The slapdash psychogeographic guide to Bournemouth

Almost every day, I receive an email saying (approximately)

“Paul, forgive me for asking, but could you give me some insight into the deep, dark heart of Bournemouth from your unique perspective as Britain’s leading cartographer of the psychogeographic landscape. I would be willing to pay you money for this. Do you have a Paypal account?”.

I am always humbled to receive these requests, so cast aside your Rough Guide, and let me take you on a voyage of exciting discovery around Bournemouth, my main photographic stomping ground.

I’ve taken so many photos here that I could probably create my own continuous Google street view composite of the whole town. But let’s look at the really important issues, such as where is the best Hungarian cake shop, and where was that Tony Ray-Jones photo taken?

The basics and town centre
The basics: Bournemouth is a large seaside town on the English south coast, popular with tourists, students, retired people, and stag parties.

Bournemouth town centre is pleasant, if slightly bland, and full of the usual high street shops. The town has many language schools, which gives the centre a cosmopolitan feel, with many French, German, Spanish and Italian students.

Unfortunately, the shopping zone seems to be drifting into clone town territory as the few independent shops and restaurants close to make way for chains. At odds with the generally affluent feel of the town, at the edges of the town centre – for example at The Triangle and near Bournemouth train station – there are stretches of recently closed shops. It seems that shops are still closing faster than they are opening...

Bournemouth Arcade in the pedestrianised central bit contains some interesting shops and architecture. The misleadingly named ‘Essentials’ jewellery shop in the arcade is worth a visit to see the stained glass window at the far end. I don’t know the exact history of this... There’s also a Waterstones bookshop in this arcade. Exiting the arcade, crossing the road at the traffic lights, and heading straight ahead brings you onto Westover Road, which has some posh shops and unintentionally hilarious ‘galleries’ for the well off who want something big and tasteless for their walls – these are recommended visits for a laugh

http://www.westovergallery.co.uk/

The horror...

Talking of horror, you are now close to St Peter's Church where Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, is buried.

At the very centre of Bournemouth retail zone is a pedestrianized area called The Square, populated by shoppers, skateboarders, and a regular posse of elderly Italian gesticulators. At first glance, The Square seems a strange choice of name as it’s circular (and used to be a roundabout).

At the back of The Square is the round Obscura Café, which opened in 1999, however the titular camera obscura and viewing area upstairs is no longer operational. The Square separates the Central Gardens from the Lower Gardens, which lead down to the sea. The River Bourne flows underneath The Square, and while the name ‘Bournemouth’ might conjure up visions of a hefty river surging to the sea, all that remains of the River Bourne is a trickle.



Going south and following the Lower Gardens along the Bourne Stream brings you to Bournemouth Pier. Going in the other direction from The Square, heading northwards you can follow this narrow corridor of gardens for miles, and it become increasingly less manicured and more wild looking the further you go. Along the way are a water tower and a coy pond. Please consult a map!

If you are looking for more individual, characterful shops and experiences, I can recommend making the effort to visit the suburbs of Westbourne, Boscombe and Southbourne.

Westbourne
Westbourne is a genteel, well-to-do suburb to the west of Bournemouth and is well worth a look during the day. It probably describes itself as a village or something, and a visit is like stepping back to the 1970s, with loads of old-style and off-beat shops – ironmongers, florists, off-licences, ladies hairdressers, a hat shop, a chocolate shop, a vegetarian restaurant (Zoukinis), a decent fish and chip shop (Chez Fred) and an independent bookshop. Westbourne has its own arcade, which is being renovated at the moment, but its shops remain open during the work.

Westbourne’s formerly impressive ‘The Grand’ cinema is now a bingo hall. The Methodist church has recently been converted into a Tesco... It's a bit odd to queue for the self-service machine in front of a stained glass window. This is just one of about 47 Tescos in Bournemouth.

Westbourne also has one of the few ‘traditional’ style pubs in central-ish Bournemouth, the Porterhouse (113 Poole Rd), which is owned by Ringwood breweries.

Like the 1970s, Westbourne is closed on Sundays.

Westbourne is about 10 minutes’ walk from the Triangle. Or more interestingly, you can make your way up from the seaside promenade through Alum Chine (chine = narrow ravine found along coastlines, formed by the action of fast-flowing streams). There are a few chines in Bournemouth – Middle, Branksome and some others – but Alum Chine is definitely the most interesting and atmospheric. Before heading up the chine itself, visit Alum Chine Tropical Gardens to find the site of this Tony Ray-Jones’ picture… Clue: look for the sloping diagonal wall.

Alum Chine is the psychogeographic heart, or focus, of Bournemouth. You will have to trust me on this...

Walking up from the seafront along the steep-sided chine you pass under a scary pedestrian suspension bridge -


– it doesn’t look at all safe to me – and then you come to another two bridges. Stop for a moment to marvel at the root system of the tree behind you surrounding the chair, then turn left at the footpath (then look at a map to go to Westbourne). Going back to those bridges for a moment, the young Winston Churchill fell from the predecessor of one of these bridges and was seriously injured. The site of a former home of Robert Louis Stevenson is also nearby. While on the subject, other famous former Bournemouth residents include J.R.R. Tolkien, Mary Shelley, Max Bygraves and louche Alex out of Blur.

