Tuesday 26 April 2011

Unwelcome Guest

For those of you who care about the guest list at this Friday's royal wedding in London, there's one invitee who should not be welcome at any gathering, royal or not: Swaziland's absolute monarch, ruler and serial human rights abuser, King Mswati III.

There are quite a few ways you can register you disgust at this man's appearance in London as a guest of the British royal family. Start by signing this online petition: http://positivewomen.org/?page_id=763 - then write to your MP or elected representative - and if you are in London, take part in the peaceful protests organised by Swaziland Vigil against this man's visit.

More information is available here: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-23-anger-over-mswatis-plans-for-royal-wedding

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Grand National Meeting

The photo above shows jockey Jason Maguire raising an arm in triumph as he passes the winning post on his horse Ballabriggs to secure a thrilling victory in the 2011 Grand National at Aintree.

I spent three days covering the Grand National meeting at the Liverpool course. From Liverpool Day on the Thursday, to the exotic colours and sights of Ladies Day on the Friday to the Grand National Day itself on Saturday, I joined the masses in a celebration of a great British tradition, one which has the nation glued to the telly, possibly indulging in their only bet of the year.

I was very pleased with the images I managed to get from the three day festival of jump racing: I thought they reflected the event well, were interesting, informative and maybe a little different from some of the other racing photos you see.

Tired, but happy, I made my way home through crowds of inebriated race-goers on Saturday evening, pleased to have captured in good detail the the final moments of the big race, the elation of jockey and owner, the cheering crowds, the elated and deflated punters.

So here's the rub. When working to deadline, head down in an atmosphere bordering on the frenetic, concentrating on your photographs and the story in front of you, you quite often miss the bigger picture. And the bigger picture was the story that emerged and lead the news in the wake of Grand National Day: Two horses dead, a jockey in a coma and the winning jockey banned for excessive use of his whip as he powered his way to victory on the home strait, prompting calls for the race to be banned and people flooding phone-ins with counter points of view.

I was, therefore, a little disappointed that I could not have communicated this aspect of the story. But the rules are strict when covering horse racing: no photography 'behind the screens' as it's called. Which means you won't see the dead or dying, the critically injured, the doctors, ambulances or vets. You'll see a sanitised version of events. But you'll hear a different story.

Made me think.

Here is a small selection of the work I did over those three days: http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/

Monday 11 April 2011

Swaziland Uprising - Please Help!


While the eyes of the world have been on the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, and the bloody events surrounding the post-election conflict in Ivory Coast have come to our attention, there are conflicts and struggles for democracy taking place elsewhere which need our urgent attention.

In Swaziland tomorrow (Tuesday 12th April), a day of uprising has been planned by activists, trade unionists and those seeking justice and freedom for one of Africa's most repressed - and most forgotten - peoples. The struggle for basic rights, an end to economic discrimination and access to the country's wealth will bring the people into direct conflict with the omnipotent King of Swaziland, who has already shown himself to be ready to use extreme force to prevent any unrest in his impoverished kingdom.

It is worth remembering that Swaziland is one of the world's poorest countries, which has suffered greatly from the HIV/Aids pandemic which swept through sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. Life expectancy is amongst the lowest in the world, and while the monarch and his cronies enjoy unrivalled wealth and power, the people of this tiny country continue to be denied the basic rights which everyone in this country takes as read.

So what can you do? Well, as this is a former British colony, people here bear some moral responsibility for the system we left behind just 43 years ago. Our first priority should be to ensure that the UK government makes it clear to the Swazi authorities that it is monitoring the situation there and will hold to account anyone who uses force and violence to deny the people their right to protest for change.

Please write to your parliamentary representative, or directly to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, and request that the British government takes appropriate steps to protect innocent people.

Next, please put additional pressure on our politicians to lobby for change in Swaziland. The people there deserve to be heard and listened to and they deserve a chance in life.

Since my visit to Swaziland in 2008, I have become involved in helping individuals support themselves to try to make a better life for themselves and their families. I have received great assistance and support from people in this country and abroad who have aided my efforts to raise money and awareness. I should stress that none of my engagement with Swaziland or its people has been on a political level, and that none of the people I support are activists.

I hope you will take just a few minutes to become more informed of the situation in Swaziland and that you will take whatever action you can to protect the people of this wonderful little country.

