Tuesday 13 December 2011

The Proof Principle launches

The project which has taken up most of my creative energies in 2011 has finally launched, as a three part exhibition.

Entitled 'The Proof Principle' it is an artistic response to Unilever's celebration of one hundred years of research and development at the company's Port Sunlight facility in Wirral.

The commission was brokered by Arts and Business and followed on from me being part of a staff-curated group exhibition at Port Sunlight at the end of last year.

To celebrate the centenary, Unilever wished to engage an artist to commemorate this historic year. I was fortunate enough to be approached to take on the commission and have spent a fascinating year meeting, planning, photographing and filming at Port Sunlight. As a non-scientist, I was never made to feel like an intruder into a strange world, rather I enjoyed sharing the creative process of making the work with a whole host of friendly, welcoming, engaged and interested people. Also, the fact that I was allowed free-range to develop the project as I wished, was both challenging and stimulating.

The result is a three-part exhibition, featuring a series of photographic images interlinked with key words, an installation and a short film, which consisted of 'moving stills'.

The exhibition will remain at the facility until the New Year. It will then transfer to the Bluecoat in Liverpool in Spring on a date yet to be determined.

If you wish to read more about the project, view the images and see the film, please visit my website. Any comments may be left on this page. I'd be delighted to hear from you.

I'd like to thank Paul Sherratt, Mike Parkington, David Harrison and all the staff who assisted me at Unilever, Claire Barlow-Orton at Arts & Business and Jan Peters at USP Creative who turned the vision into reality.

Further information here: http://www.colinmcpherson.co.uk/gallery.asp?subject=TheProofPrinciple






Friday 7 October 2011

Heading home....

My short residency in Kosice, Slovakia is at an end. I'm on my way home, delighted to have taken part in the exchange programme which allowed me access to the Getrag company in Kosice and, more importantly, to work with a talented and original photographer who played host to me during my stay and helped make everything run so smoothly. I am very much looking forward to Jaris' reciprcol visit to Liverpool the week after next and to working with him at the Getrag factory at Halewood and showing him around Merseyside. I'll post some images from the trip soon, but in the meantime why not take a look at Jaris' work, not only his stills photography, but his wonderful music videos.

To view work by Jaris, please visit www.jarisonline.net

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Biela Noc, Kosice

Almost on cue, that song was playing in the taxi from the station to the hotel in Kosice. You know the one, the massive international hit which defined a moment and inspired a generation but was regarded as no more than a sing-along in England. No, not that Adele song that everyone belts out, but Wind of Change by Scorpions, the anthem which was accompanied by the crashing sound of the Berlin Wall tumbling down and eastern Europe turning from communism to fledgling capitalism almost overnight.

But while the tune endures, the sentiment is long gone. Countries such as Slovakia are unrecognisable from the early 1990s, when, in point of fact, the country didn't even exist. Now it nestles independently and proudly on the European Union's easternmost flank, a country on a seemingly upward trajectory, albeit a slow one (trajectory that is, not country).

Part of the renaissance has been down to aggressively attracting inward investment to utilise the educated skills and knowledge base which exists as a legacy of the old socialist system which prided itself in free education for all. And to add to this sense of place, a burgeoning cultural programme is being established, one which will see Kosice don the mantle of European Capital of Culture in 2013.

One notable event which already takes place, however, is White Night (or Biela Noc as they say around here), an annual arts event which last Saturday celebrated its 10th anniversary with a powerful and, well illuminating international programme of installations, performance and multimedia. The night attracted 30,000 visitors to the city centre, impressive for a city with an overall population of 220,000. I spent an evening soaking up the atmosphere feeling that I was part of something special. It was a privilege to be invited here to be part of it and interpret the event through my photography.

The wind of change continues to blow!


Sunday 2 October 2011

Arrival in Kosice


I'd forgotten about Shengen. Maybe it's because the UK is so paranoid about its borders, but as I sat expectantly in the railway carriage, passport clutched in my hand, nervous with anticipation of crossing a new frontier, I just assumed a large-hatted border guard would embark the train at one of the lightless, anonymous Hungarian halts and demand my papers. But no. My train passed softly into Slovakia and came to a stop some minutes later at my destination, Kosice.

