Thursday, July 23

Now you’re stalking – celebs in the wild

Today I came across my list of celebs I've spotted out and about. I must have been pretty bored when I compiled this. A couple of things struck me – firstly how many celebs I had bumped into on trains or train stations, and secondly how few sports people I had seen (they obviously don’t use trains much). The only footballer on my list is Ian Wright... I am currently pondering the sociological and psychogeographical significance of the data. Meanwhile, here’s the list:

  • Andrew Marr – near Waterloo Station, 2006.
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber - near Charing Cros Road, 2015-ish
  • Annie out of Elastica – sat next to me on a train from London to Brighton.
  • Adam Mars-Jones – London.
  • Alan Bennett – cycling in London!
  • Anne Nightingale – Brighton.
  • A bloke who used to be in the Bill – big, black hair, looks like a friendly bear.
  • Arthur Smith – in Bath, twice in 2004.
  • Bob Geldof  – Waterloo Station. Smoking a pipe.
  • Billy Bragg – shopping in Weymouth.
  • Billy Connolly – at the Wimbledon tennis. Does that count?
  • Bobby Gillespie – on a train from Brighton to London. Looking a bit wasted, surprisingly.
  • Charles Kennedy (RIP) – emerging from a Brighton hotel smoking a fag.
  • Cheryl Baker – ex Buck Fizz. On a train from Nottingham.
  • Chris Ellison – out of the Bill. In Bournemouth.
  • Chris Morris – in Borders in Oxford Street (RIP).
  • Chris Moyles – in a pub, London. I missed my chance to kill him.
  • Dennis Waterman – Littlehampton.
  • ‘Diddy’ David Hamilton – twice. Once at Nottingham train station [duplicate].
  • Edward Fox – talking to himself like a mad person in Oxford.
  • Edwina Curry – at a London train station.
  • Fenella Fielding (RIP) – star of Carry on Screaming and voice of The Blue Cat. Walking around Covent Garden. Have a rubbish photo somewhere.
  • Gaz out of The Supergrass – loads of times in Brighton and Oxford. Plus Danny quite a few times over the years - Oxford, Bruton, Bath. Stop stalking me, Danny.
  • George Cole – Littlehampton.
  • Gok Wan – Covent Garden, London, ca 2017.
  • Ian ‘Wrighty’ Wright – near the British War Museum. I did that thing where you instantly acknowledge them, then realise you don't actually know them, they're off the telly. He said "hello".
  • Jacqueline Wilson – loads of scary rings, London 2005.
  • Janet Street-Porter – Bournemouth, 2005.
  • Jarvis Cocker – sat opposite him on a train to Sheffield, before the big hits. Struck me as a bit unpleasant to his travelling companions. Also, in Bath ca 2016 [duplicate].
  • Jeremy Paxman – having, ahem, difficulty walking at Reading Station, 1990s.
  • John Sessions (RIP) – in a hurry near Liverpool Street station.
  • Keith Allen – Southampton train station – asked me where the “nearest boozer” was. Sneered at my factually correct answer for no apparent reason. Prick.
  • Ken Loach - in the city of Bath. Took a rubbish photo.
  • Ken Russell (RIP) – sat opposite me on a train to London.
  • Kevin Rowland – twice in London – once during his “lost” decade when he was living in hostels, etc.
  • Lesley Joseph – Brighton
  • Lucy Ellmann – writer, London Zoo.
  • Mark Kermode - film critic, presenter, Swanage 2010.
  • Mark Lamarr – London, 2005. Looking like someone with no friends.
  • Martin Rossiter – out of Gene, on a train.
  • Marty Wilde – on Bournemouth Pier, 2005.
  • Maryam D’Abo – Bond girl, sorry, famous actress. Victoria Station.
  • Melvyn Bragg – South Bank, of course, 2005. Plus Covent Garden, ca 2016 [duplicate].
  • Michael Foot (RIP) – quite a few times on trains. Often with little dog – a very polite man.
  • Michelle Collins – in sunglasses for no apparent reason, Oxford.
  • Micky Dolenz - In Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem pub, Nottingham, 2011
  • Mike McShane – comedian.
  • Neil Pearson – in Bath MVC (RIP).
  • Nigel Planer – London, South Bank.
  • Nick Cave – being very tall in Brighton, many years ago.
  • Nick Hancock – London – we got in each other's way, and we did the awkward jiggle thing. He was apologetic.
  • Paddy Ashdown – Brighton. (Also campaigning at Eastleigh by-election - not sure if that counts.)
  • Paul (Gazza) Gascoigne – mucking around and playing mini-golf – Bournemouth, 2011. Also a few years later in Boscombe [duplicate]
  • Paul Heaton – in a pub, twice. In fact, it looked like he hadn’t moved from the spot in the intervening period [duplicate].
  • Paul McCartney with Heather Mills. No entourage – just the two of them strolling in Hove.
  • Paula Yates (RIP). In Brighton – looking at rock and assorted seaside tat.
  • Polly Jean Harvey – quite a few times around Bridport. At the Melplash Show a few times.
  • Princess Di (RIP) – got out a car in front of me.
  • Ray Alan (RIP) - ventriloquist – in an Isle of Wight café.
  • Reginald D. Hunter – Bath, 2018.
  • Robert Lindsay  – Charing Cross Rd, London, 2015-ish.
  • Robin Day (RIP) – Oxford.
  • Rod Hull (RIP) – on Nottingham Station, wearing a gold lame jacket, smoking a pipe. No Emu.
  • Rory McGrath – London, waiting to do some filming. Also, a few years later in Bridport [duplicate].
  • Ross Kemp – walking along Brighton prom.
  • Sharon Duce – on a train.
  • Sienna Miller – on Bournemouth Pier. Only 90% certain, big sunglasses - frustrating.
  • Simon Callow – ACTOR, etc. – Victoria Station.
  • Siobhan Redmond  – in the city of Bath.
  • Steve Davies – on train station complete with cue holder thing.
  • Stephen Fry – walking along a narrow passage in Soho.
  • Stu and Michelle – or something, off of Big Brother on Brighton Pier.
  • Thom York – Oxford – in sunglasses for no apparent reason.
  • Una Stubbs (RIP) – near the Strand, London, 2015-ish.
  • Van Morrison – numerous times in Bath. Always looking or sounding grumpy. What a surprise.
  • Vic Reeves - dining outside a restaurant near the British Museum.
  • Wendy Richard (RIP) – walking a little dog, London.
  • Zoe Ball featuring Fatboy Slim – Brighton. He’s a lot bigger and taller than I expected.

