photographylot

The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Coleridge was onto something. Now we all have an Albatross round our neck.

Photograph: Chris Jordan

Gihan Tubbeh - Noches de Gracia

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:48:00 +0000

The other day I was looking over the work from photographers shortlisted for an award with a good friend and we were discussing style vs substance. Some of the pictures were visually stunning, but did this detract from the content? Was the drama and sensationalism necessary or is it more of a gimmick, one that ultimately detracts from the important issues the photography claims to address. It is my belief that the style of a photograph - it's aesthetic qualities - should compliment the content. I don't want the content to be hidden under layers of visual trickery. I want to be drawn into the world the photograph depicts and to find it rich with meaning, not just a glossy surface of visual stimulation.

Later that evening I came across the work of Gihan Tubbeh, a photographer selected to participate in this years Joop Swart masterclass - a prestigious workshop run by the World Press Photo. Her Noches de Gracia series is for me a perfect example of style mirroring content. Here the aesthetics are as visceral and decadent, as disturbing and alluring as the world they depict. The visual tricks in this series are not employed gratuitously, but with apparent purpose.

Writing about the series, Gihen states:

"Eyes are nothing but slimy beasts looking from behind"

Ricardo-Ayllón

The project presented is not intended to tell a story, it is rather an assemblage of photographs that form a grid, a puzzled group of soiled images that are read among each other, without beginning or end. If I could sum up the series in one word I would say it's about transgression. The photos document the most primitive and instinctive conditions of humanity. The tone is acid: it talks about the vulnerable excess of desire, the insatiable hunger for pleasure on the edge of suffering, about violation towards the flesh, joy throughout offense, the eternal return towards the visceral, the morbid by wounding and being wounded.

For transgression to exist, there must be awareness of good and evil, guilt, and condemnation of sin. But this knowledge is left suspended, hidden in our consciousness as a thumping secret that causes greed and temptation towards the forbidden. The body is the battleground between Eros and Thanatos, between desire and destruction; the woman is mother and destroyer, which represents masculine desire. This way, we break life’s boundaries with our bodies, resisting thirsty to nights´ pain, moving in between crime and repression.

“And the nature of pain, the pain is twice

and the status of martyrdom, carnivorous, voracious,

the pain is twice

and the role of pure prairie, the pain

twice

and the well of being, hurting us doubly”

-César Vallejo

Roy DeCarava 1919-2009

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:36:00 +0000

I remember the first time I saw DeCarava's book - “The Sweet Flypaper of Life,” a 1955 collaboration with Langston Hughes. I was entirely absorbed and dumbstruck. From there I discovered the wealth of his photography. A big inspiration.

RIP.

Lay Flat 2

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Lay Flat is currently putting together their second issue and looking to raise funds to cover the costs of printing and distribution.

It is Edited by Shane Lavalette and Michael Bühler-Rose and the following photographers are to be included...

Claudia Angelmaier, Semâ Bekirovic, Charles Benton, Lucas Blalock, Talia Chetrit, Anne Collier, Natalie Czech, Jessica Eaton, Roe Ethridge, Stephen Gill, Daniel Gordon, David Haxton, Matt Keegan, Elad Lassry, Katja Mater, Laurel Nakadate, Lisa Oppenheim, Torbjørn Rødland, Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, Joachim Schmid, Penelope Umbrico, Useful Photography, Charlie White, Ann Woo and Mark Wyse

Their work will be accompanied by the textual contributions of Lesley A. Martin (Publisher/Editor, Aperture Foundation), Adam Bell (Co-editor, The Education of a Photographer) and artist Arthur Ou.

If you feel like supporting Lay Flat above and beyond actually buying a copy of the publication when it is released, visit http://www.layflat.org/ to find out how.

Michael Najjar - High Altitude.

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:43:00 +0000

I stumbled across Michael Najjar's work in the Bitforms Gallery last week.

netropolis | berlin, 2003, 180 x 120 cm, edition 6

These days I'm a bit of a photo snob, like my pictures to be 'real' and don't normally go in for photo illustration but I liked the graphic beauty of his Netropolis series on display in the Bitforms project room so I went downstairs and checked out High Altitude.