Boscombe
A real contrast to Westbourne… Boscombe is an interesting locale to the east of Bournemouth town centre. Until recently this area did not have – ahem – the best of reputations but there has been a concerted effort to regenerate the area. It contains a rough and ready mix of the run-down, mundane, bizarre and eclectic. Boscombe has its own, basic pier, and much of the regeneration efforts and publicity has focused on the new artificial surf reef next to the pier and the nearby luxury flats. There is also an lively ongoing debate about whether the surf reef actually works...

Commissioned public art is now appearing in Boscombe, and vintage shops are springing up again near the local train station (Pokesdown for Boscombe). Near the pedestrianised centre of Boscombe, which also contains all the familiar high-street names, the splendid old Royal Arcade is worth a visit, as is The Reptilarium, a fish and reptile outlet ideal for that impulse purchase of a 20-foot python or Komodo dragon [check availability].

Data from the Office for National Statistics show that Boscombe has the highest number of dogs in prams in England.

Southbourne
Around the corner from Boscombe, and near Pokesdown station, is the pleasant suburb of Southbourne. The main area of Southbourne is Southbourne Grove, a long, wide shopping street that has some interesting, non-chain shops and many cafes. Shops include a wholefood shop, Earth Foods (75 Southbourne Grove) and the arty crafty Coastal Creatives gift shop/gallery type thing.

Fisherman's Walk Gardens, guarded by many carved cormorants and featuring a bandstand and small pond (as of March 2013 containing many frogs), takes you to the beach at Southbourne.


The Russell-Cotes Museum
This is a very interesting museum, 5 minutes’ walk from Bournemouth Pier. Located on the top of East Cliff, the museum is the legacy of Sir Merton Russell-Cotes, a wealthy resident and former mayor of the town. Russell-Cotes commissioned the building in 1897 as elaborate outhouse to display his collection of art from around the world. The architecture incorporates Moorish, Japanese and French as well as Victorian influences, and is open daily, except Mondays, from 10 am to 5 pm.

Admission was free but for a 3-month pilot period from 5 July to 30 September 2011 there is an admission charge. Also, please note that the museum has recently banned photography inside the museum in a slightly tawdry and embarrassing attempt to flog a few more of their postcards.

Two piers
The Rough Guide to Dorset, Hampshire & the Isle of Wight (published 2010) describes Bournemouth Pier as being ‘stuffed with the usual amusements and arcades’.



This is not really true – outside the entrance there is an amusement arcade, but the pier itself is quite a low-key affair compared with, say, Brighton Pier. In high season there are a few rides and a helter-skelter at the end, but even these disappear in winter. There is a cafe/restaurant (Key West) and a theatre showing old-school entertainment and variety acts such as Syd Little and panto, as well as occasional film and animation festivals. There is no piped music or fast food.

The pier can be quite atmospheric at night but the opening hours seem to be entirely irregular and random, so don’t make plans. Entrance to the pier is 60p when busy, or free when not. Or otherwise.

Heading east, Boscombe Pier is a minimalist affair. Google it to find a load of similar photos facing out to sea with the windbreak in the centre (I have one, of course)!

Grumpy old men pubs, etc.
Bournemouth town centre at night is the usual vomitorium of vertical drinking establishments. In fact, Bournemouth has very few decent pubs. For grumpy old men who want to sit down, read a paper and nurse a half pint of Guinness, I can recommend

The Porterhouse, 113 Poole Rd, Westbourne (see above).

The Goat and Tricycle, West Hill Road, on the outskirts of the town centre, near the Triangle. Probably describes itself as Bournemouth’s best kept secret, or similar.

Daisy O’Briens, 77 Old Christchurch Road, right in the town centre, next to FatFace and the Early Learning Centre. A small, traditional-style pub – a nice regular crowd but its size and location means it can get over-run by rather common people at weekends, etc.

Sixty Million Postcards, 19–21 Exeter Road, centrally located just up a hill from The Square – wacky student drinking venue with chilled vibes, occasional DJs, Facebook page, etc. etc. blah blah. The security guards can be a pain at busy times during the evenings (for example after a search, I was made to leave a bottle of water at the entrance in case it contained booze - what a welcome).

Reef Encounter, 42 Sea Road, Boscombe, BH1 4DW
Stylish modern bar and eating place just up the road from Boscombe Pier. Leffe, outside drinking area, sea kelp moisturiser in the toilets. That sort of thing.

Shops/Snacks/Directory
CENTRAL
Norwegian Wood, Glen Fern Road, Bournemouth BH1 2NA. Central.
Long-running caff-style cafe serving all-day trad and veggie breakfasts. Good service and food. One of few central independent options. Owned in the 1960s by Jimmy Savile, but don't let that put you off...

Cali Cafe, 204 Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, BH1 1PD. Central.
Characterful, family-run cafe on this road full of restaurants. "Brazilian & Colombian specialities" as well standard cafe snacks - omelettes, etc.

Rare Books & Posters, 11 Queens Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH2 6BA – insane, tiny bookshop between the Triangle and Westbourne with books and memorabilia piled to the ceiling. Has to be seen to be believed. Go and buy something.

