Cancer sticks ..

Yes, folks .. it's another Then and Now from Eccles .. the 'now' being shot on Saturday evening as I left the gallery to go home, and the 'then' from about about '78! Well, some things never change, and I don't mean the blocks of flats or the old cinema building. I mean the smoking! Man, you could die of passive smoking in Eccles! EVERYBODY smokes! Ok, don't pick me up on the accuracy of that statement, but it bloody well feels like it, I can tell you! Kids smoke, grannies smoke .. even the guy selling the fresh farm eggs at Saturday's Farmer's Market smoked! And because I live in a world where no-one smokes - and, these days, don't have to endure pubs full of smokers - the stench and sight of the hunched, grey-faced huddles, ludicrously and desperately sucking on rolled-up, burning tobacco leaves is made all the worse. I bring this up because I've been approached by a (non-smoking) chap from some sort of a Salford NHS working party, who wants to use some of my archive 'Salford - Down the line' shots in a new 'Look after yourself' kinda health campaign - something along the lines of 'Look after yourself and you'll still be here in 30 years time!'

It doesn't stand a chance!..

And relax ..

Have a break? Are you kidding me? I've got an exhibition to organise! Yep, one down/one up, and no sooner do I finish 'Salford - Down the line' than I prepare for tomorrow, when I hang my section of a new exhibition at the Community Art Gallery in Eccles! After an absolutely amazing run - 1,141 people through the door in just nine actual days of opening - I'm delighted to say I've been invited to take part in the next group show at the venue. (Mega thanks to everyone who came down, by the way! You were all brilliant, with your memories, recollections and stories!) Anyway, this time I'm showing images from my Florescence series - a set, as I'm sure you know - of amazingly coloured flower and leaf photography, shown as framed photographic prints, greetings cards, table mats and coasters. I'm having a bet with myself to see how long it takes before someone asks me what I did to tweak the colours in Photoshop. NOTHING! It was shot on what we oldies call 'film' - in this case 645 transparency! That sharpness and saturation? That's what you got when you shot with good film! Gimme a break!...

Something old, something new..

Yep, they're all dead! That's what a chap called Dave said when he saw a picture of himself and his old colleagues on the wall of my new exhibition! Yes, it's finally opened and wow, what a brilliant day it was! I broke the record for the number of visitors to the gallery on a single day, and it was incredible to eavesdrop on a few of the conversations going on around the room. People were catching sight of a long-lost grandad, or an old flame, or a neighbour they used to play with in the street and Dave, as I said, saw a photograph of work-mates he last saw 36 years ago. He's pictured as a curly-haired, flare-wearing youngster standing by an old Commer van outside the Dispatch Department of Gardner's Diesels in Eccles. One young lady even managed to identify her old school hall .. by the curtains .. and, although it's inevitable, it was sad to hear of those who aren''t around any more. Me poor old dad included! Still, I couldn't have been more happy with the way the exhibition was received, and I really enjoyed kicking off the side-project of re-photographing people who were in original shots. Dave and Arthur here were two of my first 'models'! We even had the first of our 'live' theatrical performances, with actors Elaine and Dave (Another one!) giving us a really funny rendition of how a conversation about the seventies might go! So, we're off! We're up and running and you've got a month to come down and see what it's all about!

It's called Salford, down the line! and it's at Eccles Community Art Gallery every Tuesday and Saturday until February 9th. I've also started a Facebook Group for people who want to see more of the shots! My project Twelve for '13 will showcase about 80 shots a month on Flickr, and the page will help me get the word out to anyone who's keen on documentary photography.