Well as some of you know I’ve been talking about a personal project for some time now and I have finally got the photography off the ground.
By joining a flamenco group in London I have been able to attend and photograph my first public performance, last Sunday. Continue reading →
I did my degree in photography at the end of the 60’s – yes the Swinging Sixties when all eyes were on London, the capital of cool.
I was doing the coolest degree in the coolest country.
And the King of Cool, the man who had just stepped out of the fridge, was Bailey. Continue reading →
And an old mate dropped in to see us the other day and he inspired me to write something. When Patrick hoves into view it always has an unsettling effect on me.
Patrick Chauvel and I go way back. To a time almost forgotten, when I worked in Paris for SIPA press and I could call myself a photo-journalist without sounding pretentious. Patrick was there too and at a time when my ability to speak French was almost non-existent, his mastery of English was very welcome. We got on immediately.
He was wild. Still is. Whereas I’ve become a responsible member of society (! ha !), Patrick has continued to plough his own mad furrow. You see Patrick should be dead. Several times over. If he were a cat, he would be a dead cat – Nine lives are just not enough.
Picture from Patrick Chauvel – Beirut a cat dashes for cover !!
Patrick is probably the worlds longest serving war photographer. If memory serves me right I think he started with the Six Day War in 1967 and he has just kept going. Fortunately for him, if not for the rest of the world, the conflicts have never let up. So he’s been supplying photographs of man’s inhumanity to man non-stop for almost 50 years. He’s got good at it too. His pictures are always the “sharp-end” stuff, where things go bang. And I guess he’s got good at surviving those situations, despite picking up a few nasty holes in his body. Have a look at his web site which is not very well maintained but gives you an idea of the wealth of images that he has captured. I had quickly decided that war photography was dangerous, so my dalliance with that side of things I kept to an absolute minimum … just enough to maintain a conversation in a bar. For Patrick it is his life. Whenever he comes to London he tries to drop by and we catch up and drink wine, bitch about clients, exchange stories, and generally reminisce. It’s good. But when he leaves I worry. I worry that this may be the last time. He has been tempting the Gods for too long with views of his backside scrambling for cover. One day I fear they may reach out and claim him and we will all be the worse off. This time I decided to do some pix of him in case I don’t get the opportunity again. Keep your head down you mad sod !
I’ve been a big fan of “Dear old auntie Beeb” for as long as I can remember and I spent many happy days there as a staff member but I now find myself in an on going war with them.
When the BBC went entirely digital I hadn’t realised they were going to digitise the staff as well ! Continue reading →
Had a client meeting yesterday in London and strolling back in the sunshine down Oxford street I spotted this guy earning a crust by exploiting his sense of balance.
Just seemed to sum up how I felt !
A giant of the British political scene died today after a period of ill health.
Some maintain that his political views, being left wing labour, were outmoded and not relevant to the 20th – 21st centuries.
Whatever, few people would doubt his sincerity and integrity.
Plus he was a bloody nice bloke.
I went to photograph him at his home in Holland Park, London and couldn’t have wished for a better assignment.
Fascinating, lovely man – will be sadly missed.
My feature picture shows him whilst he was still a member of the House, in fact I think he was called the “Father of the House” at that time.
Despite a smoking ban in the Houses of Parliament he blithely continued to puff away on his beloved pipe. Sorry I can’t find a cleaner version of the picture, which is one of my favourites, it was shot on film and I now can’t find the original !! Always the way eh.
And here is a man who will not be greatly mourning his passing.
Tony Blair epitomized much of what Tony Benn felt was wrong with New Labour.
Not much love lost there !
My photography magazine that arrives on the mat every month has done a “Wedding Special”
I, being an old fart, look upon wedding photographers with a rather jaundiced eye.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are some great ones out there ‘cos I have seen some truly beautiful wedding photographs in print.
But there are a lot of “weekend warriors” out there too.
And now they think they can make films too !
THEY ARE WRONG Continue reading →
I’ve had a bit of a thing about flamenco for a long time.
Know nothing about it, yet somehow it seems to reach out and demand attention.
So much so in fact that it is a dream, no, more than that, a plan to photograph it,
I had heard of Paco de Lucia and knew of him as a top guitarist.
His recent death though made me look him up on the web.
He was a phenomenon.
Check him out and here’s a good place to start HERE
I need to get closer to this flamenco thing and see if there is any relevance for photographing something which is essentially guitar, singing and dance.
But it is “La Duende” that I’m after.
If you’re local to Surbiton there’s a flamenco guitar event featuring Ramon Ruiz planned for a local pub which I have put into my diary for the 17th May https://www.facebook.com/events/525794557477396/
I have in the past been an advocate of getting some bits of technology direct from China using the Ebay portal.
In honesty I will continue to do so.
Occasionally however things don’t always work out as planned.
Are you reading this fanliyin2013@126.com of Jack Photographic ?? Continue reading →