BOSCOMBE
Love-From-Hetty-&-Dave, 864 Christchurch Road, Boscombe – a new shop near Pokesdown station offering handmade fashion accessories and vintage clothing.

B&J Patisserie, 806 Christchurch Road, Boscombe BH7 6DF. Homemade cakes, coffee, ice-cream and toasted sandwiches from this Hungarian family business near Pokesdown station. Very reasonable prices - my new favourite shop.

The Crooked Book, 725 Christchurch Road, Boscombe – interesting tea-shop cum bookshop with vintage artifacts/nik-naks. Runs literary/arty events and stuff.

What Alice Found, 805 Christchurch Road, Boscombe BH7 6AP. Boutique shop type thing stocking an eclectic mix of clothing, accessories, hats, bags, shoes, lingerie, homeware, bridal attire, collectibles and work by local artists. Across the road from B&J Patisserie.

All photos copyright Paul Russell 2011

November print offer - Royal Wedding special

Following on from my show at Housmans bookshop in London, I have a few of these four prints available, at what I believe to be, ahem, very reasonable prices:







Set of all four prints – 9 inches by 6 inches – £20 per set plus postage.
Individual prints – 12 inches by 8 inches – £20 each plus postage.

Please email me on paul.russell99@btinternet.com to express an interest, stating your country location. First come, first served!

Bournemouth Borders to become a Tesco

The Bournemouth Westbourne Methodist church is currently being converted into some species of Tesco (Metro, Express, etc.), and I noticed the other day that the town centre site vacated by Borders has been acquired by Tesco. I think that is five Tescos in central-ish Bournemouth now.

I hope that Tesco will acknowledge the heritage and history of the premises that they are taking over. Maybe the Tesco in ye olde Borders could have some sofas and tables where we can spend all day handling soft fruit and perishable goods until they become unsellable, thus leading to the slow demise of the supermarket.

Suggestions for the church-related Tesco are welcome.

The two-scale spatio-temporal model of photographic success

Independent on Sunday tearsheet

A nice clipping from the weekend:

Branding: Gap forced to abandon logo re-design

Retailer Gap Inc. has scrapped its new logo after just a week. There’s branding and there’s branding, and you can get burnt...

Quiz time

Who issued the following reminders to UK police forces?

"the act of taking a photograph in itself is not usually sufficient to carry out a stop. Unless there is a very good reason, people taking photographs should not be stopped."

(a) John Yates, Assistant Commissioner, Special Operations
(b) Paula Yates
(c) Yates' Wine Lodge

"Officers and community support officers are reminded that we should not be stopping and searching people for taking photos. Unnecessarily restricting photography, whether from the casual tourist or professional, is unacceptable."

(a) Chief Constable Andy Trotter
(b) Derek Trotter
(c) Leon Trotsky

No prizes - it's "just for fun".

Street Photography Now exhibition at Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff

On now!

The latest exhibition from The Third Floor Gallery in Cardiff complements the Thames & Hudson Street Photography Now photobook and features over 40 photographers from the book.


Details: http://www.thirdfloorgallery.com/exhibitions.html
10 October to 14 November 2010
Open: Wednesday to Sunday 12–6 pm
Tel: 02921 159 151
The Third Floor Gallery has a detailed web site and online presence.

I am very pleased to be included in the exhibition.

Contributing photographers: Christophe Agou – Arif Asci – Narelle Autio – Polly Braden – Bang Byoung-Sang – Maciej Dakowicz – Carolyn Drake – Melanie Einzig – George Georgiou – David Gibson – Bruce Gilden – Thierry Girard – Andrew Z. Glickman – Siegfried Hansen – Markus Hartel – Nils Jorgensen – Richard Kalvar – Martin Kollar – Jens Olof Lasthein – Frederic Lezmi – Jesse Marlow – Jeff Mermelstein – Joel Meyerowitz – Mimi Mollica – Trent Parke – Martin Parr – Gus Powell – Mark Alor Powell – Bruno Quinquet – Paul Russell – Otto Snoek – Matt Stuart – Ying Tang – Alexey Titarenko – Nick Turpin – Munem Wasif – Alex Webb – Amani Willett – Michael Wolf – Artem Zhitenev – Wolfgang Zurborn

The Third Floor Gallery is run by photographers Joni Karanka, Maciej Dakowicz, Bartosz Nowicki plus a team of enthusiasts, and has featured acclaimed shows by Caroline Drake, Chris Steele-Perkins, Jocelyn Bain Hogg, David Solomons and Peter Dench.

Exhibition reviews:
“A re-enchantment of the quotidian” – Chris Moyles (Radio 1 DJ).

Large stripey prints “give-away”

I am selling these two poster-size prints (~30 by 20 inches) featuring Weymouth’s distinctive fast food kiosks. I had a couple of copies of each of them made several years ago for a project that never happened, and they have been sitting rolled up ever since. About a week ago, I found and unrolled them and the next day I learnt that the kiosks are now history (see post below), which seemed a coincidence.

The hand and hut image was featured in the 148th RPS International Print Exhibition (catalogue pictured) and both images have been exhibited as part of my Beside the Sea solo shows. In short, they are dead good.