Here he has taken photographs from a trip up Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, apparently the highest mountain in the Americas, and the highest in the world outside of the Himalayas. But he has done something very simple and clever, if not very original. We've all looked at graphs and thought that they look like mountain ranges, so it's no great leap of the imagination to actually make mountain ranges out of graphs. By taking data from stock market charts and mapping them onto his photographs, he has created a wonderful series of strange looking mountain ranges, something akin to what you might see in some illustrators idea of an alien world.

hangseng_80-09, 202 x 132 cm, edition 6

I didn't do more than skim read the accompanying press release as I can't handle most art speak at the best of times, but it did get me thinking (again) about how the financial system we are pretty much all in thrall to is having an effect on us and our world. many of the mountains in these photo illustrations look like they have been hit by severely corrosive acid rain, stripping away the rock and leaving precarious vertical spikes.

These graphs we see in the financial pages of the newspaper represent a system that is messing with us and our planet. Michael Najjar's high Altitude series gives us a good visual reminder of how the abstract and the real connect.

Billingsgate Market

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:13:00 +0000

I love fish. And markets. So do these guys. In my 10 years of living in London this market was always on my list of places to shop. Shamefully I never made it down there..

In any case, some good simple audio drives this slideshow, and the fish photos are mouth watering...

Rinko Kawauchi at Mountain Fold

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:14:00 +0000

Rinko Kawauchi at the opening of her show at the mountain Fold Gallery

The Mountain Fold Gallery has a suitable name for a show by Rinko Kawauchi. The actual title of the show is 'Condensation' so if you say "Condensation at Mountain Fold", it sounds a little like a line from some sort of zen Koan.

I'm a big fan of Kawauchi's photographs (Her book 'Cui Cui' is one of my favourite pieces of published work), so despite a long day and a distinct lack of sleep I went down to the opening of this show, getting the opportunity to catch up with some friends in the process.

I'm glad I did, as this concise show of old and new work is a delight. There is an essence of something very peaceful and life affirming in her work. I began to think that she exemplifies the idea of the democratic image much better than Eggleston ever did. His work often seems to be forcing everyday objects to become equal to each other, whereas in Kawauchi's photographs I truly get the sense that a plastic bag brimming with goldfish is as important a part of life as a baby suckling and the bright sun glaring through a tunnel of trees. Though some of her photographs feel a little too casual - like a blurred shot of a bullfight taken from in the crowd - there is still an emotive power to these images. Looking at a couple of the pictures, I thought to myself, 'I would have edited that out for being too blurry, or the focus is not quite where I would have liked..." but I also thought that perhaps I would be wrong to do that. I have pictures I have taken which are not crisp, well composed, or sharp, but that I still love.

Life is not always something that is well defined and clear, so why do we try and make photographs that reflect the fact that it is. Talking about a slightly different subject, someone said to me that evening that if you are not open [minded] you don't ever learn anything.

Too true. thank you Rinko Kawauchi for having an open mind.

Rinko Kawauchi / untitled, 2009
C-Print

Ressurection of the Polaroid.

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:57:00 +0000

I just read this report in the British Journal of Photography. It seems that production of Instant cameras is to resume. Maybe now everyone can get rid of that damn iphone application that mimics the look of Polaroids.

Film is dead. Long live film.

Now all we need is a viable hemp based plastic base for film and some non toxic, eco friendly biodegradable processing chemicals and film using photographers can well and truly get ( even more) self righteous about it all...

Ayuni Images: Please help.

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:22:00 +0000

Here is a forwarded message from a friend of mine, photographer Alinka Echeverria. She has facilitated workshops for kids in Mexico and India and is just about to embark on another one in Cuba. I saw her yesterday and she told me they could really use some more cameras - anything that works will help. As she pointed out - the more cameras she has, the more kids can be involved.

Check out the following and please help if you can.

Dear friends,

I wanted to tell you about a photography workshop for kids that I am organizing in Havana. I have now set up a paypal account to make it simple to donate and support the workshop. You can donate by simply making a payment to ayuniimages@gmail.com through paypal. If you don't have a paypal account you set one up at the time of donating. For those of you who have already donated THANK YOU !! I really appreciate your support and would be grateful if you could pass this email onto whomever else you think would like to support this initiative. The more we raise the more children we can invite to participate !

