Music Beats Cancer 23/5/11

An evening of music for Cancer Research UK, featuring: This Is Me Dead, The Burnt Reynolds, The Alice Kona Band.

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2p

Production stills from "2p", a new short film by Will Maloney. Featuring Chis Patrick-Simpson and Mary-Frances Doherty.

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Walking my Beat II

The challenge of photographing people consistently for one hundred days has not started to swamp me yet. In fact, I cannot see any reason why this project would fail since it involves talking to people, which I enjoy, and photography, which I love. Working with strangers on the streets is fantastic, there is an exchange of trust and authority that comes from making a portrait. The end result is a spontaneous collaboration of sorts.

In Belfast the responses have been very positive on the whole to both the project as a whole, and to me as a photographer. Whilst completing this body of work I cannot help but think back to the first time I was refused a portrait, refused so harshly that I found it hard to keep my camera out for the remainder of the day! We were in Harajuku, in Tokyo, and I spotted one of the funkiest, most crazily dressed people I have ever seen... No sooner had I raised my camera and the young woman had blocked her face and started screaming, "NO PHOTO! NO PHOTO!" The image below was taken moments before she spun on her heeled boot to confront me.

[Girl in Blue, Harajuku, 2008]

But, photography has helped me learn so much. I have found that I really enjoy approaching people, engaging with them to learn something of their true character before making a portrait. I have found that even the most intimidating looking people [such as 10/100] respond to my easygoing nature. I think always having my camera on display means that strangers can instantly understand, he is a photographer, and when I ask for a portrait the process is not encumbered by unpacking and preparing the camera. I really feel the camera should not stand in the way - it is a means of recording an interaction; a mechanism; a tool.

Aside from the 100 Portraits, I still continue to photograph the city. This is what I have found recently:

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Terminal Identity, and Contemporary Portraiture [1]

Since my 100 Portraits project involves continued social interaction, I have had time to think on how we can communicate and interact using modern media and 'social networking'. With email, phone calls, texting, instant message services (such as MSN, BBM, iChat, Facebook Chat), Skype and so many other services we can connect with people around the world to talk, flirt, catch-up, share ideas and interests, exchange information, and creatively collaborate - all from the luxury of our bedrooms, houses, or cafes. We interact through the fibre-optic skeins of technology.

As of today, 25/5/2011, there are 669,730,880 Facebook members1, and the only site that sees more digital traffic is Google2. We are living more and more online. Aside from the social interaction aspects we can use the Internet to order food, buy new clothes and goods, learn from prerecorded lectures and podcasts, listen to music, stream television programmes and films, access pornography, find jobs, etc... everything we could want is only a few clicks away.

All of this is mentioned in E.M. Forester's When the Machine Stops (1909). Yes, in 1909 science-fiction literature was musing on how humanity could become more dependent on technology. In Forester's short story the people live their lives through the Machine, in much the same way as we use digital technology. And this is how each of us has developed ourterminal identity. More on this later.

Back to the 100 Portraits project and When the Machine Stops. In Forester's novella there is a means of communicating through the Machine which allows a user, sitting in their personal room, to talk to and see another person - using "the blue plate". This is not unlike Skype, or iChat, where we can talk to, and see, people from all corners of the globe.

Using Skype I was able to take portraits of a friend with neither of us leaving our bedrooms. When I attempt this again, I may use a camera rather than screen-grabbing, so that my action is recorded and the image quality is better; however, I really wanted to explore the notion of photographing someone without pressing the shutter-button.

(48/100, 100 Portraits in 100 Days, 2011)

Again, this is something I will come back to.

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Walking my Beat I

Now that the 100 Portraits project has been going for quite some time I think it is about time for a roundup. A chance to introduce some of the fantastical characters I have been privileged enough to meet, or [if I had already met them] to include in the series.

Top right to bottom left: Beccy Henderson, Fergus, Rose Baker, Michael Savage

Beccy and I burnt a Pinter script for her portrait. I suppose it counts as art-therapy. Check out Beccy's mega-busy youtube page!

Fergus was the second person I feel like I bullied into a portrait [the first was 26/100]. I am not proud of this fact. However, the day I photographed Fergus was a rainy Sunday, it may even have been Easter Sunday, and the streets were empty. He was the ONLY person I found after walking for over an hour, and I could not let the project fail. I have backwards Irish politeness to thank for this one.

Rose Baker, an absolute gem. She has a blog and a radio slot [Queen's Radio at 8pm on Tuesdays]. Rose also photographed me when I was photographing her, I'll have to track this down.

Michael, photographed the night before our relay team entered the Belfast Marathon and placed 1164 of 2282. Our team name: SKY PANTHERS ARE GO!

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Travelling since 1997

Today I met Lee Yuezhong. [http://leeyuezhong.blog.sohu.com]

Lee, originally from a town near Beijing, China, has been travelling the world since 1997. So far he cycled in the excess of 200,000 miles. He has visited the White House in America as well as the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, attended festivals in Papa New Guinea and cycled Buddhist pilgrimage paths through China and Tibet*. From the photos Lee showed me he has stopped on the equator three times, each on a different continent. He leaves Ireland for England tomorrow, and then onto mainland Europe – with a goal of visiting Iceland later this year [something we jokingly had in common!].

Lee will function as my 53rd portrait in my 100 Portraits project.

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*China/Tibet Buddhist pilgrimages: Tibetans ideally are expected to prostrate themselves 100,000 times a year, which works out to almost 300 times a day, every day of the year. Not only do they prostrate themselves around temples they also do it on roads, streets and sidewalks. Some pilgrims cover the entire 33-mile route around Mount Kailis or travel from their hometowns to Lhasa, repeatedly prostrating. The pilgrimage that Lee described was 1200 miles from start to finish. On each third step the pilgrim has to lie prostrate on the ground, and touch their hands to the foreheads (representing the mind), mouths (speech) and chest (body) each time, and that this can take 10 months to complete.

Busy, busy, busy...

Note: Never complain about being too busy, even if it does mean a decline in blog entries. Being busy with work is much better than having no work, especially if it is work you enjoy.

Fret not, I have been photographing and taking mental notes. Stockpiling information for later.

I have been off working as a few things on Whole Lotta Sole, the new film by Terry George featuring Brendan Fraser [namely a trainee assistant director and as part of the props department]. Working on night shoots means sleeping during the day - this threatened the 100 Portraits project but did not cripple it.

Working has meant missing a few critical things: one, training for my length of the Belfast Marathon team realy; and two, the premiere of MUTE, a 30-minute film I shot last year. I really wanted to join the cast and crew to see this projected in the QFT, but I will have to wait on another screening. For more information on MUTE visit the Sexy Raygun website, or read an interview hosted on Culture NI with the director and producer.

Teaser 2: "Paige" from Sexy Raygun on Vimeo.

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