In keeping with tradition, the term “give-away” is relative but I am selling them for a similar price to just the printing costs (my standard price for 15 × 10 inch prints is £100).

You can see the images in the blog post below...

Hand and hut: £22
Ladies with scarves: £22
Both: £35
Postage: £5 UK and £10 EU.
Nikon D70 and bottle not included.

Contact me on paul.russell99@btinternet.com

You're history: Weymouth's fast food kiosks bite the dust

It's just been announced that Weymouth beach's red, white and blue fast food kiosks are to be replaced by contemporary new designs... Some people found the kiosks tacky, but they certainly were a distinctive part of the beachscape, making any photo they appeared in very definitely "Weymouth".

Littlehampton is a good example of a small seaside town that has generated publicity via new innovative buildings; it will be interesting to see if Weymouth will do the same.

Street Photography Now

[Front cover image by Matt Stuart]

Yes, it's true – Thames & Hudson have just published a major round-up of contemporary street photography.

The weighty Street Photography Now tome stretches to 240 pages and features portfolios from 46 street photographers. The book is an impressive and beautiful summary of the state of play in this genre.

Street Photography Now is authored by Sophie Howarth, Director of the School of Life, and street photographer Stephen McLaren. Johanna Neurath of Thames & Hudson has been instrumental in bringing this exciting new publication to fruition.

I am very pleased to be one of the 46 photographers profiled, alongside well-known practitioners such as Joel Meyerowitz, Martin Parr, Trent Parke, Alex Webb and Bruce Gilden. Other names featured include up-and-coming photographers that I have long admired, such as Mark Alor Powell and Maciej Dakowicz.

Four essays draw on the work from the photographers profiled, as well as other excellent examples of street photography.

The book is available from Amazon, and will be the shops shortly. A French edition is also available.


A bookshop, yesterday.

About the weather: it never rains on Melplash day

Photo: Paul Russell, 2010

Well, almost never.

Last Thursday, I went to photograph the Melplash Show as part of my country show series, despite the Met Office forecast showing light rain in the morning, followed by a confident prediction of heavy rain at around 4 pm.

The Melplash Show is a one-day show held on the last Thursday before the August Bank holiday. Although being the main gig of the Melplash Agricultural Society, the show does not take place in Melplash – several miles to the north – but fetches up half way between Bridport and West Bay. This is probably due to pesky historical reasons that I can’t be bothered to research...

As an admirer of the Met Office’s short-range forecasts, I was expecting to get wet but, in the event, it stayed completely dry. In 2006 I took this photo of Jack Smith, of Knapp Farm, Broadwindsor, who seems to know a thing or two about Melplash weather:


Photo: Paul Russell, 2006

“I’ve been here 67 years stewarding and I’ve only known two really wet days. Even if its been flooded out the day before, the Melplash Show always has a good, dry field.”

Source of quote: Dorset Echo

Justin Sainsbury – adventures in English leisure

Justin Sainsbury, a photographer based in Worthing on the English south coast, has a new web site that is well worth investigating...

“I’m mainly interested in the English disposition and how this is played out in leisure time. Without the before and after, a picture (frozen in time) has the potential to subvert what really happened. To me, this triggers an emotional response that is all the stronger if it proves playful, whimsical, irreverent or plain absurd.”

http://www.justinsainsbury.com/


All images copyright Justin Sainsbury 2010

Truth Magazine

Cover image: copyright Michael Cinque

I have four pics in volume 3 of Richard Payne’s Magcloud magazine, Truth. The publication includes some excellent photos by Simon Kossoff, Richard Payne, Michael Cinque, Albert Ruso, Christopher Turner, James Morris, James Guppy, William Rugen, David Blumenkrantz, David Weekes, Jack Hubbell, Jonathan Allen and Lucia Fischer.

The magazine cost $8.00. Click here to buy it.

Exhibition and prints for sale at Housmans Bookshop, London

I’m currently showing 24 prints at Housmans Bookshop (5 Caledonian Rd) near Kings Cross station in a lo-fi exhibition that runs from now until September. There are 18 London pictures to tie in with their London’s Burning series of events, and a bonus six seaside pictures. The bookshop specialises in radical and psychogeographical publications. If you’re in the area, pop in...


There are a limited number of reasonably priced smaller prints available for these four pictures:






The sizes are 9 inches by 6 inches (edition of 10 for each print) and 12 inches by 8 inches (edition of four for each print). These unframed, unmounted prints can only be bought by visiting the shop.

In sequence: judging dogs

Photos copyright Paul Russell, 2010

A conceptual art project concerning the Princess of Wales

Conceptual art refers to work where ideas are paramount and traditional notions of form and aesthetics are secondary. At least I think that’s what it means. Through its association with the Young British Artists in the 1990s, it is now commonly taken to encompass all contemporary art that does not rely on the traditional skills of painting and sculpture. You know, that Damien Hirst and his elk (or rather shark).

However, the term ‘conceptual art’ originally referred to works that could be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions (see Sol LeWitt). In the extreme form, this art-as-instructions/blueprint/DNA removed the need for objects altogether – it could exist in the mind alone. Lawrence Weiner summarised the ethos of this original conceptual art: “Once you know about a work of mine, you own it. There’s no way I can climb inside somebody’s head and remove it.”