......the idea

An ' Ayuni Images ' team will run photography workshops for kids from inner city Havana in collaboration with the ' Fototeca de Cuba ', the photography center of Cuba. I have given such workshops in Mexico as well as India. Kids' imaginations and creativity always exceeds our expectations. In India we used paper cut out cameras to 'snap' and the kids enjoyed it just as much as with real cameras. On the last day we made a trip to the source of the Ganges river and were able to lend them our cameras to take real photographs. What they had learned and practiced with the paper cameras was put into action and they produced some amazing images. The idea is to teach the kids 'to see' - to observe, compose and choose what to capture and reveal to their future audience. In Cuba the workshop's goal is to produce a 'a day in my life' photo essay of each participant. After a week of fun exercises we will give each participant a camera to take home over a few days and produce a visual diary of their lives. We will produce a slideshow of these photos so the kids can talk about their images, we'll edit together and the best images will be printed and exhibited at their school.

........your support

As this is my initiative I am planning it without financial backing and relying on donations from family and friends who support photography as a means of creative development for children. All donations will go towards buying cameras, film / digital memory cards, developing and printing for the exhibition. Every donor, no matter if you donate $10 or $1000 will receive an 8x10 inch print of the best photos from the workshop (which I will pay for so the donation money is not used) and will be mentioned on the Ayuni Images blog (under construction).

Please donate through pay-pal to my account: ayuniimages@gmail.com and email me with your address so I can send you your print. If you prefer to donate by cheque or by making a deposit directly into my account please let me know.

Also, if you have any old cameras - film or digital- in working condition that you would like to donate please let me know as these would also be a great help. If you are in Mexico or New York I a pick them up in person in the next few weeks.

Please contact me if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
Thank you very much, I can't wait to see what beautiful work comes out of this ;)

Best,

--
Alinka E. S.

www.alinkaecheverria.com

G20 in Pittsburg - Jason Andrew

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:50:00 +0000

You may already have seen Jason Andrew's photographs from the G20 in Pittsburg over at B agNewsNotes and No Caption Needed with accompanying commentary.

As I noted in this post, the G20 travelling circus can be truly absurd at times. I asked Jason to send me some photos of the police there (most all of which are in the slideshow on BagNewsNotes) and here are a couple of my favourites.

Personally I don't think they look threatening, just ridiculous. Their armour (while no doubt effective) looks like something from a sci fi spoof. Even with the kevlar vests under their shirts I'm sure I can spot the stereotypical donut induced paunch on a few of them. I'm more scared of the dog, and even that's muzzled. (Incidentally, that shot reminds of Pieter Hugo's Hyena Men series - another travelling circus...)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'd like to be on the receiving end of a baton charge by these guys and I know all too well the effects of tear gas and other 'crowd control' techniques but seriously, I'm starting wonder if the power of laughter could be harnessed as a weapon against oppression.

Here's another couple of shots, this time showing the general populace. There's a shot of the lady and young girl gazing out the window with a look that seems to be a combination of concern and bafflement and one of some youth looking for all the world like normal kids on a normal day. I used to do the exact same thing on many a bored evening with my mates as a teenager. Hanging around just waiting for something to happen...

Finally, I liked this shot most of all. For some reason, after seeing it I couldn't get Dr Dre's 'The Watcher' out of my head...

Media Evolution

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:33:00 +0000

David Campbell, on his Photography, Multimedia, Politics blog has just written a series of interesting posts on the subject of Revolutions In The Media Economy. Well worth a read. There is much sensible analysis contained in the articles and even, usefully, some reasoned and workable solutions to the current problems of how why and who this new media economy will pay for itself.

Of course, web content will have to be funded, at least until we make the real revolutionary leap of actually doing away with money and having everything (including information) available free, with everyone provided for, everywhere, not one human being excluded. But that's one for the future Utopians to pick up on - back to today and Campbell's essay.

Here is a sample paragraph from part one relating to the content of journalism itself:

"...there is the assumption that journalism, as routinely practiced in traditional news organisations, is a public good essential to democracy because of its history of challenging authority. To put it mildly, this is viewing things through rose-tinted lenses. It’s easy to think that each and every news organisation is run by people who see Bernstein and Woodward’s pursuit of the Watergate scandal as a template for daily reporting. But recent history suggests that much reporting promotes the interests of those in power (think about The New York Times cozy coverage of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, which subsequently prompted an apology of sorts from the paper) or recycles PR material (see Nick Davies critique of “churnalism” in the UK, and the “10 ugly truths about modern journalism.”). For sure, we need critical journalism more than ever, and there are some good existing examples, but overall it is something to create as much as it is something to protect. With survey’s showing Americans barely trust what they read or see, journalism’s belief in its inherent social value is ill-founded and needs to be re-established."