Did I say a new frontier? Well, that's not strictly true. I had visited this part of the world before, however, the circumstances and the time of my stay means that it feels as if it belonged to a different age. Which, in a sense it did. Back then, as a 14-year-old on a family holiday, it was Czechoslovakia, a country very much in the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union, only a decade on from the Prague Spring of '68. Getting over the border then, in 1979, was an ordeal which lasted most of the day, as I recall. Visas endlessly checked, the car virtually ransacked and taken apart by zealous but sleepy border guards. Currency exchanged and tensions high before finally we were free to proceed into Bratislava until... the car's exhaust fell off. The next six hours of a somnolent Sunday was taken up with negotiating a temporary retreat and re-entry to the country. Strictly against the rules, but we had stumbled on a group of officials who, thankfully, took pity on our by now frantic family. And so it was that I entered Slovakia for the first time. And I've not been back, until now.

I am in Kosice as part of an exchange programme which is being established by the city's authorities here to allow photographers from Liverpool (European Capital of Culture in 2008, of course) and Kosice, which will have that honour in 2013 to visit each others city and make work. My brief is extensive for a one-week stay: photographing an automobile transmissions factory, producing a project with a local photographer, the enigmatically named Jaris, and documenting White Night, an annual event at which the city is illuminated by installations and performance by creative people from across Europe. And there's also the Kosice Peace Marathon, the longest-established European marathon taking place during my stay. So plenty to do and not much time to blog so far!

The photo shows the scene at platform six of Budapest's Keleti station, just prior to departure on the final leg of a journey that had started in a taxi at 3.30am and taken me via Amsterdam to Budapest and then on the train to Kosice.

For more information about Kosice 2013, please visit http://www.kosice2013.sk/en

Wednesday 7 September 2011

European Kite Buggy Championship

Excitement in windswept Hoylake this week, where the European Kite Buggy Championships are taking place on the endless sands of Liverpool Bay.

Around 75 buggies and their pilots from 10 countries took advantage of the tail of hurricane Irene to whizz up and down the beach at speeds of up to 70mph in five days of competition.

I squelched my way out during a break in the rain and found the whole spectacle a bit perplexing, but nevertheless enthralling and impressive.

See what you think: http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/

Booker Prize Authors Captured


The shortlist has been announced for the 2011 MAN Booker Prize.

Of the six authors chosen, I photographed three of them at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival - Stephen Kelman, Carol Birch and A. D. Miller. In addition, I have photographed one of the other nominees, Julian Barnes, at previous EIBFs. Sadly, the other two, Patrick deWitt and Esi Edugyan were nowhere to be seen at the world's largest literary festival this year!

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 18 October at a dinner at London’s Guildhall and will be broadcast on the BBC.  The winner will receive £50,000 and each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, will receive £2,500 and a designer bound edition of their book.

For a look at all the writers, poets, authors and critics I photographed in 2011, please visit http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/

Friday 2 September 2011

Hoylake 10k - Please Help



On Sunday 18th September I will once again be taking part in the Hoylake 10k race.

As last year, I will be raising funds for two very worthwhile causes, detailed below.

And once again, I am asking you if you would be prepared to help me by entering a competition to guess my finishing time for the race.

This year's incentive to enter is that the entry closest to guessing my official finishing time will win a copy of another one of my favourite photographs.

The 2011 photograph is from the Wirral and actually shows part of the course on which the annual race takes place (see above). It is a winter sunset scene showing the coastal path which stretches along West Wirral and ends at Birkenhead. It features the Leasowe lighthouse, the oldest brick-built light in the world. The winning entry will receive a 16" by 11" print, with a plain white mount surrounding the image.

Entries cost GBP5 each and there is no limit to the amount of times you can place your guess. Simply email - mail@colinmcpherson.co.uk - or text  - 07831 838717 - me your guess in minutes and seconds i.e. 52.37 and pay the entry fee either by cheque (email me for my address) or online via PayPal ( www.paypal.com - my account is amazon@colinmcpherson.co.uk ). If two entries are the same, I will reallocate your guess to the nearest available slot in minutes and seconds.

