Strange Fruit

Lawrence Beitler's photograph of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abraham Smith is in my opinion one of the greatest photographs ever taken. It signifies a moment of time in American history when things happend that people don't really talk about anymore. As i was doing a bit more research into this photograph, I discovered that the American writer Abel Meeropol was inspired by the image and wrote a poem called "Strange Fruit". The poem was later turned into a song and performed by Billie Holiday. I have posted both the poem and a video of Billie Holiday performing the song below the image. I really recommend taking the time to read the poem and listen to the song as both are equally as amazing as the photograph.

Strange Fruit

Southern trees bear strange fruit,

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,

Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant South,

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,

Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,

Then the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,

For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,

For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,

Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Up There

The Beacon 2

Got some more pictures from The Beacon. There would have been more but my camera has broken so I'm afraid this is all at the moment.

The Beacon

Some work i've been doing for my Audience In The Community project. (Click for larger images)

Yashica-Mat with Velvia 100 Slide Film.

April 30th

Also, what's up with these messages on skype?

When you don't have internet for a week this happens.

I found this work by Merry Alpern who I'm afraid to say I'd never heard of before. They come from a book called "Dirty Windows" which I think I might have to buy. I'm not really sure why I like them so much though. I've been getting more and more interested in Larry Clark's work recently (Tulsa will be bought soon) and these seem to follow a similarly sordid lifestyle.

The photographs are shot across an air shaft, through a bathroom window on Wall Street. The show dealings between prostitutes and high-powered businessmen. Yet despite the fairly graphic content of the photographs and what they represent, I feel as if the power of each image lays more within the voyeuristic way it has been captured.

Alpern herself said:

"Reoccurring characters gave these pantomimes a soap opera quality and I’d try to decipher plot lines and guess the next scene. These minidramas and their unvarying props— condoms, tatoos, silicone, crack— filled my head and I began to think about the windows all the time. They found their way into my dreams."

I've also finally been able to fond some photographs of Ed Templeton's latest exhibition, The Cemetery Of Reason.

More photos can be found here. I'm pleased to see that one of my favourite photographs has been included, this one of Brian Anderson below, which also makes me a bit annoyed that I can't go.

Talking of Brian Anderson, I was finally able to watch episode 3 of Epicly Later'd which has been featuring him for the past few weeks. It seems like there has been a Brian Anderson explosion recently, I don't really know why, but I think it's safe to say he's one of the most interesting people in the skateboarding world at the moment. I also watched a short video on the Thrasher website where he talks about his tattoos, which was more interesting than it sounds.

Staying with skating, I don't think I can really describe how excited I am about the new Blueprint video, I saw this offcuts video and it just reminded me about how many of their team can make amazing things look effortless.

Can't wait.

On a different note, I'm going to start taking photographs for my easter project within the next few days so I should have something to post soon.

Easter Project

No place is boring, if you’ve had a good night’s sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film. -Robert Adams

Since "finishing" the book project (everything short of sending it off for printing and finishing the sketchbook), I have been able to finally start thinking about the easter project. The title of the brief we have been given is "Defining & Re-Defining a Photographic Image", where we have to research a photographer and, as far as I can gather, attempt to work and produce work in a similar way to our chosen photographer. We are also asked to "Start thinking about what makes your approach different to other practitioners and why?"

The photographer I have chosen to look at is Robert Adams, in particular his series The New West.

The focus of this work is a sort of documentary series, following the introduction of new housing developments in the western states of America. I find something particularly interesting about the way in which Adams chooses his subjects to reflect the idea of expansion across a natural landscape, and the lives of the people who inhabit them. I recently read an essay (here) about Adams' work which raised some interesting ideas, primarily the idea that these developments were not a result of America becoming "full up" but rather that America had become rich.

Now, how to use this series of work as a reference in my own practice?

I have been wanting to do a project involving housing developments for some time now (sounds a bit crazy I know). However, there is a simple explanation for my interest. I have noticed in the past few years that there are a vast number of housing developments being built in the areas around where I live. Whenever I ask anyone about why people are getting rid of the countryside to build what seems like an unbelievable amount of houses for the space they have I seem to get the same response each time, "commuters", "affordable housing" etc. I guess this makes sense given the proximity of where I live to Basingstoke and Reading (and then on to London via the train), but honestly I still can't understand the need for so many of these places.

Sherfield Park is the closest of these developments to where I live. Barely a couple of miles down the road it has been inhabited for roughly 5 years now, yet whenever I venture down there I am constantly overcome with a sense of quiet and a lack of community. The houses themselves are very easy on the eye, the place doesn't look bad at all. There are expensive cars in the driveways, and everything seems to be very well kept, but it all feels quite fake. I suppose it is this that has drawn me to the place as a subject for some photographs and when I saw that brief I thought it would be the perfect opportunity.

I'll start posting up some images in the next few weeks.