And this one, which relates to the problem of how the internet publishing can be used to pay for journalism:

"The first thing that is necessary in answering this is to resist the temptation (again) to look back on an allegedly golden age that has been lost. We have to recognise that news and probing journalism has never made money by itself in order to pay for itself. We should not, therefore, be judging the social media future for reporting via the flawed assumption that we are looking for a business model that will do what has never previously been done."

As I say, much of worth here. I could easily quote the whole 4 part essay, the two paragraphs above are just a taster. If you have not already done so, I well advise you to check out parts one, two, three and four. Do it now.

Money

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:50:00 +0000

Money. The root of all evil. When the current financial crisis took hold of those who didn't expect it last year I wasn't surprised. I didn't believe anyone who said no-one could have predicted it (because so many people had been practically screaming predictions) and I routinely said that the banks should have been left to go to the wall. What I find amazing is the fact that people think that this financial chaos is the exception. It is the rule for at least half the world's population. Financial Crisis? My whole life has been a financial crisis but by comparison I am secure and wealthy. I have known what it is like to run out of food and electricity and have no home, but I have always had friends and family to provide when I could not. For many, when they have nothing, neither do their friends, family or neighbours.

What has this got to do with photography? Actually everything. Money seeps it's greedy little debt stained fingers into every aspect of our lives and I wish we were all free from it. I recently sat a table with several photographers, one of whom said that the job of a photographer was difficult for many reasons and to be a good photographer often requires a degree of competence - expertise even - in a vast range of subjects. I wholeheartedly agree. One reason I love being a photographer is that it gives me an opportunity and excuse to learn about the world. A photographer - especially a photojournalist - should be hungry for knowledge.

Even more recently I sat at a table with other, non photographer friends (who joke when they see my cameras that they all have them on their phones so why do I need that hulking great antique thing...) and discussed many things, as old friends often do. Weddings, kids, sex, food, future plans, old exploits, jobs, politics, economics, rude jokes and serious intimate exchanges all formed part of the conversations happening at the table. It was a truly great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

A few days before that another friend lent me a book entitled 'Confessions of an Economic Hit man' along with the recommendation that it is "Fucking Amazing". That recommendation was served up again at the table that Sunday, which prompted a discussion that lead to debate on the current financial situation and the possibility of an alternative system (They do exist).

Today I sat down to watch Zeitgeist Addendum. A documentary that I truly recommend. My hatred of money is once again fueled.

So what has this all got to do with photography again?

I want to make the world a better place, for myself, for my family, for my friends and - fuck it - for everyone else as well. Why not. The real question should be:

"How the hell do I use photography to do that?"

Step One: Identify the problem....

Fashion

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:32:00 +0000

Don't get me wrong. I understand the need - no wait, I think the word I mean is desire - for fine fashion. Food clothes and shelter are the human necessities right? And who wouldn't want to look good while keeping the elements at bay. For someone like me who usually wears clothes until they fall off from from being literally worn out then the world of fashion is a foreign entity only experienced through TV, magazines and the discount rack at the factory outlet store. My wife is forever holding up items of clothing that I usually respond to with a look that ranges from confusion to outright distaste.

I also find it interesting that when fashion weeks roll around, magazines and newspapers burst with heavyweight supplements. Must be all that advertising revenue. Let's hope it funds reporting on the more serious issues.

Which leads me to 'War Photographer Shoots Fashion'. The phrase has an intriguing ring to it, something that might appeal to the business side of Marcus Bleasdale's mind. This English photographer who traded a career in economics and banking to become a photojournalist (now why didn't I do that...?) has spent much of his time covering conflict but has just spent a month covering the international fashion scene for New York magazine. I think Marcus' work from the Congo in particular is fantastic so was naturally curious as to what the result would be with his lens trained on the catwalk. He does seem to make the whole spectacle look fairly dark and cold, but that could just be because that is what my perception of the fashion world generally is and also due to the fact that I am aware of his previous work. Some people might find it slick and glamorous, but to me it looks - to quote the sex pistols - pretty vacant. Check it out for yourself here.

