Today is Remembrance Sunday and MisterMac and I have resplendent home-made poppies – thanks Cathryn! Although the UK acknowledges 11/11 as Armistice Day, we still hold our major ceremonies on the nearest Sunday, unlike the French who hold their National Day on the 11th regardless of whether it’s jeudi or dimanche. Today, the French will have been commemorating the first anniversary of the series of terrorist attacks that shook Paris last year. Many photographers were in the city for Paris Photo; thankfully, everyone we knew arrived home unscathed. You may remember the extraordinary photo essays and images that hit the networks immediately afterwards, and with so many professional photographers in situ, “citizen” journalism reached a new level. See, for example, the work of Magnum Photographer Paolo Pellegrin.
German photographer, Andreas Frei, was also in Paris that evening and he has incorporated the events into his latest work Hab Acht. This is a delightful volume, beautifull
y made, that blends three subjects: portraits of friends and family who are afraid of the dark; images of the night, where we see, for example, a menacing shadow cast by a tree, and a spectral analysis of the sounds of the sirens from 13.11.15. Taken together, the images convey what it must be like to fear the night. And yet, the homely environment of some of the portraits seems to offer a degree of protection against the dark, which in turn serves to highlight the angst even further. I had the pleasure of meeting the delightful Andreas yesterday at Polycopies, along with his colleague Jens Masmann, whose book will be the subject of tomorrow’s blog. Together, they’ve formed an independent creative– million books. Primarily founded to showcase their own work, they also endorse other photobooks, so we’ll be keeping an eye on the ‘best book mates’ section and keeping you posted. Incidentally, I’m not alone in enjoying Frei’s book, as you can see from this list put together by Happening.
And the phantom pen has not been idle today. Another 1,730 words uploaded bringing the grand total to 30,953. Every author needs expert help, and I don’t think you realise how much you need until you get going. I am lucky to have an excellent crime/police adviser in the form of Roger Kelly, whom I have to thank for today’s line: ‘You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention …’. I was going to use the old ‘You have the right to remain silent etc.’ but apparently that’s old hat (or old helmet even) now. However, we have hit a small stumbling block … Roger has torpedoed part of my plot, so I’m now looking for another route to get to the same outcome. #amthinkingcreatively
Forgotten Sons from The Script Revisited by The Mick Pointer Band and Script for a Jester’s Tear by Marillion. (Struggling to find a decent you-tube video, so self-surfing I’m afraid, or even better, buy the CD).
