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.