Readers Digest
With the sudden cold snap in the air it's apparent Winter has arrived. So what have I been doing down here in Brighton you may be wondering? Well to start with, I've being on the lookout for a studio space and made several promising leads. I have spoken to lots of cafes and restaurants about exhibiting my work on their walls, which will be followed up - as I have large prints of my images coming from Loxley Colour shortly.
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I took a walk down The Lanes to do some night photography and even though it's currently lit up with Christmas lights, I didn't feel inspired and my 52 is falling behind again, which means a revisit is in order, with fresher eyes.
The Royal Pavilion has currently got an ice rink built onto the front of it, along with a very expensive pop-up style Chinese restaurant at £90 per head! The only cool thing about this is the fact that the Palace is now illuminated with pretty blue lights.
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Earlier in the week I did a photo session with Alex - a French Canadian, after he answered an ad I posted about wanting a model to photograph. I wanted to practise some ideas and work on my photography more as I feel it needs pushing more than it has been. The whole story can be read HERE
Interestingly just as we had finished the shoot the student protests kicked off. I had put away my camera at this point for fear of vandalism or confiscation, as the police and students vied for control of the streets.
---This could be a hard week as it's China's and Pitu's Birthday this week, neither of which I will get to see. Each year it's harder knowing I am not there and unable to be part of their lives as I ought to be. I have resigned myself to the fact that Deb will not allow China and I to have contact any longer, personally I think this is pathetic and unnecessary as no one gains from this BS, but then again I expected too much of her all along, so I shouldn't be surprised.
As for Pitu, this is her second birthday and my first year without her, and yes it hurts, I'm sad and sadder we are in this place, having left to build a better life. I hope there is a way to resolve this issue as I don't like the pattern forming, even though it's not one of my design. For Pitu's birthday I bought her, her first camera!!! I'm sure she will be showing me how to do it properly in a few years, kids learn SO fast this days.
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On Saturday I was invited to photograph a secret event for 350.org. This was part of the 350 EARTH planetary art show. It was an interesting shoot involving around 2000 people (not sure how secret it was given 2000 people showed up!?), who became part of a human sculpture of King Canute on Brighton's seafront, trying but failing to command the ocean. The image was designed by Radiohead's Thom Yorke who generously donated his time, energy and art to make the event a success. Sadly he didn't show up to the actually 'making of'. I can't say as I blame him really, it was FREEZING!!! I half expected him to drive up, wind down his window, give us a thumbs up and drive away.
What I enjoyed about this event was the fact the people all bonded in a way people do when they all suffer the same adversity and they do something thats bigger than themselves. It started slow to then suddenly lots of people joining in from all over and kept in good spirits even though the wind chill was harsh. The people amassed in a sea of blue cagoules and were ushered into place by stewards. Later we had some groups in yellow cagoules who formed the 350 part of the picture.
There were a lot of other talent involved in this project too, such as PETRUSCO and filming and interviewing people on the ground, and freezing along with us, was the fantastic crew of FLYCREATIVE. Not to forget of course the lady who orchestrated the whole event on the day Jo Hedges, who deserves a massive - 2000 thank yous!!!!
From the ground it was really hard to get a sense of scale and overall idea of the design, but flying overhead we had a plane taking aerial shots, someone else was filming time lapse material and several other cameras placed in prime locations. To see the event and the finished article see the slideshow below, to make it easier for you I have circled where Emma and I were :)
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