Personal Work
The Idiosyncrasies Of Photographing Strangers
26/06/10 11:17
I made my way towards the seafront with my camera this morning to catch the first rays of sun over Blackpool beach. It was an early start to the day and by 5am I’d already encountered the last of the Friday night revellers attempting to find their way home. Two young men (both clearly intoxicated, but [thankfully] only the one of them exposed bare-chested) approached me near Blackpool Tower to ask why and what I was photographing. I explained that I’d photographed Blackpool for a number of years and that it was simply something that I love to do. They didn’t quite understand my explanation or motive for taking photographs at this early hour of the day, but nonetheless they asked me if I’d take a picture of the two of them together. I obliged and continued my journey towards the beach. I knew that the photographs I’d taken of them weren’t really to my liking, but it certainly wasn’t an act of futility. These encounters with strangers on the street are nothing new to my photographic practice (it comes with the territory of being a documentary photographer) and each time I’m faced with this situation I usually find that its for the best to smile, take the photographs and depart on good terms.
The nearest public entrance directly onto the beach is currently to the right of Central Pier (due to the construction of the new seawall and promenade between Central and North Pier) and when I arrived there I began to setup my camera to record some HD video footage of the scene. It was low tide and there wasn’t a single soul on the beach. I had the whole place to myself. Ten minutes later, this all changed when a man and woman approached me to ask what I was doing. I showed them both the LCD screen at the back of my camera and said that I was just shooting footage to satisfy my own creative inclinations. They asked me what I usually photographed and I told them that I photographed all manner of subjects, but my favourite subject to photograph were starlings during the winter months. The woman insisted that I go to Fleetwood Docks to see them sometime and I duly noted this before they both headed towards the sea to paddle in the water and watch the sunrise.
An hour passed by as I relished the tranquility and quietness of the morning with my camera. By this point I was at South Pier and reasonably content with some of the photographs that I’d taken, but still not completely ready or willing to return home just yet. As I walked towards the steps of the seawall to find another vantage point, a man appeared from the direction of the promenade. He made his way down the steps towards me, but couldn’t go any further as there was a wide stream of water between the seawall and the beach that separated the two of us. The man shouted across this small estuary saying that I should take a photograph of the reflection of the pier in the water. I replied that I’d much rather take a photograph of him instead and asked him whether it would be okay to do so. He smiled and said that he didn’t mind. I quickly composed my shot and fired off few photographs as he semi-posed for the camera.
We spent the following forty-five minutes chatting across this small, yet significant, stretch of water about all manner of topics to do with technology, life and the future. 
Encounters With Strangers #1
Taken at 6:59am on Saturday 26th June 2010.
Throughout our conversation, I took his photograph sparsely and tried to capture him in a more natural way. I asked if he’d like me to include a quote from him if I decided to ever publish one of the photographs I’d taken. As he thought about what he wanted to say I took this photograph (above).
“If everybody agreed to the concept of time ‘a day in space is a year on Earth’ and if your day starts at 12am and your daily routine is that you fall asleep before 12pm, does that mean you fell asleep in yesterday to wake up in tomorrow; which in turn, is today?”
Now there’s something to think about...
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Coca-Cola Championship Play-Off Final 2010
29/05/10 23:30
I think it’s fair to say that my optimistic plans for posting more frequent blog entries has somewhat failed. In an attempt to redeem myself, I thought I’d share a selection of photographs that I shot at the Coca Cola Championship Play-Off Final 2010 between Blackpool FC and Cardiff FC last Saturday at Wembley stadium.
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Murmurations Signal The Beginning Of Winter
29/11/09 23:53
Taken at 04:30pm on North Pier in Blackpool, UK. Tuesday 27th October 2009.
Since my last blog post back in October (Blackpool Public Artworks Photography Commission) there have been several noteworthy developments to my photographic practice. One of the most exciting items of news is that I’ve been asked to be an Associate Lecturer in Photography at UCLAN’s Media Factory in Preston. I’m currently teaching and mentoring first year photography degree students undertaking PH1010, a module that consists of a number of traditional black & white photography assignments. The last time I was in a lecture I was studying for my Masters in Blackpool, so its great to get back into the classroom and brainstorm new ideas about photography with the students.
