VivaciousV Photography

Border Line at The Signal Gallery

2011-07-09T13:39:00.006+01:00

Last Thursday Mark and I attended the private view 'Border Line' at The Signal Gallery, where photographs from the book 'Out of Sight' by our friend Jeremy were featured alongside new works from the French street artist C215. The book contains Jeremy's photos of urban art in abandoned spaces, shot in Europe and the United Kingdom, and combines his love of Urban Exploration and Street Art in one very well produced and fascinating volume. It is well worth buying if you are interested in either or both subjects!

C215 is a well-travelled street artist who has put up work in various countries around the world (I even found and photographed some in Venice when I was there last month), and his work has a considered precision yet flowing beauty about it which I find particularly appealing. Whilst he is usually posting work to walls and other outdoor surfaces, his use of old oil cans, cardboard, old book covers and even a guillotine were particularly effective 'canvases' and made a striking display.

It was a good evening. Great as always to see Jeremy, to catch up and plan an outing to Sheffield to shoot some street art there, and good to meet Christian (C215) and see his fascinating work. I especially liked the pieces on antique book covers, would have loved to have bought one, but a bit out of my price range!

Mr B enjoys a pint at the boozer next-door to the gallery

C215's work on the pillarbox opposite the gallery

And inside the gallery, the 'official' work

Christian a.k.a. C215

Mark

The work on the antique book covers - gorgeous!

Jeremy and Mark

Jeremy signing my copy of 'Out of Sight'

More from C215 and Alice in nearby Blackall Street

Some other artists' work in Blackall Street

Cartrain

Venice, Italy - May 2011: Part 2

2011-06-01T22:59:00.003+01:00

The second set of photos from my recent holiday in Venice with my Mum.

S.Elena

San Pietro di Castello, complete with saintly remains in a glass coffin over the altar

"Who, me?"

Via Garibaldi

Some artists at work

Mum and friend Deborah

An Egret

The grand entrance to the hospital

Ambulance, Venetian-style

Isola di San Michele (the cemetery island)

The Lido from the back of the vaporetto

The biggest of all the ocean liners that we saw

Me photographing glass animals on Murano

Murano

Burano, the most colourful island in the lagoon

The giant ice-cream outside La Pinguina, where we bought many ices :)

Breakfast

Back of a seat on the vaporetto

(some things are universal!)

Gondolas full of (mainly Japanese) tourists, as far as the eye can see

Some interesting art near Crea vaporetto stop in Cannaregio

the house owner returned as I was taking the photo, and said it was "molto bene"

Paradiso at Giardini Biennale, sadly only discovered on the penultimate day

Spritz + view + sun + good book = BLISS

Another big boat departs Venice

Mum painting the view

Viale Garibaldi

From the back of the water taxi - arrivederci Venezia!

Venice, Italy - May 2011: Part 1

2011-06-01T22:42:00.002+01:00

Some shots from my recent trip to Venice with my Mum, May 2011.

One of the many large cruise liners that regularly pass through Venice

Mmm, first Spritz (classic Venetian drink) of the holiday

Mum in the kitchen of our apartment, painting in her diary

One of the mozzies stalking me in my bedroom on the first night:

got five, missed one, which bit me five times :(

View from our apartment on the Arsenale,

the only grotty day weather-wise

Our local tabac

Mum in Francesco's deli

Statue restoration

the Venetian Fire Department rush by our vaporetto

Rialto fish market, closed the first time we visited

On the vaporetto

Accademia Bridge, looking up

Mum waiting for the vaporetto

My usual foor shot

Expensive cappuccino on La Giudecca

One of the many lions I 'collected' during the trip

Dorsoduro from La Giudecca

Carabinieri re-fuelling their boat

Supper out with friends Barbara and John

Post-supper ice-creams for everyone

Workman re-laying paving right below our apartment

Delicious fresh peas and Mum's diary painting

Hot priests and gondolier calendars ;)

Nom nom nom!

Some rather nice work by C215

Dorsoduro looking towards La Giudecca

Gondolier making/mending yard

Accademia Bridge

Mum at one of of favourite restaurants, on Campo della Tana

Santa Maria della Salute

Rialto fruit and veg market (heaven)

Mum choosing salami and burgers in the 'horse' butcher

(we don't think they were horse meat though)

Rialto Fish Market

Rialto Bridge

My grandparents favourite hotel, the Baeur on the Grand Canal.

