Brooklyn Beckham in the Pit …….

Whilst enjoying my coffee at my favourite café this morning I read an article (Daily Mail by the way) that was saying that Brooklyn Beckham is going to be shooting artists/bands from the pit area at V Festival next month. Fine, not a problem. But will he have to abide by all the same rules that the rest of us have to abide by? contracts?, first 3 songs?, no flash?, will he be able to sell them after? does he work for an agency?, will he be in the ‘scrum’ with the rest of us or will he have a minder or special access?

He is probably a really good photographer, has the best equipment that mum and dad can buy but so are many others out there who do not have the contacts that his family obviously does. But I would like to see him ‘go through the mill’ may be even use a different name to see if his photographs would sell over anybody else’s images, not just oh they are Beckham’s images we must buy/use them !!!!! If of course that is what happens, does it? I am guessing of course as I am not in that lofty world but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were the case. Level playing field and all that.

By the way if it were me and I could help my children out then I would do exactly the same as David and Victoria

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Lionel Ritchie Rocks All Night Long in Gloucester.

Sunday evening found me at Gloucester Rugby Club and the Lionel Ritchie concert. It was and he was absolutely awesome. The guy is so professional, so polished, I could not fault his performance one little bit. And even if he had made a mistake it would have been forgotten. Within seconds of him being on stage the audience were up out of their seats dancing. And of course I love Lionel Ritchie’s music ever since I first heard him in the Commodores back in the 70’s. Like I say an awesome performance.

Was there any down side. Well yes. Firstly the rain, it poured it down. So on some of the images it is not dust on the lens it is raining so hard it is captured on the image. Even that wasn’t so bad. The real downer was that all the photographers were walked off the premises once we had shot the first three songs. I would have loved to have stayed for all of the concert but the management would not let us. Why? Well at a previous L.R. concert (Cannock Chase I think) the photographers were allowed to stay. Unfortunately one idiot (and there is always one) went into the audience and continued to shoot. I wont go into what happened to him as it is not clear but the result was that management now walks photographers out the pit and out the venue. I can understand why and would do the same. It s just disappointing when you get idiot photographers who do not know how to behave ruin it for the rest of us.

That apart it was AWESOME

Jane McDonald at Oxford New Theatre That’s Entertainment

Tuesday afternoon I met Jane McDonald as part of the press photo shoot at The Oxford New Theatre where she is starring in That’s Entertainment.

She was lovely. She was so friendly and did everything we asked her to do. She is just like she is on the telly Loose Women etc.
I never got to see the show but I would advise anybody to go and see her, very engaging.

A very pleasant photo shoot.

Fun at Café Art, Old Town Swindon

Well as I have said before my most favourite Café in the World (and I have been to a lot), is Café Art in Old Town, Swindon. I just love the staff there and they have all become good friends over the years.
So I had an impromptu photo shoot with them yesterday. They were so much fun to photograph. I also wanted to photograph the Café before it changes.

Go visit Café Art, you wont be disappointed.

Faces in the crowd Swindon Holocaust Memorial Service 2016

Holocaust Memorial Day 2016 was marked in Swindon by a service held at the Cenotaph in the Town Centre. Despite it being cold wet and windy there was a good turnout in fact there were far more attending than last year. In amongst the crowd there were local dignitaries and the Mayor of Swindon laid a wreath.

Junior Doctors Strike at Swindon Great Western Hospital

Tuesday 12th Jan saw the first day of the National Junior Doctors series of strike days. There was a good turn out of support on the picket line outside of The Great western Hospital in Swindon. The Junior Doctors were joined by The Green Party and by The Swindon Peoples Assembly who showed solidarity with the strikers.

Refugees Welcome Protest in Swindon November 2015

On Saturday 21st November there was a small (around 50) protest, march and rally on behalf of the Refugees Welcome Campaign. There were various groups attending, from Swindon Anarchists to The Green Party. The one thing they all had in common was that they wanted to show solidarity with the refugees and that more should be allowed into the country.

James Bay performs at sell out concert at The Oasis Swindon

Last night James Bay played a concert at The Oasis in Swindon. It was excellent. He sounded exactly the same live as he does on cd/radio etc. really good quality. The lighting was also really good (although as usual first three were not as good as the rest of the lighting show). The Oasis was absolutely full with all tickets sold and James Bay worked the crowd like a seasoned pro.

All in all an excellent gig.

The Demolition Crew in Swindon

Some of you may be aware that for the last several weeks I have been photographing the demolition of the Carfax Car Park here in Swindon. It is a long term project to photograph Swindon as it is changing and it is changing quite quickly at the moment.

Now it took me a while to get permission and I have done all the relevant HSE courses etc got my own safety gear and only go where I am allowed. I have t say I am so grateful to Lawsons and SCS for allowing me to do this. The intention is to either publish or have an exhibition but that is some way off at the moment. I am also getting to know the crew really well and they are a really nice bunch of guys. These are just a few of them. I just thought I would put a few of them up on here. There will be more to come as I get more and more access to them actually working etc. I have some several hundred of images of the demolition and I want to make a considered selection before putting any up on line.

Hope you like so far.

Roots Ambassadors play at Swindon Reggae Garden Music Festival

Roots Ambassadors played at The Reggae Garden in Swindon on Saturday 12th September.