"The lowest gas price of any major supplier is arriving."
British Gas
For those of you outside the UK or recently woken from a coma, British Gas has decided to raise prices by anything up to 44% as of today.
Whilst pleading poverty the company posted record profits of over £1,000,000,000. Centrica, which owns British Gas, boasted in their last annual report that basic earnings per share have risen from 18 pence per share in 2005 to nearly 37 pence in 2007.
This will come as a crumb of comfort to the 500,000 people who will be plunged into fuel poverty as a result of the rise in bills.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Today's sick joke
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Down and Out In Bristol and Who Knows Where?
"If one looks closely one sees that there is no essential difference between a beggar's livelihood and that of numberless respectable people. Beggars do not work, it is said; but then, what is work? A navvy works by swinging a pick. An accountant works by adding up figures. A beggar works by standing out of doors in all weathers and getting varicose veins, chronic bronchitis, etc. It is a trade like any other; quite useless, of course - but then, many reputable trades are quite useless."
(George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London)
Inspired by Robert Frank
I recently bought a book that I have been looking for since I first heard about it last year. Robert Frank's, The Americans.
"The Americans, by Robert Frank, was a highly influential book in post-war American photography. It was first published in France in 1958, and the following year in the United States. The photographs were notable for their distanced view of both high and low strata of American society. The book as a whole created a complicated portrait of the period that was viewed as skeptical of contemporary values and evocative of ubiquitous loneliness."
I've been trying, as I so often do, to put some of the atmosphere of the book into my own photographs. Once again I am limited by the fact I'm not free to roam a continent, or even a country for that matter but still I feel there is plenty to see on your own door step, if you look hard enough.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Airbourne
I was walking down by the docks when I saw this guy practicing a long, difficult jump so I asked if I could watch and take pictures. Thankfully, he said yes.
Lydia
It's turning out to be a hot summer here after all. So, me, Lydia and Misie went out to a local park and had an impromptu picnic.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
old school
Taken while wandering down Corn St, just outside the Registrar's office where civil weddings take palce. I saw this guy taking pictures of the bride and groom as they waited their turn to get married.
My brother
Jason playing his new guitar. He decided to buy a new one after being invited to join a band.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=99426090
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Bristol peace vigil
"The Bristol peace vigil meets Monday - Friday 5.30 - 6.30pm Saturday 3 - 4pm at Bristol city centre, opposite the Hippodrome. Please come any time you can."
Friday, July 25, 2008
Hoot for Privacy
I met this Portugese campaigner/artist in the centre and she said she was trying to raise awareness of the way in which surveillence of public spaces is eroding our privacy.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Bedminster dreams
East St, Bedminster. Also known as the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Well, I'll say one thing for this place, it's not dull, which is definitely a step up from when I lived here permanently and thought that I would die of boredom. I managed to see a car accident, another man being dragged semi - comatose out of the middle of the road in a drug/alcohol induced stupor (don't worry he revived soon enough), got propositioned by a woman who I don't think was collecting for Friends of the Earth and saw a fight. Not bad for a three hour stroll at midday.
When most people go on a photowalk they usually have fluffy animals or historic sites in mind. For me things usually turn out a mite differently
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Yesterday's news
"A gifted student who was brutally beaten after breaking up a street row last month has died of his injuries.
Joseph Dymond-Williams, 17, tried to stop an argument between a woman and her boyfriend on June 22, but was punched then kicked in the head by two other men."
See here for the rest of the Channel 4 story.
The wreaths are gradually withering away and most people seem to be indifferent as to why they were placed there in the first place. Ironically, I witnessed a near perfect re-run of the crime (thankfully without the tragic ending) when walking through Bedminster this evening. A young couple were arguing. Actually, the guy was shouting and screaming at his girlfriend. He swore that he'd never hit women then spat in her hair as she walked ahead. When a passer - by intervened the two men shouted and swore at each other, The boyfriend insulting the other man but always making sure he kept his distance. A pathetic little excuse of a human being.
Summer's day
Today was one of those perfect summer days that you read so much about in literature. Warm, but not oppresively so and since I was on holiday I was in the position to enjoy it to the uptmost. A chance for me and Lydia to grab a bus, go to a park and have a picnic.
After wandering through Ashton Court, we came across deer all huddled together under a tree, picked enough blackberries to make a crumble and then watched as some parkour guys did some training in another park on the way home. It doesn't get more mellow than this.
Monday, July 21, 2008
In the centre
As usual I managed to see various stuff on my walk around town, including a shop lifter bolting out of a record store followed by an employee who seems to have done his in - service training at an Olympic level sprinting facility. The thief jumped on a cycle and dashed down Union St narrowly missing pedestrians at the bottom who were crossing the road. Still, like I said the guy chasing him almost caught him.
Smile, you've been Googled.
As I was walking around the centre of Bristol I saw the infamous Google Maps Street View car taking pictures to go with Google Earth. I suppose it's very hypocritical of me to object seeing as I do the same, in a way. Still, I'm uneasy about this kind of stuff carried out on such a scale by a large corporation,
Bristol in Colour
This was taken near the old harbour which has been changed beyond recognition since I was a kid. gone are the old, abandoned warehouses and wharfs and in their place appartment blocks and offices.
