frankie photo album

I should've done this a while ago, when the book first come out. But here it is, my contribution to The Frankie Photo Album made by Australia's Frankie Magazine.

I'm still really pleased about being chosen to show my work in this book, it's a pretty big deal for me. Knowing that people all over the world (hopefully) will have a book with MY photograph printed in it.

I'm hoping I get a lot more of this in the near future, everything thats happened with my photography being published is usually from being seen on Flickr, so I'm thankful for that.

And it's such a lovely book, featuring a lot of amazing photographers which I follow on flickr like Emily Hunt, Annette Pehrsson and, Shelbie Dimond.

Buy the book here!

This is the photo that Frankie featured.

it's coming back to me

My motivation, that is.

I got slightly worried the other week because I just wasnt taking photo's anymore, even though I sit and do nothing all day I wasnt making time to take photo's. So I made an effort and am pissed off at myself that I stopped for a couple of weeks.

Hopefully it will come to me naturally like it used to, from now on.

border or no border?

Today I got out my Polaroid 450 which has been sitting in a box under my bed for months! Still had some black and white 667 film in it. It's expired and it smells so bad!!!

I've never scanned any of my peel-aparts with the paper border still on, so I thought I'd give it a go and see if I liked the outcome. I think it works for some and not for others...

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Diane Arbus

I had never really explored Diane Arbus' work in the past, I briefly looked at her work when I was studying but never in detail. I have recently visited Edinburgh in which at their Scottish National Gallery they are holding a major exhibiton of her work. So I had to go and have a look while I was there because nowhere close to home would hold such a big exhibition of a great Photographer like Diane Arbus. I was quite blown away by the amount of work they had of hers and the sheer amazing quality of images.

I am a big fan of black and white film, especially medium format, hence my obsession with Francesca Woodman. So I was pleased to see that most of the images on display were her medium format ones.

In some rooms every photo had an explanation, which was nice but sometimes it took your attention away from the actual photograph. All of the photographs on display were portraits, mostly of 'freaks' as people call them, and normal people she had met on the street, got to know and been invited back to their homes to photograph them in a more personal surrounding. In the lobby of the gallery they had some clippings of local newspapers reviews of the exhibition, and I kept seeing the words; disturbing and unnerving, when describing some of her portraits, I didnt think this at all, and I cant really see how other people can think it. They're not disturbing, they're pretty fascinating.

Most of the photographs I saw were stunning, the most perfect prints you could think of. The subject matter was also always interesting.

Although Arbus was from a 'rich' background she thought of it more as a hindrance or an embaressing thing, and rarely took photographs of people in high society, but when she did it was almost as if she was mocking them or showing their true colours as being miserable underneath the facade of wealth and fortune.

My favourite of the lot is the image of twin sisters, I could stare at it for hours. Also, there was a rare self-portrait of Diane Arbus when she was pregnant with her first child in 1945, she had started documenting her pregnancy in photographs to send to her husband. It was a really beautiful shot. It really opened my eyes to what an amazing and inspiring photographer Diane Arbus was. And once again I find myself confused and annoyed that like Francesca Woodman, she commited suicide.

I think from now on I will probably use Diane Arbus' work as more of an inspiration than I would in the past. There really should be more exhibitions like this that are more accessible to people all over the UK. This exhibition was a part of the 'Artist Rooms Tour' which is in association with Tate Modern and I think this is what they are trying to achieve by putting on major exhibitions in smaller cities in the UK.

Here are just a few of Diane Arbus' inspiring portraits;