Looking at conceptual art in this way, the gallery, museum, art market and wealthy collector all become redundant. So it’s ironic (or not) that the term ‘conceptual art’ is now probably most closely associated with the megabuck art factory that is Damien Hirst, whose artistic philosophy can be summed up as “how can I make more money?”.

In the original spirit of conceptual art, I now offer you this work:
“99 meditations on Princess Diana”

Most days I walk past a small stone memorial to Princess Diana. This photo is your starting point.

There are always flowers adorning the monument – bouquets from various local supermarkets such as Asda and Morrisons. These nosegays usually have the price tag left on, which seems a bit odd to me, but there you go. Some days there are one or two bunches, sometimes more.

Now this is where you come in – I want you to imagine another 99 photos on different days, with different flowers, different labels, and in various states of decay. Now examine the 99 photos in your mind. What do they say about our modern relationships with celebrity, shared experiences and conspicuous grief. Are they a wise meditation on fame and the media? Have they challenged your previously held assumptions about the life of the princess?

Congratulations! You now own the work “99 meditations on Princess Diana”. You can pay me if you want for this work via Paypal (email for details) but maybe I should be paying you for renting out the space in your head. Moving swiftly on...

World Cup memories: the night Gazza saved my life

Today England play Germany in the World Cup, which means that the media is quite literally having a 110% field day over the previous meetings of these two great countries in various football matches and wars. Inevitably, this brings back memories of Italy, 1990 and the England vs Germany semi-final.

Italia 1990 was probably the only time the World Cup has received my total attention. I had just started my first "proper" job – I had moved to Crawley, UK to work in the publications department of a company (now defunct) that made flight simulators. This involved photocopying things, drilling holes through huge piles of paper, and then putting them in binders. The authors, who worked in-house, were a mixture of recent graduates, elderly fighter pilots and psychopaths, and it was important to put their documents into appropriately coloured binders. Shortly before I arrived, there had been a nasty incident when a psychopathic author discovered that his flight simulator manual had been housed in a pink binder, and he immediately squared up to the offender.

I watched the first games of the World Cup in a shared house full of different nationalities, including several Italians. There was a nice atmosphere. Then I fell out with the landlord, who lived in the house, moved out very quickly, and found somewhere else to live. I watched the England vs Germany game in the new house. I had the huge house to myself as the landlord and his wife went out and the other lodger (French) had better things to do. The landlords supported Charlton, or something equally improbable, and weren't interested in international football. Bizarre I thought! When the Famous Gazza Tears starting flowing, I remember not feeling sorry for him, as he was upset for himself rather than the team. England's loss via penalties seemed quite traumatic at the time, although I had no-one to share this experience with.

Above all, I associate my intimate knowledge of that World Cup with avoiding getting the shit kicked out of me. Two weeks later, I had an interview for a publishing company in Oxford fronted by little Bobby Maxwell, of pensions fame. After the afternoon interview – in no big hurry to get the train back to Crawley, and never having been to Oxford – I had a pint in the Grapes pub on the way back the train station.

Sitting there with my pint and in my crap suit, I had a horrible feeling that the huge bloke standing at the bar was looking at me in a very threatening way. I was trying to convince myself that I was just being paranoid but then his little mate started talking his huge, huge mate (getting bigger by the second) out of kicking the shit out of me. "He's not worth it”, etc. Oh dear…

The small mate then came over and starting talking to me about the World Cup. He was obviously giving me a chance to prove myself via the international bloke language of football. I made the right noises about Gazza, how gutted I was, and how an Englishman would never settle for third place, etc. etc., and eventually I seemed to convince his lurking huge friend not to beat me to a pulp.

I got the job, moved to Oxford, and never had any trouble in all the years I was there.

Whenever I see the Famous Gazza Tears now, I don’t think much about England, I’m more grateful to him for the continuing availability of my intact head.

Are rude blog post titles shit?

Chris Steele-Perkins laid into the Photographers Gallery in a recent talk at HOST in London, describing it as "shit" and a "tub of lard". A few days later his football show opened at the Third Floor Gallery in Cardiff, so I jokingly initially gave the previous thread advertising his show the title "Is Chris Steele-Perkins shit"?

On reflection a couple of hours later, I thought that he might not like his remarks, made in a talk to a small audience, advertised across the whole Internet, so I changed the title to something more anodyne.

However, since then Steele-Perkins has repeated his views on camera and in print. So for those who were puzzled by my title, here's his problem with the Photographers Gallery, as detailed on the duckrabbit blog.

"I am delighted my comments, made in passing, have evoked a lively response. I stand by my remarks of course, but for the sake of clarity I outline my position in a bit more detail.

I was around when the Photographers’ Gallery was started by Sue Davies, and it was exciting and showed, mainly, great shows and inspired people. It had a buzz!

A lot has changed. When I talk to people, from photographers to others in the arts I never, really, never find one who has a good thing to say about the Photographers Gallery. The response is from a disdainful shrug - that’s what we are stuck with, to an explosion of anger that the promise and hope that Sue Davies brought to the place has been so profoundly betrayed.

