b o p h o t o

I`M OUTTA HERE... PLEASE JOIN ME AT...

2010-02-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

my new blog in it´s comfy bophoto home..
( http://www.bophoto.co.uk/wpblog/ )
please bookmark or rss and stay in touch ..

here is one for the road.

undeveloped - 1

2009-12-15T00:24:00.000-08:00

40 rolls of 35mm and 6 rolls of 120 which will have been shot from 1994 to 2006.. most of them during the 90´s.
1512 exposures.
this bag of odds n ends has been carried around as i´ve moved house a dozen times and always mean´t to develope them, yet never had the funds to do so.

i´ve always had a habit of living beyond my means photographically, shooting more than i could afford to. these films represent after-parties, photos from india i did not want to see and goodness knows what else.. some are extra rolls from working on commission - `emergency` films i ended up shooting which did not contain magazine-useable photos and therefore did not justify developing.

i think it´s time to do something with them.. i´m still skint and so it´s tempting to sell a couple off on ebay as-is.. pot luck for a buyer.. curiosity is getting the better of me though, so i´m going to keep them.

will post some results here - could be some surprises.

web site jiggling

2009-11-26T00:53:00.000-08:00

have been making some subtle changes to my web site..
how does it look on your browser?
any thoughts?
the intention, as soon as i have my archive again, (dropped my external hard drive), is to put up more in the ´projects´ section and swap many of the ´folio´ photos for more recent work.

Redbull

2009-11-02T03:58:00.001-08:00

Tor Capa is 1 year old

2009-10-06T09:50:00.001-07:00

.. so he has just had his first ice cream on a stick..

..and his first party..

beefa

2009-10-06T04:57:00.000-07:00

apologies for being slack - things have just been very hectic with little Tor Capa, before he begins nursery.
he's one year old today - unbelievable.
to illustrate that i have not been entirely out of touch with photo-snappery, here is one from working in ibiza last week..
i will post again soon..
i will..
i will.

no time.. no time..

2009-08-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

i'm on maturnity right now.. until tor capa starts nursery during september..
it's a fantastic time.. very busy as he's walking at 10 months..
we got back from croatia a couple of weeks ago.. quickly found a beautiful flat on top of a mountain.. settled in.. beate started work again after nearly a year on maternity..
all is well.. just no time to blog.
will try to back date blogs this weekend..
here some photos from the past month or two.

in croatia PT.3

2009-06-14T13:37:00.001-07:00

tourism from the italian and german, english and scandinavian parts of europe as well as from within croatia itself is booming in places.

there is antipathy towards some areas of the business.. the all-inclusive resorts with wrist band wearing clients who do little or nothing to feed the local area are reluctantly accepted.

tourism has the potential to be big business here, with so much coastline and crystal clear sea, yet i am told that any profit rarely filters down to people in the form of social benefits or improved infrastructure.

big business has moved in from richer countries and purchased many of the most profitable companies and some people have the opinion that there is little left for the croatians themselves..

i'm trying to say little at this time about discussions i'm having here for the simple reason this is the first week of 5, and in time more will become clear. for now i am just really enjoying the photography, the conversations and seeing where one thing and another will lead me.. easing into it gently.

in croatia PT.2

2009-06-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

finding reconstruction in villages and towns is really quite easy - there is a lot of it going on in terms of new housing and development, industry and holiday resorts.. individuals and business moving on.

one of the strangest things i have found in this region is roads-to-nowhere. these grids of high quality roads and pavements have been seen next to minefields and deserted villages... like sprawling suburban or industrial areas, minus the buildings.
some locals allege that corruption is feeding the new construction and conflict of interests benefiting certain individuals.. some say that several new developments are not needed

moving inland, though, the veil of normality is generally thinner.. unable to say much for the time being.. still exploring.. still photographing.. yet some destroyed houses stand alone in villages which were relatively untouched by fighting..

in croatia PT. 1

2009-06-14T04:11:00.000-07:00

my family and i are spending 5 weeks in croatia at the moment, undertaking 4 or 5 projects with the intention of forming a 10 years after, (or there about), study - during this year that croatia has again been refused entry to the e.u. due to it's northern border dispute.

the first project is to investigate and document reconstruction along the old front-line, perhaps working across into bosnia as well, and in doing so i thought it best to start at the beginning.. with the devastation.

there are a string of ghost villages.. uninhabited due to landmines or simply because the damage was well beyond repair and also peripheral areas of villages and towns, particularly small towns, where damage has not been repaired due to funds...

more info later.. whilst actually photographing i would like to learn much more than i now know and research specific geographical areas before saying more.
as interesting as the project is it's also important for me to respect that the war is still very fresh.. neighbors were fighting neighbors in the region i am currently working.

while photographing as positively as possible i have already been made aware of just how close to the surface the friction is.. with one village in particular taking exception to my working there.

it's quickly become obvious that treading carefully and negotiating access & conversation very gently is the name of the game, even when photographing something as innocuous as a ruined building..

other developing projects are centering around;
-the youth culture movement and punk, bringing young people around the region back together
-tourism and neo-colonialism, which is a double edged sword i'll expand upon later
-the northern border dispute which is preventing entry to the e.u. and
-finally the poverty problems in serbia which continue to this day due to sanctions imposed after the war.

EDITING PT. 15: the magnetic walls are creeping in...

