Look, don't touch!

What was it like before the pandemic, Grandad? I've heard there was a time when people could go into pubs and clubs and sit next to each other .. without masks .. and they could shake hands and kiss and hug and not be afraid of catching anything! Is it true, Grandad? Is it true?..

 (A shot from my archive: The Talk of The North club, Eccles, circa 1977. That's my grandma, trying to hide from my camera!)

Going back in time ..

Another whole week spent working on my new (French) website, and I'm delighted to say I've finally got my 'Archives' page up and running. I'm really proud of this collection of documentary shots, taken mostly with an Olympus XA 35mm camera in the early 80s. We went everywhere together, that camera and I ..

Anyway, take a look. See what you think ..

File under twat? ..

Jake the Peg, Jane Street .. and Jump, you twat! Just the first three listings in the 'J' section as I begin the long process of cataloguing all the negatives in my archive. 'Jake' is a shot of a 'three-legged man' shot through a van window in Blackpool; Jane Street is a series of photographs of youngsters running up said road in Salford .. and 'Jump' is the picture shown here, one of my favourite pieces of grafitti, scrawled onto a road-safety poster in Eccles! Hmm, now should it be filed under 'Jump' or 'twat'? Might need to double list that one! Anyway, yes .. the process of filing all my work has begun. Now that I've been taken on by the Picture Library it's not good enough to simply have rows of big boxes of scrambled negatives on a shelf, a lucky-dip lottery every time I shove a hand into the chaos. Time to get a grip and get 'em organised, and I've got to say that looking through them all again is an absolutely fantastic experience! Smokers, snoggers, Stretford anyone?..  

A moment in (my) history ..

Great news! My mission to London has been a success and I'm delighted to say my archive is now being represented by one of the finest 'specialist' historical Picture Agencies in the country! I went down for a meeting with a very nice guy from the Mary Evans Picture Library who said he 'loves' my work and would be very happy to add it to their wonderful collection. I am so flattered, and in such great company, too. The library houses the archives of both Shirley Baker and Roger Mayne, both fantastic photographers of the latter half of the 20th century. So this will be a really great way for my work to be seen and - hopefully - used around the world! Oh, did I say they were one of the best in the country? Sorry, I meant World! The library is itself represented by over 100 agents in over 70 countries across the globe! World domination beckons! Or at least the odd shot in an American magazine every now and again!..

Speaking of history, I popped down to the Tower of London to see the magnificent 'Blood swept lands..' display of ceramic poppies filling the moat. I couldn't get near it! There were, like, a kertrillion tourists hogging every inch of the railings above the display, all taking 'selfies' for the folks back home in Idaho! I actually thought I'd caught a  moment when I saw this chap in a 'Help for heroes' sweater, standing with his head bowed in what seemed like poignant prayer for several minutes. As I moved away I looked back to see he was actually .. texting on his phone!
Hmm, I doubt they'll take this shot for the archive!.. 



 

Quick, March ..

March! Quick, it's March again! Get in the garden! Do Spring stuff! Quick!..
(Before the snow comes!!)..

I get such a mental boost to know that Winter has - officially, at least -  finished! Ok, now they're forecasting snow and cold stuff, but it doesn't seem half as bad when the birds are tweeting, the daffs are daffing and the evenings are already light. I'm definitely a warm weather man!

Dare I mention cheese again? Just once more? Because I was down at The Cheese Factory again yesterday to finish off the website photography, and so that's the end of warm fleeces and thick coats as I shot my pictures in their chilly refrigerated work areas! Man, I'll bet those guys are glad of warm Spring weather when they emerge from their Cheddar caves. Anyway, I've already added a shot to my PR web-page. See if you can spot it!

Finally, today's image. Taken from my archive, it shows Army Cadets in Eccles - circa 1976. I remember the Spring of that year very well, as I went with these guys to an Easter camp in Leek! The food they gave us that weekend? I'd have killed for a hunk of cheese!.. 

I think I'll write a blog ..

Hmmm, so what to write about today?..

