

autumn..

2010-09-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

When there's more rain than shine, more damp than dry and you trade beer gardens for cosy fires it's when autumns arrived. It's not that I don't like waterproof trousers but I can't wear them everyday - and it's the getting caught out that tests my patience. Autumn does also stand for crumbles, chutney making, rain rain more glorious rain, shorter evenings, log fires and all of those beautiful burnt amber leaves..

pump track..

2010-08-24T01:50:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to some long awaited scanning of some projects I have been working on recently. Above is the first of a bunch of scans that I was excitedly up late last night processing.

Maybe I should call it 'feet...burgers'.

my favourite model..

2010-08-09T03:03:00.000-07:00

even though he spilt coffee on the backdrop..

triscombe and rain.. and then mud.

2010-07-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

other side of the lens..

2010-07-15T14:23:00.001-07:00

its me and of course I got it flatter.. flat as a laptop..or tabletop..whichever you prefer. it was the lights or the trigger or something..cheers pie.

three things..

2010-06-30T03:03:00.000-07:00

First and foremost - award winning hands of Rebecca Harley - Well done - First Place in the Press photographers Year Multimedia Category - FIRST PLACE!!!! You superstar - and you didn't even need to shoot pictures of poor people, dead people or pretend not to pose stuff up. See it here....and see the other winners here....yes well done to Mr Oil Scraff too..

Secondly saw this van on our street for the second time recently - and it reminded me of Timmay and his van.... I had a phone call from the mechanic taking a look at the problem with the diff and the rear axle etc.. (self diagnosed obviously)...wheels fell off when he was driving it. safety first.

Thirdly - our cat Meg did lots of meowing this morning.

pump track..

2010-06-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

kung. pump track.

Come on England!

2010-06-23T00:05:00.000-07:00

As I see the St George flag flying from every car window and draped from every household I can see world cup fever has gripped the nation. As England goes football crazy and the team draw nil-nil with Algeria I met up with the supporters in Bristol who adorn their houses and cars with the St George flag hoping England can bring home the goals against Slovenia in South Africa on 23rd June.

Come on England!

longest day..

2010-06-22T00:08:00.000-07:00

lido, Bristol.

It certainly felt like the longest day of the year yesterday.. I spent a day interviewing England fans - they weren't too happy about the team performance. What they need is a good swim to clear their heads..

capture the fox..

2010-06-11T04:49:00.001-07:00

Ring ring..ring ring....(went the phone)...oh we would like a picture of a fox....doing anything...preferably something bad....like stealing a tv......or just near a kids playground.....whatever you can get a fox doing thats bad...

Freddy the Fox - Copyright Mike Lusmore

I think this fox looks pretty cute. Freddy the fox...he's a local. Saw him whilst shooting a project I am doing locally and thought i'd snap a picture. Then I saw this on the duckrabbit blog and thought foxes should get some better press....

Oh and no stealing my picture national news agencies...we know what your like!!

gold standard..

2010-06-08T15:09:00.001-07:00

if the streets were paved with gold...surely this is the bike you would want to be riding...

the big city..

2010-06-02T01:03:00.000-07:00

It's not often that I yearn for the big city. But I have been trying to chase down a decent cup of coffee for a while now....no they don't really have a shop...but they have a website...which is down. It's ok I found a cafe in town that serves good coffee yesterday....which closes at 4pm....I swear it was only 3.55....

Coffee at home then I guess....

more than one classic and a definite failure..

2010-05-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

No the wood-chip isn't the classic. It is and was a monumental failure. Unless it's task was to annoy people the world over...success. However the concorde and this picture.. Well some pictures just go around and around so I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw this hanging today as I was busy photographing something else. I know I have seen this many times at the photographers own house, and the agency it was produced at...many times..

This one's for George's Dad - nice nose job..

shaking bones..

2010-05-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

Just prepping my new desk drawers and some gear for tomorrow. Will be heading out with a good friend and a genius creator. George set out to create a place to ride and now that place is the place to ride. Going to be spending some time with him and the locals at his spot. I will probably take a copy of the latest - and first ever - bone shaker magazine. It looks great and is a new bike magazine - check it out at boneshakermag.wordpress.com. Nice to see a different direction of photographs, writing and production....it was all getting a little stale.

oil..

2010-05-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Just saw this over on the howies blog - looks like bps cleanup is not going well. Crazy plan number three to stop the leaking is just about on us and whoever thought the dispersant was a good idea must be in sales...and making a profit. I guess riding the bike today is a good start. It's a pity the country who this is going to effect the most isn't doing the same..

americas addiction to signs..

