Last Saturday about 2000 of us had a ball. The demonstration organised by campaign group I'm a Photographer, not a Terrorist took place in Trafalgar Square, the epicentre of the dispute between professional photographers and increasingly restrictive policies applied by city councils and the police, had more the character of an arthouse happening.
Although the issues at stake are fundamental and important, namely press freedom and the right to take pictures in public spaces, the demo was above all fun. Recent high profile cases of police harassment and the use of anti-terror legislation to stop photographers from going about their perfectly legal business of taking pictures in public spaces have highlighted the need for protest. Luckily we live in a country where this is possible without repercussions, and I damn sure hope it stays that way. It did strike me as odd that the usually overzealous swath of 'heritage wardens' and community support officers were notably absent during the gathering... I wonder why?
Courtesy of uRetouch, I have finally managed to put up a retouched and edited gallery of my oldest pictures, the very precious black and white collection of daily life imagery from Bangladesh. These are my photographic beginnings, the first frames I ever took with any kind of purpose in mind, the first manifestations of the long and painful process of seeing images in everyday situations. Some are hit and miss, some I still marvel at, incredulous and fascinated with the detail, the light, composition. These pictures are very dear to me, they feel timeless and I can still recollect the smells, noises and moods of the days during which I took them.
This is now more than 16 years ago, and yet it feels like they just happened yesterday. Often, I remember the unparalleled access and availability of time (neary two years) that I enjoyed while making these, way before turning into a professional photographer. Thus I believe these photos would not be possible today, given usually tight deadlines and clearly defined subjects. All the more reason to see the slideshow.
A happy birthday to Luise Rainer, a German film actress who was the first woman to win two Academy Awards, and the first person to win them back to back. Born on January 12th, 1910, her career spans nearly 70 years, the cusp of her Hollywood stardom having been in the late 1930s. Rainer later commented that by winning two consecutive Oscars, "nothing worse could have happened to me", as audience expectations from then on would be too high to fulfill.
Well, today the grand dame of the cinema is celebrating her 100th birthday and we visited her the day before. Despite the frailties of old age, she is a mesmerising, energetic and still somewhat theatrical lady who deeply impressed me with her vitality, optimism and sharp view of the world. It's almost impossible to imagine that she has witnessed an entire century, and most of the personalities within it first hand - I was literally speechless in her presence. Thus after photographing her, I feel grateful for the opportunity, kindness and trust with which she met my camera.
Folks, if this event is an indication of how the rest of my year is gonna go, it certainly promises to be interesting, and dare I say it? Interactive. Yesterday I photographed the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg at an event in the docklands. It's Monday morning, most people (including me) are still a little sleepy and grumbly in the face of a full work week ahead of them.
Clegg enters the stage, alone on the podium talking into his mike while two TV cameras are trained at him. The scene was interesting, and I shot a few frames before an irate producer pulled my arm and motioned me to stop. I was perplexed, as I was asked to shoot the event and put it down to over-inflated busybody egos interfering with my job at hand. So I ignored her and kept shooting though I did turn the flash off.
Later, after the interview was done, Nick Clegg walks over to me and says, feigning incredulity, that 'You don't take pictures during a TV interview'. I mumbled some half-hearted apology but said that it was worth it. Or something to that tune, anyway... We both smiled and left each other alone after that. Here's a few pictures of the encounter.
