Last week I was feeling a bit sluggish so haven’t been touring the media hinterlands as I would have liked. Having said that there are still a few things to share. Obviously the football season is upon us now so all pretence at being an edgy and artistic young buck are out of the window in favour of the daft fervour that comes with hugging overweight men in pubs and swearing at talented strangers. This is of course not to pour scorn on the idea that football has its own artistic and creative heart. Anyone who had the pleasure to watch big Jan Molby drop a shoulder in the late eighties knows that the beautiful game has the potential to rival ballet for physical poetry (Ninjinsky with an eating disorder.) Sadly these days what with Wayne Rooney’s face it’s easy to forget that there is such a thing as footballing grace.
To remind ourselves of some of the reasons why we love football in spite of its occasional crassness read a bit about Walter Tull (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Tull) and Bert Trautman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Trautmann) and try listening to any Half Man Half Biscuit records. These “four boys who shook the Wirral” help to illustrate clearly that some of the best football and the most dedicated supporters operate away from the glare of the premiership. On a personal note: Become Tranmere Rovers fans immediately. We need you and will make you all very welcome.
Mmmm I can taste the hotdogs and hear the singing just looking at this picture. TRFC forever!!!!
4. What a difference a day makes. My two teams both drew over the weekend and instantly the lustre has gone from the football season. Not even glorious defeats to stir the soul. So let’s get back to those things that are immune to mediocrity: Music, art and drinking until the pavement bites us in the forehead.
It’s very easy to talk about the natural beauty of life and how diluting this simple poetry with drink and degeneracy is an affront to the innate perfection of the universe. Having said that, after a couple of boxes of wine even the dogshit in the gutter begins to look like an ergonomically designed pillow. How can anything be wrong with that? Obviously most things are wrong with that. For example it’s very difficult to remember to close your eyes (and thus avoid blindness) when using excreta to cradle your ravaged bonce.
Enough about my lifestyle! Through the wonders of facebook I have become aware of an old school pals efforts to breathe some arty life in to Liverpool. This is happening right now so if you find yourself up north swing by: http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/nervecentre/whats_on.php It looks great and is exactly the sort of thing we all should be doing all the time. Gosh darn super groovy.
Thinking about the old country is making me wistful for the accents and attitudes of the North. Here’s Tony Harrison:
http://www.thepoetrychannel.org.uk/poems/them-and-uz/
Big love little ones I’ll see you soon.
Back in blighty after a spell in Spain inexplicably working with children on summer camps. This is a life choice which I won’t be repeating as it turns out children can see through my affectations and can tell better knob jokes than me! Unpleasant.
Little bit of class (Man Ray if you care) there to take your minds off the knob jokes. A pal of mine has been showing me some photos by a chap named Stefano Stranges and I rather like them. http://www.strangesimage.com/art/others Not sure about some of this but the kids deffo got something worth keeping an eye on. If you’re in the smoke go and see the following at the Barbican library. Some of it is predictably bland but there are a few little belters lurking in here and it’s free. http://www.cityandcripplegate-ps.org/ There is a gallery you can nose through online but let’s be frank it’s free to go so go unless you’re under house arrest or something like that.
Finally: The Handsome family are one of the most interesting and inspiring bands to ever have graced the world with their music. A husband and wife duo who write and perform some truly original and haunting works of twentieth and twenty first century American Gothic. http://www.myspace.com/thehandsomefamily listen to the stuff on here and then buy all their records (and if you go on their website you can buy some interesting paintings too.)
Larry Yust is an LA-based photographer in the US known for his “Photographic Elevations”. Born in Philadelphia, the filmmaker and photographer combines 10 to 100 digital images to create these mammoth snaps up to eight feet long.
His photographs have been exhibited in galleries around the world, from LA, Hamburg and Berlin to Cologne and Paris. His works provide a sense of involvement and reality, as if the viewer were really standing in that very street.
His most famous works are his photos of the Paris metro and the streets of Havana in Cuba.
Continuing on with the photography theme, I can’t help but post more work by photojournalist Steve McCurry. This one is entitled “Dust Storm” and was taken in 1983 in Rajasthan, India. The intensity and vibrancy of the colours are so distinctive of the country. Visually, India must be one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and I think this picture is a very good example of that.
This portrait of a young Afghan girl by Steve McCurry has always had a hold over me. The power and intensity of the young girl’s gaze makes this one of the most captivating human images around.
With a career that began covering the Soviet War in Afghanistan, and that would eventually span conflict zones throughout the world; the Iran-Iraq War, Beirut, Cambodia and the Philippines, Steve McCurry has produced some of the most striking portraits of modern times.
Born in New Orleans, Scott Alger is a New York based artist whose work combines street graffiti, expressionalist painting and performance, all expressed through photography. Using light as paint, Alger creates images which he then photographs, the result being a number of rich, glossy images. This style and process originated from a traumatic experience which saw Alger and his friends struck by lighting, the result of which left Alger temporarily blinded and ended the life of one of his friends. As a way of healing, Scott created this new style of photographing light to help him get over the experience emotionally.
Now obviously unless you can afford to jetset across the Atlantic to the Big Apple, a visit to one of his exibitions is going to be out of the question. However, his website is worth a visit. There is a wonderful collection of photographs to look at as well as some interesting videos about his work.
Some of the best press photography is without doubt that of Reuters. If you have a look at the small print in most major newspapers, you’ll find that the principal photographs have been supplied by the Reuters News Agency.
I regularly visit their website where they publish fascinating daily photographs from around the world. The Editor’s choice is a good place to start as it encompasses a wide and varied selection of images from the day’s events.
When it comes to classic black and white photography I don’t think there’s another photographer that moves me quite like Robert Doisneau. I find myself constantly mesmerized by his shots of Parisian street life. His playful mix of people, places and emotions has made his style so unique.
This photograph here, entitled Le baiser de l’hôtel de ville is without doubt his most recognizable and I’d have to say my favourite.