I’m also a ‘Photographer in Residence’ at the Media Factory, so I’ve been busy organising two new photography projects (a psychogeographic assignment with UCLAN photography students and a separate community-based arts project in Blackpool) that will feature in a new photography exhibition at UCLAN’s Victoria Building in September 2010.
You may have noticed from the photographs featured in this blog post (and its title) that starlings are back in Blackpool once again. Starlings signal the beginning of Winter when these murmurations start to perform this marvellous spectacle. Murmurations are one of the most magical, yet underrated, spectacles of wildlife on display during Winter.
Taken at 04:32pm on North Pier in Blackpool, UK. Tuesday 27th October 2009.
“Impenetrable as the flock’s movements might seem to the human eye, the underlying maths is comparatively straightforward. Each bird strives to fly as close to its neighbours as possible, instantly copying any changes in speed or direction. As a result, tiny deviations by one bird are magnified and distorted by those surrounding it, creating rippling, swirling patterns. In other words, this is a classic case of mathematical chaos (larger shapes composed of infinitely varied smaller patterns). Whatever the science, however, it is difficult for the observer to think of it as anything other than some vast living entity.”
(Source: ‘The Mathematics Of Murmurating Starlings’ by Daniel Butler in the Telegraph newspaper) 
Taken at 04:26pm on North Pier in Blackpool, UK. Tuesday 27th October 2009.
The promenade and piers offer fantastic vantage points to photograph starlings. North Pier did become somewhat crowded while I was taking photographs, which resulted in me having to answer all manner of questions about starlings from one particularly inquisitive tourist. 
Taken at 04:19pm near North Pier in Blackpool, UK. Thursday 29th October 2009.
Wildlife photography requires both patience and persistence. Large periods of time are spent waiting for something to happen with quick short bursts to action that you can miss with the blink of an eye. Knowing your camera and subject inside out is crucial in capturing the best possible moment. The photograph above (entitled ‘Dog Chasing Starlings’) is a mixture of all these things. I watched and waited as the starlings feed on the beach, knowing that if I waited long enough, something would happen. I saw a man approach with his dog near the break of the waves when suddenly the dog bolted towards the flock. As they scattered, I began taking photographs and hoped for the best.
To see more starlings photographs please visit the Starlings Above gallery.
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Karima Francis: The Author
06/09/09 22:54
Taken at 11:12pm at West Coast Cafe in Blackpool, UK. Saturday 5th September 2009.
Last night I had the chance to watch the wonderful singer/songwriter Karima Francis play an intimate acoustic gig at the West Coast Rock Cafe in Blackpool. This was Karima's first gig in her hometown since playing with the likes of James Morrision at the Albert Hall and featuring on Later With Jools Holland in April earlier this year. I used to see Karima play acoustic sets at open mic nights in Blackpool years ago and I've always considered her to be an incredibly talented musician. As an avid lover of live music, I try and go to as many gigs and festivals as I possibly can. Admittedly, I don't always photograph the gigs I go to (we all deserve a little bit of time off from time to time), but I just had to take this chance to photograph Karima play.
Photographing live performances can sometimes be rather difficult. This is because a) the ambient light is very low (or next to non-existent) and b) musicians tend to move around as they play. Obviously you can use flash to help you out in those sort of situations, but I tend to find that firing a bright light at someone constantly (especially as they're playing a beautiful song they've painfully crafted) just isn't that fair. So, I refrain from using flash unless I've asked the artist beforehand and they're comfortable with me doing so. Fortunately I was able to get really close to Karima during the gig and so I managed to get away without using any additional lighting. I knew that the pictures would turn out quite grainy, but I thought this would add to the overall atmosphere when I converted them to black & white. This is my favourite photograph from the ones that I took last night as it really shows the passion of her performance.
I always like to share and promote talented artists, so I thoroughly recommend that you check out Karima's debut album 'The Author'. It's certainly music to my ears.
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 3200
Focal Length: 85mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60th sec
F-Stop: f/5.6
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On The Road
19/02/09 09:04
Taken at 02:33pm in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. UK. Monday 9th February 2009.