With best wishes,

Colin.

For more information, please read: http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-04-11-activists-arrested-as-swaziland-gears-up-for-12-april-uprising

Sunday 3 April 2011

Format Photography Festival

Just a couple of days before it finished, I managed to squeeze in a visit to the East Midlands for a day wandering around the exhibitions at Format, Derby's international photography festival.

Format was established in 2004 by Louise Clements and Mike Brown, and is now one of the UK's leading non-profit international contemporary festivals of photography and related media, it states on its website (http://www.formatfestival.com/). The theme of this year's month-long event is street photography in all its guises, under the strap line 'Right Here, Right Now' - exposures from the public realm.

Street photography is a branch of the religion of photography which is closest to my heart. The best examples of this genre illuminate the everyday and offer the viewer a personal critique of life around us. Street photography can be funny, poignant, informative, moving, bewildering and can reinterpret many of the aesthetics of the furniture of the city. It can act like a jigsaw, revealing small clues about what our  world is really like away from the polished perfection we are often presented. But street photography can also be irrelevant, whimsical, mundane and lacking in any sense of a narrative. It also lacks an intellectual heft, or, put brutally, a story. Snapshot is probably the word which best describes the genre, with all the positive and negative connotations which derive from that term.

But there's now also a second debate around street photography which is taking place. This revolves not only around its legitimacy as an art form, but also as practice. In recent years, photographers have started to feel a vice tightening around their work. Public concern about what motivates photographers and the all-pervasive nature of the internet which allows, almost uncensored, the distribution and publication of anything from the public space, has led to a backlash which, at its most extreme, has seen France enact privacy laws which ban the publication of almost all forms of what could be traditionally termed 'street, photography.

But there is a fightback. And ironically it is being led not only by the professional photographer but by the vast mass of people who are the children of the digital revolution and who feel inspired to pick up a camera and record in detail life around them. This is all part of the democratisation of photography, an oft-used, but still ill-defined term.

It is into this space that Format steps. And very successfully. Its city-wide programme of exhibitions shows off the many individual talents of photographers using the street to communicate. Also the collective is well represented. I run into Nick Turpin, an old colleague from the Independent who founded a 20-photographer collective named In Public. This international collective boasts quite a few well-known names from the world of photojournalism, and the show of work is interesting and valuable. As Nick pointed out to me, commercially, this way of working doesn't bring much, but as a creative exercise it is both rewarding and fulfilling.

The main hub of the Format takes place at the Quad, a multi-arts venue in the heart of the city. During the festival it is peppered with photography. Every available wall has something while the main gallery space displays work from across the globe. There are seminal works by Brian Griffin, Raghu Rai and Joel Meyerowitz; a standout contemporary commentary on England by Peter Dench and as one would expect, several series depicting life in China, notably a series by Zhang Xiao entitled 'Coastline' and WassinkLundgren's 'Empty Bottles' series, which is presented using the display of pages from a published book.

While Quad is the slick centre of Format, my interest in visiting photography festivals is usually sustained by what is somewhat drearily described these days as 'visitor experience'. I enjoy seeking out the often secreted venues and a bit like a treasure trail try to find hidden treasures. Derby does not disappoint here either. The remodeled city centre is pleasant to stroll through and as a response to the work on show I make some images for myself. Although not overburdened with prime exhibition locations and gallery spaces, Format is visible in Derby and even on a week day you can tell there's a festival going on. The Royal Insurance Building, resplendent with 'for sale' sign above it is just the sort of place I am thrilled to discover. Slightly shabby and anarchic-looking, it is busy with people: some looking at the work on show, some participating in a hands-on project labelling the locations in which they have made their street photography. A couple of lads with skateboards seem to be at the heart of it all, and it seems lively and interactive. Beyond them, the work by Rawiya, a collective of women photographers from the Middle East stands out.

Street photography has many forms: from Bruce Gilden's visual assaults (he was commissioned to work the streets of Derby; the results, on show at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery, are superb, although it made me grateful I wasn't in Derby at the time he took the photographs) to quiet, reflective work such as Orit Ishay's series of Israeli bomb shelters (at the Silk Mill), the street photography on show at Format reveals itself to be as interesting, and - well - diverse, as the streets of the world themselves.

To view my street photo diary of the day visit http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/