LEGACY

I know it's been a bit on the quiet side around here but I've got a bit on what with working on other folks shows, and working on my own stuff....  and the nice weather. And well there's more to life than computers right? Take for instance the OLYMPICS and how it's going to be just brilliant. So I'll leave you with a message from the above official Olympic sponsor. Giz a couple of days and I'll start plugging the local student shows.

"If it were possible, he'd wear that burnished pelt like a new vest, the dog's snarling mask in place of his own. He'd zip himself inside the hot skin and take the world by the throat. The dog channels, gives sculptural form, to prodigious spite. Jolts of electric tension pass through the links of the chain, atavistic fears. The man believes he is tethered to an heraldic cartoon, his own courage expressed in meat form. He is pulled forward by an intelligent muscle, a growling machismo. His phallic extension has achieved independence and swaggers beside him; twins that would put the Krays to shame. The dog is a prick with teeth. Its balls so heavy it rolls from side to side in a ruptured waddle. The ultimate carnivore, incest's glory".

from LIGHTS OUT FOR THE TERRITORY by the brilliant Iain Sinclair.

The Future of Analogue Photography?

Over To Stan....

Image Pieter Hugo

I've not really got much to say today at least nothing as worthwhile as Stan Banos from RECIPROCITY FAILURE has HERE. So over to you Stan.

AM projects.

Image Tiane Doan Na Champassak

The AM in AM projects primarily means after midnight. AM projects is a like minded, international group of photographers. I heard about them through Olivier Pin-Fat the only Brit in the gang and a fella who's work I love. I featured him on the blog way back at the start of 2009, that's how fucking on the ball we are here.

THINGS I LOVE.

• Photo collectives
• Alternative processes
• Night time
• A bit of sleaze

So then AM projects is bang on the money for me. The group consists of our OLIVIER and pay attention here coz there's some of them difficult foreign names, TIANE DOAN NA CHAMPASSAK see GERT JOCHEMS, ESTER VONPLON, DAISUKE YOKOTA  and AARON McELROY plenty of links there, if you are at work that's the whole day skived.

Image Olivier Pin Fat

The official launch of the group is happening this coming September at the Dutch photo fair that is UNSEEN AMSTERDAM   but you heard it all here first.

FORTRESS BRITAIN

Image Mark Page

What with The Queens Jubilee, The Olympics and fears over a repeat of last summers riots, security everywhere is being beefed up.

In Defence of The Copycat.

Below is a letter written by writer and KFC founder Mark Twain. It's about plagiarism. I lifted it from HERE........

"Oh, dear me, how unspeakably funny and owlishly idiotic and grotesque was that 'plagiarism' farce! As if there was much of anything in any human utterance, oral or written, except plagiarism! The kernel, the soul – let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances – is plagiarism. For substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources, and daily use by the garnerer with a pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them; whereas there is not a rag of originality about them anywhere except the little discoloration they get from his mental and moral calibre and his temperament, and which is revealed in characteristics of phrasing. When a great orator makes a great speech you are listening to ten centuries and ten thousand men – but we call it his speech, and really some exceedingly small portion of it is his. But not enough to signify. It is merely a Waterloo. It is Wellington's battle, in some degree, and we call it his; but there are others that contributed. It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a telephone or any other important thing – and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his little mite – that is all he did. These object lessons should teach us that ninety-nine parts of all things that proceed from the intellect are plagiarisms, pure and simple; and the lesson ought to make us modest. But nothing can do that."

JOHN DARWELL'S 'DOGS IN CAGES'

I've always been more of an animal person than a person person. Prefer puppies to babies any day of the week, and until someone shows me a baby that can fetch a stick I doubt I'll change my mind. So if you want to prick my conscience and use photography to make me think about incarceration this is the way to do it. This work cuts through all the politics and cultural baggage that comes with lots of prison photography. Whatever side of the argument you might take I can say for certain that not one of these detainees has ever plotted a terror campaign. I'm not distracted by confusing side issues, cool prison tattoo's hippity hop posturing or gun turrets.This is pure captivity. I can take the dog in a dogs home as a metaphor or I can just ask myself, "if we lie to ourselves that we are a nation of dog lovers what else do we kid ourselves about?"

see more of John Darwell's work HERE.

On top of being one of the country's leading documentary photographers John Darwell also teaches MA students. If you are thinking of doing an MA you could do a lot lot worse. Click on the flyer below to make it bigger so you can read it. It's not linked. If you're smart enough to do an MA you're smart enough to find the course online.

It's Time,

 Time to get out your large format camera's and your ginger kids. It's the call for THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY TAYLOR WESSING PRIZE 2012 ! HERE

78 days Left....

Today they lit the Olympic torch now only 78 days left till kick off. Once it's done Britains I'm sure can really start to reap the benefits of the LEGACY and start to live fitter healthy, happier lives....

4. Aesthetics and Distribution Case (1): Preliminary Notes on Art’s Ability to Radicalize Academia

In this posting, I would like to pursue an earlier tangent, and redirect it. If we start with the idea that a medium is constituted by a dialectic of applied use and technological development, and that it is further defined by the conventionalization of the relationship between the two (a process that occurs over time and is in a state of constant revision) it follows that a medium is never freed from its use, nor is it freed from its position between some agents in a transaction, meaning that it can never stand apart from these conditions.

Did you think that was me getting all clever? Fuck no it's from the highbrow but interesting blog 'STILL SEARCHING' Take a look HERE.

A little bit of Evans

Nice little 'all things' Evans website from The Florence Griswold Museum HERE. Thanks to Andy from FlakPhoto.

Emerging Photographer Fund 2012.

