Monkey Business

When it comes to protests, you can't really go wrong with monkeys. That philosophy was recently applied by my good friends at Greenpeace UK who staged a protest outside Nestle's HQ in Croydon, south London.

Highlighting the plight of Orang-Utans due to rainforest destruction in Indonesia, Nestle is accused of complicity by purchasing palm oil from the region. So to drive the point home, activists dressed as monkeys paid the company a visit and got down to some rather funny monkey business. Even the police liked it and the day went past with a lot of amusement and smiles all around - except for those working inside the Nestle building. A quick excerpt you can view below:

Children's Carnival

In the small village of Nedvezi, its 200-odd inhabitants look forward to one event in the year's festive calendar more than any other: their children's carnival. It is as much an opportunity to show off the elaborate, colourful costumes proud mothers make for their kids, as it is for the menfolk to get together and socialise, preferably at the bar. As the afternoon and evening progress, the programme, music, dancing and chatter turn into a blur as we collectively toast to eternal friendship, the best event of the year, another round of shots and back to eternal friendship again.

As part of my second book project, I am very keen to participate and see local traditions, get to know the people and hear their stories, joys and worries in life - it helps me to understand and hopefully, produce a body of work that reflects those lifestyles in these times of change and uncertainty.

From my hazy memory of that particular evening, the locals' hospitality was humbling, the alcohol strong and plentiful, and the pictures, ah well, see for yourselves.

View the full set of the Childrens Carnival

Winter landscapes

I've been away again, for several weeks this time, and again it's been to the calm, soothing, middle-of-nowhere village of Nedvezi in the Czech Republic.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, we went for a walk to clear that hangover, and I got to play with light and shade on my trusty G10. Here are the results:

The Digital Economy Bill, what's yours is ours

Oh dear... my friend Tony Sleep over at Copyright Action has written up the latest litany on the soon-to-be law on orphan works, also known as the Digital Economy Bill. It does not make for cheerful reading, as the UK government seeks to a) legalise the commercial use of unattributable photographs, and b) ban photography in public places, for reasons of 'data protection'.

It's a dark day for photographers and photojournalists indeed, read the full article here.

On the Road with Miss England

Being around any beauty pageant should normally evoke associations of glamour, stardom, celebrity excesses and a diva-like lady at centre stage.Well, I bagged an assignment for Spiegel Magazine and we headed out to follow Katrina Hodge, the acting Miss England 2009-10 on a promo tour in the north of England.

Folks, what can I say? The 22-year old Katrina is about as professional as it gets and patiently endured our probing existence and shadowing for a few days. The locations could not have been much less glamorous: Wigan football stadium, including the boozy VIP lounge after a match, Morecambe pier, and various radio stations in and around Preston.Nicknamed 'combat barbie', Hodge is currently on leave from her employers, the British Army, she does her utmost to promote the armed forces and a dating website for personnel in uniform.

I was pretty impressed with the young lady, but have no illusions about the apparent glamour that holding any 'Miss' title may or may not entail. It's pretty hard graft, and the look behind the scenes is hopefully illuminating. Enjoy.