I shot this editorial for Suitcase Magazine a few months back: you can pick a copy of the current issue pretty much anywhere in the UK and have a look at my desert shots and portraits of one of the local Bedouin Tribes.
I used expired Ektachrome 200 medium format film which survived against all the odd against sudden thermic excursions, angry Jordanian x ray machines and the sand. lots of sand.
It was great to take on the analogue challenge and capture such beautiful land on celluloid. I remember the work of Rick Smolan for the famous National Geographic story 'From Alice To Ocean', in 1992; it was all shot on the same transparency film and it looked beautiful.
I was very pleased with the results, i loved that soft/crisp look and the slightly offset colours. Would never have felt the same with digital so i'm glad i stuck with celluloid once again
I shot young Hannah around the Crystal Palace park the other day, i fancied wasting some black and white film and do some home processing with Rodinal, which is by far my favourite way to home develop BW film.
I used a rough technique for this batch, semi-stand developing for an hour at a 100:1 ratio. For the non geeks out there it means you chuck the film in a canister, you fill it with 500ml of water and 5ml of Rodinal developer; give it two agitations first, let it settle for 1/2 an hour and then you agitate it twice again.
After another 1/2 hour you stop the film with straight fixer, wash it, hang it and dry it.
It's a pretty rough technique but i like it because it's very slow, calm and there's none of that rushing you get when you develop film normally.
Here's the results. Yee haw.
Candid
I shot George and Kate in a warehouse in Hackney Wick the other day: i wanted to play with colour film for a change... We had nice soft natural light coming through the windows and a dark background and some good tunes going. Happy with the results
G'day all. Start the day proper with some home developed monochromes of Tara fresh of the tank
I love Kurata. The crisp monochromes, the flash technique, the fact that he took his medium format camera in tough environments and snapped away with nonchalance.
Compared to his fellow Japanese snappers Moriyama and Araki, Seiji's work is much cooler and less erotic, the man concentrates on sociological issues that riddle Tokyo city and its streets.
I'll leave you with these shots, as you scroll through them please think about modern digital photography and how it will NEVER get anywhere near such perfection.
Enjoy
Huck is one of those publications everyone wants to be part of. Urban, gritty, raw and special. I have been following them since i picked up a camera years ago when i lived under the scorching Aussie sun.
I loved the magazine then, i adore it now: there's something incredibly genuine about it which is pretty much a rarity nowadays, you flick through the damn thing and it feels good, sincere, real.
When they did a feature on my exhibition/zine launch at Doomed Gallery i couldn't believe it, i was stoked and stunned.
Thanks guys. Thanks a lot. That was a good day
http://www.huckmagazine.com/art-and-culture/print/zine-scene-print/australian-misfits/
A few weeks ago my good friend Stanley Weber came to London from Paris for an ADR: he was keen to do a little shoot with me at my place so we spent a whole day talking shit and shooting.
It was nice. The man is a talented actor and i dig his old school looks. They don't make them like him anymore.
So merci beaucoup, monsieur Weber. Twas a pleasure, son
It was a rare sunny hot spring day in London, the light was good and the stars aligned. We took Tara down the bmx track and started snapping away. The place looked good. Had a good feeling about it.
Lydia smashed the make up and hair combos and we were on a roll.
Then this young looking kid with his bmx came out of nowhere: he looked so goddamn good, i asked him to do a few tricks in the background, it was all perfect.
Hours later, down on my knees in the small toilet i was agitating the tank full of medium format negs and chemicals, hoping everything was there. As i pulled the celluloid out of the tank i couldn't help but smile. The Gods had been on my side.