G20 in Pittsburg

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:00:00 +0000

Ok people, you know the drill: massive Police presence, protesters of every ilk (for representation in the media; prefferably with odd coloured hair, shabby looking clothes and some sort of banner or instrument), boarded up Starbucks/MacDonalds/Gap, etc etc etc.

These G20 meetings seem to have become some sort of bizarre travelling circus, however I had not realised that the future of the world as portrayed in the 2006 movie 'Idiocracy' had actually already come about...

Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

The Apocalypse

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:49:00 +0000

Dust blankets the Opera House at sunrise
Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters

The apocalypse will probably not be an amazing cinematic event occurring in minutes or seconds and accompanied by orchestral music and a handful of stoic heroes battling against the odds, rather it will be a drawn out series of seemingly unconnected random events that can only be averted with the efforts of billions of people working together....

But then again, it's quite possible that we shouldn't bother connecting the dots between economic crisis, climate change, oil extraction, earthquakes, resource mining, poverty, disease, cities, pandemics, greed, war, consumerism, weapons, profit, politics, corporate strategy, the entertainment industry (and so on and so on) because maybe, just maybe, a super massive solar flare will burn the planet in an instant after all....

....or not, as the case may be....

Building on the past

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:58:00 +0000

The start of this month was marked as the 8th anniversary of the destruction of the twin towers of the world trade center in New York. While the event has lost none of it's awesome power (and I use the word awesome in the original sense, not the sense American teenagers use it) I can't help but feel that the legacy of this day is much bigger than the thing itself. Just before watching a compilation of footage called 102 minutes that changed America I watched a Dispatches program by David Modell on British Soldiers struggling from varying degrees of Post Traumatic Stress on their return from a tour of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq then a few days later I find myself reading about the English Defense League.... And so it goes on.

In any case, the mess that the world is currently in with regard to the 'War on Terror' involves a lot of backward looking and backward thinking. Not many people are looking forward - or so it would seem - and it is refreshing to look at photography that documents some positive moving on from the events of that September 8 years ago. That is the case when looking at the work of Nicole Tung, who has been documenting the rebuilding of the WTC site. I was introduced to Nicole earlier this year and have been meaning to post a little about her work for a while. The other day she posted a few photos on her blog which seemed timely. They are taken from inside the building site at the WTC, looking out through the fencing onto the street and the passersby with their curious stares and cameras, or even their indifference to the whole thing.

Photographs by Nicole Tung

On yer bike fatty

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:16:00 +0000

I saw this in a gallery of winners from the Ciwem environmental photographer of the year 2009 competition. The environment and the way we affect it is often a difficult subject to photograph without resorting to cliche's and usually a theme lacking in humour. Some great shots from the winners and important subjects highlighted, but this one made me laugh and think, both things we should probably do more of.

Burn Fat Not Oil by Pornrutai Lohachal, England

Photograph: CIWEM

National Media Museum, Bradford - Don McCullin Exhibit and Animalism.

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:04:00 +0000

Today I went to the National Media Museum in Bradford to see the Don McCullin 'In England' exhibit. McCullin is one of my great inspirations, not only in his photography but in his attitude and it is always great to look at his work. A couple of things I hadn't expected to see included the page from the Observer newspaper with his first published picture and some contact sheets of a photoshoot with The Beatles. There's a couple more weeks left of this exhibit so still time to make the trip to Bradford and check it out. There is also a fantastic mini site and internet resource to accompany the show which I have mentioned before and is well worth exploring.

Towards an Iron Age hill fort, Somerset, 1991 -

I also took a look at the museum's Animalism exhibit, which had too many dogs on show but was worth it for Jill Cole's compelling pictures of birds trapped in nets on a nature reserve on an army base, Brent Stirton's photographs of executed Gorillas and Pieter Hugo's Hyena Men portraits. Jill Cole's work was the only one of these three that I hadn't seen before.