They always stayed on the 2nd floor corner room

Lunch at the apartment

Our apartment on Campo Arsenale, behind the tree

Giardini Biennale

Penshurst Place

2011-04-12T19:05:00.003+01:00

Was feeling a bit low yesterday, and as it was such a lovely day I decided to cheer myself up by visiting Penshurst Place in Kent to have a look around the gardens there. I can get in for free with my RHS membership, which I don't make as good use of as I should, which I must do something about! The gardens were beautifully maintained and everything was just in the first flush of Spring, with daffodils mostly over, tulips and hyacinths in abundance, neat hedges and topiary, old red brick walls and espaliered trees separating different sections of the garden, plus perfect blue sky and unseasonably warm temperatures to go with it. Had a very enjoyable wander around with my camera, and spent some time just sitting on benches in various locations enjoying the sun and some quiet contemplation. Happy to say that I felt better by the time I left to go home.

The Porcupine emblem of the family

The herbaceous border awaiting new plants

Having had cereal for breakfast and no lunch, this yummy

chocolate cake and pot of Earl Grey was most welcome!

It's that Porcupine again

West Park Asylum - Quick Snaps Part 3

2011-04-12T17:32:00.000+01:00

The final set of pinhole shots from West Park.

This was where we got busted and shifted!

Mark was spotted here by a workman passing at the end of the corridor :(

However, we managed to see more of the exterior and get into a smaller

building a bit further away, so all was not lost.

It was by that doorway that Mark and I first met ;)

West Park Asylum - Quick Snaps Part 2

2011-04-12T17:16:00.000+01:00

Second set of snaps from West Park, all taken with the LX3 on pinhole setting - in retrospect some are a tad too dark, but given the sheer volume of them I'm afraid I can't face brightening them all up in Photoshop, even with the aid of an action!

Mark photographing the padded cell

Mark and me

West Park Asylum - Quick Snaps Part 1

2011-03-23T12:23:00.002Z

The first of three batches of quick photos taken with my LX3 on pinhole camera setting. They're mostly low light and all are handheld so some of them are slightly blurred, but this is really for the record before this place vanishes forever.

West Park Asylum Children's Ward

2011-03-16T17:52:00.004Z

The first batch of 'snaps' from my recent visit with Mark to West Park Asylum, these are all from the children's wards. Initially I wondered whether these wards were for the young children of patients, constructed so that parents and young children would not lose contact with one another, but after conducting some research online it would appear probably not. These wards were specifically for disturbed young children, some of whom were possibly mentally ill but many of whom I would imagine had behavioural problems that would not necessarily be classified as 'ill' these days. How must these children have felt to have been in this place, which despite having cheery characters painted in murals over many of the walls, and toys aplenty to play with, yet still knowing that they were encarcerated there away from their families? It is a sobering thought indeed .....

This article from The Independent in 1993 discusses how poverty could be a big factor, whereas this 1956 article from Time presents a sobering insight into the treatment of difficult children half a century ago.

Manor House B

2011-03-13T17:50:00.001Z

Mark and I have had a weekend of UrbEx, starting with Norfolk on Saturday, to visit a beautiful but VERY lethal manor house, that was literally falling apart around us. Collapsed ceilings, fallen stairs, spongy floors and gaping voids were everywhere, making it essential to take extreme care and watch where one was putting one's feet.

All the following photographs taken with Lumix LX3 on pinhole camera setting.

Some of the very old documents lying around on the table

Organ details - it was a beautiful instrument

Looking up through the kitchen ceiling!

This is how dilapidated much of the house has become

The amazing old hand pump in the scullery

They thought this would keep us out ............... wrong!

All that remained of the second set of stairs

Ground floor looking up

The main staircase

One of the very dilapidated upstairs floors

Mark at work

Going down?

This upstairs corridor was lethal - there was a

strong possibility of ending up downstairs

without having to use the ladder to get there

Looking down

Mark photographing the organ

More organ details - it was too good to resist

"Beauty in Decay" Book Launch

2010-11-06T18:41:00.004Z

On Thursday last week I attended the book launch of my friend Jeremy's (Romanywg) new book "Beauty in Decay", a photographic tribute to UrbEx and the exploration of abandoned buildings around the world. Held in the Resistance Gallery in East London, the selection of photographs were beautifully printed on art paper and looked sensational on the walls amidst the eccentric bowers of ivy which decorated the place, along with various other objects like a stuffed owl and dressmakers dummy. Met lots of other urban explorers that I have so far only "known" via the medium of Flickr: Ill Padrino, Shando, Useless Psychic, Batram, Olivier Burnside, D-Kay, Rusty, Gaz Mather, so great to finally put some faces to names!

