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 ..

  

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 .. 

News just in ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a lot going on in the world at the moment. Elections in the UK and France, Putin chumming up with Kimmy, China ramping up its stockpiling of nuclear weapons, extreme weather conditions across the globe and .. wait, what's this .. there's a new book of photographs by Martin O'Neill? Now there's reason to be cheerful amongst all the global gloom and doom ..

I'm delighted to say I've been 'picked up' by Café Royal Books, the distinguished publisher of photography in the UK, and will have a collection of my pictures in one of their iconic photo-books from mid-July. I say 'delighted' because it means my work will now be available along with such renowned names as, among many others, Shirley Baker, Daniel Meadows and Chris Killip ..

It's the first time any of my work has been compiled by anyone other than myself, and fascinating to see what the editor considers to be an interesting selection from my archive. Perhaps you'll buy the book and let me know your thoughts? (It's called Eccles, Salford, Manchester 1970s-1980s, by the way, and I'll be offering a limited edition of signed copies of the book complete with a print of one of the photographs in the collection. Details to follow, as they say!) ..

And now, over to the sports desk ..

       

Blow your own tuba ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's this bloke in Switzerland - let's call him Adam, English bloke, been there for years. Anyway, he goes and orders all seven of the books in my photo series, doesn't he? Sort of a Christmas present to himself. So I sent him a message, asking what he thought, and he sent back this ..

"Just finished all your books. I can now pronounce you officially as the L.S.Lowry of Salford and environs of the 1970s and ‘80s. Really enjoyed them. (PS - I’m a great fan of Lowry)."

Which made me rather happy, and so I thought I'd share it with you, just to let you know what you're missing ..

 

 

Buy, buy, buy ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In keeping with the true spirit of Christmas - ie: blatant and unabashed commercialism - my picture today is a graph from my Amazon account, showing my book sales for the month of December. I'm so delighted the month's off to such a great start. There's obviously a lot of Christmas shopping going on out there. My only question is this .. where is 'other'? If you're from 'other' can you please let me know ..

Ps: You want the links to the books? Certainly! My photo-books are here, and my illustrated children's books are here and here. 'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft' is here, 'Snaps' is here and 'Tofalofalos' is here. 

And that's the end of the commercial break ..

And we're off ..

 

 

 

 

Lovely to have pictures on walls again, even if it is only in our local library. My exhibition 'Martin de Manchester' opened on Friday night and will last for three months. Rather amusingly, it was visited yesterday by a journalist for one of the daily newspapers around here. He had a quick gander at the work, photographed a little introduction I'd written up then took four shots of me. A quick scribble in the visitors' book and he was gone. No questions, no chat, nothing! I can't wait to see the article ..

Of course, a lot of you won't be able to get to see the show, but don't worry! You can always get hold of any of the six books I've now self-published on Amazon. A tenner each, and full of wonderful pictures from the late 70s and early 80s. Order here or start dropping hints for Christmas ..

Cheese!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The latest edition to my photo-book series - Book Seven - is called Cheese! and will feature even more of my archive photographs from the late 1970s and early 80s. I'm working hard on production and it will be available to buy on Amazon in just a few short weeks. I'm proud to say that this edition will take the number of published photographs to well over 500. And all for a tenner a book. If that doesn't make you smile then nothing will. Say Cheese!  

Magic numbers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six books. Four hundred and twenty three photographs. Seventy pence a shot. That's what it would work out to if you bought my full collection of photo-books. And you'd have the shots forever. What a bargain! Fortunately, somebody else thinks the same, and has just ordered the full collection. If you're reading this, I'd love it if you got in touch ..

Today's image is one that will appear in book seven, now in production. Eccles library, circa 1981 ..  

My cap is doffed ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The keen-eyed amongst you may have noticed I've been trying to plug some of my photography books. (I hope I'm not getting boring, but they really are a big thing in my life at the moment.) There are currently six photo-books in my 'Wrong Way Wround' series, featuring archive photographs from the 1970s and 80s, and that number is certain to rise ..

The photography world likes 'themes'. It wants photographers to have worked on a 'project', explored a concept, visually probed something that is new to them. (Even if that's just empty spaces in car-parks!) It gives the photographer a weight, a seriousness, makes them 'legitimate'. My work is none of that .. it's just me, wandering around with my camera, 'learning' how to be a photographer. Doesn't make the work any less interesting though (in my humble opinion), so it was encouraging to read a new review of the photographs by renowned Salford historian Tony Flynn. He said "I can honestly say they are poignant, hilarious, touching and even a great social document that captures what was a less stressful time", and added "Martin O'Neill you have done a fantastic job capturing those days. My cap is doffed." 

There's nothing left to add other than a link to help you buy your copies ..

Who d'ya think you are, David Bailey ..?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have in my hands a hard copy of the sixth book in my photography series. Yes, Book Six has arrived, and I'm very excited ..

Its title harks back to an old 1970's advert featuring the superstar photographer and an Olympus Trip. People would shout it to me whenever I took their photograph. "Hey mate, who d'ya think you are, David Bailey ..?" ..

Anyway, it's here, it's finished, and it's available for you to buy here for just ten squids. Yes, I know .. such a great price for ninety-one wonderful street photography images from the 70s and 80s. How can you resist?

David Bailey? Who's he ..?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What to do when it's so goddam hot outside? Knuckle down and finish the next edition of your photo-book collection, that's what. So now Book Six is done and dusted, and I can't wait to see what it looks like when it comes back from the printers ..

It's entitled 'Who d'ya think you are, David Bailey ..?' - which will only mean anything if you're old enough to remember the Olympus camera ads he made in the late 70s - and is a bumper collection of 91 images from my archive. The photos were all taken in the late 70s and early 80s, around my old stomping grounds of Eccles, Salford and Manchester, and the good news is that, even after six books of photographs, I still have over a hundred pictures left to show you, so there'll definitely be a Book Seven at some stage. After that, I'm going to start on my colour photography, as I've got thousands of Kodachrome slides from my travels around the world ..

A review in Amateur Photographer magazine said my work was "a flick through history in a well-observed, light-hearted trip down memory lane." You can start your own collection here .. and, by the way, they're only a tenner each!