2009-05-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

this is getting repetitive.. fun, yet repetitive..
i guess that's editing - not the most interesting subject to blog - and so today i snapped on the mobile phone which alex kindly gave me.

it has a zeiss tessar f2.8 lens, although you would'nt guess it from the fots.
the sensor must be crap...
anyway - this morning i said goodbye to tor capa and bea before heading into collage.. he's not always cross-eyed.. just in the morning, like pappa.

..tucked into a coffee when i got there..

...and then occupied an empty classroom to take possession of the magnetic whiteboard..

6 hours, one chicken salad, a strawberry milkshake, some radiohead and too many smokes later things began falling into place, (note the rows)..

today darragh commented under my last blog post that perhaps i could combine the new title idea for the book, 'wasted', with the old working title, 'decade'.. making either,
'wasted decade'
or
'a decade wasted'.
which i certainly was.. big props to you darragh.. very welcome contribution.. buy you a beer in london next month..

i quite like the irony of 'wasted' because in fact most of the people photographed were having the time of their lives.. living more than perhaps they will again..
some of the parties had such solid intentions.. n. ireland.. serbia.. croatia.. argentina.. canada.. that they could not be called a waste, and yet thats the self imposed term most would apply to themselves at gigs..
it would also be a proper use of the word 'irony', which i've always wanted to do..

up-and-in at 8.30am tomorrow for more of the same before teaching at 11.30...
i'll probably change everything i did today and go for a cheese n ham salad instead.

EDITING PT: 14 - joy of a harvey wallbanger

2009-05-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

my home office right now is actually no more than a corner of our baby change room.. i sit at the desktop mac, photoshelter and photographs open to edit live, with beates laptop open on skype to my right... the internet jack is bust so a hairband hooked over the table edge holds it in place.
still..

professionalism is a state of mind and we´re moving in a couple of weeks anyway - firstly to Croatia for 5 weeks where i will be working and onwards.. elsewhere...

but i digress... i caught up with David Alan Harvey on skype today regarding my book and how it is developing.. and, just like his beard, it´s coming along nicely.

with today's call i needed to achieve 2 things - firstly to find a name for the book which unlike the working title of ´decade´ feels irreverent.. as loose and chaotic as the book will be.

the first suggestion was that i wrote lots of single words on a piece of paper and jiggle them around until something settled. what settled was ´world party´ which, without wanting to be disrespectful to them, sounds a little too much like a band from the 80´s who were much adored by those with little interest in music.. (see also ´the lighthouse family´).

¨A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
~Leopold Stokowski¨

and so a week or two ago i hit the quotation sites on the web and found some cracking quotes which i could cream a couple of words from.. quotes about music..
i mentioned a couple and that led to David telling me that all of Martin Parr's book titles are taken straight off the pages of tabloid newspapers.. superb..

sonar in Barcelona 2000

David then clicked on the photo above - hastily titled ´wasted asleep´, before i banged it away to the magazine client in 2000..
wasted.. wasted youth.. my wasted career.. ´Jesus wept - i was wasted last night´.
wasted.
wasted seems like a good name.. trashy.. evocative and provocative.. it´s the number one title for now.. please suggest if you have one better.

layout was also on my need-to-talk about list.
early on in the process David cast doubt on the idea that i need to include day and night photos - thinking the day snaps simply did not fit my style or point.
however, i have wrestled with it and cannot disregard them.
there are some photos i love which will be left out of the book, such as the one below , because they do not fit aesthetically but i have been unable to discount the day ones simply because of the lack of flash.

san francisco NYE 2001

the trick now is going to be in blending them all without using formal chapters.. and i´m excited to say that i think there is a solution.

we chatted about the book needing to hold some of the energy of the events photographed and how to achieve this.. it cannot be as clean and beautifully gentle as Davids ´divided soul´ because my life, the people in the photos and the events themselves were anything but that.
so there will be 4 or 5 ´breaks´ or visual bookmarks to section off the book..
double pages with upwards of 10 or 15 photos scrambled onto them perhaps, (below), as photographed 6 by 4´s laid on a table or perhaps in a cleaner, patchwork style.

they could then be roughly themed upon the full page photos on the following pages of the book..
a visual break between style, content or aesthetic which will enable the use of day photos and also allow the use of photos which are less suitable for full page use.. snaps that are good for telling the story, but which do not warrant a full page..

following the work chat comes the general chat..
burn magazine..
a 1978 copy of national geographic with some of Davids work..
and teaching, photography and the eternal question of WHY we photograph?

sometimes though it is better not to think why and to simply do.. and i´m certainly glad that i did DO for so many years :ø) really enjoying this book right now..

many thanks again for your help and advice David - it is always motivating and downright fun to chat with you..
d

constitution day, 17th may..

2009-05-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

gratulere med dagen..
17th may is important in the norwegian year - it is the day in 1814 when the countries constitution was settled upon in eidsvoll.
read more about it here.

we had a family day.. here are some snaps..

this year as it turned may 17th norway also celebrated winning the eurovision... alexander ryback came up with a decent violin riff and creamed it.. big congratulations to him..
watch it here if that´s your cup of tea.

observer music monthly

2009-05-06T00:59:00.001-07:00

EDITING PT: 13 - saturday morning, baby plays hendrix and an old bloke with a white beard

2009-03-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

on and on and on and on and on and on and on it goes.. feels close now.