The title and content of today’s blog post are inspired by one of my favourite literary works; Jack Kerouac’s largely autobiographical book On The Road. The book is based upon Kerouac’s own journeys across America with his friends in the late 1940’s and is written in a style he called ‘spontaneous prose’ (which is similar to the ‘stream of consciousness’ method of writing). Kerouac wrote On The Road in just three weeks during a creative literary explosion in April 1951 and is now widely acknowledged as an American Modern Classic.
“It changed my life like it changed everyone else’s” - Bob Dylan (speaking about reading On The Road)
The narrative and characters are throughly engaging and compelling, yet it’s Kerouac’s approach and expressive literary style that has come to inspire me in my own creative practice. His writings manage to instil a sense of adventure and willingness to break both physical and metaphysical boundaries in the quest for original and fulfilling life experiences. On The Road was inspired by many things that Kerouac was passionate and immersed in at the time (jazz, poetry and travel to name but a few) and reading the book has certainly played its part in confirming the need to draw upon my personal passions in order to satisfy my creative inclinations when producing photographic work. A spontaneous and organic nature to producing work has long been the driving force behind the photographs that I take and reading On The Road has re-ignited my belief that its also a great approach for living life in general.
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." - taken from Jack Kerouac’s On The Road.
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 24mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125th sec
F-Stop: f/10
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St Margaret's Church
10/02/09 21:34
Taken at 07:55pm in Wolstanton, Staffordshire. UK. Sunday 8th February 2009.
Saint Margaret's is a church located in my hometown of Wolstanton on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme and is the main focal point of the village (as can be said of many churches in small villages across the country). There are many possible reasons why this is (religious or otherwise), but for me it’s mainly down to the fact that it’s the single largest building in the surrounding area. I have to say that I’ve somewhat struggled to find inspiration in my hometown to produce creative photographic images, but the recent batch of snow and frost has given me a new found hope. The churchyard itself is quite fantastic to photograph (especially in these conditions) and holds a rather morbid mystery.
A remarkable grave is located in the churchyard of St Margaret's. The headstone of Sarah Smith (deceased 1783) includes a short poem written in the first person in which Sarah suggests that she was murdered; “with half a pint of poyson he came to visit me' and then provides a clue to her killer, 'it was C___s B___w who brought me to my end”.
Very spooky indeed...
I’m starting to think that the village isn’t such a bad place to take pictures after all!
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 17mm
Shutter Speed: 20 seconds
F-Stop: f/8
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Breakwater
05/02/09 10:25
Taken at 01:16pm in North Shore Blackpool, UK. Friday 23rd January 2009.
I’ve always loved being on the edge of the seaside fringe, so to start today’s blog post I thought I’d share where I think this fascination originated. As a young boy I spent my summer holidays with my Grandma at her house in St-Idesbald, Belgium. We’d spend our days picking shells along the beach, walking her three lovely Bassett hounds and enjoying being at the seaside together. I think this is were my affinity and affection for coastal life began, yet it wasn’t until I moved to Blackpool in 2003 that I became aware of what a profound influence the times with my Grandma had on me and my relationship with the seaside.
The Blackpool coast is a constantly shifting and morphing landscape which offers a mélange of creative possibilities and the space for conceptual musings. This space where the sea meets the land has been a major theme of many artistic practitioners (including nineteenth century landscape painters such as JMW Turner and John Constable) and plays an integral part of my own personal work documenting life on the Fylde coast. This black & white photograph, entitled ‘Breakwater’ looks at the boundaries between the sea, the land and ourselves. The composition is simply constructed into thirds, focussing on the three main elements of water, concrete and rock in the image.
Forthcoming Exhibition News - I’ve been selected to exhibit my work at Keele University’s Three Counties Open Photography Exhibition 2009. I’ve exhibited at this annual exhibition in my hometown for the past seven years and its always a pleasure to have my work next to other photographers from the area. This year I have one photograph (entitled ‘Ballroom Dancing’) in the exhibition and I’m really looking forward to the preview night on the 25th February 2009. If your in the area on the day, feel free to come down and take a look at the work. The exhibition will officially open on the 26th February 2009 and will run until early April 2009.