I care about photography, in its richness and complexity and I am angry at the way the possibility of the Photographers’ Gallery has been strangled over the years leaving a limp corpse requiring vast funding from the public purse to maintain its mediocrity.

I am angry that there are many more exciting, relevant galleries that are starved of funding because the money goes into maintaining this vegetative-state-gallery. Places like Side, Host, Open-Eye to name but a few.

I am angry that Photographers’ Gallery has become a misnomer. It is not about photography or photographers; it is about a narrow thread of photographic curation that is frequently dull, and/or poorly conceived. I also admit they do have a few good shows, but far too few, and across far too narrow a spectrum of the medium.

On the web-site it states "we are the place to see photography in all its forms". This is a grotesque claim and so patently untrue. Why lie? If it indeed was fulfilling that claim, with the caveat - at its best - then it could claim the name Photographers’ Gallery, and it would not be betraying the initial ambitions of the project.

I am angry it makes no attempt to support or promote British photography.

Someday I will write more about this, but I am sorry that the quality and relevance of the PG is not publicly debated in forums like the BJP and RPS Journal, and the Guardian Arts Page and the national media. This is a publicly funded institution (40%) and should be a beacon, but is an irrelevance; an expensive one.

People seem to be scared to speak out, I am not sure why. One thing is for sure, more money is going into it, and it will get bigger, and a larger corpse does not stop rotting."

Chris Steele-Perkins at the Third Floor Gallery

Chris Steele-Perkins' show “For Love of the Game” opens this evening at the Third Floor Gallery in Cardiff. The exhibition runs for the duration of the World Cup.



Steele-Perkins:

“For years I didn’t like football, but as a photographer I was drawn to the way football became a part of people’s lives, their culture: how much it mattered to them and how much it got played - in refugee camps, in back streets, in muddy fields, in snooker-table stadiums, in deserts and gardens.”

Details:
http://www.thirdfloorgallery.com/exhibitions.html#upcoming

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104367649610785&index=1

in-public exhibition at Photofusion, London

The street photographers' group in-public is currently celebrating its 10-year anniversary with an exhibition of work by all 20 members at the Photofusion gallery in Brixton, London.

The exhibition features over 100 photos and - in the words of the poet - it's a very nice show indeed.

in-public are (in order of joining): Nick Turpin, David Gibson, Richard Bram, Matt Stuart, Andy Morley-Hall, Trent Parke, Narelle Autio, Adrian Fisk, Nils Jorgensen, Jesse Marlow, Melanie Einzig, Jeffrey Ladd, Amani Willett, Gus Powell, Christophe Agou, Otto Snoek, Blake Andrews, David Solomons, George Kelly, Paul Russell.

As a taster, some photos featured in the show:


(1) Photo copyright: Trent Parke (Magnum)


(2) Photo copyright: Narelle Autio, Spotty Dog


(3) Photo copyright: Paul Russell, Swanage


(4) Photo copyright: Andy Morley-Hall, Crashed plane

Gallery open:
Tuesday: 11:00 to 19:00
Wednesday to Saturday, 11:00 to 17:00
Free entry

Photofusion
17a Electric Lane, London SW9 8LA
28 May to 9 July 2010
Two minutes' walk from Brixton tube station.

Tony Ray-Jones and the white-ish cliffs of Bournemouth, part 3.

For those that followed my rambling voyages of partial discovery regarding this Tony Ray-Jones picture from 1969 ...


Bournemouth, 1969, Tony Ray-Jones

... I have come across a postcard on the Real Bournemouth web site from 1948 that puts the scene in context (click photos for larger images). The red spot is my estimate for where Tony Ray-Jones took the photo 21 years later. Although there is no path visible here in the 1948 photo, the diagonal rising wall and cliffs look right.


Bournemouth postcard, 1948

As I suspected (eventually), Ray-Jones was facing eastwards in the direction of Bournemouth Pier when he took the photo. Maybe the red spot should be further down, but I’m puzzled by what the white blocky things are below my red spot – they seem to be almost as big as the two benches further down, and hence bigger than anything visible in Ray-Jones’s photo... Or maybe they were removed and Ray-Jones was on the path clearly visible below them in the photo... Any thoughts? Am I going crazy?

My initial confusion about the image stemmed from the fact that I thought the cliffs in Ray-Jones's photo looked huge and distant, which doesn't tie in with any view I know in Bournemouth. Instead, it seems that the cliffs in the background in the image are quite close, and are now covered in vegetation or degraded. Either way, they are not visible now. A shame – I think the white/orange cliffs are more dramatic than the vegetation that covers most of the present-day cliffs.

To confuse matters further, the garden was replanted in the mid 1990s and an area of the gardens in the region of where I think Tony Ray-Jones took the photo was completely re-paved to form a round-ish viewing platform.

The blue spot in the old postcard marks the approximate spot where I took the photograph (BELOW) last year. Having now come across the 1948 postcard, I will try to take a photo closer to the spot where Ray-Jones was standing.