Monday, July 20

Two tents print sale [sorry: sold out]



[The prints have been sold now]

I have three sets of the above two of my photographs available for £20 (that’s £10 each, maths fans) including postage. I think the two go together quite nicely, so am selling them as a pair. The prints are 15 by 10 inches (image sizes approximately 13.5 by 9 inches) and are printed on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper. Pictures are despatched in a poster tube, and sent via first-class post (UK) or air mail (Europe and USA).

If you would like one of the three sets of prints, please email me on paul.russell99@btinternet.com, stating your country location. Payment is via PayPal – so you just need a credit or debit card. Please email me first, as this will be first come, first served!

Sunday, July 19

Justin Sainsbury – On the Waterfront exhibition at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery



Sussex-based photographer Justin Sainsbury currently has an exhibition of 29 street-style seaside pictures on display at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, alongside Rob Silverstone’s black and white studies of the English and French coastline.

Using the seafront as a stage, Justin takes a look at how relationships develop throughout life and how these can be played out through gestures and action. The result is a contemporary account of life in the resorts along the south coast of England. Justin says, ‘The challenge – or problem – is to make an essentially ordinary situation stand out...’

See more of Justin's photos here.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Justin a couple of times and hope to take a look at the exhibition sometime soon...


When:
Saturday 4 July to Saturday 12 September 2009
Open Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm

Where:
The Studio,
Worthing Museum and Art Gallery
Chapel Road, Worthing BN11 1HP
West Sussex, UK
(About half way between the train station and the beach)

Sunday, July 12

A major retrospective of my Very Important Work in Arles, France



Well, almost.

I was amazed to see that a couple of my pictures have temporarily sneaked into Arles, courtesy of Joni Karanka's stravaganza, fds and mindfist, and other mysterious forces that I don't quite understand...

This punk-rock style, constantly evolving photographic exhibition was started by Joni in Cardiff – first in his house, and then at a Cardiff Liberal club where David Hurn made a guest appearance. Next it travelled to a bigger venue in Bologna where hundreds of pictures were on show, and now it’s fetched up at a pharmacists in Arles to coincide with one of the most prestigious photography festivals in the world.

The collection of photos is open to all photographers, and along the way prints have been added, lost, stolen, used as toilet paper and, even worse, curated.

If you're in Arles, the window you're looking for is the Pharmacie du Forum, 1 Rue Place, Arles, near Rue du Dr Fanton...

Kudos to all the people who have made this happen along the way. It's an inspiring thing...

Mobile phone photo by Cyril Costilhes

Monday, July 6

"No Such Thing as Society" exhibition: Cardiff

An exhibition of British documentary photography has just landed in Cardiff, UK.

Described as a document of photography from the late 1960s until the late 1980s, No Such Thing as Society is drawn from the collections of the Arts Council and the British Council, and claims to present "a radically new picture of these two turbulent decades".

The show, curated by David Alan Mellor, brings together 150 photographs by over 30 documentary photographers including

Keith Arnatt, John Benton Harris, Ian Berry, Derek Boshier, Victor Burgin, Vanley Burke, David Butterworth, David Chadwick, Tarik Chawdry, John Davies, Ian Dobbie, Peter Fraser, Gilbert & George, George & Zippy, Paul Graham, Brian Griffin, Christine Hobbeheydar, Alexis Hunter, Phillip Jones-Griffiths, Chris Killip, Bob Long, Markéta Luskacová, Ron McCormick, Peter Marlow, Daniel Meadows, Peter Mitchell, Raymond Moore, Tish Murtha, Martin Parr, Gilles Peress, Tony Ray-Jones, Jurgen Schadeberg, Graham Smith, Chris Steele-Perkins, Homer Sykes and Paul Trevor.

Phew.

When:
4 July to 4 October 2009
Open 10am to 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday

Where:
National Museum and Gallery, Cardiff
National Museum Cardiff
Cathays Park, Cardiff
CF10 3NP
20 minutes' walk from the train station

Event details


The exhibition has previously been shown at venues in Aberystwyth, Carlisle, Leeds, Penzance, Warsaw (Poland), and Norrkoping (Sweden), and will go on to the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle for 31 October 2009 to 24 January 2010. It is a Hayward Gallery touring exhibition.

Cardiff's National Museum also has a Diane Arbus exhibition, which runs until 31 August 2009.