Something old, something new

Time is a funny thing. It has a way of slipping away from you and catching you off guard.
Almost 6 years has passed since I took this portrait of Nikola Duper in Wiltshire and it is still one of my favourite images. The one below is of my friend Pete Thompson, which I took within the last month or so.
People come in and out of our lives at an alarming rate and I try to stay in contact with as many of them as humanly possible. I hope that in years to come when I am long gone my work serves as a record of the amazing people I have met along the way.

To friends, old and new.

Polaroid, we love you.

Many years ago friend John gave me a Polaroid Automatic 100. Resigned to the unavailability of a battery for it I placed it on my Polaroid camera shelf to collect dust and look good.
Then the other day I read on the world wide internet that you can use a bog standard 9v battery to power the shutter, so I tried it and it worked! I have since ordered a few packs of fuji pull apart polaroid and will be posting shots from it as soon as the film arrives.

I won't launch into a rant about how badly I miss polaroid and their fine products, I will however be first in line to buy a box of Type 55 if the impossible project ever manufacture it.

Also as a side note I am looking for more participants in my five by four project. If you would like me to take your portrait and I can get to you feel free to send me an email via my website.

www.welcometothedarkslide.co.uk

Wayne Hemingway

Back in June I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing Red or Dead co-founder Wayne Hemingway. As usual in any situation involving a well known personality time is very limited, so it always pays to have a game plan. I walked around the building looking for a good spot and found a canteen which had floor to ceiling windows all down one side, I took my meter readings and set the camera all before hand so I was ready. I knew I wanted the background to bleed out to white behind him, so I metered accordingly. In total I shot 5 frames of which this was the best.  

All images were shot using a Bronica ETRSI with a 75mm lens.  

Readerswives Collective

The brand new Readerswives Collective website is now live. 


Readerswives Collective are a group of artists based in Guernsey who create many different forms of art. I have had the pleasure of working with them on many occasions and have now been included on their site. 


readerswivescollective.com features the art of Rost, Dred, Join In The Joy, 
Foxy Paw and many others, so go check it out.

The Shining

To promote a season of Kubrick films being shown on More 4 in 2008 Channel 4 created a promo showing a Kubrick's eye view tracking shot through the set of The Shining. 


The set was meticulously crafted, props were replicated and look-a-likes were found to play Kubrick's cast and crew. The best being Kubrick's script lady at the end of the clip. 


I am a huge fan of The Shining and this is a great homage to a classic film.
See the film here

New Project - Five by Four.

I have just begun working on a new project titled Five by Four. 

For the next three months I will be travelling around photographing as many people as I can using a large format camera and only shooting in available light. All images will be hand printed to the same size as the original negative and exhibited at an unconfirmed venue.

If you would like to be included in this project please feel free to send me an email via my website: www.welcometothedarkslide.co.uk

Quiet Corners

My entry to the Quiet Corners Print Here competition has been posted on their blog. 
If you would like to vote for it please click here


Thanks :-)

John Franz

The portrait below was taken in Nashville Brown County-Indiana in 2007. 

John Franz plays the same street corner come rain or shine next to the Artists Colony Inn.

He said to me that he would have brushed his hair had he known he would be having his portrait taken, but since I hadn't bothered to brush mine it didn't matter.

New Work

I'm currently working on a complete over haul of my site, so here's a sneak peak at some of my new pieces of work.

Tachihara 5x4 field camera, Ilford HP5. 

Bronica Etrsi, Portra 160 NC.

Bronica Etrsi, Portra 160 NC.

Bronica Etrsi, Kodak 400CN.

Sun Still Shines on You

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to work with Patrick Balfe of Beau Brummel Music, 

when he asked me to shoot the video for his song Sun Still Shines on You.

Shot on a Canon 7d using a mixture of Canon and Nikon lenses. 

Thanks to Pete for the loan of the camera and to Chris for assisting on this.

Any constructive input is appreciated.