Day one:

So today I started a Communications Internship at Gasworks in London. It Went 'tres' well. To keep things short, everybody is lovely, and its an amazing (said in a Prof. Brian Cox accent) environment. I really think I'm going to learn loads. Pretty standard first day though, Just getting to grips with the location, the systems and the new environment. I will have more to update with after day two.  On another note, I'm going to get fat if I have too many Burger King's at Liverpool street for the train home. I ate that like a ravenous tramp.

Taf

I'm off to Photo the Fitz

I do love a bit of street photography. Just incase that wasn't obvious enough. So when I saw the brief for Diemar / Noble Gallery's Fitzrovia Photography Prize, I naturally wanted to go out and show the world what I do.


Having taken a large amount of the photos for the series 'Watch' around the Fitzrovia area, I wanted to refresh the idea. Keeping some elements that worked and ditching the ones that didn't. Also considering the time gap since I last photographed on the streets of london, a lot has changed.


The fashion, the shops, the road layout. Me. (My camera)


All was different, and all these differences lay before me ready to be used and manipulated.


I have always been fascinated with light, and how it reflects, refracts and passes through objects. I found myself hunting for the best pieces of light to capture the crowd and the individual. As the sun was setting, I had to keep my practice in flux as it got lower, looking not only for the golden beams streaming between buildings, but also reflecting off the windows and fascias. This kept me fresh and on the go. Forever moving until the last drop of light had been milked dry and dusk set in leaving an anticlimactic flat light to London... but only till the city lights up for the night.


The city is beautiful, so are it's people. As long as the sun is shining, I could spend days just walking and watching the light kiss its citizens as they go through life. Some rattle like a freight train, others ebb like a gentle stream. A photograph holds, the moving bodies and freezes them, a single moment, and holds it above the ones that precede and follow it, for it is now forever.


Five photograph's from Fitzrovia:

P.S. I had rather long conversation with the clown, his name is Alex, if you ever see him, say hello.

Hunting for Bunting.

Yes I think that title is very clever. No I'm not ashamed to blow my own horn.


Formalities out of the way, street photography was a bit of a lost art for myself, ever since my series of photographs 'Watch' I haven't properly returned to the subject. I still harbour the same influences: Philip Lorca diCorcia, Bruce Gilden and Martin Parr to name a few. 


After a lengthy amount of time googling privacy laws and the and how the legality of a) taking photographs in public and b) taking photographs without peoples consent, I hopped on my bike and went on a hunt.


Much like a deer hunter will observe his prey, a photographer must do the same, approach each situation accordingly and most importantly, smile. What I had forgotten about the experience was the thrill of the chase, interacting with people and capturing that moment, The one where you don't even need to check the screen, you just know something special is there. Unfortunately on my return to the streets I didn't have any Cartier-Bresson style decisive moments but I did snap some rather interesting things and several celebrations of the royal wedding. 


Check them out below.

They say you should suffer for your art...

Well today I suffered, today I cycled a total of 27 miles in search of those celebrating the royal wedding... That's not a typo, that actually says 27 miles (no way i'm ever doing a marathon). Well here is a teaser of the spoils:

 

More to come later with a bit a babble too. (when I return from the pub).

As mentioned before...

...Reading and sunshine are two important things. Today I got both.

I used this opportunity to take my camera for one last spin before it is replaced with a newer, sexier model. Say farewell to my Canon Eos 350d, I will let you know what I decide to replace it with.

This photo has no real meaning. Give it one if you want to, I leave you the keys to the playground. (truthfully I just wanted a new profile picture on twitter/facebook).

Enjoy.

The Personification of a Childhood Friend

It was a bland day, I was alone in the house I grew up in. Just me, Jeremy Kyle and a pack of Hobnobs. I decided that It would be a good idea to climb up into the attic and have a rummage around some old things from mine and my siblings childhood. As I climbed through the square panel into the cold abyss that is the roof of my house, I find a bag full of stuffed toys.

Now at this point I think nothing of it, but a strange voice at the back of my head tells me to look a bit further into the contents of the bag. What I found can only be described as a wave of memories and emotions. The toys were full of dust and musky. This left me with only one possible thing to do:

Photograph, it's what I do.

I decided to photograph against a white background as to remove any connotation that I may accidentally add myself. The results were, to my surprise, not as bland as expected, well actually a lot of them were but two particularly stood out.

The first because of its rigidity, and the almost human like expression to its gaze at the camera. The second because it completely sum's up what this whole blog is about. It effectively show the deterioration and soiling of memories over time (this was actually done by a mouse). I also enjoy the stark contrast between the child-friendly smile and the sheer destruction of the toy's arm.

I severely doubt I will be revisiting this idea (it stank and I inhaled enough dust for a year doing it) so enjoy the visual poetry.

Follow me on twitter @tafmasendu

A new order...

This blog came to a standstill last November.

Nothing prepared me for what I would like to call a lull in my creative ascension (yes I know that sounds arrogant but I have to have goals) and the accompanying lows that I have come to associate with not producing any artwork, or even reading about art. I felt lost, floating through a sea of shit, It stank.

So with this recent spell of sun, I soaked up some vitamin D and started reading. From magazines to blogs I am slowly fertilising my creativity and hopefully with the summer approaching, and the imminent purchase of some much needed equipment, there will be a healthy harvest of creativity.

This blog post by Austin Kleon is a great source of inspiration for the wayward artist:

Click here

So the plan now: Start to use this blog as a driving force for my artistic output. (I did try tumblr...but it doesn't like my domain)

Also, there are a few backdated projects that I'm going to place on here.