EDITING PT: 12 - david alan harvey has a word in my ear

2009-03-24T07:49:00.001-07:00

i uploaded 100 photos to the photoshelter account we are editing through.. these were made up of a mixture of photos - some of my fav photos from music events mixed with some personal photos from the travels and some contextual photos - signs, objects and the like, which i thought may end up being used as part of the story i need to tell.

david and anton, the burn magazine guru, sat down together and once i was in-front of the skype camera with an aesthetically pleasing background, (for davids sensibilities:ø), we went through the photos one by one.. talking... questioning.. and working out the best way forward.

in the end a 5 star mark was assigned to the ones to keep and a delete cross to the ones to loose.. the middle ground photos were left unmarked and it is probably from these that i will select to complete the narrative - the fillers… if i need to use them..

from the 100 david selected 28 to keep.. the best outright photos and the benchmark for the future scans. there were 12 to delete and the rest to consider possible.

the deleted ones were mostly of objects and signs - also personal photos which i was considering which would make the book more biographical.. these are in the background now.. and are unlikely to be used.

the reasons for this are twofold - firstly - i have a clear idea of what needs to be achieved with the book. i need a home for my photography past and present.. a home to take me off the cycle of freelancing alone on short hops.. and a book which will move my career up a notch, since i believe that my best work is still ahead of me.
what i need from my first book is my very best work.. the work which i know to be the best and which illustrates the unique view and attitude i have while working.
more personal work will be kept back for a retrospective or at the least a book in the vein of chris steele-perkins excellent echos.

this work may be more of interest once i have established my first book.. within that context.. and perhaps once my work has settled into the new rythem it now requires..
traveling every week on short term commissions has taken it’s toll and i am looking for longer periods away to concentrate on specific areas of interest, without the commercial pressure nor the loneliness of life on the road as a one man band.
towards that end a month long project in the balkens is already being planned for this summer.

the second reason to keep back some of the photos is for the sake of tightness - keeping my vision absolutely clear on this first venture.
serving magazines for more than 10 years has led me to become accustomed to presenting a mixed edit from short weekly commissions - half which i know the magazine want to see and half what i enjoy shooting.
the photos i enjoy shooting are mine and these are the ones the book must contain to serve it’s purpose..
i have been trying to please others with my initial edits for this book - mixing my fav photos with ones i think others would like.. this is not the way to go, and after talking with david i recognize this as a hangover from working within the magazine circus for so long.. a second nature or instinct i can now shake off.

some interesting points
1 - once i had spoken with david live, as we can with this edit process, and realized my shortcomings with this first presentation of 100 snaps i could see through the fog directly to the photos i love the best.. the photos david was looking the closest at.
i mentioned that i thought the ´keeper´ photographs he was seeing would probably come to around 25.. and that was close to the eventualy figure of 28 because i know the photos so well now.. i know the rough mix between my favs and ones i thought were needed / wanted by others.. those invisible mag editors i have learnt to please.

2 - david is a very good mind to work with .. in editing.. in conversation.. there is nothing but respect from him for photographers and to have my work treated with sincerity, (much more than perhaps some magazine editors) was a growing experience. when i first joined road trips after climbing off the commission treadmill i needed that sincerity to get stuck into my archive without the nagging self doubt we all have of our own efforts.

3 - editing live and seeing his choices develop fermented the direction i need to go.. photographically and with respect to my career..
having his respected input was without a doubt the most valuable side effect of the live edit. i know where i need to go and have done for some time.
we all need the opinions of people who have lived a life of photography and that is something i just do not have where i live.. a small town by the sea in norway.
the internet and the live edit - burn now as was road trips before - has provided an incredible outlet for rediscovering my work..

the importance of talking about photography with people who really love photography can not be overstated... even my best friends would have difficulty understanding where i am coming from but editing live with david there is an instant recognition of the lifestyle and the results of that lifestyle.. photography, as it is, being much more than simply pressing the shutter release for most snappers.

the only way to talk with balance about some things is with people who have been through the same process.. and whatever kind of photography you practice there will be a snapper on burn who can relate and help you grow.

after editing and looking back for the past year there have been times i have stalled in the process for weeks on end.. then there have been higher times when everything falls into place..

right now i am enjoying the process more than ever.. with more than 340 sixbyfour prints laid out i am getting ideas about how this book will look.. the layout through to the size and feel of it has only come to mind, (even in dreams), once i have had these prints to hold..

when editing on the computer we are not thinking about the photos - we are thinking ‘click here, drag there’.. we think about the software when editing online.. editing with hands is so much more instinctive.. more enjoyable.. inspiring.. it makes a massive difference.

i also have an essay which i wrote before looking back.. about my teens and discovering photography.. travels... about my time in music.. my impressions.. why it ended for me.. why it began in the first place..
this for me is like a business plan is to a business - to keep referring back in order to see if i am achieving what i need to.. a subliminal influence over my choice of photographs.. a wish for what the book will be..

others comments are so well taken.. they have influenced ideas and formed questions to david in my mind..so please - keep them coming.. good, bad or ugly they will all contribute greatly.

