Me, me, me.....

Hats off to these happy mums at last Saturday's Wedding. It really was a fun day, and I can't wait 'til I'm next back at the Mere Court Hotel. Everybody had a smile on their face and ...

No, it's no good. Those opening lines were a mere diversionary tactic, a ploy to get you reading because I'm afraid what I really want is to talk about again is ... me! You see, I was half way through writing a nice Wedding blog for you when an email arrived to let me know that Part Two of my Salford Online 'show' is up and running. It's only fair I pass that info on to you... isn't it?

Anyway, as a result of yesterday's online piece I'm now lined up to have an exhibition at a Community Art Gallery in Eccles, which is bloody brilliant news 'cos if there's one thing I like better than looking at photographs it's looking at prints! So, if you'd kindly have a look at the second part of the item, I promise I'll get back to writing 'normal' stuff tomorrow!

Here's the link...

Did I say normal? Ugh..........

Stop Press....

So, here I am with my beloved Olympus XA camera - circa 1981 - and, cor blimey, they've only gone and done it, haven't they? The first part of my interview has gone up at Salford Online, and I've just about managed to watch myself from the safety of the back of the settee!

Apparently I am Salford's Best Kept Secret!! 

Check it out....

Gone...

A sad sight, eh? Came across it whilst I was in Altrincham last week. Yet another studio that's clicked its shutters for the last time, and I saw this on the same day I heard about two other Wedding photographers calling it a day! Oh, my Lord, what a state we're in! Anyway, in a valiant effort to stop this happening to me, I've teamed up with Blundells Hill Golf Club, on Merseyside, to offer my brilliant (©Martin O'Neill) photography to the discerning Liverpudlian public! The club are going to add 500 of my flyers to their Information Packs, and have asked me to make a framed montage of images for their foyer. You can only try, can't you...

So .. I'm going to be a two-parter! (I hope it doesn't hurt!) Seriously, the Salford Online article that's going out about me is now going to be done in two sections. Firstly, my early photographic life, and then, next week, my Joy Division years! I believe it will then be made available as a series DVD at Woolworth's for Christmas! Or not....

Oh, the sauce...

I was watching the Colin Firth film 'A Single Man' last night, and in it Julianne Moore comes out with a line that could have been made for me.

"Living in the past.." she purred ".. is my future!"

I'm kinda feeling like that at the moment, what with all the interest in my archive photography and all, and with that in mind I was interviewed on camera yesterday for the community news website Salford Online. I'll be uploaded and 'live' by tomorrow I believe but, don't worry, I'll let you know soon as, 'cos I know you're dying to see it!! Tony Flynn - one of the go-to names for the history of Salford and Eccles - was the man asking the questions, and I was really flattered that he liked my work as much as he did.

Thinking about it though, it struck me that Wedding Photography must be one of the only areas in which you are deliberately making memories! There's no reason to take photographs on these occasions other than to record what people actually looked like at a certain time. That's why I feel the shots should be taken sincerely, to capture what really happened at that specific time. It's fine if you want to throw on a posh frock and pretend you're a photoshopped, blurry, yellow-tinted model, but do it another day 'cos, trust me, it won't be too long before any way you're shot on your Wedding Day will start to look vintage!

Today's two shots were taken 30 years apart! They're of a Chinese Chip Shop in Peel Green. It was once the Chop Suey House, now it's the Jade Garden. My dad used to work in the factory that you can see in the picture on the left. It was once Regent Rubber, now it's a patch of waste ground! I once really liked Beef in Black Bean sauce, now I prefer Special Fried Rice! I'm rambling! Laters.....