Some of these photos are a bit dark - I was trying to avoid using the flash as I wanted to capture the atmosphere of the gallery, but can see with the benefit of hindsight that a bit more flash might have been a good idea! Ho hum, live and learn.

See these links for more information on the book and the gallery.

The stage is set....

Lazarides Hell's Half Acre

2010-10-15T18:37:00.005+01:00

Last night Mark and I attended the Lazarides Gallery collaboration with the Old Vic Tunnels staged within the recently discovered labyrinth beneath Waterloo station, "Hell's Half Acre". The maze of underground tunnels was converted into a large-scale evocation of Dante's "Inferno", and visitors were invited to explore the nine circles of Hell through the contributions of various artists. "The artists provided their own interpretation of Hell with freedom to reference both Purgatorio and Paradiso from the trilogy of the Divine Comedy. Through the curatorial direction, interaction with the exhibited works - paintings, sculptures, vidoe pieces and mixed media installation - is encouraged and part of this thrilling multi-sensory experience." Steve Lazarides, owner of the gallery, said of the show: "Hell's Half Acre is a subterranean journey into Hell as envisaged by a group of young, cutting edge artists. It's a vision of our hellish society under coalition rule, inspired by Dante's Inferno." The artists were Antony Macallef, Bast, Christian Lemmerz, Conor Harrington, Doug Foster, George Osodi, Ian Francis, Jonathan Yeo, Mark Jenkins, Paul Insect, Polly Morgan, Todd James, Vhils, Zak Ove, Boogie and David Choe.

Obviously in keeping with the theme it was very dark down there, so had to crank up ISO on camera to Silly Levels as working handheld, but photos didn't come out too bad in the end. The entire experience was quite unsettling - some of the sculptures and paintings were frankly disturbing, but I loved the imagination and expression that had gone into these works, and their setting in these dark and dank tunnels was a brilliant modern day interpretation of Hell.

Some snaps here, but best pictures in my Hell's Half Acre gallery on Flickr

Mark

Potters Manor House Part 6

2010-09-15T23:58:00.000+01:00

Visited Potters with Maša today, was sad to see just how much it has deteriorated due to mindless vandalism in a few short weeks. About six others arrived when we were there, to have a look around and also to take some photos. I think the vibration from the number of people wandering about caused the balustrade handrail to fall into the hallway (it was already insecure since most of the bannisters had been removed) with the most enormous bang - I was upstairs at the time and my immediate thought was that someone had fallen through the floor, which is very dodgy in that area, but luckily this was not the case.

There were brambles everywhere outside, laden with some of the fattest, sweetest and juiciest blackberries I have had so far this year. Maša and I both scoffed lots on the way in, but during the time we were there she would appear by my side with another handful for me, which was very pleasant indeed :)

All photos taken with natural light, mostly ISO 400, so some are a bit dark but I didn't want any more grain on the images. I think the darkness adds to the atmosphere though. Please see my previous posts on Potters to observe how wrecked the house has become since my first visit a few months ago.

Why throw the sofa over there? Why?

The balustrade before it fell down

A burned wig

The TV in this room has been completely smashed

Someone has even killed the gramophone player :(

One of the very few remaining paintings

Maša dressed up for photos

This pile of shoes in the fireplace was spookily

reminiscent of Auschwicz

Most of the windows in this room have now been

smashed and pushed outside

The outhouses, one containing a still humming

EDF generator

Maša in action :)

Farewell Potters .....

SoShowMe Exhibition

2010-09-04T15:47:00.006+01:00

Thursday 2nd September: the private view of SoShowMe, an exhibition curated around the theme of social media and featuring my photography Smash Me And Laugh In My Face, which was one of the finalists from the Flickr group. As I was only working around the corner that day, I arrived early at the gallery, so was asked if I would give a short video interview to go on the gallery blog. I hate the way my voice sounds when recorded (I sound so bloody posh!) but other than that it's ok. I guess fame and fortune are just around the corner for me now then :)

The evening went really well, and thanks so much to all my lovely friends and family who turned up to support me, it was greatly appreciated and lovely to see you all too!

