Monday 16 March 2009
Friday 13 March 2009
Thursday 12 March 2009
A Big Inspiration - Don McCullin
I spent three and a half hours walking around this exhibition. If I really like something I embrace it like mad. Don's Photography is second to none and I just love the fact that he stumbled upon the field entirely by accident with absolutely no sniff of formal training. He was in the forces and instructed to take photos of events in Cyprus. After returning home to Finsbury Park he happened to photograph some friends standing outside a derelict building who became wanted by Police. One event led to the other and overnight national newspapers were asking McCullin to document conflicts around Europe and notably Northen Ireland. He ended up covering the Vietnam War, Nigerian Biafra War and others alike.
His photos of the Biafran War are very personal to me, having Nigerian folks. I remember being at the the Sleeping With Ghosts exhibition and seeing shot of a boy who had been shot through the cheek. There isn't much documentation of the conflict as such in Nigeria as the Military government at the time wanted to restrict levels of panic around the country at the time of conflict.
Unfortunately for McCullin he has evidently paid the price for throwing himself and his camera into such harrowing situations of conflict. He says he can be up at night recalling thousands and thousands of photographs.
I'm not sure if everyone would be affected in the same way as McCullin has but its clear that he is a scarred man. He admits he had to take a step back from all the bloodshed and photograph still-lifes of fruit and countryside just for sanctuary from all the darkness of war and conflict.
Inevitably maybe, McCullin has returned to war zones such as Bosnia almost through as sense of duty.
Don mate hope you sleep easy! You deserve a good kip.
A Prime Example of False Optimism
I picked this mag out of an old box yesterday and had a flick through. Its amazing how much can happen in 7 years of Football. Pascal Cygan hailed as a possible successor to the great Tone Adams? Aye come on now. Whenever he touched the ball Arsenal fans began to perspire in a similar manner as when Nicklas Bentdner goes for goal nowadays. Despite all optimism Cygan remained rubbish. For some reason he now looks half-decent at Villareal.
Monday 9 March 2009
Friday 6 March 2009
RAGE by Sally Potter: starring David Oyelowo
Recently showcased at the Berlinale Festival this year is the new movie by Sally Potter: “RAGE”. The title of Brit helmer Sally Potter’s latest, “Rage,” partly refers to some of its characters’ seething emotions, and partly reps an ironic truncation of the fashion-world phrase “all the rage.”
The film is a laugh-out-loud exposé of the inner lives of individuals working at a New York fashion house; background interviews shot by a schoolboy, called Michelangelo, on his cellphone camera for his webpage - over seven days in which an accident on the runway becomes a murder investigation. It shows the abyss of the rotten and superficious fashion business, broken dreams, conflicts with oneself and with others and intimate confessions.
David Oyelowo as Homer (above), who provides the comedy of a police detective with a bloated sense of his intuition and likes to quote Shakespeare but with a jive-talking Huggy Bear accent, is outstanding.
The cast includes Simon Abkarian, Patrick J. Adams, Riz Ahmed, Bob Balaban, Adriana Barraza, Steve Buscemi, Jakob Cedergren, Lily Cole, Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, Jude Law, John Leguizamo, and Dianne Wiest.
Go and see this film wherever its on show.
Thursday 5 March 2009
My Love for Pablo is Strong
I spent 3 weeks during the summer of 1995 copying Picasso's Guernica, (the result above). I was the proudest 15-year old on the planet when it was finished. Drawing it was like a mad geometric trip. Pablo was beyond genius and influenced my perception of creativity like no other artist has. I'll definitely be checking out Picasso: Challenging the Past at The National Gallery. Its a No-Brainer.
Its Official - Artists Score More!!!
From the 2.3.09 London Metro. This article brought a smile to my face. Ha Ha.
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