EDITING PT: 11 - comments sought please

2009-03-04T10:04:00.000-08:00

¨Bowen sees music culture as a 10 year project, with no plans to make it a life-long occupation.¨

(quoted from the cover article ´David Bowen - sound n vision´,
The British Journal of Photography - 6th march 2002)

i first photographed a party on my own 16th birthday, while my parents cowered upstairs.

it started in earnest though, after i photographed a protest gig in the u.k... after which a single photo was used in a cd booklet and i visited a magazine in london.
this booklet and photos from my first long term project, (photos which were utterly irrelevant to music culture), were all i took to show the magazine and they seemed to like them all.. i remember michelle the picture editor saying "we'll see you again, i am sure".. and the phone started ringing.

this is no where near grand enough to call a ´multimedia-piece´, and is more about saving you time on reading and photo viewing by blending the two.
enjoy.

artwork by hans edward hammonds

2009-03-04T01:55:00.001-08:00

a good friend and artist, Hans asked myself and my lover beate to pose with our baby boy, Tor Capa, for an exhibition recently..
here is the snap.

milk

2009-02-28T07:53:00.000-08:00

final day for entering fresh milk and i just throw my hat in the ring with these.

final day for entering fresh milk and i just throw my hat in the ring with these.

EDITING PT: 10 - i need a fire set underneath me....

2009-02-16T00:43:00.000-08:00

just in the final throws of starting a work-in-progress page for BURN magazine, magnum photos educational facility set up by david harvey.

the idea is two fold for me - firstly i have stalled somewhat on the editing of my music work, mainly due to being overwhelmed by the volume of photographs - so i need the benefit of a deadline and some pressure.
secondly i am really looking forward to talking about the work with respected peers..
the ultimate choice of photographs for the book will of course be mine, and i am not looking for a list of peoples favorites, but i really hope people want to engage with what i am trying to do.. i hope people challenge me philosophically as well as with regards to my aesthetic sensibilities and therefore help me make the best educated edit that i can.

that´s the big idea and i will post here once the work goes live.

EDITING PT. 9.5 - _____...........-----

2009-02-13T03:14:00.000-08:00

life...

2008-11-23T02:50:00.001-08:00

if you have a few hours spare, check this out.. life magazine have put an archive of their photos online in conjunction with google..
enjoy..American troops wading from troop carrier towards shore into German artillery fire on Omaha Beach during D-Day, 6th june 1944 invasion of Normandy.

EDITING PT: 9 - lets not be negative..

2008-11-02T04:34:00.000-08:00

after a long wait my negatives have finally arrived in norway, which means i can now get stuck into completing the edit for my book 'decade'..
that´s not the full story though.
16 over-filled A4 ring-binders hold personal or professional work shot over the past 18 years in a couple of dozen different countries... boxes of uncut 35mm film shot for commercial purposes remain un-filed along with uncounted rolls from gigs, after-parties and other occasions.. and there is a 'magic-film' bag with perhaps 30 or 40 rolls of undeveloped 120 and 35mm film, saved over time to the point i cannot remember what's on them.. stuffed into a plastic bag due to a previous lack of funds to develop them.. god knows what's there.

the photos go much further back than music work from the past 10 years and i'm looking forward to seeing india and tibetan refugees again, through the eyes of a naive and more than slightly mind-altered 18 year old..
being a new father, now more than ever the periods of my life where i have introduced an element of risk are coming to mind.. and this time with more of an idea of what my parents must have thought; about what i was trying to do and whether it was worth it, about illness and if i'd survive the next natural disaster or bout of dysentery. neither of them really understood my photography and dad died young - when i was 19 and after only a couple of my photographic journeys abroad.. he never saw the 'sense' which came from my work further down the road, seeing only the tough times and drive towards seemingly nowhere... towards nothing tangible..
mum still wants me to get a proper job.. teaching is the closest i have got to somewhere she understands, and upon hearing about the lecturing i am now doing it's her belief that i have reached some kind of goal.. a conclusion in her mind which is not in mine.
i think this comes from their own history;
dad - a black-taxi driver in london for decades.. his father was a fireman, killed during the toughest night of bombing during the WW2 blitz of the east-end..
mum's family clawed up the social ladder with hard work and graft, living just outside london.. little rewarded..
to them both what i was trying to do had no basis in the realities of a life which they had understood to be near impossibly tough.. war babies who were encouraged to eat the fat off the bacon, while i rejected the fat as waste.
where these meandering thoughts lead is here - when i get a book finished, be it about music or the projects from india, there is no question who they must be dedicated to first and foremost.. that is, those who suffered, waiting for phone-calls too infrequent, and tolerating a single-mindedness which they could not understand..
spending their life looking after a small soul with it's own ideas, needs and ambitions.. just as i am now doing myself.

who's the daddy?

2008-11-02T04:31:00.000-08:00

me.. i'm the daddy.
one month old tomorrow, Tor Capa enjoys fishing, philosophical debate and the music of john mclaughlin as well as The Milk..

it's a blog love-in...

2008-10-01T00:44:00.000-07:00

in the entry before last i posted a story about how the british journal of photography came to be featuring my work in their magazine back in 2002..
i'd been inspired to share it due to some happy coincidences helping one of my students along, and also by the general chatter on road trip.

it seems that someone from the magazine saw it on my blog, (a lightstalkers reader probably), and so the bjp responded by blogging about my blog of the original article, under the title 'talking about the bjp'.
it is a strange and quietly confidence building happening, which surprises me since the only readers i imagined here were mates and students...
with thanks to olivier laurent...

nachtweys TED wish

2008-09-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

the resulting photos can be seen HERE

doing the business..