I will be raising money for two specific projects:

Wednesday Special Needs Club Soft Play Sensory Resource. Located just around the corner from where I live and where the race will be run, the Soft Play Sensory Resource caters to the particular requirements of Wirral's special needs people of all ages. It is run and supported by the volunteer helpers of the Wednesday Special Needs Club, which has no official funding. It is located in a specially equipped room in Hoylake Community Centre (registered charity no. 1015141). For more information go to http://www.wsnc.co.uk/index.html

Musa's Family. During my trip to Swaziland in 2008, I had the privilege to meet Musa, who lives with his extended family in a small stockade in Pine Valley, near Mbabane on the edge of the Drachenberg mountains. Like almost all families in Swaziland, Musa's family have suffered due to the staggeringly high incidences of HIV/AIDS in a country which has the highest rates of infection and the lowest life expectancy in the world. Over the last three years, I have attempted to help Musa, who is the head of the family and the main breadwinner, by paying for him to study accountancy and to gain a qualification that will allow him the opportunity of a good career that in turn will help him support his family. I am delighted to say that Musa has passed all his exams and is now qualified. In addition, I have raised the necessary money to allow Musa's homestead to be connected to the the electricity supply. This will be completed shortly. By sponsoring me in running the Hoylake 10k you will be a part of the support that I give to Musa which allows him to buy everyday items, travel to work and pay for his nieces and nephews to attend primary school. To see a gallery of photos of Musa and his family, please visit http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/colinmcpherson/gallery/Musas-Family/G0000p3eoFLEZSgw/

I am aware that these are difficult times (the cuts are biting!) and that many of you will already support charities and fundraising events. Nevertheless, any amount you can support me with will be greatly appreciated by everyone at the WSNC and by Musa and his family. Last year I finished the race in a personal best of 48 minutes and 03 seconds and my aim is to at least match that time this year. I'd also like to match the GBP630 which was raised last year.

For more information about my photography, please visit www.colinmcpherson.co.uk

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Liver Birds' Birthday Bash


I'm whistling the theme song to television's eponymous series about two women in Liverpool whilst simultaneously watching the 3D Macula Spectacular celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Royal Liver Building.

Whislt I was never as fan of the Liver Birds TV series in the 1970s, I am a huge fan of the iconic structure which dominates Liverpool's waterfront and could easily be termed one of the most recognisable buildings in the world. The most celebrated of the Three Graces, its famous Birds, part-phoenix, part-vulture, part-myth are beloved of all Scousers and have been celebrated in song, verse and stories in the one hundred years since it was constructed.

The weekend's jamboree attracted thousands of visitors and was a a fitting celebration.

To view a selection of images, please visit http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/

Wednesday 8 June 2011

The Final Whistle....

 
For me, the 2010-11 football season ended as it began, with a Welsh team scoring four goals in the teeming rain in England. You can argue which game was more important: The New Saints win in the Champions League at their bucolic English ground, or Swansea City's dramatic elevation to the English Premier League via a Wembley play-off against Reading. Either way, this season showed the inexorable rise in the importance of money in the Beautiful Game these days, with clubs' owners, new and old, casting a shadow over football.

It was not the shadow of money, but rain clouds which accompanied me around most of the season on my various assignments for When Saturday Comes magazine. The ever-persistent threat of a drenching is something which sports photographers just get used to and when the sun does shine, it reminds you of those days in Glossop and Fraserburgh when the snow and wind competed for the ascendancy like a couple of battle-hardened midfielders.

For all teams, a new season sets off with optimism and hope. By the time the evenings are drawing in and the autumnal sunshine illuminates Recreation Park, Alloa, a different reality is setting in. I watch as the Wasps are swatted out of the Scottish League Cup at the hands of Aberdeen's Paul Hartley; by the season's end, both teams have endured miserable campaigns and the aforementioned Hartley is appointed Alloa manager. Quite a twist. Out of another cup, the FA version go Matlock. No cup romance for them, despite the romantic setting of their homely ground nestling in the Derbyshire Dales, beaten by Nottingham's Eastwood Town and their noisy band of fans.

My next stop is at Eastwood's more illustrious city neighbours Nottingham Forest, a club of great tradition and success, now desperate to recreate the Clough golden years, or at least something close to it. Despite a solid win against old boy Roy Keane's Ipswich, the season will end in another play-off defeat and another season beckons in the second-tier of English football. Indeed trips to Championship clubs treading water or in the process of descending become a theme of the season. The red dots around the half-empty Riverside point to declining audiences as Tony Mowbray steers his odd assortment of players away from relegation. Not so lucky for Sheffield United, who despite a rousing win against Leeds United, end up in the third tier in England. At least they can console themselves with a Steel City derby next season.