2010-05-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

I have never seen so many signs as on a recent trip to Florida. I was fascinated by the sheer number - so much so that I, despite the heat decided to venture outside - and inside - and inside my apartment for that matter with a camera to document this strange and not yet british approach to pre-whining about stuff. I even had some real face to face 'no no no' as I strutted into the sun of the car park. A car pulled off the road and circled the car park slowly as I took a few shots. A resident looking for the right spot I think, I mean why squeeze in when you can drive to another spot - this is not euro parking. A man exited said vehicle and headed in my direction and preceded to ask why I was taking pictures. I was particularly interested in his question "do I study signs?" after informing him I was taking pictures.. He seemed happy enough when I showed him where I was staying but I felt like a trip to the local sheriff may have ensued had I been my usual helpful self. The best part was when he hopped back in the car and drove back off down the road - not a residnet - just a helpful local - a cop - a weirdo - a busybody. He was probably just thinking there should be a sign that says 'NO PHOTOGRAPHY' or 'NO BRITS' as I thought about how he was crazy.

As I started to my photographs I had taken of a whole bunch of signs I had seen I wanted to take a look and see if anyone had written about it so i head to google...

..google....'americas addiction to signs'....enter.....

i didn't find anything about signs in the sense that i was trying to find. sure i found a whole bunch of people talking about signs of addiction...to drugs, porn, shopping, jane's (now theres a good band), war, teens and oil...yup

but no sign signs

exhibitionists..

2010-05-25T06:09:00.000-07:00

As the excellent Bristol Festival of Photography continues this week I am untangling the web of bikes in the bike shed and heading out to take a peek. With over one hundred events on over the next few weeks it really is something to go and check out. It's all very diverse including open studio events, talks, slideshows and your run of the mill hanging prints on a wall.

Anyway heading off now into town to see what I can see and will be blogging about my experiences around town over at the life.still blog keeping the spirit of the bfop and life.still alive..

And just incase you were wondering - life.still features work from five homegrown photographers...

The excellent Bristol based Tamany Baker. A Sony award winning photographer she is showcasing her unique shrine like images of her pets presents.

Gina Lundy, who works with Knowle West Media in Bristol and is presenting a before and after of a local school turned academy.

Rebecca Harley presents a beautiful selection of B&W prints with text alongside delving into peoples hopes and dreams.

John Angersons series of large format prints explore the journey taken JB Priestley in his book 'An English Journey'.

Oh - and finally my work 'A Journey from Here to There' exploring the lesser scene everydays of Bristol's Gloucester Road.

Go and check it out! www.lifestill.co.uk

flashcube and life.still

2010-05-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

The life.still exhibition that I have been involved with in Bristol is taking part in the flashcube event in Bristols legendary Cube cinema tonight. We have 25 minutes of slideshows from the life.still open slideshow submissions showing on the big screen. Come down!!

It also says we should be taking an exposed film for the film swap - hmm what can I dig out...and taking a 6x4 print for the wall to become part of Cube history..

For more details head to www.bfop.org.uk or www.cubecinema.com

And don;t forget to head to the 2nd floor gallery, howies in Clifton, Bristol this week. I am exhibiting work from my 'A Journey from Here to There' series. Head to www.lifestill.co.uk for more info..

life.still exhibition

2010-05-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

condo time...fl

I hope anyone who is anyone will be coming along to the life.still exhibition in Bristol toward the end of May. Iw ill be showing my series of photographs from the Gloucester Road along with four other photographers pieces. There is also an open slideshow event taking place which anybody can take part in - there are more details at www.lifestill.co.uk or see the flyer below.

camping..

2010-04-11T13:53:00.001-07:00

Wake up. Find Keys. Empty ikea bag. Fill ikea bag. Load van. Load more into van. Fill water drum. Find a lighter. Get wallet. Cash. Egg hot pocket and a coffee. Camera. Another Camera. Load van(again). Sunny Day. Off to Wales. Lovely.

all or nothing..

2010-04-07T01:23:00.000-07:00

taking time out by the lac in the quietest country ever for a spot of table tennis. whatever else could or would you do whilst waiting for a helicopter to take off.

luzern, switzerland

steps and silence..

2010-03-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

Mourners in Wooton Bassett, Wiltshire as the bodies of Lance Corporal Scott Hardy and Private James Grigg, both from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment are flown home.

diy..

2010-01-29T03:47:00.000-08:00

Surely a slogan any self respecting man should embrace..

tesco..

2010-01-27T02:58:00.000-08:00

The answer to the question that I get asked more often than I ever thought.. Why I don't shop with Tesco.

weston beach race..

2010-01-27T00:56:00.000-08:00

A small photo story that i did on the Weston Beach Race that happens every year in Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset. Motorbike riders from all over the world come to race in the chaotic event that sees thousands of people set off in a mass start with the usual British mix of weather..

calm before the storm..

2010-01-24T23:52:00.000-08:00

7.47am.

bristol.

tea.

silence.

clouds.

world press photo..

2010-01-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

There's nothing quite like leaving to the last minute and competitions even ones as highly regarded as the world press always get pushed to the back of the queue until the extended deadline is up. Having just finished my entry and after many more hours than i thought at my desk I thought it was about time i posted something here..

twenty eight stories...

2009-12-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

Boo will have her work hanging at www.28stories.co.uk as part of her course at Londons LCC in Elephant & Castle this month. Take a look...

Mist, fog and more mist......and cooking

2009-11-27T00:57:00.000-08:00

Currently in South Africa where i have never seen so much and so little at the same time. So much mist and yet so little right in front of you. it does clear occasionally for beautiful views and blistering temperatures but also bares a large resemblance to Wales on a large number of occasions.