2008-09-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

showing the 'venice beach' work of panos to my class

doing the business.. back in 2002 the british journal of photography carried a cover story about my work, with the cover by-line 'sound and vision', (a david bowie pun.. i am used to them), and the article title of 'doing the business'.
here is how it came about..

on a folio day in london, between meetings, i had some free time.. lunchtime.. so i called the bjp on the off chance someone could see me..
at the time i was teaching photography through gallery out-reach projects to community groups and in a school.. some of the students in the school had created good work and i thought if the bjp could give them a page - perhaps the regular 'end-frame' back page sponsored by nikon, it would further encourage them.

the features editor was out of the office, in a pub having lunch.. so i wandered off to the pub, sweating and out of breath from the quick rush across from covent garden tube.
bursting into the pub i walked up to the bar and gently interrupted the landlord, who was chatting with a customer..
i asked for the editor by name - did he know him?
he told me he did not and so i walked around the pub searching.. asking at each table.. courteously interrupting all without any joy.

as i went to leave the pub i thanked the landlord with a smile and a wave..
he smiled back and beckoned me over to the bar..
to meet the man i had been seeking..

the features editor of the bjp was the man at the bar, chatting with the landlord, who i had interrupted when first entering the pub.
he now smiled at me, having watched me rush around the lunchtime crowd asking for him by name..

i told him my idea to publish the students work and he recommended i walk back to the office and have a chat with dawn sumner - the main features writer - to see what could be done.
when i arrived back at the office dawn was expecting me and i guess the editor had called ahead from the pub..
they were not interested in the idea of publishing the students work, however she began to ask me about my business... who was i? how did i begin? what was i doing running round london calling up for on-spec meetings?
an appointment was made and a month later i was siting in a cafe with a folio, being interviewed for what, at the time, i still did not know was a cover feature.

my point?
well.. my point is this - now that i am teaching again, the fundamental passions which started me in photography are returning to mind as i watch others become inspired and work.
the technical and practical details - the how-to and the theory behind it is a relatively simple task to get across.. go.. look.. think.. do.. layers.. shapes.. moments.. different angles.. distances..

work..

what is a more difficult confidence to instill is the random nature of nature.. the fact that people want to help.. the way in which the world will turn in the favour of a photographer, if that photographer gets out there and 'does the business'.
contact leads to contact and idea leads to idea.. the evolution is organic and once the technical details are nailed down, the world can and will reward the photographer who tries to help others.. does their own thing with passion.. and connects with people honestly.

doing the business, to me, is about helping other people do their business.. unexpected rewards add up and become something new over time, and that is more likely than the 'big break' many are looking for. be kind to everyone, because you don't know who anyone is..

unexpected rewards for 'doing the business' are what seem to make this business turn.
and good work comes from a random place, harnessed and presented simply.. while the actual full story is most likely anything but simple..

(post inspired by the family at road trip)

it's a desk.

2008-08-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

this is the desk i use at collage, where i teach under grads photography...

i'm showing it to you because over the years stacks of commissions have come from people i have never met.. faceless phone-calls from editors who switch on my imagination with words alone - sometimes only emails..

i imagine where you are.. how you look.. what the desk where your phone sits actually looks like..
so .. for anyone who remotly cares.. here is mine.

going back to my roots, yeah...

2008-08-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

when i was 17 i wanted to travel.
i had no money and realized that the only way it was going to happen was through voluntary work, and so i set about finding an organization which could place me in the most remote - the most different - environment possible. i did a TEFL course and through various fund raising and family help, from a town 'cake and plant sale' to small donations from friends parents, i gathered the flight money and hit the road in august 1991 aged 18.

aged 18 with strange hair, luding ke rinpoche's monestary,
manduwala tibetan settlement, india, august 1991

where i ended up was with the kham-lingstan family, exiled from the east of tibet and the most ferocious warriors in the country, this high cast royal clan of around 28 related families attached to a monastery had settled in the north of india.
some of their number had escorted the dalai lama out of the country in 1959 and the elders held a magical energy and power around them.. the result of 2000 years of living cause and effect.. the living embodiment of a philosophy much misunderstood..
i was inspired by this seemingly temporary refugee settlement and returned again and again, despite suffering the crippling illness of dysentery twice, ghardia, and more harsh reminders of mortality than most 18 years olds can testify to.
returning in 1992, 93, 96, 97 and finally, when i was 24, exhibiting the resulting story in london, (helped with sponsorship from photographic companies and my then university, nottingham trent), bought about what i believed to be an end to the project.. which for various reasons *had* to end.. (cont. below)

a former warrior, now village elder with his wife, inherted from his dead brother 1991

a fight during tibetan new year, feb 1992

pilgrimage to tso pema to receive h.h. the dalai lamas blessing, 1992

statues being created for a new temple, 1993

young monks gathered around guavas, 1996

monopoly game at the school-house, 1997

these days of editing my music work form the past 10 years are causing me to drift further back now.. and a search turned up these slides of half a dozen of the framed tibetan photographs.
in a sense these few tell the whole story.. of a tough village.. of a family pilgrimage.. of new buildings and greater permanence to the village and finally of westernization as tibetan culture became fashionable in the mid-late 90's and rupert murdochs television empire allowed our wealthy wants and needs to filter in.
all of the time, the monks play.. and pray.. and seep into every waking moment, unwittingly lending a unique and gently nurtured understanding of Bodhidharma.

i thought i had finished with the tibetan work once it was printed and exhibited in 98.. although now i am going to re approach my negatives.. some ten years later.. and see what my eyes will notice this time around, in preparation for the web exhibition of the work.

one thing that can be said of shooting compulsively as a young man, while on a quest for 'adulthood' and adventure, is that it produces a great deal of work.. which is not only a pleasure to wander back through, but also is a way i am now able to trace my photographic coming-of-age.. the development of a style.. and the shift in my chosen subject matter caused by some tough times.

