An extraordinarily ordinary subject matter – spools of metallic thread but eye-catching in its simplicity & composition. This is a photographic print entitled Silver and Gold by Cassia Beck aka Lola’s Room and available to buy on Folksy.
Posts Tagged ‘photography’
Bookmarks: Personal Best, Paul Floyd Blake
Monday, May 21st, 2012
Before we start, we need to declare a personal interest in this particular book. The author is a very good friend of ours – in fact we’ve blogged about him previously in our Friday Folks series.
Over a period of five years, Paul Floyd Blake regularly photographed sixteen young athletes in the build up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. His work documents a unique time in British history, and captures the development of a generation of sportspeople as they grow from childhood to adulthood within the intense world of elite sport.
Blake’s restrained and subtle portraits offer an alternative to conventional sports photography, with its emphasis on dramatic moments of action. Instead, his images pay tribute to the long slog towards glory that is not usually seen or celebrated, whilst excerpts from the athletes’ own writings offer insights into their personal hopes and fears. Blake’s approach emphasises the individual’s own story and motivations beyond the values and structures of competitive sport, as the title Personal Best suggests. Of the athletes that Paul selected for the project five years ago, three have been selected to take part in the London 2012 Olympics.
The book includes texts by curator Pippa Oldfield (Impressions Gallery, Bradford) and Professor Jonathan Long (Leeds Metropolitan University).
PERSONAL BEST
£20.00 + £5.00 P&P
Hardback, 112 pages, 50 colour plates
285mm x 245mm
ISBN: 978-1-907893-21-6
To order your copy please email PersonalBest@photographer.net
Wednesday Wish: Dennis Morris, Growing Up Black
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
I’ve seen a few different reviews printed recently of Dennis Morris’ Growing Up Black – A Chronicle of Black Britain in the 60s and 70s. The accompanying images really capture an era in London in which my parents & I must have been a part before we emigrated to Trinidad in 1973. His images portray the everyday in the lives of the African Caribbean community in London – the political, the religious, the social and the domestic.
I was also unaware until now that Morris was the creator of many of the iconic images we know and love of Bob Marley, the Sex Pistols and Public Image Limited.
His images remind me of those of the talented Daniel Meadows, whose early work we recently went to at the National Media Museum in Bradford – portraits of urban communities, families, friends and individuals.
The book’s been published this month as a limited edition of just 500 copies – the introductory price is £250, which includes a silver gelatin 10 x 12” print signed by Morris. Thereafter the price rises to £300 + P&P.
Friday Folks – Paul Floyd Blake
Friday, February 25th, 2011
On today’s ‘Friday Folks’ we’re featuring photographer Paul Floyd Blake.
Paul, who lives in the neighbouring town of Hebden Bridge, is an inspiration to anyone wishing to change careers or direction in life. During his forties, he went from laundry worker to award winning photographer. Dedication, enthusiasm and of course talent all played their part.
The following images are taken from his series of photographs featuring talented young athletes aiming for Olympic glory at London 2012. The first photograph featured actually won the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize.
Who are you & what do you do?
My name is Paul Floyd Blake and I am a freelance photographer. I shoot commercially as a way to earn enough to finance my own creative projects – also to contribute towards keeping our heads above water of course!
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How did you get into the business?
I first experienced the magic of photography at the age of thirteen.
We were not well off as a family and had only visited the coast (Southend) on a couple of occasions and just for the day. When my mother told my two brothers, two sisters and me we were going to Ramsgate in Kent for two whole weeks, our excitement was immeasurable. It was one of those long hot summers, we had a blissful time and my mum and dad even got on for the duration of the holiday!
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One evening I took a photograph as the sun went down over Ramsgate Harbour. When we were back in grimy London and back at school this photograph allowed us to relive the intense joy and warmth of that fortnight.
My mum asked me recently how I ended up becoming a photographer and I told her that story. She said, “Naaaah!!! Ya bruver recons he took that picture.”
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Anyway, whoever took the photograph it was still the image that made me aware of photography.
I did not get my own camera until I was about 21 and then only used it to take images on holidays and later of the kids as they grew up. I did however buy magazines like Amateur Photographer picking up tips on exposure composition and the use of colour. After years of driving a laundry delivery van in London we moved to Yorkshire and my partner Leila encouraged me to go to college to study photography so I could do something I loved rather than getting a transfer to a laundry in Bradford. I never looked back.
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Who or what inspires you?
I was forty when I eventually took up photography professionally.
At college I felt that I had an advantage over the other younger students because I had worked all my life and now for the first time was really hungry to learn but also had the experience of life to draw on and use in my photography. Being a photographer you are always on the look out for things to inspire you. You tend to be looking for the beautiful the strange or absurd, and when you look you tend to see it. So the short answer is that everything is inspirational.
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Photographers that inspire me:
Tom Wood – beautiful photographs of people and of Liverpool that do not leer or patronize. My favorite book of his work is All Zones Off Peak.
Rineke Dijkstra for her fantastic portraits of adolescent teenagers to blood spattered bullfighters. My favorite book of her’s is Portraits
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What has been your greatest success?
After failing at school and having such low expectations of myself, just being a photographer feels like a great success, but in 2009 I won the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize and that really changed a lot of things in my favor. Having said that, it was just one image and there is a certain amount of luck involved in winning a competition like that. The project that has given me most satisfaction was Changing Faces of Yorkshire. This was my first solo exhibition and involved photographing all different communities that make up Yorkshire. It brought people from many different backgrounds together and the opening night was a wonderful mix of people national dishes and alcohol. I recommend Serbian brandy!
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Have you got any advice for someone wanting to break into the business?
Try not to procrastinate. I have found that I learn from my photographs so I don’t spend too much time developing an idea in my head. I go out and shoot and then allow the ideas to flow develop from there.
Photograph things that are close to you, be natural when you deal with people and then your uniqueness will come out in your photographs.
You can see more examples of Paul’s work on his website.
Paul kindly allowed us to use his photographs for this feature.
Unauthorised reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Cupcakes & Cordial
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
We spent a very pleasant, sunny Sunday afternoon in Hebden Bridge today…
…including a visit to Snug Gallery on Market Street.
We were invited to their “Cupcakes & Cordial” open day.
It was a chance to say hello to owners, Ed & Yvonne Chadwick…
…and have a mooch around their recently-opened gallery shop.
The gallery features photographs by Ed himself…
…and some lovely, handcrafted objects by a variety of artists & designer makers.
Including &made, Calico Angel, Rebecca Callis, Kathryn Edwards, Ruth Green, Ikuko Iwamoto, Linzi Ramsden, Louisa Taylor and Sarah Thirwell.
As well as the delicious cupcakes made by Yvonne’s fair hand, there were lots of other tempting things on offer!!
We left with a couple of small purchases – a hanging porcelain bird by Rebecca Callis – a perfect present for someone special…
…and a bit of self-indulgence in the form of a very cute strawberry brooch by &made.
Hebden Bridge is famous for its wealth of interesting indepedent shops & galleries…
…and this gallery is a very welcome addition.
Here’s wishing Snug a bright future!