As the season wears on I see a couple of Indian businessmen looking bemused on a filthy Sunday in Blackburn. The reality of what they have just bought is etched in their faces. They do what every right-thinking football fan would love to do: fire Sam Allerdyce. It doesn't work and a grim season is finally saved from ignominy with a last-day win to keep Rovers up. Other managers in my spotlight are Tranmere’s Les Parry, performing miracles on the thinnest of shoestrings, whose team almost achieve mid-table obscurity despite defeat at Rochdale on New Year’s day. The perma-tanned Phil Brown isn’t so lucky: his Preston team twitches into life in March before being laid to rest in April.

As the season reaches it's climax I get a close up view of what a £35m footballer looks like, see Champagne in Halifax and burgers in Blackpool. Bewildering, I know, which just about summed up Alex McLeish's expression as his Birmingham City team plummeted through the trap door. The season ends in Dublin and London. The Carling Nations Cup provides the pub owners of Temple Bar with two chances to acquaint themselves with the Tartan Army, while on a bank holiday Monday in north west London, 40,000 Swansea fans go, quite literally, mental as they celebrate the prospect of a season in the Premier League struggling against relegation. But they didn't care, and had a party. Job done. Season over. Roll on 2011-12.

Finally, my awards ("The JKs") for the season gone by:
Team of the year: Borussia Dortmund. Great to see them German champions again. They’ll be celebrating in the Gaensemarkt all summer long!
Player of the Year: Charlie Adam, Blackpool and Scotland. What a season and what a left foot.
Manager of the Year: Peter Reid, Plymouth Argyle. Never liked the guy (small and very irritating), but the way he carried himself throughout a season when his club almost went bankrupt and his best players were all sold was so impressive. Docked 10 points, they almost stayed up. They deserved to. So did he, despite the people who ‘ran’ Plymouth Argyle.

To see a selection of images mentioned, please visit http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/



Monday 16 May 2011





After three years of sweat and toil, we launched Look11, Liverpool's first international photography festival last Friday.

Our big launch coincided with the city's annual LightNight event, where most of the city's major cultural venues remain open to visitors deep into the night.

We did our opening speeches at the Bluecoat, our festival hub and location for that weekend's 3rd National Photography Symposium, then scattered off around the city to visit some of the 15 locations which are housing our programme of exhibitions over the next six weeks.

Preliminary figures suggest the night was a huge success, certainly the buzz around Liverpool suggested that people were impressed and stimulated by the work on show. From Paul Trevor's recollection of Liverpool in the 1970s, through the Bluecoat's 'Confined' theme to the work curated by our Artistic Director Stephen Snoddy at the Art & Design Academy and CUC Liverpool, the 'call to action' theme was to the forefront.

With a rich mix of projects, competitions, workshops, participatory events and high quality exhibitions featuring many of the giants of recent and contemporary world photography, Look11 is seeking to establish itself as a festival to be taken seriously by visitors, critics and opinion formers.

The festival has been dedicated to the memory of Merseyside-born photographer Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya, and laid to rest on the day of our launch. His work forms part of a group show at CUC Liverpool, curated by Paul Lowe and Harry Hardie entitled 'Collateral Damage'. The weekend drew to a close with a special screening of Tim's feature documentary entitled 'Restrepo', his film about a group of American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. It was a fitting tribute to a photographer whose work was both relevant to the festival and had a resonance beyond the confines of the photographic community.

Events continue over the next six weeks so if you are in Liverpool, be sure to check out what's on.

For further information, please visit www.look2011.co.uk

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Unwelcome Guest

For those of you who care about the guest list at this Friday's royal wedding in London, there's one invitee who should not be welcome at any gathering, royal or not: Swaziland's absolute monarch, ruler and serial human rights abuser, King Mswati III.

There are quite a few ways you can register you disgust at this man's appearance in London as a guest of the British royal family. Start by signing this online petition: http://positivewomen.org/?page_id=763 - then write to your MP or elected representative - and if you are in London, take part in the peaceful protests organised by Swaziland Vigil against this man's visit.

