New Work - Dandelions and Bluebells

Soffione I    2011

Soffione II    2011

Soffione III    2011

The Passing of Spring    2011

Prints of all these images, and those in the previous entry, are now available through my Etsy shop.

New Work - Wood, Metal, and a Dandelion

Taraxacum Officianale    2011

Industrial Strength I    2011

Industrial Strength II    2011

Against the Grain    2011

A day at the seaside

La Nuit Américaine lll      2011

Southport is a very typical English seaside town. Once a fashionable resort, it now possesses only faded grandeur, as evidenced by the decaying but still beautiful Art Deco lamps which still line the promenade. 

La Nuit Américaine ll      2011

'La Nuit Américaine', also known as 'Day for Night' refers to the film-making technique of manipulating film and lighting to create the illusion of darkness or moonlight while shooting in the day. 

La Nuit Américaine l      2011

These shots, taken at twilight, use this filmic quality to evoke and relate a bygone era of bright young things, when the English seaside was in its heyday and celluloid in its infancy.

And the last shot from my trip to the seaside was captured not among the manicured gardens along the promenade, but in a car park strewn with rubbish at the back of a half-derelict building, where quite by chance, I came upon an angel.

Last Exit      2011

All these images are now available as prints in my Etsy shop.

Winner!

I was recently lucky enough to win a print by the extremely talented Sevgi, in a giveaway on her facebook page. And here it is on my wall!

blood on her hands   Sevgi K   2009

I first discovered Sevgi's work on Etsy some time ago, and used this image in a Treasury, so when I won a signed 8x10 of my choice, it was an easy decision to make. It's a powerful and provocative image, I think you'll agree...as are many of the images in her impressive body of work.

sugar and needles and all things evil   Sevgi K   2010

Browsing her flickr photostream, one discovers great variety and amazing creativity, with images ranging from conventional (but very skillfully executed) portraiture and landscape, to distinctly unconventional and conceptual. But her speciality (and focus of an ongoing 365 project) is self-portraits...and these too are created in a range of styles, almost without exception showing a depth of artistic vision and mastery of composition which I can only dream of possessing.

You're fucking perfect   Sevgi K   2011

Of course it doesn't hurt that the model in Sevgi's self-portraits is extremely beautiful, but these images transcend narcissism to become beautiful in their own right, and beautiful beyond the purely aesthetic. She has the rare ability to provoke thought and evoke emotion through her work...it is funny, disturbing, intriguing, light, dark, serene, energetic, arresting, moving...and always interesting and inspiring. The mark of a true artist.

sit facing the window   Sevgi K   2010

As I said, I only wish I had a tenth of her brilliance. I take photographs, but Sevgi is a Photographer. Thank you Sevgi for the beautiful print...I plan to collect several more.

Find Sevgi at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sevgik/
http://www.facebook.com/sevgikphotography
http://index.sevgikphotography.com/

UK Photo Team Update

With the UK Photo Team now just over a month old, we have nearly 60 members! When I was setting it up, I thought a dozen would make it worthwhile, and we might get a few more, so to grow so fast is amazing. Even more amazing is the incredible range and depth of photographic creativity and talent we have represented within the team.

To celebrate passing the 50 member mark, I created a Treasury featuring some of our newer recruits, all of whom bring something unique to the art of photography, and show how strong we are as a UK-based group of photographers.

I hope we can continue to develop the team, and work together to promote ourselves and each other....to show Etsy (and the world) our collective and individual creativity and artistic vision.

Alone, we are strong...but together, we are stronger.