BACK FROM THE LAB

Another blast from the past. Every time I collect new film I am stopped in my tracks. Every time a reminder of what this whole thing is about. Photography for me is still learning, still my main mode of discovery.

Over the last few months I have made lamentable starts at writing posts to apologise for the blog silence and account for the dip in updates. Really tragic writing actually. Some great apologia,and in the end I don't even have room for photos. In reality, it turns out, I've not had the time or the enthusiasm to write about what I work hard and enthusiastically at all week. This ol' blog has always been an archivist and diary to my heady, chaotic activity. But by the time I sit down to sift through my thoughts on a project, I have already moved on to the next two. Of the things I should always be writing about, is photography's great brotherly companionship showing us how to keep exploring. Not specific to any camera, or any format, the very act is still universally thrilling.

So hey! I am once again drawn back to earth. Not the commissions or work that I finished in the last two weeks, but small iridescent rectangles of emulsion that I shoot at important points on my search for new ideas. They document and promise nothing but humble, forgettable microseconds in my own travels. There are no stories, nothing to sell.What is here in these rolls, are the beginnings of a documenting of Glasgow's Southside. Something, I hope in time, I will talk a lot more about. Here is a place I am drawn to like gravity. Its latent, hidden colour and personality are heralding an adventure. For now, film still has a place at my side.

Luminate 2013

Winter isn't exactly renowned for its festival abundance in the city of festivals, except, of course, for that one. So as October draws to a close again, a satisfied man, I figuratively hang up my festival hat for the year. The last month saw me working again with Luminate, Scotland's creative ageing festival, on a programme of events that spanned the regions of Scotland. Performances, workshops, classes, discussions and fairs on subjects from cinema to historical research through to poetry and contemporary art. The umbrella of 'creative' is straight-away a broad one.

So too is the handle of 'ageing.' I captured a selection of events from the programme and both audiences and participants ranged hugely in years. Nothing in the events were exclusive to older generations, and none of the issues and themes across the works were unique to them either. My assumptions were certainly bruised. New ideas and new technology go through the same processes with older as they do younger. Broad mindedness doesn't fall out of style as you grow, it's human nature to search for new means of expression and hidden creative outlets.

From the small moments I shared with the different groups, I realsised ageing is something we all have in common. And not, to contradict popular consensus, necessarily a parallel of maturity.

Underpass Mural in Livingston

Stone Carving Workshop at the Burrell Collection, Glasgow

24 Carat Gold performance at Dancebass, Edinburgh

Open Mic Night at Glad Cafe, Glasgow

Poetry Slam at Ghillie Dhu, Edinburgh

Music Workshop at Howden Park Centre, Livingston

e

D U O

Finally finally, NEW work.

Last Friday, The Photographers Collective opened the doors on their annual exhibition, Collection 3, to a busy and earnest reception. Growing and expanding year on, this year they invited 3 photographers to showcase their work alongside them for their show. Earlier this year I was asked along and, only too flattered, set the wheels in motion to curate or shoot a new body of work for October.

D U O is what emerged from 2 years of colour film work from my small travels. Researching which project to hang for the Collection, I was in a new position. I had the opportunity to publish new work that had yet to be given a name, but I wanted something to engage with the exhibition as a whole. It has emerged nevertheless from small conspiracies. My relationship with travelling is intrinsically rooted in film in favour of digital, which I have written about already here and here. A growing archive of overlapping themes and styles from different countries has blossomed into this small study in unity.

The exhibition is open until Friday in Out Of The Blue, Dalmeny Street. An extended edit of the project is below for those who can't make the show. If it was me though I wouldn't need a reason to get my red gallery troosers out, come one come all.