Gizza show ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't want to be sniffy about this, but there was a story in The Times last week about a woman who's currently having an exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery. Turns out no-one had ever heard of her. Who was she? Where had she come from? And how on earth had she managed to snag herself a prestigious solo exhibition at such an esteemed establishment? Turns out she's part of the "Law Family Charitable foundation, which donated an undisclosed sum towards the gallery’s £40 million refurbishment." Aha!..

Now, there's nothing wrong with the pictures -  from what I've seen some of them are quite good - but they're nothing that you wouldn't see every week in a glossy 'celeb' magazine, and I find it a bit unfair (Well I would, wouldn't I?) that she gets such a fantastic show and the rest of us Oi Polloi never get a look in. As I launch the latest of my self-published books - two collections of portraits (One hundred and forty-six in all) - I send a message to the NPG. I have about four pounds twenty-seven in my bank account, and I'd gladly give you the lot if you'll just put some of my pictures up on your wall ..   

One hundred and forty-six ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An update on my forthcoming portrait photography books. (Yawn yawn, shuffle shuffle) ..

They say less is more, but I've completely ignored that advice and crammed some extra photographs into my two editions. '61 Portraits' has now become '69', and '75 MORE ..' has grown to '77'. That's one hundred and forty-six photographs in which every single subject is looking straight at the camera. It really is quite an intimate experience to share 'eye-to-eye' contact with so many people, lots of them now grown adults, lots having passed away. I feel, in a way - and without wanting to sound too cringey - that I'm honouring their lives with these little books ..

  

Trump ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strap yourselves in, folks. It's the first day of criminal Trump's presidency, and he's hit the ground running with a swathe of signed orders, having already left the World Health Organisation and the Paris Climate Agreement. Did this guy not see the news from Los Angeles? I despair ..

It takes two to tango ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like buses, you wait for one book of portrait photographs to come along, then two arrive at the same time. I've just finished creating '75 more ..', another collection of my 1970s/80s portrait photography and the follow-on to '61 portraits'. (What can I say? I was on a roll. It was just so much fun designing yet another photo-book, and I'm just waiting to check the proof-copies before I can make them available to the world) ..

The photographs take you right back to an era that's long gone, and I feel there's a real connection to the people in the pictures because every single one of them is looking straight into the camera. "Remember me," they seem to be saying. "Fifty years from now, remember that I was here." We seem to have worked together, my subjects and I, to create just that memory.

 

 

Hurrah for Winter ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always designate the winter months as my 'project time'. When the weather's too bad to get into the garden, what could be better than writing a new book or designing a new publication of photographs? So I'm pleased to say I've now started on the fourth of my adult fiction books and have just finished book number NINE of my self-published photography collection. 61 Portraits is a collection of .. hey, you're ahead of me .. but it amazes me to find I still have enough photographs on file to do another book after this one. I know you're itching to buy the new addition, so stay tuned and I'll let you know when it's available .. 

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a tree I pass on my walks and cycle rides, a big old oak I call Gabriel (See what I did there?) It's leafless at the moment, of course, but its rough, gnarled trunk stands solid as ever against the cold and the wind and the weather. How many New Year's days has this proud fellow seen, I wonder. A hundred? Two hundred? And how many more has it got?

One can't help but reflect at this time of year, and it's not escaped my notice that I'll turn 65 in 2025 - an old-aged pensioner before they shifted the retirement age. Time is a'tickin', as they say, and I wonder how many New Year's days I will see before the man with the axe comes to get me? How many .. holy shit! Let's make a New Year's resolution!! Less of the schmaltzy sentimentality, O'Neill. Go get a drink. Happy New Year, everybody. I really do hope it's a good one for you ..