Wow I just read that some one is saying beer is good for the bones geniuscook.com so I think I’ll catch up and stop all that bone wasting abstinance.Plus I have just sussed how to insert a photo in a blog, so instead of being down the pub I,m chatting into cyberspace.

Fab new 30 sec Lofty Life viral is now ready for your enjoyment .Watch it on you tube – leave your comments and rate it.Smoking

The ever growing popularity of photography seems to be steaming ahead at an amazing pace. Digital technology has undoubtedly helped make it far more accessible and relevant to masses more people than it was . The fact that digital means no film and therefore no running costs has I think greatly increased its popularity. This combined with having cameras on mobile phones, the general shrinking of the camera in size, huge improvements in auto pilot functions has expanded the use and quality of photographs for ever.
My project Somewhere Else looks at the alienating phenomena of phone use in public space which partly covers cameras , but camera use is becoming another digi-hell all of its own.
Went to a gig the other night, you know real musicians playing on instruments to a hall of people. Loads of people snapping away on there mobiles fair enough , a memento never to be printed. However there were a few too many mad amateurs holding their “cameras” at arms length watching the whole gig via a screen occasionally snapping. Is nothing real unless it happens on a screen? Are we getting hooked on LCD. The street seems to be full of people head down twittering and networking away completely oblivious to the actual physical world they inhabit.
The mobile is where many of us store that photo of our loved ones, no longer the dog eared photo in the wallet but a hole gallery of photographs of our recent past. Digital cameras have spawned a generation of screen and image dependant humans. Not only are we cctv’d hundreds of times when we venture out onto the highways and high streets, all our activities are only real to us if we photograph them. A night out is not real unless we have the smiling at camera group shot to prove it.
I think however that most of this gathering of the banal and profound will actually be lost . As most of the images do not get printed onto paper but remain as ‘files’ on a storage devise /camera/cd .When was the last time you got out your box of photo cds to have a look? Maybe we are heading to a world of total public digital exposure where the web will hold all our mementoes on social networking and photo sharing networks. Are we to trust our past to some silicone mountain in a far away place.

Instead of moaning about how difficult it all is I thought I’d do a bit of glass full talk. My last couple of jobs have been a joy and reminded me why I’m in this photography freelance game in the first place.
I was asked to take a series of photos on and around a housing estate in North London to illustrate a book. It was a combination of architecture shots,interiors, details and people both portrait and documentary. The sun helped as it can do in summer and shone it magic for two days. It was very early starts and late finishes but the results totally rewarded the old fashioned approach of just waiting for the right light.
The people shots followed the usual arc of initial suspicion. Who are you? What are they for ect quickly followed by warm embrace of the idea and willing participation. I always think being a photographer can be a bit like being a doctor or psychiatrist. At first people are reticent and cool about engaging but very quickly warm up and start co-operating and engaging in the most intimate of ways. With hardly any pre-production it was great to work on my wits and adapt to spontaneous situations as they happened. The estate was a mix of council and private ownership of buildings that were built at a time when cost was not king. The result is a relaxed and happy estate with mix of people the UN would be proud of. More of this project closer to publication date . The sun is shinning got to go and shoot some joy, back to a good grumble very soon

This is my first blog . Just spent a week in Arles, France at Les Rencontres Arles photography. A huge photo festival with scores of great exhibits and events. It seems the photo world is now in the arena of making stars and creating fans and groupies. What struck me about a large proportion of the exhibits is how much art now is concerned with the “Me” and “I” . Gone are the days when art was about the “We” as a society. From Nan Goldin to the vast majority of the Voies Off entries there is an obsession for our personal and intimate details. Great work much of it is. It was interesting to hear Goldin moan on about how tired she is still to be talking about work that was done twenty years ago. The problem of pigeon holing is still as strong as ever. Critics and fans alike love to love whatever is this weeks thing but be careful the artist who changes too much. Wonderful to see so many huge and on the whole well laid out exhibitions. As a Brit it was great to see how the French can put on a show and get huge audiences to come , look and talk about still and moving photographs. I hope the photographers showing were paid in more than just exposure. While here in the UK the “creative Industries” are apparently ever important and growing, it is always the administrators who are the only ones getting a living wage. The artists are to be glad of the exposure and to some how physically survive on the admiration of the public.