One of the things Lydia looks to most when she visits England is the chance to play with her cousin, Maisie. Despite not having seen each other for a year they instantly started playing and chatting as if they had never been apart.
The confluence of two strange events, though the image reminds me of something from the film, Signs. In the foreground, one of a pair of dancing street artists and in the back ground a funky marching band, The Ambling Band. And to think I originally thought I'd have a hard time finding stuff to photograph in the street here in Bristol!.
The Ambling band in all their pink glory.
As the band was playing this hen party (a pre-wedding blow out for the bride and her friends, for those unfamiliar with the custom) tumbled out of a nearby pub and danced to the band for a good half an hour. Oh those uptight English! No idea of how to have fun.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Hen party
Me and Lydia decided to go to the centre as a way of getting out of the house. Whilst in the harbour we can across a French marching band playing as they made their way to a somewhere. Moments later this hen party burst out of a bar nearby and started dancing.
Friday, July 18, 2008
People I meet
I took this guy's picture last year when I was last in bristol and when i saw him again in the cente I asked for another pic.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Chieska
I had the chance to meet up with Chieska who is currently living in Bristol. It was great to finally meet a photographer whose work I admire very much.
It was a wonderful chance to chat and get in touch with our inner Flickr geek.
Sipa Press photographer arrested and beaten while taking photos inside port
Once again the Greek law enforcement authorities have covered themselves in glory. This time arresting then beating handcuffed French photographer, Oliver Jobard who was covering a story on Afghan refugees in the port city of Patras. It's almost a year since I suffered similar treatment (see here) at the hands of the Greek riot police for taking pictures during a peaceful demo. You have no idea how much I hate these knuckle grazing, corrupt neanderthals.
"French photographer Olivier Jobard of the Sipa Press agency was arrested and beaten by a coastguard officer on 4 July while taking photos in the port of Patras, in northern Peloponnese, for a report on immigrants. Detained by the police on charges of “resisting an authority” and “physical injury,” he was released the next day pending a trial, which was due to begin today.
For years, a special permit has for been necessary for anyone taking photos within Greece’s ports, which are regarded as military or high-security areas.
Jobard told Reporters Without Borders that Sipa Press requested a permit for him but it had not been issued by the time he needed to begin working. He took photos without any problem on 3 July, when he was questioned twice by port guards and was allowed to continue working after showing them, at their request, the pictures he had been taking. "
See here for the rest of the story from Reportage Sans Frontiers"
Thanks to Devious Diva for putting me onto the story.
"French photographer Olivier Jobard of the Sipa Press agency was arrested and beaten by a coastguard officer on 4 July while taking photos in the port of Patras, in northern Peloponnese, for a report on immigrants. Detained by the police on charges of “resisting an authority” and “physical injury,” he was released the next day pending a trial, which was due to begin today.
For years, a special permit has for been necessary for anyone taking photos within Greece’s ports, which are regarded as military or high-security areas.
Jobard told Reporters Without Borders that Sipa Press requested a permit for him but it had not been issued by the time he needed to begin working. He took photos without any problem on 3 July, when he was questioned twice by port guards and was allowed to continue working after showing them, at their request, the pictures he had been taking. "
See here for the rest of the story from Reportage Sans Frontiers"
Thanks to Devious Diva for putting me onto the story.
When in England
You know you're in England when;
- it's 14c outside, raining and the guy in front of you is wearing a hoody, raincoat, Bermuda shorts and flip flops.
- anything, and I mean anything can be turned into a sandwich. Sushie sarnie anyone?
- the TV is full of chefs cooking wonderful dishes whilst the audiences stuffs themselves with crisps, pot noodles and microwaved hamburgers.
- your umbrella has not left your side for weeks and it's July.
- you go to a demo and it's so quiet you think you've joined a funeral procession by mistake.
- whatever media you choose to use and abuse has exactly the same stories, just in a slightly jumbled order.
- it's 14c outside, raining and the guy in front of you is wearing a hoody, raincoat, Bermuda shorts and flip flops.
- anything, and I mean anything can be turned into a sandwich. Sushie sarnie anyone?
- the TV is full of chefs cooking wonderful dishes whilst the audiences stuffs themselves with crisps, pot noodles and microwaved hamburgers.
- your umbrella has not left your side for weeks and it's July.
- you go to a demo and it's so quiet you think you've joined a funeral procession by mistake.
- whatever media you choose to use and abuse has exactly the same stories, just in a slightly jumbled order.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
St Thomas the Martyr
I was just wandering around the church when the warden(?) came up and said that if I wanted I could go up to the gallery and take pictures from there. By strange coicncidence I recognised him as I had taken his picture last year while on holiday in Bristol. Small world as the saying goes.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
In England
Yesterday I splashed out and bought Don McCullin's In England, a collection of pictures by the world class photographer. As well as going to war zones in far off lands he also took stunning images of places closer to home. Inspired by what I saw I thought I'd post my take on the same issue.
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