EDITING PT: 8 - gone fishin, today...

2008-08-05T01:30:00.000-07:00

it's been incredibly warm for a while.. beautiful sunshine and now.. today... this moment.. it is raining outside.
i've become a fan of getting drenched in the rain while fishing with a walkman on, watching the large splodges of rain hit the calm sea and then bounce back up into themselves, dry under dripping waterproofs.. it's one way of feeling alive.
it is also excellent thinking time.. which i need now since i'm beginning to loose my way a little with the edit.
waiting for my negatives to be shipped over is making me wonder if sub-standard photos, which are already digitized, are making their way into the edit.. i need to keep things tight and need to keep the bar high and without all of my work to hand i may be loosing that focus a little.
so.. fishing.. thinking.. and then back to delete a few from previous posts i think.
ciao

EDITING PT: 7 - onandonandonandon

2008-08-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

i'm still a fair way away from having the complete body of work edited, although i am getting closer to having edited the thousands i have stored digitally into a package of a few hundred.
once this is done i can start with the the photos currently only in neg form and then i can begin to shape the collection into a whole, ready for exhibition printing and book proposals.
i'm beginning to wonder if between 75 and 100 photographs for a book will be too few..
time will tell.. for now i will just worry about cutting down the volume a little more.
thanks for looking... enjoy..

new blog...

2008-08-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

it's been more than a decade since i first photographed a party and it's time to get it all 'down', as some may say, and present it in a book.

towards that end a new blog now exists.. please visit it.. spend whatever time you have free and contribute a comment if the mood takes you.

EDITING PT: 6 - a brief note..

2008-08-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

yup.

the photographs are being edited in B&W for a couple of reasons.

firstly - the mac is coughing it's lungs up, proverbially, with the number of snaps i am asking it to open.. it's too, too slow to work in colour right now.

secondly - i want to choose the best photos for this book..
eventually some will be chosen for good colours and perhaps not make sense in black and white - so i will try not to post any of those from now on.. they do however remain in the folder and in 'the edit' as it moves along.
in black and white i'm finding it so much easier to see whats going on .. and to see again what i saw when i clicked is important, as memory does escape me occasionally.

lastly a word about the quality of the scans.
all the work is shot on film - some dating back to 1997 - and at the time i began submitting scans to magazines both my equipment and knowledge was basic.
all work will be rescanned once narrowed down - the ones shown here are very low-res and in some cases extremely poorly scanned in the first place.
i did not begin to submit j-pegs until 2000 - 2001, since magazines i contributed to did not have the facilities to recieve them. this work is only in neg form.. for now.

and so.
i am getting there.. on a journey now to fulfill a great ambition.. perhaps even greater than traveling to photograph people in the first place.
a book is a four letter word and i'm sure before this process is over i'll be saying a lot more four letter words.

just to reiterate - this is not a final edit nor a sequential edit even.. it's random photos pulled from my digital files of work drawn from around 1/4 of the total work i have.
as soon as my negatives arrive in norway there will be many, many more photographs.. some real corkers actually.. that is when party politics and the police get drawn into the shenanigans.. house-parties, protest & why the scene was forced indoors and the clubs became 'super'..

thanks for visiting and please enjoy the work with eyes wide open.

also - feel free to comment if you have a mind to.. whatever your perspective it is welcome.

EDITING PT: 5 - getting there.. around 200 i think.. 300 to go.

2008-07-31T23:08:00.001-07:00

EDITING PT: 4 - ...and more...

2008-07-31T01:31:00.000-07:00

EDITING PT: 3 - some more

2008-07-31T01:20:00.000-07:00

this is starting to fry my brain - 16 hours straight of editing.. pulling out my already receding hair..
i'm going fishing soon as this is posted.

EDITING PT: 2 - sharing some..

2008-07-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

here are some general photos.. these are not ordered and are a random selection.. if you're anything like me too much text without photos gets dull.. :o)

if editing down a large body of work is anything like writing a book, i have been stuck on the first line for a long while..
i still have issues around which course the narrative of the work will take.. i still have issues about how i am going to organize the edit and there are still questions in my mind as to whether i need to shoot more.. detroit seems essential as do some of the smaller events in the middle and far east.

it's time to start looking at what i have , though, and any of your comments would be greatly appreciated.. opinions on photos.. opinions on what you would like to see.. opinions on the book idea or which photos are working for you.
i have a fairly clear idea of where the book will go - i am trying to make a book for photographers... to show them the world i was emersed in with humour and i hope intelligence.
then i will truly be in good company.
i will try and edit as i try to shoot - instinctively - and i will be as honest as i can with myself and with the work..i want to show it all, really, as it has been quite a journey.

enjoy :o)

EDITING PT: 1 - beginings..

