Transmissions
With only so many hours in the day, and my focus on producing new work, I’ve fallen far behind in contributing to the Journal. I hope to add a few contributions soon. In the mean time, to see what I’m working on, viewing, and thinking about, please head over to my instagram feed.
Styrannya Nominated for Book Award
My book maquette of “Styrannya” has been nominated for the Star Photobook Dummy Award, a European award that brings photo-book projects to publication. Thank you to Simon Bainbridge, Ex Editorial Director of the British Journal of Photography, for nominating my book.
The Delicate Thread of Photographic Context
With the letter A, at the very beginning of David Campany’s excellent lecture ‘Photography and Cinema from A to Z (and back again)’ at UCL here in London the other night, he showed us a still from the 1961 Italian film Accattone. It’s an image of tables at an outdoor cafe with the frozen action of several seated men flinging themselves away from...
Walkers folded
Somewhat irritating when a print from 96 years ago arrives creased.
Rorschach Test
I’ve joined an intriguing collaborative project pulled together by a London based artist, and a photo technician. Discarded, distressed negatives have been distributed to number of local artists and printers to freely interpret. It’s a creative sandbox to climb into and challenge oneself. I’m quite looking forward to seeing how these abstracted...
A Tintype Portrait
A few thoughts on the undervalued, humble tintype portrait.
Happy International Women’s Day ‘24
Two of Barbara Hepworth at her exhibition opening at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, April 7 1954. Printed from 4x5” glass negatives in my holdings.
Styrannya – published in Canada’s Globe and Mail newpaper
To mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Globe and Mail (Canada’s national newspaper) published a two-page feature with images from Styrannya and an opinion piece written for the occasion. An online version can be viewed on the Globe and Mail website here.
Getting out slightly later than I hoped…
Due to an extra step in the processing that required an extra trip to the darkroom, these will likely be arriving late into the holiday season. Below are a few views of this year’s edition of 15 holiday greetings heading out to a few friends, colleagues, and contacts made over the years. The 6th edition of these 9x12”...
Some amazing work at Lenbauchhaus, Munich
With a couple of hours to spend in Munich on my way to Ulm, a gallery is the natural place I would head to
Test of a new mirror
Could this mirror be taken into the field and held with a clamp? Yes, I believe so.
The giant leap for Mankind: A contact sheet view, half a century later
This was originally written for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and published on my Instagram page in 2019. I’ve updated it, and included a few more images. When thinking about what to post to mark the 50th anniversary of the first steps onto the moon, a series of negatives acquired a few years ago containing 3 missions to the...
World Pinhole Week(?)
A couple of pinhole prints recently discovered in batch of old work. Produced at a workshop I conducted at the Summer Fotoschool in Liptovský Mikuláš Slovakia, 2009 or 2010. The paper negative was contact printed on a beautiful creamy textured FOMA paper from the Czech Republic that I’m certain is no longer available. Each approx 6x8”, and this...
Old Work, New Again
It seems to have become a tradition for me to miss World Pinhole Day. This year’s landed last Sunday. I was reminded of it as I was organising my studio and came across of a bundle of prints I hadn’t seen in a few years; Pinhole work that I produced about 10 years ago while conducting workshops in Slovakia and Finland. While conducting workshops...
Urban destruction then / now
Diptych, 24 x 40”, gelatin silver print, unique . Printed from a series of 35mm negatives capturing the aftermath of the bombardment of a French city, possibly Mâcon, during the Second World War. I have the name Mâcon associated with the negatives, but am not certain it is correct. The image was printed with an acrylic rod placed across the...
A New Phase of Collaboration with the Medium
I have long viewed my relationship with photography as a collaboration. I don’t see myself as a master of the medium, rather a collaborator with the medium. I take my ideas and vision so far, then the photographic medium steps in for the realisation, and often makes itself present in the result.
This montage is from a series recently begun, using a process I’ve been thinking about for years.
