Being Frank ..

Oh, blimey! I had such a great day yesterday at the unveiling of a statue to the memory of Frank Sidebottom, the alter-ego of Timperley comedian/musician Chris Sievey. Hundreds of people turned out for the occasion, eventually blocking the entire crossroads at the centre of the village! Anarchy! The fun thing for me was that, unlike the press who were gathered around the statue, I didn't have to get the picture of the day for a newspaper. Rather, I was able to wander at will around the whole event and document it from all angles. Happily, that involved covering the music being played in the Stonemasons Arms, and the sight and sound of Chris' son Harry playing Freshies' songs with two of the original group - echoing a shot I did at Bowdon Vale Youth Club in 1979 - is a memory I'll cherish for a long time. Click on the pix to see 'em larger and here if you've the time to wade through all 445 shots of the day. Nice to see Steve Sullivan and his crew there too, filming more footage for their forthcoming documentary Being Frank, and it was nice to be able to show some of my old Freshies' pictures at a 'pop-up' exhibition in Timperley Library. Over 150 fans walked across to see it! Thank you for the interest, everybody!

So, back to portraits and I'm looking forward to shooting a couple of family sessions at the studio this week. Interestingly, I've also been booked to shoot a forthcoming Baby Shower. It's good to know this other work is coming in as, being frank, the Wedding season has more or less dried up for this year now, and it'll be a couple more months before I cover another one. Come and keep me busy at the studio .. 

Must dash ..

Just four hours until the unveiling of the Frank Sidebottom statue in Timperley, and just two hours until my pop-up Freshies exhibition 'pops up' to accompany the event! I'm having a small selection of photographs of Chris - aka Frank - on display - for one day only - at Timperley library. What an exciting day for fans of Mr Sidebottom, and I'm particularly looking forward to it as I've been asked if I'll photograph the occasion for posterity!
In fact, I'd better dash ..

Timperley, here we come ..

All the signs are suddenly pointing to Timperley, where I'm to have a 'Pop-up' One-Day exhibition at the library to coincide with the unveiling of the Frank Sidebottom statue! I was contacted yesterday by Timperley library who've offered, because the event happens on a Sunday (20th!), to open up just to show my work. Now I've blogged enough about Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom for you to know who I'm talking about, so if you still don't know then go and find out! What a great opportunity to get my work shown, and I'm sure his fans will love the pictures. Although I shot the band on stage at Bowdon Vale Youth Club most of the images are from the afternoon I spent with Chris and his mates wandering around Sale on a bright spring afternoon. They bring back some fantastic memories of my earliest days as a spotty-faced 18 year old press photographer! They really do ..

All roads lead to ..

Well, how exciting! I'm off to Wigan this afternoon to be interviewed for the forthcoming film 'Being Frank'. It's all about the life and times of Timperley's finest - the late, nearly great Chris Sievey, who you'll more likely know as the character Frank Sidebottom. Before he donned the papier-maché head Chris had a band called The Freshies, who I photographed at Bowdon Vale Youth Club a couple of weeks before the Joy Division gig. Chris and a couple of other band members then came out with me for a shoot around Sale one afternoon and Steve Sullivan, the producer of the film, saw the contact sheets of the session when he was going through all Chris' memorabilia, describing one of my shots as 'one of the best pictures of a band I have ever seen' .. !!

Hopefully I'll get some of this work shown in the film, then I aim to get a little exhibition together once the film is launched. Quite a few of the pictures have never been seen! By anyone! Well, apart from Chris and Steve, but you know what I mean!

Right, hair .. make-up! I'm ready for my close-up, darlings ..

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