The Puente Nuevo spans the El Tajo gorge, which divides the old town of Ronda, famous for its spectacular mountain setting, and its associations with Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles, afficiandos of the bullfight, and who both spent time at the bullring here, dating back to 1785 and the oldest in Spain.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
Estepona Old Town
We are now staying in Estepona, the last resort on the Costa del Sol, a few kilometres from Marbella. Estepona is not as developed as the major resorts and retains a nice old town with narrow streets and some interesting buildings.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
La Catedral, Sevilla
I'm in Spain this week, first visiting Sevile before heading down to the coast. The cathedral is a massive Gothic building with a huge interior supported by immense stone columns, and may or may not hold the remains of Christopher Columbus.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Urbis Museum, Manchester
In July 2005, I photographed Manchester city centre from the air for the Urbis Museum in Manchester. Here I am standing next to the exhibit. I used my Nikon D2X with a Sigma 28-80mm lens at a shutter speed of 1/2000th sec.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Lake District from the Air
I've just received the first copies of my three latest books from Myriad - Lake District from the Air, North West Panoramas, and Peak District Villages. Currently in production are Wales from the Air, and North West England Landscapes.
We're currently planning next years titles, which will hopefully include Ireland and Peak District from the Air., so I'm discussing logistics with the pilot.
We're currently planning next years titles, which will hopefully include Ireland and Peak District from the Air., so I'm discussing logistics with the pilot.
Marine Parade Bridge, Southport
I've shot the bridge hundreds of times, starting when it was a construction site. I produced the progress photography for Balfour Beatty, the main contractors, and the view from the top is pretty good.
I shot this on my new Fujifilm Finepix E900 compact, which I'm really happy with. I wanted a high megapixel compact for my documentary work, and this fits the bill perfectly. It's 9 megapixel, so nice big files for good repro quality, and like all the Fuji cameras I've owned, the out-of-camera JPEG quality is superb, with little or no post-processing required.
I shot this on my new Fujifilm Finepix E900 compact, which I'm really happy with. I wanted a high megapixel compact for my documentary work, and this fits the bill perfectly. It's 9 megapixel, so nice big files for good repro quality, and like all the Fuji cameras I've owned, the out-of-camera JPEG quality is superb, with little or no post-processing required.
Agnieszka and Isabella from Poland check plants for fungus
Porters is a large horticultural growers in Formby, Merseyside, with large greenhouses covering over 12 acres on three sites, supplying fuchsias and garden products to national retailers like B & Q and Woolworths. Checking plants for fungus are Agnieszka (left) and Isabella (right), both from the Polish town of Kielce, and two of the thirty Polish workers currently employed by Porters, from a total workforce of 35.
The composition was clear to me as soon as entered the greenhouse, I wanted to show the industrial scale of the plant-growing, and I looked for suitably interesting and photogenic people to populate the image. I chatted to them briefly, I have visited Poland so there was some common ground, their English was certainly good enough for a conversation.
They were animated and smiling the whole time I was there, I did not pose them or ask them to smile for the camera - I did shots of them at work, before asking them to look at camera for this shot, I preferred this because they had their heads down when working and their faces were not really visible.
I agree that there is a slightly strange atmosphere to this shot which only became apparent to me when viewing it afterwards - the repeated triangles of the roof occur also in the girls' figures, and the negative space between them, and their beaming expressions are somehow a little unnerving. Like the earlier National Geographic assignment, I have the feeling that there could be a whole photo-essay here if I explored it in more depth.
The composition was clear to me as soon as entered the greenhouse, I wanted to show the industrial scale of the plant-growing, and I looked for suitably interesting and photogenic people to populate the image. I chatted to them briefly, I have visited Poland so there was some common ground, their English was certainly good enough for a conversation.
They were animated and smiling the whole time I was there, I did not pose them or ask them to smile for the camera - I did shots of them at work, before asking them to look at camera for this shot, I preferred this because they had their heads down when working and their faces were not really visible.