2008-07-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

having worked for many years on magazines i am more accustomed to a short edit from a single commission - 30 photos from 1 night only, up to a 5 day trip.
typically shooting 3 rolls a night at music events, that would mean i was editing from 110 photos, give or take, on a single commission, or up to 600 or so for longer commissions.
the goal now is to take the many thousands of photos shot over the past decade and distill them down to between 75 and 100.. with a clear message.. vibe..

the rough stats
10 years of work
50-60 events per year
500-600 events in total
60 international commissions

so what do i want to show?
there is now a world-wide youth culture movement based around dance music. young people across the globe go out every weekend, attend festivals and dance to the same sounds, have similar conversations, take the same drugs and often wear the same clothes.

since i began in the mid/late 90's, many a new country's young people have gathered at festivals and events for the first time.. small steps in eastern europe have begun to grow the scene there.. estonia.. bulgaria.. the balkans.. places where money is scarce and places where recent history has been turbulent use dance music as a backdrop which people can meet in front of, exchange idea's and develop progressive relationships to their country, as well as to each other.

in countries where the scene is well established the big name cooperate money has moved in, multimillion dollar super-clubs have established and the summer is choked with festival after festival all wanting a slice of the commercial pie. in turn DJ's and electronic musicians have become rock stars at the center of a huge money motivated industry.

my edit needs to show all of these dichotomies at work.. it needs to illustrate the positive nature of dance music while also illustrating the more blurred peripheral activity.. the edit needs to show it all, unvarnished and bare, the positive and the destructive.
it needs to illustrate the fact that young people the world over are now a part of one, unified, youth culture experience. the new movement in youth culture does not center around a band or idols, on the whole, but a man playing records.. the party goers now look at each other instead of the stage.. the party goers are the party.. the stars of their own show, being played out all around them.

the places photographed;

Norway
bergen, stavanger x4, oslo
Netherlands
amsterdam x2, harleem
Bulgaria
sofia
Belgium
touhort
Estonia
tallin x3
Italy
rome, nr. venice
Serbia
novi sad
United States
new york, LA, san francisco, miami
India
goa, dehil, rajesthan
Finland
helsinki, blatic sea (cruise ships) x2
Ireland
waterford, derry x5, belfast,
Argentina
BA
Canada
montreal
Portugal
lisbon
Spain
barcelona x8
Croatia
zadar, petrcane x3
England
country-wide
Scotland
aberdeen, glasgow x3, edinborough x3

editing choices - how to?;
1 could be based chronologically
2 could be based around geography

the book will not be broken into chapters.. rather it will work as one long narrative, with the countries mixed up page to page which will illustrate the same thing happening the world over.
one big party, with the geography of the plates consigned to a list at the back.

all countries need to be represented
all aspect of dance music need to be represented
need to illustrate the country to country similarities and differences

whats missing?
would it be important to show detroit - the home of dance music in terms of 'house music'?
is there a need for me to include myself or the photos which are taken on the journeys to and from gigs.. the media excess on the road?
will there be a 'gonzo' leaning or will it be a more classic documentation?
could i get away with sticking in the occasional 'journo' photo, showing the insane plane journies.. hotel parties.. or would that be narcissistic?

competition win - set by david alan harvey UPDATED

2008-07-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

only a few posts ago i mentioned a self portrait competition set by 'magnum' and 'national geographic' photographer david alan harvey.
well.. it seems that i am one of the three lucky winners.

click above

there is now, much to my amusement, a photo of my 35 year old rump posted for all to see on his website.. (screen-grab above)..
better my back-side than my face, perhaps.

david whittled the submissions down from around 170 and then employed fellow magnum photographer chris anderson to choose between 37 short-listed photos.
chris chose the three winners because of,
"their overall photographic quality, sense of humor, and the intelligence that went into them"
however, on first seeing the short list he exclaimed,
'"...impossible to judge...they are all very interesting..."

congratulations are due to the other prize winners, les (alongside above), and suryo. i'm sure they're as astonished at winning as i am, given the remarkably high quality of the entries..
the prizes of a print, his latest book and one of his old camera bags, all signed, have been split between us.

i will be receiving the copy of his wonderful 'divided soul' book, which curiously enough is exactly what i would have chosen if asked.. i am utterly delighted.. over the moon.
click here to buy the book - i'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in photography or culture... rich in quality and conceived with real passion & energy, this authentic study-over-time shines bright with love and dedication.

many heart-felt thanks to david who continues to amaze with a generosity of spirit which flows smoother than an endless white-russian.. i am indebted for the encouragement, mi amigo ..

UPDATED - august 27th

the book arrived from new york today, and is inscribed;
'for david bowen.. with respect.. david alan harvey'

fantastic.. thanks david and respect to you.. the book's an absolute corker.. has already inspired and motivated....

photo selected for new york exhibition UPDATED

2008-07-23T00:15:00.000-07:00

new years eve, san francisco, 2001/2

those sharp thinking folks at the photoshelter collection hosted a photo-trade show last weekend in new york city. many big-name photographic companies turned out with their products, accompanied by a fine array of industry experts who gave workshops and lectures to the gathered snappers. the PSC people selected the photo above to accompany others in an exhibition illustrating the range of styles they offer for licensing.

probably the most ethical and photographer-friendly stock house in existence, and with some 115 000 photographers represented, it was a surprising and rare treat to be able to support them.

UPDATE; the photoshelter collection has ceased trading for stock sales and now only operates as a personal library and archive service.