More information is available here: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-23-anger-over-mswatis-plans-for-royal-wedding

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Grand National Meeting

The photo above shows jockey Jason Maguire raising an arm in triumph as he passes the winning post on his horse Ballabriggs to secure a thrilling victory in the 2011 Grand National at Aintree.

I spent three days covering the Grand National meeting at the Liverpool course. From Liverpool Day on the Thursday, to the exotic colours and sights of Ladies Day on the Friday to the Grand National Day itself on Saturday, I joined the masses in a celebration of a great British tradition, one which has the nation glued to the telly, possibly indulging in their only bet of the year.

I was very pleased with the images I managed to get from the three day festival of jump racing: I thought they reflected the event well, were interesting, informative and maybe a little different from some of the other racing photos you see.

Tired, but happy, I made my way home through crowds of inebriated race-goers on Saturday evening, pleased to have captured in good detail the the final moments of the big race, the elation of jockey and owner, the cheering crowds, the elated and deflated punters.

So here's the rub. When working to deadline, head down in an atmosphere bordering on the frenetic, concentrating on your photographs and the story in front of you, you quite often miss the bigger picture. And the bigger picture was the story that emerged and lead the news in the wake of Grand National Day: Two horses dead, a jockey in a coma and the winning jockey banned for excessive use of his whip as he powered his way to victory on the home strait, prompting calls for the race to be banned and people flooding phone-ins with counter points of view.

I was, therefore, a little disappointed that I could not have communicated this aspect of the story. But the rules are strict when covering horse racing: no photography 'behind the screens' as it's called. Which means you won't see the dead or dying, the critically injured, the doctors, ambulances or vets. You'll see a sanitised version of events. But you'll hear a different story.

Made me think.

Here is a small selection of the work I did over those three days: http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/

Monday 11 April 2011

Swaziland Uprising - Please Help!


While the eyes of the world have been on the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, and the bloody events surrounding the post-election conflict in Ivory Coast have come to our attention, there are conflicts and struggles for democracy taking place elsewhere which need our urgent attention.

In Swaziland tomorrow (Tuesday 12th April), a day of uprising has been planned by activists, trade unionists and those seeking justice and freedom for one of Africa's most repressed - and most forgotten - peoples. The struggle for basic rights, an end to economic discrimination and access to the country's wealth will bring the people into direct conflict with the omnipotent King of Swaziland, who has already shown himself to be ready to use extreme force to prevent any unrest in his impoverished kingdom.

It is worth remembering that Swaziland is one of the world's poorest countries, which has suffered greatly from the HIV/Aids pandemic which swept through sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. Life expectancy is amongst the lowest in the world, and while the monarch and his cronies enjoy unrivalled wealth and power, the people of this tiny country continue to be denied the basic rights which everyone in this country takes as read.

So what can you do? Well, as this is a former British colony, people here bear some moral responsibility for the system we left behind just 43 years ago. Our first priority should be to ensure that the UK government makes it clear to the Swazi authorities that it is monitoring the situation there and will hold to account anyone who uses force and violence to deny the people their right to protest for change.

Please write to your parliamentary representative, or directly to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, and request that the British government takes appropriate steps to protect innocent people.

Next, please put additional pressure on our politicians to lobby for change in Swaziland. The people there deserve to be heard and listened to and they deserve a chance in life.

Since my visit to Swaziland in 2008, I have become involved in helping individuals support themselves to try to make a better life for themselves and their families. I have received great assistance and support from people in this country and abroad who have aided my efforts to raise money and awareness. I should stress that none of my engagement with Swaziland or its people has been on a political level, and that none of the people I support are activists.

I hope you will take just a few minutes to become more informed of the situation in Swaziland and that you will take whatever action you can to protect the people of this wonderful little country.

With best wishes,

Colin.

For more information, please read: http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-04-11-activists-arrested-as-swaziland-gears-up-for-12-april-uprising

Sunday 3 April 2011

Format Photography Festival

Just a couple of days before it finished, I managed to squeeze in a visit to the East Midlands for a day wandering around the exhibitions at Format, Derby's international photography festival.

