Picture Window

I've just got back from a trip to London. Saw Kristin Hersh play a fearsome and beautiful set at the Scala, and also went to the Diane Arbus exhibition, Revelations, at the V&A.

I was hoping that seeing the exhibition would resolve some of my mixed feelings about Arbus, but I remain resolutely in - at least - two minds about her work. Possibly this is the point though - it's clearly not meant to be "easy", and therefore maybe being fascinating is more than sufficient.

The exhibition is really nicely done, with a chronological and fairly comprehensive selection of her work - mostly original Arbus prints, quite a few not seen before. In the galleries are also three "libraries" - rooms containing contact sheets, journals, letters, her cameras, and even a whole collage of work prints and newspaper cuttings transported from the wall of her studio. I haven't really seen anything quite like this at an exhibition before, and I really appreciated it as a supreme bit of context - as a photographer I always like to see something of the process behind work, but more generally it gave some insight into the question that comes to mind when I see many Arbus pictures - who made this?

Oddness Abounds

This is a picture from some sort of bizarre conspiracy sideshow in Blackpool. It's closed for the winter now, but I might have to go next year to see if the interior is as barking as I imagine...

I've just about got over my creative lull now, and the excitement over photography is definitely back - to the point where I was almost enjoying the smell of fixer when I developed some rolls last night. I was listening to Dirty Three, looking forward to seeing what was going to emerge from the rinse, and thinking this is okay.

Archive Hour

Nothing new and exciting to post, so here's a really old shot of my band's drummer, Danny. On Delta 3200 in a very dim room, hence the prodigious grain.

There are some really good new features on the Magnum in Motion site, well worth your attention.