Beyond Words Book Shop

You may have noticed that i've put up a little banner for Beyond Words book store on this blog. There are not many good photographic book stores left, due to the onslaught of stack em high, sell them low operations such as Amazon and I feel that we're losing out on specialist book stores that offer us the chance to find out about books that we wouldn't ordinarily learn about.

I think it's important to support or endorse things that I believe in. So in an effort to do that, I've added the little banner onto this very blog to help encourage you all to go look, see if theres anything of interest in the shop and maybe even subscribe to Neil's news letter for upcoming publications.

Just so you know - I'm doing this out of an interest in keeping a good book store alive and by helping you guys learn more about other photographers too. I should stress that I am not making any money from this arrangement - it's just here for your benefit.

I should let you all know that I want to start to review books in future, time permitting of course. I'm going to start by plundering my existing collection but vie also just bought a small fortunes worth of books from Neil so I hope to review these as well, once I've got hold of them.

Learning about other artists and being able to disappear into the world of someone elses photographs can only be a good thing. I hope you will enjoy my reviews as and when they happen.

Shooting Stars (and other things)

Today I'm off to Peebles in the Scottish borders to meet up with two fellow photographers. The aim of the visit is to get some insight into shooting Aurora with a film camera. My Norway trip is fast approaching and I've decided I want to shoot the Aurora (if I get to see it) with film.

From reading several web sites, it seems that a fast lens and fast film speed is required. Something along the lines of 400 ISO and an f2 lens. I'm hoping to take my newly acquired Hasselblad 500CM (thanks Lynda for selling it to me!) with 50,80 and 120 lenses to Norway with me.

I just feel that I need to shake things up a bit and I've been curious as to how I would approach shooting in square. The Lofoten islands are stunningly beautiful at this time of year so even if the Aurora doesn't appear, I'm sure I'll still have plenty to make photographs of.

If you have any experience of shooting the Aurora using film, I'd of course love to hear from you.

AG Magazine

Now, I don't know about you, but personally, I find it very hard to get some quality magazines about the art of photography.

I personally feel that a lot of what's on offer is pretty much derivative stuff. For those that are new to photography, then it's an obvious path because most of the magazines out there fit into the category of showing you how to work your camera, show photos of all the latest gear and also have some articles about some locations around the world, but for a long time I've felt that there's not really anything out there that shows a much more informed viewpoint of what contemporary photography has to offer in all the avenues from advertising, reportage to art. And one that also covers photographers that should be a staple to any photography-education.

I reckon at the moment here in the UK for instance, that most entry photographers know about people like Joe Cornish, Charlie Waite for instance, but know little about Eliott Erwitt, Camile Solyague, Bill Brandt, Edward Weston, to name a few of the top of my head. Some are historically vitally important to the development of photography while others are contemporary artists worth looking into because the offer something unique, something special.

I've just subscribed to AG-Magazine. It's a beautifully printed booklet that comes out each quarter and in each edition, gives you a glimpse into the work and practices of photographers from different areas of the industry. I'd highly recommend it.

Photography is not just about landscapes and the world doesn't end with Outdoor Photographer, Amateur Photographer, etc. There's a whole breadth of work out there to be discovered and this is a great magazine to get if you wish to find out more.

Michael Kenna - Huangshan

This morning I received a copy of the new book by Michael Kenna, titled Huangshan.

I've been a fan of Michael's work since the late 80's, and I've seen his work progress in leaps and bounds, culminating in what I felt were his best images to date - those of Hokkaido. Like a form of photographic Haiku, Kenna's work is a great lesson in simplifying composition as well as being great things of beauty to enjoy.

So I was a little unsure of whether I'd like this new title from him, as all the images I'd seen on his site and also the front cover didn't really enthuse me. But I was feeling in the mood to buy some new books so I placed an order with Beyond Words.

For those of you who don't know Beyond Words, it's an online book shop that specialises in photography books. Neil, the owner is someone who's passionate about photography and has a good relationship with a lot of well known photographers here in the UK such as Joe Cornish. Anyway, when I'm feeling in the mood for some nice new monographs to go and look at, I tend to visit Beyond Words because Neil also specialises in limited editions as well and I'm a bit keen on collecting good books.

So back to Kenna's book and what I think of it. Well, having said that I was of the opinion that Kenna had reached a pinnacle with his Hokkaido photographs, I'm really pleased to see this new book because I feel it's a new direction for him, and an evolution of sorts too. Less so are the photographs of man-influenced landscapes, and more so, is it a book about a mountainous region of China, beautifully presented and printed in fine art paper.

My copy arrived in a nice slip case and there's a nice introduction by Kenna telling of his treks through this impressive mountain range. I was blown away by the photographs which have a fine-japanese-art feel to them.

Like all Kenna books, this one is limited. But instead of being limited to the usual 3,000 copies, it's been released as an edition of 1,000 copies and I'm really pleased I got this one. If you're interested in getting a copy, Neil has received the very first copies to hit the UK shores and you can get it here.

Skye - One space left only

So I now only have one space left for my Skye workshop this March. Just thought I'd let you know as I always get emails from people telling me 'they were going to come, but it's sold out now' ;-)

Strife in Patagonia

A few weeks ago a friend informed me of the troubles that Thom Hogan had on a recent workshop to Chilean Patagonia. I read his article with interest but I had a few issues with it.

Firstly, on all the travels I have made over the past 10 years, one thing has been a constant: nothing stays the same and most countries have periods of instability.

Secondly, the rest of the world is not like the west. As a westerner, we live in relatively stable environments where most of the time, things happen when we expect them to happen.

I was aware by reading Thom's posting that he and his group had a very tough time in Chile and that certainly, some aspects of how the country dealt with the strike could have been much better.

But the fact is, that I feel Thom's article has done nothing but damage his own possible business of returning to Chile some day to to a future workshop, has tarnished the tourism industry in that region (from reading Thom's posting, he feels they've done it to themselves, but we're talking about a time of unrest when things happen that don't make sense) and he's put photographers off a region of the world for a much longer time than the strike or future strikes may occur.

Certainly, it is worth being aware of issues in a part of the world if you are planning on visiting, and making your plans being fully informed is no bad thing. But his article came over as overly-sensationalist, particularly his use of the word 'hostage' and by also recommending people boycott the region.

For what it's worth, I've been there over seven times now and on each occasion I've had nothing but good experiences. The Chilean people are very warm and friendly.

If I were considering traveling there over the next few months, I would certainly take into account that there is a continuing issue with fuel prices in the region and make my plans accordingly, but it wouldn't put me off going there in future.

If I were to boycott any region of the world where there was instability, I would be severely restricted to where I went. Just one look at the British Consulate web site is enough to make you feel you shouldn't step foot outside of the UK, but it is this over-dramatic representation that puts people off for good. The world is in constant change, prices go up, places have a strike, the strike is off. It's unfortunate that these things happen, but I wouldn't try to persuade others not to go to a country or a region because you were unlucky to get caught up in some issue whilst there.

Skye Workshop - March 14th to 18th

Just a quick posting today to let you know there are only two spaces left for the Skye workshop this March if you're thinking about coming.

I made the shot above on the last workshop on Skye in December. We had terrific weather for the week we were on the island and the light as you can see was amazing too. This image was used by Outdoor Photography (UK publication, not to be confused with the US Outdoor Photographer magazine) for their February front cover. It's the second time I've had my images used by OP.

Often the coldest time of the year here in Scotland is around February and it often extends into March. Winter light is the best light so I'm looking forward to what March may bring in terms of dramatic light on Skye.