Format was established in 2004 by Louise Clements and Mike Brown, and is now one of the UK's leading non-profit international contemporary festivals of photography and related media, it states on its website (http://www.formatfestival.com/). The theme of this year's month-long event is street photography in all its guises, under the strap line 'Right Here, Right Now' - exposures from the public realm.

Street photography is a branch of the religion of photography which is closest to my heart. The best examples of this genre illuminate the everyday and offer the viewer a personal critique of life around us. Street photography can be funny, poignant, informative, moving, bewildering and can reinterpret many of the aesthetics of the furniture of the city. It can act like a jigsaw, revealing small clues about what our  world is really like away from the polished perfection we are often presented. But street photography can also be irrelevant, whimsical, mundane and lacking in any sense of a narrative. It also lacks an intellectual heft, or, put brutally, a story. Snapshot is probably the word which best describes the genre, with all the positive and negative connotations which derive from that term.

But there's now also a second debate around street photography which is taking place. This revolves not only around its legitimacy as an art form, but also as practice. In recent years, photographers have started to feel a vice tightening around their work. Public concern about what motivates photographers and the all-pervasive nature of the internet which allows, almost uncensored, the distribution and publication of anything from the public space, has led to a backlash which, at its most extreme, has seen France enact privacy laws which ban the publication of almost all forms of what could be traditionally termed 'street, photography.

But there is a fightback. And ironically it is being led not only by the professional photographer but by the vast mass of people who are the children of the digital revolution and who feel inspired to pick up a camera and record in detail life around them. This is all part of the democratisation of photography, an oft-used, but still ill-defined term.

It is into this space that Format steps. And very successfully. Its city-wide programme of exhibitions shows off the many individual talents of photographers using the street to communicate. Also the collective is well represented. I run into Nick Turpin, an old colleague from the Independent who founded a 20-photographer collective named In Public. This international collective boasts quite a few well-known names from the world of photojournalism, and the show of work is interesting and valuable. As Nick pointed out to me, commercially, this way of working doesn't bring much, but as a creative exercise it is both rewarding and fulfilling.

The main hub of the Format takes place at the Quad, a multi-arts venue in the heart of the city. During the festival it is peppered with photography. Every available wall has something while the main gallery space displays work from across the globe. There are seminal works by Brian Griffin, Raghu Rai and Joel Meyerowitz; a standout contemporary commentary on England by Peter Dench and as one would expect, several series depicting life in China, notably a series by Zhang Xiao entitled 'Coastline' and WassinkLundgren's 'Empty Bottles' series, which is presented using the display of pages from a published book.

While Quad is the slick centre of Format, my interest in visiting photography festivals is usually sustained by what is somewhat drearily described these days as 'visitor experience'. I enjoy seeking out the often secreted venues and a bit like a treasure trail try to find hidden treasures. Derby does not disappoint here either. The remodeled city centre is pleasant to stroll through and as a response to the work on show I make some images for myself. Although not overburdened with prime exhibition locations and gallery spaces, Format is visible in Derby and even on a week day you can tell there's a festival going on. The Royal Insurance Building, resplendent with 'for sale' sign above it is just the sort of place I am thrilled to discover. Slightly shabby and anarchic-looking, it is busy with people: some looking at the work on show, some participating in a hands-on project labelling the locations in which they have made their street photography. A couple of lads with skateboards seem to be at the heart of it all, and it seems lively and interactive. Beyond them, the work by Rawiya, a collective of women photographers from the Middle East stands out.

Street photography has many forms: from Bruce Gilden's visual assaults (he was commissioned to work the streets of Derby; the results, on show at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery, are superb, although it made me grateful I wasn't in Derby at the time he took the photographs) to quiet, reflective work such as Orit Ishay's series of Israeli bomb shelters (at the Silk Mill), the street photography on show at Format reveals itself to be as interesting, and - well - diverse, as the streets of the world themselves.

To view my street photo diary of the day visit http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/

Friday 18 March 2011

Japan Tragedy Marked

The terrible events of last week in Japan, and the ongoing nuclear nightmare were remembered last night by the players of Liverppool FC and Sporting Braga and a crowd of 44,000 at Anfield Stadium.

A minute's silence was held prior to the Europa League second leg match in memory of those who had lost their lives and the many more who have lost almost everything in the earthquake and tsunami.