'festival' exhibition in derry, ireland

2008-07-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

stiff kitten, belfast 2006

'those lovely smiling derrywans know how to rock with more passion, spirit and craic than anywhere else on earth'
tom middleton 2008

celtronic 2005

celtronic in ireland is a great 5 day event, run by the superb 'deep fried funk' promoters, who have become firm friends over the years. they began promoting music events for young people, regardless of religion, history or the war, in 1998.
started the same year that the 'good friday' agreement was finally signed and peace began to filter through, they became a new cultural champion, bringing young people from both sides of the river together.
i was really pleased when they asked if i wanted to contribute an exhibition for this years event, to be held at the 'void gallery' in the city, because there is not a more brave, ethically minded, kind and warmer bunch of music lovers to be found.
'happy 10th birthday' to both the peace process and DFF.. let both grow and nurture derry city for many generations to come.

halloween 2007

between 2004 and the present i have been visiting promoters in derry and belfast for a range of events - the celtronic music festival, the legendary halloween celebrations and individual nights like global virus...
with compelling, energetic and beautifully shapped happenings provided for them, the young people of derry do their city proud when it comes to having fun and respecting each other.

stiff kitten, belfast

the void gallery is a good space.. the look of it lent itself to a multimedia slideshow..
on one wall, photographs taken of events in derry and belfast and on the other a selection from around the world, shot over the past decade.
photos from gigs, afterparties and peripheral activity illustrate how DFF and others have helped to move derry and the north of ireland progressivly forward, both musically and socially, to a point where their small part of europe is one of the most hospitable, well humoured and lively to be found. the world-wide work was intended to show derry alongside party goers in estonia.. bulgaria.. india.. south amercia.. the balkans.. and many more countries, all enjoying the same, unified and unifying culture.. the world bought together by the newly globalised nature of youth culture.

sandino's, derry 2005

i've previously blogged DFF events here for xlr8r magazine, here and here.
a past belfast entry is here
july has been a great month for DFF dj's, with well deserved gigs in croatia at the garden festival and serbia for exit - more power too them.

dawn, leaving afterparty 2004

showing a little arse on a sunday

2008-06-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

magnum photographer and all round good guy david alan harvey recently ran a competition for the majorettes he kindly mentors on his forum.. a self portrait which had to be taken during that week.
i've never got my kit off in front of the lens before and having suffered from psoriasis for many years, being naked in front of people has always been a sore point, (pun).. time to kill two birds with one stone, expressing myself through a little nudity.. anchored by beate.
it was an enlightening experience...
for a moment i didn't want to get dressed again, and the thought of being caught by early morning church goers gave us a giggle.
click here for all of the entries.

kids snap

2008-06-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

i've been interested in the way children see the world since teaching outreach projects to schools in nottingham a decade ago.
so - while doing a shoot at a nursery the other day i gave a film camera to one of the kids for a few frames... a couple of good snaps resulted from the wee scamp.. not bad for a 5 year old.

'kampania' magazine promote my portfolio

2008-06-08T01:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while since i have posted here now.. a good chunk of months have passed during which I have been archiving old work, learning dreamweaver, flash and the excellent slideshowpro, setting up my online sales with photoshelter PSC and generally house-cleaning. Snapping away at self initiated projects and working on various commissions has been fun - however this time has been all about organizing my archives..

Good things have been going on for the Garden Festival and it's growing into a real success story.. well deserved. Photos from the event have made it into Time Out, the Times and Guardian newspapers and top quality German magazine Prinz to name a few. Previous press for them has been in DJ magazine, I-DJ magazine, xlr8r and more so all in all they are reaping the rewards of hard work.

In other news 'Kampanje", a Norwegian based marketing and advertising industry mag, have been kind enough to feature my photographs in their extremely well intended 'Portfolio' section - and i didn't even have to buy advertising space. A great, ethically clean and philanthropic effort from good people. Hilde Nyman from the magazine was excellent to work with and also very kind in choosing to feature the work - so big thanks and a couple of ice cold beers are due to her in Oslo later this year. As Willy Wonka said at the end of the original (and best), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film '...so shines a good deed in a weary world...'.

In a shameless display of self promotion i have put the article at the top of this page.

what else can i tell you?

Good friend, humble hippy and all round decent bloke 'one man dan' from Birmingham has started a music podcast, 'silver skins'.. An excellent journalist of many years and co-founder of the now legendary 'blowback' magazine, his show is aimed at those of us old enough to remember Kajagoogoo, although thankfully he keeps his musical references more contemporary.

and lastly - congratulations to photographer and journalist Paul Sullivan on the birth of Luka... a child who will know good music and good food.

stavanger 'european city of culture 2008' commission

2008-01-12T01:11:00.000-08:00

stavanger in rogaland, norway, really is a special place and it's great that whoever votes for the 'european city of culture' award also thinks so. the launch weekend saw all kinds of strangeness going off - from acrobats below a huge mechanical bug to concert hall dance and opera on the lake.
the '2008 commission' asked me to photograph the 2 launch days, with events on the street and in theaters around the city

culture pie.

and so to norway, or 'my life as an immigrant'

2007-12-20T01:22:00.000-08:00

i was never really that keen on england from the first moment i went abroad and experienced that big yellow ball in the sky otherwise known as the sun. i thought i would always move round the earth to get a little closer to it, however life and the way of things has bought me to beautiful norway.

moving over here during december was about the best thing i could have done - the people are warm and the scenery is spectacular. some friends have asked for photos, and so here are a handful.