Whoa, you caught me - having a quiet moment's musing on that all-important topic of the day! Oh, alright, it's not me .. you guessed .. it's one of the slides I scanned yesterday after I piled into my back catalogue for a day of digital archiving! And man, what memories I found! I spent the day photographically travelling the globe, all from the comfort of my scruffy little office! I have shots in my files from as far afield as Tahiti to Nepal, the Amazon to the Outback .. and one shot of this literary figure on the banks of the river Nile. And to think it was all shot on Kodachrome! Now that's knowing your stuff, that is! Correct exposures, accurate framing .. proper photography! Makes me smile when I think of the instant gratification we get with our photography these days. Take the shot, check the screen. It's almost become a single head movement! Well, back in the early 90s, I took six months off for a trip around the world and shot the lot on Kodachrome 64, sending the undeveloped rolls of film home for my Dad to post on to Kodak's lab at Hemel Hempstead. God! Imagine what it was like not knowing - for six months - what my stuff was like! Hard to imagine, these days!..

Hey, hang on! I've just thought of a topic ..

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 ..  

Scrapped Ferrari ..

There were 151 readers of my Blog yesterday, though for the life of me I can't think why! I was only talking about taking square photographs! Nevertheless - among other places - I had one reader from Indonesia, eight from China and another from Venezuela, and I can't help wondering what they made of me talking about Statham Lodge Wedding Fayre? I mean, there's your worldwide audience right there, and I was busy rabbiting on about local old Lymm! Perhaps I should think more globally! Hey, the last time I was in Brazil ..

(Actually, the last time I was in Brazil I spent a week sailing on The Amazon out of Manaus, so I do know what the England team are going on about when they talk about heat and humidity. Diddums...)

I was reading an article yesterday about another photographer who regularly writes blogs with the aim of promoting his new work, and he said he was taken totally by surprise when one of his missives suddenly went global. Well, come on .. it was about Sky Ferreira! Like, OMG! (She's an American singer-songwriter, don't ya know but, don't worry, I had to google it, too! And I apologise! Scrapped Ferrari was as near as I could get to her in my archive!) Anyway, this photographer had a two-day shoot with her for a major hair-care manufacturer, so his blog got picked up by Vogue and MTV and loads of other New York 'style' websites! Who'd have thought, eh? Me? I'll just have to keep ploughing on with my detailed descriptions of cutting-edge life in Culcheth.

And in other news today, Martin O'Neill changed a poster in the window of StudioFiveFour.

Come on, US Vogue! I'm waiting for your re-tweet!...  

When I were a lad...

I've done it! I've bloody done it! After months of searching through thousands of negatives, scanning hundreds of strips of film and cleaning up the scratches and dust of 35 years in a box .. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you .. MY ARCHIVE!

At last! It's finished! Over 900 photographs from my early photographic years! Man, I can't tell you how good that feels! And it looks amazing! I can't believe (he said modestly) that I was taking photographs like these when I was just 17 and 18 years old. They're fantastic! And they work on two levels (I think!) They work as pure and simple 'documents' of the 1970s and early 80s, recording the styles, fashions and environments of the time, but they also work (I like to think!) as interesting, amusing, eye-catching photographs in their own right. And they're so descriptive of my small-town upbringing as a teenager. (Never went to restaurants! Never travelled abroad! Aw...) They show Eccles market (a lot), they show the estate on which I grew up - and the people I grew up with - they show Barton Air Show, they show the bus rides I took as a lad, the shop-fronts, the power station, the old Morisson's supermarket, the chip shops, the Army Cadets, the clubs I began to go to, the cars, the flares .. and the all-prevalent smoking, and it's sad to think that so many, many of the people and places in the pictures are now all long gone! It's been a real trip back for me, and I have such a sense of pride that I've finally managed to finish the project. Of course, the important thing now is getting it seen, so it's over to Flickr and the hope that you all might let your pals know about my body of work. I've decided to release 80 images on the first day of each month of the coming year and all, of course, will be available for licensing or for purchase as prints. There'll be a small exhibition in Eccles in January, too - finalised details to come!

Man, I am so pleased I joined St Pat's camera club when I was thirteen...