Anyway enjoying taking some nice pictures and eating a lot of red meat - usually in an industrial estate...seems to be the norm. We had a few close encounters photographing some elephant in the north where I was trying to change lenses, load film and be the getaway driver at the same time.. It all worked out ok in the end and we are now back in the south east enjoying the mist or the fog..

exhibit this..

2009-10-31T05:03:00.000-07:00

Sitting back on my laurels for the first time in a while watching a bit of tv.. I've been super busy as of late but with my pictures finally hung on a wall in Bristol I can relax..for a moment.

I started the week seeing my photographs on a wall in north London for the Times and Canon where it emerged that the Times passed up having me work for them for the second year in a row. Matt Lloyd from north news was named for the job at the Times - see his entry and a group photo on the piss here.. Alternatively you can see my entry here on this blog and I will put my final photographs and an audio slideshow from the Weston beach race up here in the next day or so...

Just a reminder if you are in Bristol this week come down to the Centrespace gallery off of Corn Street and take a look at some of my photographs. My work focuses on Bristol's Gloucester road and the things that people don't see everyday. It has been really interesting and difficult to photograph but looks great on the wall. There are some other exhibits on the walls in centrespace all to do with Bristol and some great portraits by the lovely boo.. anyway don't be shy - it's free - see you there..

canon, tabasco and the times..

2009-10-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

If you are around in London over the next few days head down to the Canon Pro Photo Solutions at the Business Design Centre - Islington. It's free if you pre register at the link above.. There are some talks from pro's the inevitable launch of a camera that can see more than you can actually see and probably doesn't require you anymore and they will announce the winner of The Times Young Photographer..

southmead..

2009-10-25T23:32:00.000-07:00

Bristol was at the mercy of the worlds media the other day when Southmead a small area in the South West News area of town was featured on the BBCs Panorama show. It wasn't entirely positive..

Undercover reporters on the primetime show were subject to a racist attacks and abuse on the estate which led to a fair amount of media coverage for a small and ignored part of the city. I went down and shot it for a Dubai based paper which is definitely a new one on me when asked who I am working for by the locals. See the fallout from the story here at thenational.ae..

coffee and cars and couches..

2009-10-22T02:35:00.000-07:00

keeping to a strict regime of coffee breaks at the moment. the cars and couches are where i sleep. cheers pie.

structure - a sense of place..

2009-10-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

If your interested... I am exhibiting some work at the above show in Bristol at the end of the month. Come along and have a drink on the friday night ..

tabasco..

2009-10-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

One step closer to the Tabasco kid. The final results for the Times Young Photographer get announced next week at the Canon Pro Photo Solutions expo at the business design centre in London. I've been shortlisted along with five others and a nail biting who wants to be a millionaire esque showdown will be our fate next week.

My entries clockwise from top left: Surfer John Heath at World Belly Boarding Champioinships in Cornwall. VV Brown, London. Ian Tomlinson at G20 protests, London.

speed update..

2009-10-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

headed to the weston beach race this weekend which was sandy. very sandy. it was busy and tiring but i met some really nice people and took some great photographs. I will put together a selection soon on the site. but for now..

in other news i have been shortlisted for the times young photographer of the year this year. yes i am still young enough. it has been running for a number of years now, basically the times newspaper offer one photographer a six month contract with them to the best young photographer in the country. it's a great oppourtunity and so i am going to get my head down and do a bit of revision..

and you thought life was gonna be easy...

2009-09-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

i'm really tired and as i sit here at this late hour writing the list of other things to do that doesn't seem to be letting up. i have been trying to cram every free day full of something at the moment - mainly a project i am working on that will be exhibited in bristol at the end of october. Head to their website for more info - although i think all they have are the dates...here..

i have photographed some great stuff and some less than great (no really) s

tuff in the last month but just haven't lots of time to be sitting around uploading it..although check out my ebay account for some good examples.. i did just see this picture this afternoon though and thought - thats why i started this blog - for nice pictures like this..

suburbia..

update - it's about time....

2009-08-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

it's not that i haven't had a spare day to put some new pictures up on the website - just that i have filled all of those spare days with photographs, travel or a combination of the two. today has been lacking in both and i thought it would be good to get up some of the shots that i have worked on since launching the new website a few months back. some of the shots are new and some are photos that i just haven't previously had time to appreciate...

i know that the rest of the so far hot and humid summer is going to be full of more of the same so i thought i would take this oppourtunity to get up to date. As always your comments are appreciated....

police riot training centre, kent

france and the silly season..

2009-08-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

just back into the uk after a week at my favourite mountain bike destination in france. lots of nice photographs to be had and even more nice riding to be done. it's a mammouth roadtrip down there even for the most seasoned of snappers but definetly worth it - some photos up here soon...once they are developed!!
now that i'm back it's chocks away on silly season. not really being commisioned on any breaking stories at the moment - but i did get pointed in the direction of this the other day - follow it up on the snappers site for a laugh!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/8179635.stm