It's been a while...

Having been away from technology for a while, I am now back and have updated my portfolios. My journeys took me to Central and South America, allowing me to positively expand my travel section. Other recent commissions include new band photographs for Los and the careful documentation of a young man's funeral. A well known idiom pertaining to variety springs to mind..?!

Dead Space

These photographs are the evidence of lives lived and the residue of unexpected departures. These places depict the aftermath of sudden deaths and evictions. An abrupt emptiness ensues and all that is left are the remaining signs of a previous life.

Once possessions, the objects that are left assume a new status. They serve as metaphors for the life and death of their late owners. The destitute items are like decaying carcasses, empty shells devoid of memory or purpose. Like the corpse, the remains exist in an existential loneliness, stripped bare of emotion and life.

Interiors

I've been researching into the official titling of my current work which has been temporarily guised as As Sad as an Uninhabited House as it's been progressing. I came across Paul Quinn's Untitled Rooms series with the following accompanying text, which is appropriate for my series of "interiors" also:

"Every room has its own history which is shaped and written by the individuals who live there. Rooms often show what marks and stains a life. They serve as a container for memories of what is left behind." (www.paulquinnphotography.com)

T-Mobile

I recently photographed for T-Mobile; updating the photographs on an e-learning programme to coincide with their rebranding strategy.

a website menu

I was asked by fellow artist Ruth to help her out and take photographs for her new website and I was happy to oblige... Ruth knew exactly what she wanted so it was a nice and easy job done :)

Each image illustrates a menu option for the website, from Contact to Kitchen... When it's up and running I strongly recommend perusing the Shop; some of the little creatures and anomalies that Ruth's created or found are interesting to browse through, if not to buy. The images are here.

Living history

"The 916. Grenadier Regiment is a 're-created' living history unit based on the actual unit that fought with distinction in North West Europe between 1944 and 1945... The unit was formed way back in 1978 by enthusiasts and collectors... Today the unit has a long and proud history as one of the premier World War Two German Infantry Units in the world."

"The unit is made up of a group of dedicated individuals with an interest in the WWII German Army, but without any sympathy for the Third Reich or its ideals. [Their] aim is to honour the ordinary infantry soldiers of all nations." (www.916gr.co.uk)

I draw on this aim by juxtaposing the reminiscent, black and white portraits of the men as German infantrymen with a colour and contemporary look at their lives today. This fusion of nations is accentuated further by the inclusion of the actual and fictional names, dates of births and professions of the men as they are currently, and as their German alter egos respectively.

The transformation does not appear as only physical; the tentative exuberance the men suggest in their present-day portraits is replaced with a sincere confidence as they represent themselves as Living History. The work, therefore, not only serves as a transnational memorial but also invites discernment over the re-enactors themselves.

As sad as an uninhabited house...

The As Sad as an Uninhabited House series continues... and I've given it a permanent home on my site with a view to getting close to a final edit over the next couple of months.

I have started photographing the houses where the tenants have been evicted, rather than died, as there are more opportunities. Scrambling through the disgarded possessions of the evictees to find accidental still lives sitting there, waiting to be photographed is exciting and the results give something different those previous.