Good gear ..

Well, there it is! The entire 'Made in Eccles' exhibition - clothes pegs, washing lines and all! (You'll know what I mean if you saw it!) Doesn't look much, does it? I took it down from the People's History Museum this morning after two months on show. I've yet to have a good look at the Comments Book but brief glances reveal notes like "Thanks for the great memories" - "As good as Martin Parr" and, one of my favourites from a 13 year old "Great pictures that made me laugh"
Cheers for that, Molly!..

So, on to the next one, and that's going to be a Joy Division 'celebration' at Charles Rowe House in Macclesfield in May. No laughs here, but great memories of a fantastic band. Opens May 17th!..

I've decided I want to become a Nikon Ambassador! I occasionally see photographers who describe themselves thus on their websites, and I think I ought to be up there as well. After all, I've been using Nikon gear since at least about 1979 so I reckon 99% of all my professional shots have been on Nikon gear, and look how well they all turned out. So yes, folks! That's NIKON gear, wonderful equipment..

Stop press: No word from them  .. yet!

Get it up ..

Today's the day! It's time to hang up my washing .. er, my photographs! I'll be spending today at The People's History Museum putting up my 'Made in Eccles' exhibition, with this photograph taking a leading role in the show. It's a shot of our laundry, hanging in the back garden, circa 1975. My poor old Mum was horrified when she saw it! "Oh, our Martin.." she flustered "How can you show that! Look at the state of it!" Sorry Mum! Reality's king in my world! Oh, and mentioning Manchester Wedding Photography! SEO's a bit of a ruler, too...


Anyways, better get a move on ...

Hole in my pocket ..

We were driving home from a trip out on Saturday night and .. CLUNK! .. we went right down this dark, invisible pot-hole. It took us 'til 11am on Sunday to dig ourselves out! Eeeeh, the state of our roads! What's me bloody road-tax being used for? Why hasn't this been filled in? Grrrr...

Anyway, this is the week that my exhibition finally goes up, a good 14 months since I got the 'nod' from The People's History Museum. Very excited, as you can imagine, and there's been another write-up about it just this very day! I'm just slightly put out that I can't actually afford to throw an opening bash for everybody. There seems to be a hole in my finances, too ..

Now then, Manchester Wedding Photography! Nothing to add to that, just writing it down for SEO purposes! Don't want to disappear down that Black Hole that is Google ..

With this ring ..

Check this out! One of the joys of Manchester Wedding Photography is that you get to see a couple's individuality - their quirks, their tastes, their lifestyle - and so there was no doubting the groom who chose this as his Wedding ring last month! Talk about a Rock God! How fantastic!..

The wheels are in motion now for the publicity for 'Made in Eccles' - my upcoming, as those Yanks say, exhibition at The People's History Museum in Manchester.
A very flattering piece went up online yesterday. All I can do is point you to it ..

Oh, and the groom with the crazy ring? Leaving the celebrations after the first dance, as I did, I can't confirm the rumour that the groom, by the end of the evening, was out of his skull!
Ba Dum! Tish!!.....

Paris ..

Beauty, peace, light, smiles ... you gotta think positively when the news is like it is at the moment. Man, what a horrible start to the New Year. I don't need to add anything but my thoughts to the horror and disgust that has already been expressed about Paris, but I was reading that yesterday was the first day in God knows how long that there were no deaths reported in Syria. A heavy snowstorm apparently kept everyone inside! Thank God for snow, eh? ..

Two weeks 'til my exhibition opens, and I'm now featured in the mail-out doing the rounds from The People's History Museum. A couple of local 'papers have taken up the story too so, being as publicity-shy as I am, I'm having to bite the bullet and chat to journalists about the show! ..

It's fair to say there's a lull now for Manchester Wedding Photography, so I'm spending my time tarting up the website and advertising such things as 'I shoot Vintage' and 'I shoot Film' .. and anything else I can think of that might inspire newly engaged couples to book me! ..

Hey, beauty, peace, light, smiles! Yeah, I shoot them! ..

Oh, yes it is ...

I was at a house-party last night and one of the guests was Diana Moran! Bloody hell, The Green Goddess, right there in front of me! Looking great, too and telling me fab stories about that other O'Neill photographer - Terry - with whom she's friends and has worked with quite a bit in the past!
Anyway, another guest then asked me which famous people I'd worked with, and it was great to start reeling off the names of the rich and famous from my old days in the press. Maggie Thatcher, Mohammed Ali, George Best etc., etc., etc... Man, I was name-dropping like a crazy boy! Then, I was literally half-way through writing this blog when the phone rang. It was the Salford City Reporter, calling to get a bit of detail on me, as they're hopefully going to run a piece on my forthcoming exhibition at the People's History Museum. "Have you ever worked with any famous people?.." asked the writer. "Well.." I began ...

Cough up, Mother ..

Well, I've never done that before! I had to send my Mum an invoice last week! She's a pretty big big-wig on some steering committee for her Housing Association, and they're planning a launch 'do' to mark the completion of years of upgrades to their buildings. Anyway, the flats are near the Manchester Ship Canal in Eccles, just across the water from where you'd have been able to see this sight up to 30 years ago, so they've asked if they could use this image for their publicity poster. Naturally, for Mumsy, I was only too happy to help, but even more so when I found out that her committee was going to pay for the use of it. (She did cough up, too .. so I've not had to send in the Big Boys .. ho ho!!) ..

The picture is actually of Barton Power Station and the Bridgewater Canal at the point where it magically crosses over the Manchester Ship Canal via an aquaduct. You can just see it, swung open, with the criss-cross beams and white girders. It'll probably be one of the shots I show in my forthcoming 'Eccles' exhibition at the People's History Museum in Manchester. I've just realised I have less than a week to prepare some schpiel and choose a couple of representative photographs for the pre-publicity bumf! I'd better get a move on!

Bumf? Schpiel? Have I ever written those words in my blog before? And are they spelt correctly? Damn it, they're close enough for me ..

The Signs are good ..

Time flies, and somehow it's been five days since I last blogged. More to the point it's been six months since I met with the staff at the People's History Museum in Manchester, where I'm to hold an exhibition of my Eccles photography next January, and they've just emailed with a reminder that there are only six months to go until the show! Time to start getting my act together, man! Cripes, the year is flying!..

It's racing by .. and it's getting better! There are signs of improvement out there! The Wedding bookings are starting to come in for next year and PR's starting to get more regular. The studio's seen more action than of late, too,  and one lady .. get this .. one lady ordered a whole 18x12 inch print instead of a 7x5 the other day!..

Now that, my friends, is a good sign ..

Whatever floats your boat ..

A well-known Garden Centre near me has just launched its annual amateur photographic competition. The entries will be hung in the centre's restaurant to be judged by the public and the winner will get a £50 voucher to spend in the store and a framed print of .. er, their own photograph! Eh? Call that a prize? Oooh, what a lovely photograph, but where have I seen that before?...

Let's not mock, though I can see that's going to have the rainbows and robins, sunsets and seashore shots a' flyin' in! Oh, sorry, taking the mickey again but, for balance, I've put up my own photograph of Carrickfergus Castle just to show you we all have our cliché moments!

Anyway, I mention this because it's exactly one year today until an exhibition of my work opens in Manchester. I'm having a show of my Archive photography at The People's History Museum, based on the premise of what it was like to be 'working class' in the 70s. I'm off there this very morning - one year to the opening day - to discuss the details, but I can guarantee you my pretty harbour shot won't get within a million miles of the walls! Still, whatever floats your boat ..