Its been some eight years since I last frequented Southend. Last time it was on a rainy bank holiday Monday when I happened to capture the above image which has severed me well and can be seen in the latest show here.
As I am currently working my way around the UK's coastline I thought I would zip up the M25 and spend another rainy Monday in Southend where the Thames meets the sea.
The sky was dark, the shops were shut and the theme park closed which must of been a disappointment for all the teenage mums with toddlers on wrist leads dressed in shell suits. I have always found with a lot of sea side towns that there is a slightly sinister undertone behind the scenes of the jolly promenade. On a few occasions I felt like I was being checked out and may at any time be attacked by a youth group thinking my camera was some valuable digital number. But I dont intimidate easily and fortunately did not have to remove the blade from my boot and take them all to task.
The biggest shock of the day was asking the young girl behind the donut counter if I could photograph the front of her stall. A pretty girl at first, but unfortunately her one and only big tooth let her down, her Nanny McFee status probably due to all those sugary doughy delights. I was taken back to the days when my Aunt Morag removed her false teeth and chased me round the living room until I wept and gave in to a gummy kiss...
So there you are, no shouting at the mountains, or groin chaffing, or getting trapped somewhere silly. Just a wet afternoon by the sea..

MY DAD ALWAYS SAID TO ME;
BE YOUR OWN MAN.
JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER.

If I had looked at Dave Jordano's work ten years ago, I would of probably of clenched my fists, bit my lip and broke out in a cold meaty sweat. Early on in my colour work I was constantly at war with myself wanting to produce as much good work as possible. Looking at more experienced photographers often left me jealous and bitter with their achievements. The problem I often had was that I would look at a body of work thinking the photographer had produced it all in a couple of weeks, whereas the reality would be that it had taken years to get to the point of presenting thirty or so images that bowled me over and made me spill my milkshake.
Ten years on I seem to have found an inner peace with photography and really enjoying looking at other photographers work (hence things like this blog). The jealousy has all but vanished, the bitterness now a sweet tingle. I do have to admit that the first thing I look at when I see work I love is to check out the age of a photographer making sure they where born before 1972, silly I know, but its rare to find maturity in a body of work by a sixteen year old. If I did maybe I would clench my fists and break out in a meaty one, but I doubt it.
So back to Dave Jordano (born 1948) who's amazing work can been seen here. This is one guy who just keeps producing incredible work. You never know, may be he will read this blog, and then may be he will check out my date of birth.

Image Joshua Lutz.

There is something oh so 'Joel Sternfeld' about Joshua Lutz's work. So it comes as no surprise to learn that he works out of New York with a 10/8 camera photographing landscape and the people within it.
His Meadowlands series is quite beautiful and I would urge you to check it out, but if I may be so bold, Lutz, like myself, is not quite there yet. Let me explain. All the images are fantastic, real thinking mans stuff. But when images like this are thrown together they simply dont sit well side by side. Its a problem I too encounter when trying to sit a night shot next to an image made in the middle of the day. But this is what happens when you are trying to do a large body of work. Theres gaps to be filled, but this can take many years. But what are we to do in the mean time, show nothing! I really believe this is the case with Lutz (although I may be way off). Its a jumble, but a jumble of fine images which do think will be something wonderful when its complete, if that is indeed his intention.

A nice chap in the gallery yesterday told me how refreshing it was to see a body of work where all the images are different instead of the 'usual series' where upon the images all look quite similar. I did certainly feel that this current show is a bit of a 'jumble'. But my intention has always been for people to view 'one' image at a time and not the whole lot all at once, that's just boring.

I think most photographers need time. Time to mature, time to finish the project, time to reflect, time to sell out the editions, and time to try and make a living. The world is just too impatient and wants everything yesterday, including all the images you have ever taken. Its a photographic cannibal and it needs to slow down..

ANYONE SPEAK FRENCH.

MARCUS DOYLE EN LUMIÈRE

Les images de Marcus Doyle sont le résultat
d’un long processus d’attente afin d’obtenir
la lumière adéquate pour créer la scène
parfaite. Son utilisation de la couleur, sa
connexion avec l’environnement et sa quête
du détail sont à l’origine de la qualité de
son travail. Avec les séries « Urban Sprawl »,
il explore l’interaction entre hommes et
paysages urbains, notamment à Carlisle,
sa ville natale au nord de l’Angleterre. Marcus
Doyle, « The House Martin and the Cinema ».
Du 11 mars au 17 avril. Diemar/Noble
Photography, 66/67 Wells Street W1T 3PY.

Exert from French Photo Magazine, you know the one with lots of naked ladies...

Dont Fluff It!

As you may know by now I am a sucker for the 'beauty in decay', and the land that goes with it, so the work of Eric Lusito has to be a fine example. Admittedly I am close to saturation point with all this decay business (as much as I love it) but I do find Lusito's work quite refreshing, one reason maybe because I tire of Chernobyl or the Katrina aftermath and its constant redux in photography.

'After the Wall, Traces of The Soviet Empire' is a fine piece of work. I picked up the book the other day in a moment of rain drenched weakness in town after refusing to pay seven quid for the new look BJP and wanted some photographic inspiration (I have looked at my show images for too long). When I look through the book I feel this is a photographer who has put a lot of time and thought into his images. So often is the case that when we are subject to positive photographic potential we 'fluff' the images by just wanting to get it on film in case something happens rather than slowing down and thinking about composition and light. I have always had a similar feeling with the likes of Stephen Shore and others like him but feel this may be an unfair comparison as the work is so different.
I can't help thinking these days that a lot of the so called 'big' names in contemporary landscape photography just don't deserve a lot of the good press they are getting (especially British photographers). People need to look outside the box., may be they should start with Eric Lusito.
You can see a good bit of this wonderful work here.

This was sent to my wife today.

Hello


Strange question

I was wondering if you could send me a very high res photo of Christian Bale, for Empire's 20th shoot

I would like to blow it up and have it on my wall at uni

Its the one, where Bale is leaning of the table of business cards and an axe

Any help would much be appreciated
Thank you

I never liked students, even when I was one.