Reference Works is a major new photography commission in which four leading photographers will make visual responses to the current Central Library building and to the build, transition and relocation to the new Library of Birmingham.
Those photographers being Michael Collins, Brian Griffin, Andrew Lacon and Stuart Whipps
Some photographs from Keith Berry’s site on Pbase. Really nostalgic pictures from 60′s and 70′s plus some recent ones of mine. Worth taking a look at http://www.pbase.com/beppuu
There’s some crazy stuff on the rest of that YouTube channel.
The current 48 Sheet project (the reason there are interesting billboards around town) is clearly a GOOD THING. Another thing that is clearly a GOOD THING is when other projects start riffing off what others are doing. A case in point:
In order to document these works 48 Sheets, BirminghamViewpoint and Birmingham Loves Photographers have teamed up to create a one off project that records this event that allows the photographers of Birmingham to capture it with their own style.
If you want to get involved then be quick, the deadline’s not far off. More info here.
Jack Adams is a photographer. On Saturday he was at the Dachsund UN, one of the weekend’s Fierce Festival events (and a very popular one by the sound of things – gutted I couldn’t make it).
He’s also got some prints for sale on Etsy and is on Flickr if you want to check out his stuff there.
Jack’s also the guy behind Birmingham street fashion blog Uber Brum. Here’s an interview with him about that from last year.
As spotted by D’log, Sharon Johnstone does some very lovely macro photography.
There are plenty more images on her website.
Another Birmingham photography project for your weekend enjoyment. Birmingham {Viewpoint} is run by a chap called Pete and it works like this:
On a monthly basis, a subject will be published on this blog for those taking part. They will then have a month to photograph this subject and email their photographs to the email address below or submit it via the Contact page. The idea of the project is to see the different ways different people view the same subject.
The subject could be a landmark – such as the BT Tower, the Mailbox, the Bullring or a specific area – such as the Jewellery Quarter, the canal system or one of the many beautiful parks in Birmingham. I am open to suggestions of subjects from participants during the project as well, especially if you have a favourite subject that is off the beaten track.
It’s good to see a shout out to the Birmingham Loves Photographers get-togethers at 6/8 Kafe for motivating and inspiring this project.
I also like this project’s name for the chance to use {urly bra{ckets – an oft-neglected key on my keyboard.
The A34 Stratford Road runs from near the centre of Birmingham to Stratford-Upon-Avon. This photo-blog is about the people who can be found between the Sparkbrook and Shirley areas.
The Stratford Road Project is a great photo-portrait thing from Rob Gilbert - definitely go check this one out.
Yes, its official: Birmingham Instagram Group’s first Instameet will take place on Sunday 1st April in the Jewellery Quarter. More details soon. Coming?
I’m not really one for reprinting press releases that are sent to me but I’ll make an exception. Here follows a message from Pete.
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I’m running a couple of courses which I hope will become regular monthly things.
The first is Matt and Pete’s Photo School (see poster)
Here we’re combining an academic approach to photography with the the practical peer learning of a Flickrmeet. As well as hobbyists we’re also looking to help those who can use photography better in their businesses or as a personal development course.
Through a combination of group teaching, personal goal setting, one-to-one mentoring and peer learning, Matt and Pete can help you become a better photographer, whether it’s for photos of your family or as a valuable business tool.
The first class in on Sunday Feb 6th at The Victoria from 12-5pm. The usual cost is £60 per head but we’re doing an introductory offer of £25 for February.
The second is Social Media Group Therapy (see PDF poster).
This is run with the Moseley Exchange and is aimed at the self-employed and small businesses who are having issues with their online activity. “Group therapy” isn’t just a joke. I think people’s problems, once unpicked, can be best be answered by those facing the same situations.
Social Media Group Therapy avoids the snake oil and magic beans of fly-by-night “experts” with a structured environment of peer learning led by someone who understands the pros and cons of the online world.
This course is on Tuesday March 6th at the Moseley Exchange from 6-8pm and costs £25 per person (£20 for Exchange members).
New Art Gallery Walsall have got the next instalment of Martin Parr’s Black Country Stories project on show for a couple of months from today.
The project was commissioned by Multistory. Martin was in Sandwell in 2010, he did Walsall last year and this year and next he’ll be in Wolverhampton and Dudley.
He’s also been doing some filming, including this from Teddy Gray’s Sweet Factory:
Established in 1826, Teddy Gray’s has always been a family owned and run business. Five generations have worked and contributed towards the business of keeping the traditional, hand-made methods of sweet making alive.
Instagram is a social photo-sharing thing. I’ve been using searchinstagram.com to check out a few pics taken around Birmingham. Some of them are of the other Birmingham but it’s easy enough to spot the difference, by and large.
James Crockford went to the Master Photography Awards and walked away with a few more prizes than he expected:
Cap duly doffed. Here’s the image that won him the last three awards:
Here’s photographer Jonathan Cherry on his recent trip to Rohini, India:
I was in India for only two weeks & the majority of that time was spent in the 30-year-old sub city of Delhi called Rohini. It was a fascinating place to stay & apart from feeling a little out of place Rohini offers a beautiful sense of community. I was drawn into photographing the people of Rohini because of their openness. One wet and humid afternoon I walked to the nearest park where I watched some local boys play cricket. Within 5 minutes of being sat on a bench I was surrounded by 20 boys wanting to know where I had come from and what my name was. It was an interesting scenario because after these two questions we sat in silence for many minutes simply looking at each other. Experiencing their intrigue from my point of view was something I decided to use within my photography. By pointing my Hasselblad at people I no longer became the focus but my subject was drawn into the spotlight. It was an interesting dynamic and I plan to explore it further.
There are more photographs from Jonathan’s visit to Rohini on his website.
Birmingham Loves Photographers is still a very enjoyable blog. Which is a relief – I quite often get excited about a new face on the online scene, only for them to fizzle out after a couple of weeks (often when it turns out it was just a student’s university project).
Anyway, BLP is worth a subscribe/follow. They’ve been doing a good run of interviews with various photographers, have just released the results of the first round of their Portrait Project and they’ve also flagged up the Library of Birmingham Self-Portrait:
During the autumn of 2011, seven photographic sessions will take place in a range of locations – in the city centre and in community libraries across Birmingham, at which citizens will be invited to take self-portraits in a studio setting, using a shutter release and a plain backdrop. Participants will be given a copy of their photo to take away. The resulting images will be used in a digital installation in the new Library of Birmingham, with potential for a future publication project.
It has it’s own website at Self Portrait Birmingham but there’s no information there about this just yet, although BLP mention an event at Ward End Library on Saturday 1st October from 10.00am-4.00pm.
See also the Birmingham’s People project from a couple of years back.
Lewis Maxwell Bloor does photography, design, typography, digital manipulation and post production. He’s on Carbonmade and Tumblr (which is where I spotted a version of the pic above), has accounts on Flickr and Twitter and he’s available for freelance work.
I thought I recognised the name, but I was probably thinking of Simon and Tom Bloor who are from Birmingham too.
