PHOTOGRAPHY
In May of this year I spent a few days in New York. Although I was disappointed that I missed seeing my all-time favourite salsa dura musician Eddie Palmieri by one day, I was pleased to discover that a great Venezuelan timbales player, Luisito Quintero, was performing at the same venue, Subrosa, on the evening of my … Read more
Coming from London where religion, when visible, tends to be multi faith, I’m struck by the abundance of Catholic imagery and iconography when visiting Italy, and how this imagery coexists with other signs and visual expression. As a young teenager I developed a love of art history and associated images of the Madonna as something … Read more
I’ve just returned from a few days in few days in Lecce, in the Salento region of Apulia in the heel of Italy. Lecce is sometimes referred to as the Florence of the South, connoting the abundance of visual splendour in the historic centre. However the reality is more complex; Lecce’s incredibly ornate Baroque churches … Read more
I’ve recently returned from a brief visit to Paris where I witnessed the final hours of the Tour de France. At one point some jet planes flew past, too fast for me to see but leaving a trail of blue, white and red vapour. I am assuming these are the colours of the French flag … Read more
Looking back at the images I took in New York in May and thinking about some of the themes that emerge, I’m aware that there is a series where my attention has been drawn to one eye. Below is a found street abstract comprised of torn poster layers and glue residue. Over the years I’ve … Read more
I took some pictures in Camden recently of reflected facades and shadowy figures which were actually mannequins, though I like the ambiguity of not quite knowing whether the shadows are of humans or not: I started thinking about another image I’d taken in New York, a store in the process of being decorated had mannequins in … Read more
I was in Turin, Italy, last weekend on a very brief visit. I didn’t have a lot of time to roam and wander but managed to take a few shots of things that grabbed my attention. At Piazza Della Repubblica preparations were taking place for the impending White Night Festival, Notte Bianca. In the picture … Read more
I recently saw an advert on the London Underground from the Japan National Tourism Organisation who have launched a campaign entitled Japan – where tradition meets the future and it reminded me that I’d been meaning for a while to write a post on this very theme. I wanted to examine this theme using images … Read more
The first part of my tribute to this year’s Venice Carnival concentrated on images of masquerade and fancy dress. In this second part I focus on found street abstracts featuring coriandoli, Italian for confetti, a traditional decorative feature of the Venetian carnival. The pavements and squares are strewn with it. Here’s a picture of my … Read more
I’ve recently returned from a few days in Venice. It was the period of Carnevale, the Venetian Carnival, which culminates on Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras. The first contemporary Venetian Carnival took place in 1979. I studied History of Art at Venice’s Ca’Foscari University in the academic year 1979-1980 so was able to immerse myself in the … Read more