Image Alejandro Chackielberg

You've got 1 week to apply for MAGNUM photographer David Alan Harvey's EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHER FUND 2012. HERE for details. The above image is by 2009 winner Alejandro Chaskielberg and you can see this fella's work HERE.

Dream Street.

The most perfect street in Greater Manchester.

It'll cost you....

but I suppose twenty quid is better than the usual thirty five. Why does it always cost photo organisations thirty five quid to administer stuff ? Anyway that's another post this is your chance to get a picture on a London wall for £20 HERE

Nii Obodai

Image Nii Obadai

Never featured a Ghanaian photographer on the blog before. Not sure why. Never seem to hear about African photographers in magazines or here in blogland. We should do, and then all the American and European photographers could stop flying out there making work about places they don't understand. All the 'Heart of Darkness' guff we get. Like HERE for instance.

Obodai's photo's have a gentleness and a peace, things you don't normally associate with Africa thanks to the usual photographs and film we get to see. There's not loads about him on the web. A bit of a technical type interview HERE and this little film.

And a bit more HERE He  does have a website HERE but there's not much on it. Good job then that he's showing work in Manchester at The Whitworth Art Gallery from June as part of the 'WE FACE FORWARD' festival.

Jay Mark Johnson.

Image Jay Mark Johnson

And in keeping with playing with photography to come up with something original, I give you Jay Mark Johnson.

Image Mark Page

And so I let out a rallying MAYDAY cry, and my voice was tiny and echoed in what seemed like a cavernous space...

Tara Sellios

Image Tara sellios

If you are going to photograph fish and as can be seen from yesterdays post people want to, then THIS is the way to do it.

Something fishy,

Actually it's nothing fishy other than this fish picture I just liked that as a post title. This is just back to that old chestnut about "copying" that the world of photography just can't seem to get it's tiny ultra conservative  head around. Great chunks of the photography world are the modern day equivalent of the Paris Salon before Pissarro and his crew went and did their own thing.
It ties in with the Mishka Henner saga from a couple of posts ago....Kinda. Take a look at EXHIBIT A, the fish on the left It was taken by THIS fella. As you can read he is not a happy tuna. He has accused fish fancier B of stealing his idea, of putting a fishes head on a plate and photographing it. Imagine that for an idea! For a second he must have felt like Picasso did while taking a shit the morning he came up with Cubism. (I made that bit up). All the crap being talked about copying and appropriation on social websites by photographers who claim to be artists.
If a painter painted a fish on a plate and then another came along and had a pop at it it would be called a "discussion". That's the problem with being a photographer in the 21st century..... It's bloody easy anyone can do it. For less than a grand (as long as you get copies of snide software!) you can get kit that would have saved old Ansel Adams years of his life twating about with his zone system. Paul graham sums it up a treat HERE. 
And so it comes down to this, ideas not plate camera's good ideas. You either have an original one or you don't. Most of us wont but we can have a good old play with the ones that are already out there and maybe just maybe we might come at something from a different angle and say something new. Now I'm off to photograph a sunset and nobody better copy me or I'll sue.

That morning Picasso was doing another fish painting... "There's got to be more to this Art lark than bloody fish. I'm off to the bog to have a good think".

Have these people seen me?

It does beg the question, have these people seen me or read this blog? When I get emails like this.....

"Afternoon,
Hope you’re well. I just wanted to get in touch to invite you to a preview event on Thursday 3rd May.

We’re exclusively showcasing some of ----- -----'s portraits in an exhibition titled ‘----- -- --------’. We will be holding private viewings and then opening the exhibition to the public from Friday 4th – Monday 7th May at the Emporio Armani store in Manchester.
We would love if you could join us for the preview, and wondered if this could work on
Manchester Photography as an event listing / news for the public view dates?
It would be great to know your thoughts and please do let me know if you need any imagery.

Best wishes,"

------- ------ Emporio Armani Press Officer


Giorgio Armani Press Office

189 Brompton Road

SW3 1NE

Shouldn't really laugh but

 I know it's winding Aline Smithson from the very brilliant LENSCRATCH blog up and Aline I can understand your anger, it just appeals to my sense of the ridiculous. Whats happening is some fella from Poland is lifting Aline's posts and passing them off as his own.....including the post telling everyone! You've got to hand it to Pawel Filas from a blog called MIND-MAG.

Any road up here's our PAWEL FILAS the pirate, Johnny Depp he ain't. I understand him having to lift work from other blogs as he has to spend his time sticking bits of wire to bits of apple peel and that shit takes time HERE

copyright Mark Page 2012 (now it is)

Anyway in the spirit of the appropriation art of Pawel Filas here's a piece I made earlier. 

Why am I sticking my nose in? Oh you know me....... 

Cyber curb crawler Mishka Henner defending his right to experiment with the medium of photography.

Imagine that the cheeky bastard.

HERE.

David Dunnico's '1984 LOOKS LIKE THIS'

I'm aware that already the tone of the reinvented MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG has descended into negativity and bitchiness. So lets lift the mood with something positive. I don't mean CCTV that's not positive unless perhaps when I was a security guard and we would wile away the long nights watching people get jiggy behind the wheelie bins at the side of THE PRINTWORKS. No on the whole CCTV is a bad thing. Unless it helps catch rioters, muggers and other lowlifes, then perhaps? No CCTV is definitely a bad thing. Of course if it helps cut down acts of terrorism well... OK so CCTV can be OK it's BIG BROTHER who's a C##t.

And on a positive note David Dunnico's exhibition at Salford Art Gallery that's definitely a good thing.

Although harder to find than a BBC Salford employed Salfordian, it is worth hunting down PHOTOWORKS. The latest issue is out now.