Julian Gajewski's blog post in the show: http://bit.ly/crT8Lu

Video courtesy of The Printspace/YouTube

The exhibited photograph

Smash Me And Laugh In My Face

Paul

Paul & Mark: "my map's better than your map!"

Doug

Double Beer Situation

Dawn and sorry, I'm crap, I've forgotten your name :(

Alistair (my "little" brother)

Dad

Dad, Alistair and Mark

Andre and Maša

My brother

Dad

Alistair

Doug and Andre

Father and Son

My photo in the background, behind the "thumbs up"

Maša

Checking out Andre's latest photos on his iPhone

My Masterpiece and my Friends :))

Erm, don't even ask .....

Me, Andre and Mark

I'm all chuffed, like

New Forest Bank Holiday Weekend

2010-09-03T19:20:00.057+01:00

Awoke to a far nicer day (why couldn't the sun have been out more when we had our Sunday cycle?) to discover, oh deep joy, that the three sticking plasters had come off my knee overnight and bloodied the sheets and duvet, so that the bed resembled the scene out of "The Godfather" with the horse's head (except obviously, there was no horse.) Godsake! Knee looking beyond repulsive, all yellow and oozy, and hurting like buggery, so I was whimpering in the shower and wincing as I dressed. Had to wear yesterday's blood-stained shorts (yes, I know, gross) because they were the only garment I had with me which would not rub fabric on my knee, so just rolled the turn-up over another notch the hide the claret stain ;)

Quiet morning, lots of sitting about with feet up while Mark gave his car the Annual Hoover, then getting ready to go and packing up. Had cheesecake and coffee in the garden before setting off for Hinton Ampner on our way back home.

Pretty little church in the grounds of Hinton Ampner

Big fish in the pond

"stunning views of the South Downs"

One of Mark's many vintage cameras

Hinton Ampner - a very pretty house

Daisy steps

This topiary must have required some pampering!

Inside the church

Garden greenhouse

The vegetable garden

Pumpkins!

Loved these colours :)

Pedalling Around The New Forest, Part 2

2010-09-01T19:00:00.001+01:00

As we'd hired bikes for two days, another expedition was planned for Sunday, although not quite as long as Saturday's 36 miler - we decided to do our usual pub crawl route but in reverse for a change. Started off with our piggy friends for whom we had gathered a bag of acorns the day before, and they snaffled these up with joyful grunts and lots of hairy-nosed snuffling.

Mark at the first pub stop, the Alice Lisle, home of the best sausage and mash I have ever tasted, but sadly it was too early for lunch when we were there. Got rained off and had to retire indoors, which was very cosy :) Met our photographer mate Jonathan, who also works behind the bar, had a chat and a catch up, had to stay for TWO drinks whilst waiting for the rain to stop, got to the point where I would quite happily have spent the rest of the afternoon there but the bicycles were calling to us!

On the wall at the Alice Lisle

Second pub, The Red Shoot

Such a poseur ....

Third pub, the High Corner Inn

One of my favourite woodland paths, I want to walk

along it every time I see it ....

I love sunlight coming through ferns!

Mr B, possibly a little drunk

Tranquil scene before bloodbath horror

I was quite tired by this stage, the cumulative effect of a long cycle the day before layered with a few choice glasses of wine, but as Mark and I were feeling quite merry we were larking about and he pushed me along on my bike whilst riding his. All great fun for a short distance, until we got our pedals in a twist and both fell off, onto a gravelly track, in full view of lots of other lovely cycling families out enjoying the sun and exercise and who doubtless had not put away as many as we had. Oh dear. Ended up with a knee full of gravel, dripping blood down my leg, feeling like a total arse, but doggedly climbed back on bike to finish the ride back to Sandy Balls. It did hurt but not enough to stop me cycling - it was only later when we got back, I had a shower and cleaned up and put Savlon/plasters on it that it REALLY started to hurt. I was cold as well, the weather had been okay but not especially warm, so ended up falling asleep on the sofa huddled under a rug like a grandma, my knee throbbing in outrage at what it had been forced to endure - poor old crock!

My knee, in all it's Technicolour Glory