Spring 2013 Catch Up.

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Its been a good while since I’ve added a blog post here, so here’s a quick recap of what’s been happening over the last few months.

Since early September I’ve been making lots of trips back to Spain to continue making photographs in reaction to the ongoing economic crisis. The series is evolving; It’s hard to predict where these photographs are going to lead to, but in some ways that is a suitable situation to be in. I don’t think many Spaniards could confidently predict where their country will be in 2 years time either.

I’ve been editing the work with the help of a few close friends – Ollie Whitehead and Hin Chua have had a good input, as have my colleagues at the University of West London, Matthew Finn and Carol Hudson. Over the last ten days I’ve been printing a selection of the photographs in time for the Format Festival Portfolio Reviews that will take place in Derby this weekend. Here’s a couple of photographs that didn’t make the cut:

If you are heading to the Format Festival this weekend and have a bit of free time on Saturday, pop through and say hello at the Portfolio Factory between 4.30 and 6.30pm at the Chocolate Factory. I’ll be showing new photographs from Spain, and an extended edit of photographs from my Seventh Zone project. You can even take one of these DIY cards that I whipped up this afternoon in total last minute panic attack.

As well as taking photographs in Madrid, if you follow my ‘Day To Day’ diary, you may have noticed that I also met a girl to explore with. This is kind of cool.

I’ve kept on shooting the occasional assignment; footwear company FitFlop have been keeping me busy, and I’ve done portraits for Sleek, Electronic Beats and Economia. I was particularly chuffed to shoot my first full feature for a weekend colour supplement. Aisha and Emma at the FT Magazine sent me to cover a story about the Amazon Factory in Rugeley; it was a really good fit for my photography, with an intense day of portraits, landscapes and interiors. I was really happy with how my photographs worked with the Sarah O’Connor’s in-depth reporting.

 

It was great to be involved in this year’s annual ‘Year In Development’ show at Labyrinth Photographic. A huge thanks to Clare Hewitt for all the hard work that she put in with the curation and organisation; and to Cos and John who provide such a great developing and printing service, and perhaps most importantly have established a hub for photographers in their basement in Bethnal Green. I exhibited another new image from Spain; I’ve yet to decide whether this will become a part of the wider series, but as a stand alone photograph in the show it felt like a good choice. I’ve not managed to see the print and frame up close yet as it is hung pretty high, but according to Clare it’s been really well framed by Hannah at Nice View.

Two final things – I’ll be showing my face at the Royal Photographic Society’s ‘Creative Photography and Commerce‘ event in Bristol on the 22nd March; I’ll be reviewing portfolio’s and generally hanging out, so please say hello if you recognise my ugly mug. I’m also running the London Marathon again in 6 weeks time, and like last year I’m raising money for Bliss. My nephew Max (see the little Elf below..) was born 11 weeks premature; Thanks to the special care that he received at Whipps Cross Hospital, he’s now a little terror and the world is his urinal. If you would like to donate small amount to help other babies receive such amazing assistance, then please visit my Virgin Money Giving Page. 

 

If you’ve managed to read this far then it’s a minor miracle, and I congratulate you. If you’ve skipped all the way to the end, then even bigger congratulations as you’ve avoided all the tedious self congratulatory bullshit, and skipped straight to the best bit, a photo of an elf having a piss. See you in 6 months!