Moving!

As per today's posts on Twitter, the blog has moved! You can now find my random (and all to scarce at present) ramblings over at:

http://unknownsnapper.wordpress.com

Come on over!

P.S. Thousand apologies to Jaded Snapper who added a link to this blog yesterday... I obviously remain the master of bad timing!

Don Who?

Even though I've been doing my best to become a recluse and hide away from the world in my shoebox type room in Newtown, somehow I've managed to get out and about for once!

The other week I jumped on a coach full of (mostly) not so eager uni students making their way to the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester to visit the eagerly awaited (by me anyway) Don McCullin exhibition*.

It was my first time visiting IWMN and as we pulled up I was surprised at the architecture of the building**. For some reason someone seems to have decided that a museum dedicated to allowing present and future generations the chance to understand war and it's ramifications within an avant-garde monstrosity! Listening to a quick introduction from a museum representative, she explained that the architect had taken his inspiration from a broken teapot, that the 'shards' were there to represent conflict in the air, on the ground and at sea. It was also mentioned that the space inside of the museum was designed to disorientate and confuse the visitor, making them understand more about the 'chaos of war etc etc etc'.

What a bunch of balls! The majority of the visitors will not bother to check why the building was deigned the was it was, nor will they understand about the building's chaotic nature and the parallels supposedly drawn with chaotic nature of war... If anything the way the building is set out and the non-linear nature if the main exhibition hall will put people off and detract from the museum's intentions. I can understand the concept, but it goes way over the head of most (including a lot of the students)***.

The exhibition itself was absolutely brilliant; each section had a filmed piece with Don McCullin talking about that relevant period in his life and enough text to keep even the most avid bookworm's attention. Visually the exhibition consisted of intricately printed black and white images, punctuated every so often by large light box lit images. Also present were the paraphernalia associated with such a long career in photography, showing his helmet, boots, passports and the Nikon F that caught a bullet in Cambodia.

Though in mostly chronological order, the museum really doesn't lend itself to displaying imagery of this type****. It felt as if the earlier years (The Guvnors, Vietnam, el Salvador etc) languished with room to spare, whilst the photographers later work (including his landscapes and still life imagery) were packed in at the end, this led to the feeling that the museum was only really interested in his formative years, packing the newer work in on a whim. Obviously this should definitely not be the case, all of Don McCullin's work is important, it shows the path he has taken through life as well as the way he tries to deal with his demons; surely every aspect of the exhibition is important?

That aside, the exhibition was absolutely brilliant, to be able to view McCullin prints at length and at that size was such an amazing opportunity; well worth the trip 'oop north' and I urge anyone with an interest within photojournalism to get their arses up there.

*To set the scene, before the trip various videos and bits of documentary footage had been presented to the class, to allow them to know a little bit more about one of my favourite photojournalists. Before playing the first documentary, one of the tutors asked who hadn't heard of Don McCullin, his jaw dropped when two students put their hands up (they may not have been the only ones, the class can be a bit hesitant to express anything approaching an opinion at times).


**Someone said it looked like one of the alien ships from Independence Day; I have to say I agree!

***OK apologies for this rather long piece of procrastination. I have to admit that after smoking for many years I'm doing my damnest to give up... unfortunately this has the effect that it makes me rather odd(er than normal) and prone to going off on more tangents than usual...


****Point to note, low lighting, lightbox images and reflective glass in frames are NOT a good combination... bit of an amateur mistake!




















Few interesting links:
More on the show from the Guardian
Don McCullin talking about his photography (also from the Guardian)
Interview with Don McCullin on the BBC website
Audio-Visual show (again BBC) with images and the photographer talking about his work

Photographer, NOT a terrorist

Honestly, I am!

As per a couple of my older posts, the photographic world is still dealing with the lovely piece of legislation that is section 44 of the prevention of terrorism act, much 'fun' has ensued over the past months with photographers getting detained and arrested (and even a film crew covering the story of a photographer being detained!).

Despite numerous triumphs of common sense, wandering around taking pictures is still perceived by those who honestly should know better as a more than slightly dodgy thing to do (yes you'd probably still get pinged as carrying out a hostile reconnaissance if you put down a tripod, metered for the the light conditions and start kerchunking away with an 5x4 piece of photographic antiquity).

As such (and it's been going a while now - better late than never on my part I suppose) a campaign called I'm a Photographer, not a Terrorist (PHNAT) has been set up to enable photographers to work together and combat the ongoing attack on, what is already, an industry with enough problems.

With quite a bit of useful information on their site, including a bust card detailing your rights as a photographer if you are subject to stop and search under section 44, a map showing places where photography is likely to be a problem and even an online shop where you can buy some very fetching I'm a Photographer, not a Terrorist branded clobber.

As part of the campaign a mass photo gathering has been set up to take place in Trafalgar Square at 12pm on Saturday 23rd of Jan; so far, according to the facebook event 1,050 people have expressed an interest in being there, including yours truly.

Supporting this campaign is extremely important, whether a photographer or not. I'm not one to harp on about civil liberties, usually I like to remain detached so I can look at things in an objective light, but we should all be doing our best to ensure that something gets done about a rather stupid piece of legislation that effects us all, from the tourist with the point and shoot, right up to the professional photographer working on assignment.

You can also find PHNAT on facebook.
Or keep up to date with the latest news via the @phnat Twitter stream.

If you're there, maybe you can find the unknown snapper (play spot the bloke with a paper bag on his head)?

Quick post - first of 2010

Happy New Year to both of you!

A very quick post, I'm up to my eyeballs in university work for the next two weeks, but have some bits and bobs lined up to post after.

Just found a video I'd been looking for for some time, but somehow managed to miss on Google.

New York Times photojournalist Tyler Hicks files from southern Afghanistan (link to video is below the paragraph).

Filmed by Prof. Bill Gentile, the 13 min piece of video shows how Tyler Hicks files his images back to the US from Afghanistan in very basic conditions. A very informative piece that's well worth a watch.