Update February 2014: Looking at this post again, and I've changed my mind - I think my photo below is pretty close to where Tony Ray-Jones was standing. The only really constant feature is the strong diagonal wall. The position of the bench with the wall arching behind it is a reference point, and is clearly visible in mine and peeping out behind vegetation in the Ray-Jones (it is not the same bench though - that has been replaced). Looking at Ray-Jones' photo and mine below at 100% I can match up some of the more distinctive shaped rocks that form the top of this wall to the right of the bench exactly. Bingo.


Bournemouth, 2009. Paul Russell photo: the same spot but the white cliffs have gone - the soft sandstone probably degraded. The garden has been replanted. The diagonal wall sloping upwards to the right, and arching over the bench, is the main constant reference point.

Gordon Brown: an iconic* photo dissected

In this Guardian article, Ian Jack analyses a powerful image taken during the last few minutes of Gordon Brown's reign as Prime Minister. The photo is by Martin Argles for the Guardian. (I read the article in Saturday's Guardian but unfortunately can't find a link to a bigger pic online, or the key used in the printed version.)

Ian Jack
"The place: Downing Street's 'war room'. The time: 19.17, according to the wall-mounted TV. Three minutes later, Gordon Brown resigns. At least one person is crying in this remarkable photograph, but plenty more have cried at the sight of it. Look at the detail, and you see why."

The photo is from a series by Martin Argles

*I believe that The Guardian style guide advises that the word "iconic" should be used sparingly, but it would be appropriate if one of these photos ends up with this label.

I spy – on the trains

As a frequent train traveller, I was delighted to be asked to contribute to a new edition of the I-Spy book of train travel. I have started jotting down some notes for the book:

(1) A group of middle-age ladies in hats get on the train at 10 am and crack open some little bottles of champagne. They are off to London to “take in a show” – 20 points

(2) Not getting your ticket checked on Friday and Saturday night because the guard is too scared to walk down the train (and who can blame him?). – 10 points

(3) You get a seat. – 20 points

(4) The person who you’ve been chatting to mentions that he’s just got out of prison for murder. – 100 points

(5) Someone is smoking in the toilet. – 10 points

(6) You successfully ignore the family who are lingering near your table kingdom in the vain hope that you will move for them. – 30 points

(7) Seeing elation turn to despair in the face of the revenue protection officer when you ask to buy a ticket, only to reveal that you are joking and are fully ticketed up. No penalty fare joy for him today. – 50 points

(8) The automated announcement system makes over 100 announcements during your journey. – 20 points

(9) You see some bunnies and a moo cow out of the window. – 10 points

(10) The buffet attendant is a bit rude to you. – 20 points or 200 points for use of the actual c– word.

(11) A person leaves the Quiet Zone in order to make a phone call – 50 points.

(12) The automated announcement system tells you about the Quiet Zone again. – 20 points

(13) You are sitting opposite someone famous, like Ken Russell. – 50 points

(14) You are sitting near a person who keeps looking at you just to check that you are not looking at them. – 30 points

(15) Part of the train comes away in your hand. A door handle, for example. – 40 points

How did you do?

In Camera: now showing at Bank Street Arts, Sheffield

Now showing at Sheffield’s Bank Street Arts is the first instalment of In Camera – a series of photography and video exhibitions.

The current exhibition features thematically driven slideshows located around the gallery, displaying street photography, portraiture, landscapes and documentary work from photographers and videographers the world over (even Sheffield). The show has been curated and organised by James Dodd, and marks an expansion of the centre’s photographic activities.

I have a picture in this show – possibly the one used in the flyer above. The presentation runs until 10 May 2010 (the run has been extended since the flyers were produced). Other photographers featured include Chuck Patch and Kramer O’Neill.

Motherland
The In Camera exhibition will be followed by a show of prints from Simon Roberts’ Motherland (10 May to 9 June 2010). The work is a result of Simon’s travels throughout Russia between July 2004 and August 2005, and is one of the most extensive photographic accounts of this vast country by a Westerner. The show consists of 15 large-scale prints.

“I hope Motherland may be read as a footnote to the current debate about Russian identity during a time of major geo-political, economic and social change. Ultimately these images are a celebration of Russia, aiming to deepen our understanding of a country and its people.” – Simon Roberts on Motherland

ELECTION SPECIAL: Those leader speeches condensed

For those that missed the televised UK election debate yesterday, here’s the condensed version – there wasn’t a lot of difference between the three parties:

“Real fair choice for all. Forward not back. A classroom in every school. The right for failing schools to be taken over by successful police forces. And failing police forces to be taken over by successful schools. And accountability. If the police force fails to reform the under-performing school, real power for parents to take over and run their own school. Like Toby whats-his-face. Above all, every school to be a good school, and equal, whether a New Look retail academy school, a faith school or a bog-standard shithole. And a freshly painted giraffe on every roundabout.

British jobs for British workers. And some carefully managed, locally-targeted immigration. Like foxy Spanish lawyers. Wa-hey! The right for voters to sack their MPs and take it in turns to be an MP for a day. We can be heroes – just for one day. Real choice for local accountability. Real change that works for you. Real you that works for loose change. Longer prison sentences for those who deserve it. But prisons that are centres of rehabilitation excellence, not ‘schools’ for crime. Failing prisons to be taken over and modernised by Joanna Lumley and Esther Ranzten [check this]. A guaranteed no. 1 hit single for every prisoner to raise self-esteem, and a ring-fenced HMV voucher for every 18-year-old, to buy that no. 1 hit single.