Bird #1, digital c-type, 2007, 24" x 20", edition of 25

FOTO 8 'Best in Show'

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Well, it wasn't me. Nor did I get the people's choice award, and as you can see from the photo below of Host Galley staff member Harry (lovely chap) rolling up my unsold print for me to take home, I didn't sell anything either. (Damn this economy is tough on us freelancers...)

Not that I will lose any sleep over this though, as I managed to get a look at most of the work in the show as they were taking some of it down the day after I arrived in London and I reckon that I was in pretty good company. I'd seen everything on the FOTO8 website but that didn't really do justice to some of the gorgeous prints on display. Among the work that caught my eye were pieces by J Carrier, Samuel Hicks, Oli Kellet, Charlotte Rea, Erica Shires, Corinne Vionnet.

I am told it was probably the gallery's most successful show in terms of attendance - the two friends I gave my opening night tickets to also said that night was great (and packed) so all in all I think it's a pretty healthy showing for photography, fine art and the documentary style.

Oh and best in show? Torben Weiss. People's choice? Sofie Knijff. Congratulations.

As a consolation, I get to share a page with Torben Weiss in the catalogue and when I discovered this I of course allowed myself a little smile. Why not eh?

Censorship at Noorderlicht

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:21:00 +0000

According to this press release, Stuart Franklin - one of the curator's at this years Noorderlicht festival - has removed his curatorial text after being threatened with legal action by the AP.

Apparently the text was critical of Israel's actions in the attacks they carried out on Gaza at the start of this year.

(Thanks to Robert Stevens for posting this up on facebook where I came across it - isn't social media great...)

Shooting for The Fader

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:25:00 +0000

The Fader is one of those cool magazines. Great photographs, hip music coverage and lots of 'I've got my ear to the underground' writing.

One of my close friends Gabriele has written a series of blog posts on what it's like working on assignment for them. Check out parts one two and three.

I know he works really hard but it sounds like a blast to me.

South Bronx - David Gonzalez

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:36:00 +0000

I love the south Bronx - a fascinating place with many wonderful people and a remarkable history. I always like it when I get the opportunity to visit and work in the area. The talented David Gonzalez has a bunch of photographs from around 1979 in a slideshow on the NY Times Website today. Well worth a look and also a listen.

knowledge

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:26:00 +0000

This week I have been teaching. It has been fairly intense and I have learned (relearned?) two important lessons:

1 - I have a vast amount of knowledge.
2 - Still I know nothing,

Police Powers

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:49:00 +0000

Much has been made of the new terrorism laws in the UK and their use in preventing photojournalists and even tourists from taking photographs, so it's a breath of fresh air to read this notice being circulated. If you plan to take photographs in the UK, it might be a good idea to carry a copy of this notice around with you. Importantly it states that the police have no power to delete images or destroy film and have no power to prevent you from taking pictures unless they suspect you of being a terrorist. Of course, they police are often a suspicious bunch by nature, but at least they have some official definitions of a terrorist and this notice will help you defend your position as a tourist/journalist/artist/not a terrorist...

Much respect goes out to the British Journal of Photography and the NUJ for championing photographers rights in this regard. Good work, keep it up.

Healthcare Reform

blindeyetom@yahoo.co.uk (Tom White) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:41:00 +0000

This isn't completely photography related, but it is an issue I care a lot about. Having moved to the U.S. from the U.K. I can attest to both the positive and negative aspects of both Public and Private health care. One thing I do strongly believe however is that basic health care coverage of a good standard should be a right and not a privilege. Call me a socialist terrorist if you like but it is something these people don't appear to understand.

image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. caption: Protestors hold signs during an anti-health care reform rally August 14, 2009 in San Francisco, California (via BAGnewsNotes)

I cannot honestly see what the objection is to the proposed health care reforms in the U.S. Most objections I have heard are absurd both in tone and content and appear to be more bigoted uninformed posturing than actual serious offerings to the debate.

This past weekend I read (in the NY Times - so obviously it would be instantly dismissed by anyone on the right as the propaganda of the liberal east coast elites) two incredibly sensible articles that - without going into depth on the details of the reform - neatly laid out the case for why reform is necessary.

One was by Sarah Lyall, an American writer living in Britain. One was by Barack Obama himself. As an aside, though I regard Obama as a conservative rather than a socialist, it is a pleasure to have an American President who can actually convey issues in an erudite and intelligent manner. A giant leap in the right direction shall we say...