I agree that there is a slightly strange atmosphere to this shot which only became apparent to me when viewing it afterwards - the repeated triangles of the roof occur also in the girls' figures, and the negative space between them, and their beaming expressions are somehow a little unnerving. Like the earlier National Geographic assignment, I have the feeling that there could be a whole photo-essay here if I explored it in more depth.
Oxfam's Safe Sex Education Combating HIV/AIDS
One of Oxfam's principal activities in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS is to educate people about methods of safe sex, including demonstrations in the use of condoms.
It should be emphasised that there is a very clear distinction between the assignments being set as projects within the context of the MA course work, and a live assignment for a client, whether it be an NGO, picture libary, advertising agency or publisher. No client would expect the photographer to be responsible for the entire organisation of the job, without any budget, support or facilitation in terms of access to people and resources.
It's also interesting how many comments are based on opinions about what may or may not be appropriate for the client in question, in this case Oxfam, after the briefest period of time in which to get acquainted and familiarised with the history, work, policies, attitudes, image styles etc utilised by the organisation. In my experience, this is an understanding that of necessity only develops over a period of time, after the photographer has built up a relationship with the client, and no practising photographer would expect to hit the ground running if given the opportunity of working with Oxfam, without extensive preliminary conversations with Oxfam staff about the issues mentioned above, to ensure that the photographer had a working understanding of those issues, and would then be able to produce imagery in accordance with the policies of the organisation.
It should be emphasised that there is a very clear distinction between the assignments being set as projects within the context of the MA course work, and a live assignment for a client, whether it be an NGO, picture libary, advertising agency or publisher. No client would expect the photographer to be responsible for the entire organisation of the job, without any budget, support or facilitation in terms of access to people and resources.
It's also interesting how many comments are based on opinions about what may or may not be appropriate for the client in question, in this case Oxfam, after the briefest period of time in which to get acquainted and familiarised with the history, work, policies, attitudes, image styles etc utilised by the organisation. In my experience, this is an understanding that of necessity only develops over a period of time, after the photographer has built up a relationship with the client, and no practising photographer would expect to hit the ground running if given the opportunity of working with Oxfam, without extensive preliminary conversations with Oxfam staff about the issues mentioned above, to ensure that the photographer had a working understanding of those issues, and would then be able to produce imagery in accordance with the policies of the organisation.
Easedale Tarn, Lake District
Easedale Tarn in Cumbria was a favourite spot of the poet William Wordsworth when he lived at Dove Cottage in the nearby village of Grasmere, and remains one of the most serene and unspoilt places in the Lake District.
As this was a travel assignment, I decided that there should be an element of travel incorporated into the acquisition of the image. For that reason, rather than simply go down to the beach at Souhtport, five miutes away from my house, and the most obvious location for the 'castaway' element of the brief, I went to the Lake District, making it necessary to calculate the time of day most suitable for the shot, and to ensure the appropriate weather conditions. I concluded that it was not sufficient to select a very local location, and that the lighting and weather were critically important for the purposes of producing an image acceptable to a publication like Asia & Away magazine.
As this was a travel assignment, I decided that there should be an element of travel incorporated into the acquisition of the image. For that reason, rather than simply go down to the beach at Souhtport, five miutes away from my house, and the most obvious location for the 'castaway' element of the brief, I went to the Lake District, making it necessary to calculate the time of day most suitable for the shot, and to ensure the appropriate weather conditions. I concluded that it was not sufficient to select a very local location, and that the lighting and weather were critically important for the purposes of producing an image acceptable to a publication like Asia & Away magazine.
John Coulton, Southport Shrimper
John Coulton is 76 years old. He has been a shrimper on Southport beach for the last 60 years, and built the Venture, this amphibious shrimping vehicle, in 1963, although he no longer owns it, and is unimpressed by its present delapidated state. Beach shrimping is all that remains of a once-vibrant fishing industry in Southport, and John remembers a time when over 80 shrimpers followed the ebb tide along the vast expanse of sandy beach, trawling for the brown shrimp which Southport became famous for. There are no more than five remaining shrimpers, all of John's generation, and he blames the decline on the pollution of the Irish Sea by the dumping of raw sewage, industrial chemicals, agricultural pesticides, and effluent from the nuclear power station at Sellafield in Cumbria.