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 250
Focal Length: 24mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200th sec
F-Stop: f/8
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Starlings Above (Part Two)
30/01/09 16:09
Taken at 04:33pm in Blackpool, UK. Thursday 29th January 2009.
This black and white photograph is the latest addition to my on-going personal project documenting starlings in flight. Photographing natural subjects like starlings requires a great deal of patience as you never quite sure what they may do next. I usually find the best way to approach them is to compose the image the way you want it and then hope that they will do something rather spectacular within the frame (which doesn’t always happen!). They also demand that you think quickly on your feet as they are often unpredictable and incredibly fast in flight. Each time I see starlings in Blackpool I always try to record a different aspect to them and, in this particular image, I’ve focussed upon them feeding on the beach.The image also shows a little bit more of the environmental setting that this natural phenomenon occurs, which is something I feel is slightly lacking in some of the other photographs I’ve taken for the series.
My recently updated Starlings gallery includes this new photograph alongside another black & white photograph that I took during the same afternoon.
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 44mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125th sec
F-Stop: f/5.6
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Starlings Above (Part One)
04/11/08 20:45
Taken at 3:51pm from North Pier, Blackpool. Tuesday 4th November 2008.
North Pier in Blackpool is a wonderful location to view starlings during the winter months and this afternoon I got another opportunity to photograph them. This is the first chance I’ve had to do some personal work since finishing my MA course and completing my recent freelance assignments, so I’m really pleased to be starting my postgraduate life with this photograph of starlings over Blackpool beach.
I will never forget the first time I saw a flock of starlings. It was during a cold February morning in 2006 on Blackpool promenade and there wasn’t another soul to be seen. I was walking past North Pier when I saw a huge swarm of starlings feeding on the beach. After a minute or so, the starlings all took off, on mass, creating what can only be described as a giant bubble. They made their way towards me, flying fast and low across the beach. The sound they made was simply incredible. There is something innately beautiful about starlings and I always feel very privileged to just to see them.
A selection of six black & white photographs that I’ve taken of starlings in flight can now be viewed in the portfolio section of this site. More to follow...
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 500
Focal Length: 85mm
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
F-Stop: f/5.6
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Return To Rigby Road (Part Two)
14/09/08 19:55
Taken at 12:21pm in the Tram Shed at Rigby Road Transport Depot, Blackpool.
Thursday 11th September 2008.
When I visited the depot in 2006 I never got a chance to photograph them cleaning the trams, so I was absolutely thrilled to catch this shot the other day.
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 73mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
F-Stop: f/5.6
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Return To Rigby Road (Part One)
12/09/08 17:18
Taken at 12:08pm in the Fitting Shop at Rigby Road Transport Depot, Blackpool.
Thursday 11th September 2008.
In late August I was asked to join the artist Simon Grennan and his group of volunteers for the community-based art project ‘Bloomfield Talks’. One of the volunteers organised a tour around the Rigby Road Transport Depot, so I thought I’d grab the chance of returning to take some more photographs. In 2006, I was asked by the author John Woodman to produce a series of photographs recording the fabric and infrastructure of this important historical site. I’ve also photographed a book launch at the depot in April 2008 and I’ll take every opportunity I get of documenting a space with such a strong identity and rich heritage.
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 68mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
F-Stop: f/6.3
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Arena Fun Fair
16/08/08 23:40
Taken at 1:24pm in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire. Saturday 16th August 2008.
Morecambe Bay was a welcome day out after another busy week working on my Blackpool project. My girlfriend Kate and I decided to take a drive in the afternoon, with no idea of where we wanted to go (isn’t that sometimes the best way?!). I had never been to Morecambe before, I had however, heard of its proud history of being a thriving seaside resort back in the mid-twentieth century. The town has declined over the years and this ‘Arena Fun Fair’ is certainly a monument to that. The view towards the Lake District across the bay were sublime, even though the weather wasn’t quite at its best. This is one of the first photographs taken on my new Canon 40D SLR and I’m really pleased with the overall quality and feel of the camera. I must say that after three years of using my beloved Canon 20D SLR, this might take a bit of getting used too. All in all though, I’m really happy with it and can’t wait to get out there and take more photo’s!
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 35mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
F-Stop: f/11.0
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