Before The First Thought

I’m bored by posed nightlife photos. Club kids are ready to freeze for the camera at a split-second’s notice, and photographers seem generally happy with that. The result? A tradition of static, posed ‘street fashion’ shots. All well and good, but I’m much more interested in the unposed shot, taken before the reflex to ‘do the look’ kicks in. I want to catch the moment when our gaze first crosses, to snare that fleeting instant-between-people, before our relationship has been resolved as being between ‘photographer’ and ‘subject’, with the consequent spiral down into stereotypical role-play and performance that dynamic entails. …

Photojournalism: No More Heroes?

[The TED/Demos team working to raise awareness of XDR-TB with photojournalist James Nachtwey invited me to write a short piece on the future of photojournalism for their site. The following is a slightly edited version of that piece] We inherit the archetypes of the Photo-Journalist and their Work from the profession’s Golden Age: that of Time and Life magazines, and of early Magnum; the searing inscription of truth burnt into 36 frames of Ilford FP4. Photo-journalists as Heroes of the Modern Age. Times change. When we now read about the Magnum photographers who, upon hearing the breaking news while at …

A Magazine

Two of my photos were selected by Givenchy’s creative director Riccardo Tisci to accompany a profile of our friend Helen Noir in the current issue of A Magazine. In London, you can find A Magazine at Art Words.

Addictive TV plays the National Theatre

Video artists Addictive TV returned to the South Bank for their annual outdoor gig, projecting onto the side of the National Theatre, and with properly massive sound reinforcement. They invited us along to record the event. Photos here.

Buy A Better You, 21 August 2008

Two of the East London scene’s finest ventured sarf of the Thames for a one-night-only show at the RVT on Friday. Scottee performed his one-man show Buy A Better You, and Dickie Beau showcased some of his classic pieces. Pix here.

Film Noir, 15 August 2008

Helen Noir, Ma Butcher and Ingenue St. John took care of DJ duties, with Nando Messias and Amanda Pet live of stage. Pix here.