And finally, let’s make dreams come true for people like the black, disabled teenage pensioner I met in Hull yesterday*. Let’s go forward with this together.”


*Edit, 19 April: since I wrote this, as you probably are aware, a random "David Cameron met" generator has been created.

Candid photography: it's a fair cop

The frequency with which UK photographers are being stopped, searched and questioned by police officers and (especially) PCSOs for Being in Possession of a Large Camera has received a huge amount of media coverage recently. So at an outdoor exhibition at the weekend I was interested to see a few photos on display taken by a member of a police camera club. The photos were mainly candid photos in a busy seaside setting – although not very good (sorry, but then again that portfolio review was completely free).

I like to imagine the police camera club outings involve a bit of photography and then a bit of stop-and-searching of fellow members...

What is England?

I'm currently involved in Stuart Pilkington's 'What is England project', the first phase of which is now online.

Following on from Stuart's 50 US states project, 'What is England' features 50 photographers, each representing an English county through six themes: person (online), group, work, play, urban and rural.

A wide range of photographers are taking part, with the brief to represent their own style of photography as well as their designated county. I am the Dorset participant. On 1 May the responses to 'group' will be published online, on 1 July 'work', 1 September 'play', 1 November 'urban' and then on 1 January 2011 'rural'.

As Stuart says "hopefully by the end of 2010 the 300 images submitted over the course of the year will help to answer the brief 'What is England?'."

The initial images certainly make for fascinating viewing...

In-Public: 20 shooters + 10 years = 2010

I'm very pleased to become a member of the In-Public international street photography collective. American photographer George Kelly has also just joined, which takes the tally of photographers up to 20, in the group's 10th year.

There will an exhibition of In-Public photography at Photofusion in Brixton, London in the summer.

Reasons to be cheerful in 2010: the Third Floor photography gallery in Cardiff

Maciej Dakowicz and Joni Karanka are starting a new photography and visual arts gallery in Cardiff. In between obsessively photographing Cardiff’s nightlife, the pair have somehow found time to convert a 100 square metre premises in Cardiff Bay into a gallery and artist work spaces.

It’s opening on the evening of Friday 12 February with the exhibition ‘Love UK’ by Peter Dench. The show runs until 7 March.


Photo copyright Peter Dench


Photo copyright Peter Dench

Gallery details:
Third Floor Gallery
102 Bute Street
Cardiff CF10 5AD, UK
** Wednesday to Sunday: 1–7 pm **

Directions:
Close to Cardiff Bay Train Station.
Bus routes nos 8, 11, 35 and 36 (probably)
If you’ve been to Cardiff, you’ll have taken a photo of that stainless steel water feature tower thing. It’s near there. Here’s the view from the gallery with the tower visible to the left:


Photo copyright Joni Karanka

The gallery's web site is taking shape, and you can also keep track of proceedings at the Facebook page.

Cardiff seems to be the place to be at the moment, with Dr Who leading the way for an increasing number of TV programmes being filmed there and possibly “the largest concentration of media jobs in the UK outside London”.

The last day of Borders bookshops. Part 1.

I was surprised to find out in December last year that Borders UK was going into administration. It all seemed quite sudden, with little of the speculation and slow death that accompanied Woolworth’s demise. No tentative offers and rumours of takeovers. One minute it was open – the next minute it was closing. Kaput. Closed. Didn’t even make it to Christmas.

Borders had always struck me as a place with great potential for taking interesting photos of people. The English don’t really have much of a life on the street or indulge in everyday ‘street theatre’ as in some other countries, such as Italy (or am I imagining this?). The English urban street is typically a zone that people traverse quite quickly in order to get to somewhere else – usually shops or their office. People rarely linger or let their guard down on the English street.

However, in Borders – the new libraries of the late 1990s – people made themselves at home, grabbed a few obscure magazines, a coffee, and a seat at the table. Maybe spread out some coursework. Maybe dozed off for a while.

Gradually, however, the home comforts began to disappear – tables became fewer and further between, and pianos were carted off. As the financial situation tightened, the meet-the-author evenings became rarer. But, let’s face it, Borders was still a different universe to W H Smith, which if you’re out in the sticks is probably Hobson’s choice. And Borders was still open reasonably late in the evening.

I had certainly seen some good photos in Borders, but had never attempted to take any. For a start, I wasn’t keen on getting banned from my local-ish branch – I had witnessed quite a few Emo kids get barred (for essentially taking the piss and abusing this novel communal space). And I wasn’t that keen on getting permission to photograph inside a branch either – a request that seemed unlikely to be granted, or if it was granted would probably come with all sorts of tedious caveats.

So with the closure of Borders imminent it seemed like a good opportunity to take a few pictures. I popped in about a week before the closure of my nearest branch and took the picture above – already the downstairs was just about empty. I asked a few of the members of staff when they thought would be the last day (still up in the air), and hoped I would be able to return for the final day.