Having read the brief to produce: "a single image that documents the changing culture of your community", and studied the National geographic web site, I concluded that the decline of the shrimping industry in Southport was a valid subejct fo the assignment, and I attempted to utilise the photographic style utilised by National Geographic, which I characterised as featuring dynamic compositions, bold colours, and strong lighting.
Southport is a traditional northern seaside town, which is currently seeing a period of re-generation thanks to the influx of Euro-cash into Merseyside, after decades of decline. A visit to the display in the re-designed but architecturally uninspiring cafe at the end of the refurbished pier is an opportunity to glimpse what Southport was like in its heyday, maybe 70 - 80 years ago, when it was almost a resort to rival Blackpool.
Apart from tourism and shopping, there is very little commercial activity in Southport, and the shrimpers are almost the only surviving connection with the Southport of the early part of the 20th century. Once the last of them have ceased to operate, it will be gone for good, so on this basis it seemed a suitable choice of subject for this assignment.
Having read the brief to produce: "a single image that documents the changing culture of your community", and studied the National geographic web site, I concluded that the decline of the shrimping industry in Southport was a valid subejct fo the assignment, and I attempted to utilise the photographic style utilised by National Geographic, which I characterised as featuring dynamic compositions, bold colours, and strong lighting.
Southport is a traditional northern seaside town, which is currently seeing a period of re-generation thanks to the influx of Euro-cash into Merseyside, after decades of decline. A visit to the display in the re-designed but architecturally uninspiring cafe at the end of the refurbished pier is an opportunity to glimpse what Southport was like in its heyday, maybe 70 - 80 years ago, when it was almost a resort to rival Blackpool.
Apart from tourism and shopping, there is very little commercial activity in Southport, and the shrimpers are almost the only surviving connection with the Southport of the early part of the 20th century. Once the last of them have ceased to operate, it will be gone for good, so on this basis it seemed a suitable choice of subject for this assignment.
Ground Zero, New York, 19th February 2006
Ground Zero, New York, 19th February 2006. Four and a half years on, Ground Zero is now a massive construction site, with little visible evidence remaining of the catastrophic events of 11th September 2001. Originally, it was only possible to see the site of the World Trade Center from a special viewing platform, but it is now visible from many vantage points. From the atrium of the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center across the street, visitors look down on the whole site. The atmosphere is sombre, quiet, and thoughtful, similar to the inside of a church. Ground Zero has recently made the news again in the US, as a judge ruled that a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of residents, students, and workers in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn can proceed with allegations that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), made misleading statements about the safety of the air in the aftermath of the collapse of the buildings.
Seaforth Container Terminal, Liverpool Freeport
Containers at Seaforth Container Terminal, Liverpool Freeport, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The Port of Liverpool handles more container trade with USA and Canada than any other port in the UK, and also handles services to the Far East and West Africa.
George Galloway Addresses Respect Meeting
George Galloway, MP for Bethnal Green & Bow, addresses a meeting of the Respect coalition at Liverpool's Gladstone Hotel, 07.02.2006.
George Galloway has become something of a figure of fun since his antics in Celebrity Big Brother, but he is one of the most recognised politicians in the UK since appearing on the show, so I considered him a valid subject for the assignment. I originally posted the image in black & white, but as Getty seem to only use colour, I re-posted the colour version. I tried to utilise the railings in the background to create a graphic effect, perhaps to invoke the bars of the cell he was held in, during his recent trip to Egypt. I selected a frame with the hand close into his body to allow a picture editor to crop in tight if required.
George Galloway has become something of a figure of fun since his antics in Celebrity Big Brother, but he is one of the most recognised politicians in the UK since appearing on the show, so I considered him a valid subject for the assignment. I originally posted the image in black & white, but as Getty seem to only use colour, I re-posted the colour version. I tried to utilise the railings in the background to create a graphic effect, perhaps to invoke the bars of the cell he was held in, during his recent trip to Egypt. I selected a frame with the hand close into his body to allow a picture editor to crop in tight if required.
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