A small tribute in a far-off land but it shows that the victims will not be forgotten.

To see my photographs of the game itself which ended in a nil-nil draw and thus ended Liverpool's European campaign, please visit http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/

The game marked the home debut of Andy Carroll, who with a transfer price of £35m, became England's most expensive player ever when he moved to the Reds from Newcastle United in January 2011.

Wednesday 9 March 2011

International Women's Day


Barriers
I made this image recently, on a cold, Winter's day in Liverpool.
The weather was reflected in the image of the model in the poster.
I thought immediately that the scene could to be a metaphor.
I thought it would be appropriate for International Women's Day.

Monday 7 March 2011

Going gaga about ©

Many thanks to my colleague Jeremy Nicholl (http://www.jeremynicholl.com) for drawing my attention via EPUK to this little tale of copyright abusers.

Click on any of the links in the article and watch in the mirror as your jaw slackens.

I am not going to give you the "in my day" or "back in the good old days" because that would mean re-fighting old battles. I will, however, say that it's further evidence of the gathering storm clouds around intellectual property and copyright which are about to break......

http://www.jeremynicholl.com/blog/2011/03/07/dear-photographers-lady-gaga-wants-the-copyright-on-your-work-oh-and-by-the-way-so-do-we/

Monday 21 February 2011

Unilever commission confirmed

To mark the 100th anniversary of Research and Development at Unilever’s Port Sunlight, Wirral facility, I will be undertaking a commission to celebrate this milestone.

The commission will involve responding to the anniversary by using photography to create a legacy piece of work that I hope will reflect the aims and aspirations of the company and the people who work at Port Sunlight.

My response to the anniversary will be based on gathering information from meeting and talking to members of staff at the facility and then creating an intervention which will be displayed both at Port Sunlight and also at an external venue.

As such, my work will aim to communicate to both those who work within and outwith the company and will be based on my visual interpretation of what I discover at the facility. I am interested in decoding the language of science used at Port Sunlight to interpret its meaning in a visual sense and communicate this to a wider audience. My interaction with key people within Unilever at Port Sunlight will be decisive in developing my ideas and response.

The project will take place over the remainder of 2011 culminating in an exhibition of the work towards the end of the year. I am very excited at the prospect of working with Unilever and undertaking this fascinating commission.

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Look11 Live Media Centre @ threshold festival. Saturday 12th February

JOIN Look11: Liverpool International Photography Festival for a jam-packed day of photo and media related mayhem!

With just four months until the official launch the North West’s only large scale photography festival, Look11’s ‘Live Media Centre’ will offer a ‘snap shot’ of celebrations to come. Guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing, the all day event calls upon visitors to actively partake in creating, presenting and discussing photography, with opportunities to submit work throughout the day. Watch the huge 1st Floor Gallery evolve and shape into to all that is ‘weird and wonderful’.

Immerse yourself in our assortment of scheduled events including;
                live e-zine
                forum discussions
                10 hour digital photo showcase
                Interactive and static exhibitions
                The ‘Pap Trap’ competition (win places to sell your work at    Liverpool’s large scale photography fair- pap what comes out the trap!)
                A hub of journalists and film makers at the Media Centre
                Sign up to get involved and volunteer with Look11
                collaborative exhibitions and hands on experience across photography, film and mixed media

Seven11, Look11’s monthly night time happening for photographers and enthusiasts will be presented in the evening with a host of DJ’s and acoustic music giving you the perfect opportunity to network and link in with the photo scene.

Dubbed as ‘Probably the UK’s largest in door multi arts festival’, Threshold will present 200 acts and 160 bands, musicians and DJs. For more information on the weekends line up please visit www.thresholdfestival.co.uk/home

So, what are you waiting for? LET’S GET SNAPPING....

If you are interested in pre booking a showcase slot, presenting your work or hosting a forum please contact erinthreadgill@look2011.co.uk

Look11 will be present at Threshold festival brought to you by ‘Under the Influence’ on Saturday 12th February 2011 from 12noon- 11pm. Tickets are in advance £5 per day or £10 for a full Threshold Festival weekend pass. Please see www.thresholdfestival.co.uk/home for further booking details or contact erinthreadgill@look2011.co.uk

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