Doppelgangers, Dollops, and The Last Resort

Or: Dispatches #06

Sep 13, 2023

In the 2019 Marvel movie, Avengers: Endgame, Thor is visited by Rocket and Hulk at home in New Asgard, a location that looks suspiciously like the small Scottish harbour village of St Abbs. As the scene moves indoors, a solitary bottle of Irn-Bru sits, out of focus, on a window sill. I've never been able to work out whether this was deliberate or not. After all, in-universe, New Asgard is in Norway. I have an odd feeling this is one of those Game-of-Thrones-Coffee-Cup moments, and someone forgot to take it from the set before the take. Still, one can never have enough Irn-Bru.

After our relaxing stay at Scotland's luxury spa hotel, Stobo Castle, Marta and I took the scenic road home. There was no plan but to go somewhere new, and I thought, hey, why not New Asgard? Off we went. St Abbs is a beautiful wee place, as I hope the photos show. There’s a great village sign paying homage to the movie and there's a trail to walk all the way up to a lighthouse at St Abb’s Head. We took a hike but didn't get quite that far. Time was against us. Next time.

Going Paid (Don’t Panic)

Last month, I wrote that I had made Pledges available to new subscribers and had no immediate intention of going paid with Photos, mostly on Substack. Since then, I have read several opinions on the best time to switch on the option for paid subscriptions. Some authors advocate waiting to build an audience, others argue that it should be available from the jump. One writer made a case that even though the content may be free, some readers may yet want to contribute to help a writer continue their writing.

Having considered it for a month, I decided there was no time like the present and as of 1st September, there are now paid subscription tiers on Photos, mostly. And yet, you'll find that all the content is still available. Issues of Photos, mostly and the Dispatches update will continue to be free for all readers.

In the coming months, I will announce additional weekly and monthly supplements for paid subscribers. Some of these are in the works already and may include interviews, essays, guest posts, correspondence, criticism, photography, and much more besides.

Subscribers choosing to upgrade and pay will receive all additional content when each new supplement is launched. And for now? While I'm at school it will help me avoid an unwelcome return to the corporate treadmill and will give you a warm, fuzzy philanthropic feeling. All for less than a Euro a week.

Until 27th September, before the next issue of Photos, mostly is published, I am offering 20% off either a monthly or yearly subscription for my current subscribers or any stragglers that wander in.

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Ok, let's get on with the news...

What's been happening this month

Olivia Arthur sat down with Alice Zoo writing on Magnum's website and the photographers discussed Arthur's work and her evolving photographic practice.

Speaking of Magnum, Richard Kalvar has a new book coming out in October. Selected Writings, however, is not what you might expect from its name - and it looks great.

Photographer Blair Bunting made some compelling photos from the edge of space in the first such photo shoot.

It seems that Kate Winslet's forthcoming biopic of Lee Miller - according to the Guardian, at least - might not be very good. Still going to see it though. Obviously.

Away from photography, Naomi Klein has a new book out. Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World uses the frequent online confusion between social activist Klein and anti-vax conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf as a jumping-off point to discuss societal doubling. She was recently interviewed about the book on the excellent Qanon Anonymous podcast.

There's more than a little narcissism in this final bit of news, however, a week or so ago, I was recognised by my school as a prodigious talent. You’re damn right I added it to my website.

Dispatches from Substack

As I sketch out this month's Dispatches email, it's 4 pm on September 11th, almost exactly 22 years from the moment I returned home from college to discover the attacks had happened. Not long before, Patrick Witty was facing a group of New Yorkers with his camera. Now he's searching for the faces in his photograph.

Probably the best street photography newsletter on Substack (apart from this one, of course) is the marvellous Storydrops. The most recent of which introduces the photography of Thomas Hackenberg, someone who shares my passion for the confluence of music and photography.

In street photography, the very idea of imperfection and impermanence is central to a lot of what we do. Stella Kalaw writes of the importance of this in her own photographic work while introducing readers to the Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi, alongside some beautiful photographs.

Photographer Xavi Buendia has recently rebranded and kicked off his new series of zines, however, it is an earlier post that caught my eye. During the pandemic, Xavi made a poignant body of work that speaks to the pain and vulnerability felt at that time.

There are many more experienced Substack writers who offer sage advice and assistance to writers growing their lists. Almost all of them are excellent. No one, though, writes quite as much as author Russell Nohelty who has given 45,000+ words of his life to help get us to the next level.

Many readers will have read or passed over this by now, however, I wanted to take an opportunity to recommend the interview I did on Art and Mental Health with Kathryn Vercillo of the Create Me Free newsletter. I took great pains to answer with honesty and felt a little vulnerable when it was published, however, the response was astonishing and I can't thank readers enough for how they connected with it. Thank you also to Kathryn for inviting me.

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Recommendations

Photographer

Earlier this month there was a conversation on Substack Notes discussing the work of British photographer, and Magnum member, Martin Parr. The Surrey-born septuagenarian is a photographer who has been on my radar since I first picked up a camera but it has only been in recent years that I've truly fallen in love with his work. He is known for his intimate and often satirical look at the different social classes in England, and for working in vivid, saturated colour. His book, The Last Resort, has in more recent times become an important collection in my own photographic journey. In 2014, Parr founded the Martin Parr Foundation in his adopted home town of Bristol. He is a tireless supporter and advocate of other photographers and, by all accounts, a great bloke.

Music

Rock and Roll bands are infamous for adding odd requests to their gig rider. Slayer once asked for 50,000 live bees, and Van Halen requested M&Ms with all the brown ones taken out. I can't explain the bees, but David Lee Roth explained in his delightful, demented autobiography that there was method behind Van Halen's madness. If a concert promoter had removed the brown M&Ms, the band could trust that all other, more safety-conscious, requests had been taken care of. Back in the day, members of cult Glasgow favourites Aereogramme would fine hapless promoters if the band's name was spelt wrong on any promotional material. Known for their penchant for combining earsplitting scream-alongs with fragile acoustic songs, the band called it a day far too early for their fans. Iain and Craig did go on to work together again before Iain went off for world domination with CHVRCHES. I miss them terribly to this day.

Podcast

Readers will know of my love affair with the conspiracy-theory-debunking podcast scene particularly with the aforementioned Qanon Anonymous and the forensic analysis of Alex Jones that is Knowledge Fight. Through these, I have been introduced to comedian Dave Anthony. Now, some may know of Dave from his stand-up, his writing work, or his occasional acting appearances, but he was new to me, more or less. The Dollop, his American history podcast where he reads a story to his friend Gareth Reynolds, may well be the funniest podcast I have listened to in a long time and it is almost 600 episodes strong. More recently though, Anthony has added The Past Times to the Dollop's feed, where he, Reynolds, and a guest dive into an issue of a newspaper of old. Less comedic and more righteously vitriolic, his podcast The Audit is shared with screenwriter Josh Olson. In its first season, it pulls apart the George W. Bush Masterclass - a transparent attempt to rehabilitate his war-crime-stained legacy.

TV

Not only arriving late to the Dollop, I have only recently quenched my Timothy Olyphant manthirst (is that a thing?) by, at last, sitting down to make my way through 4 and a half series (and counting) of Justified - on my way to the new series, Justified: City Primeval. Olyphant is magnificent as Elmore Leonard's character, Raylan Givens but it is Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder who is truly revelatory. Can Walton Goggins be stopped? He really can do no wrong, eh? Anyway, Justified. It's tremendous.

Game

A game to finish this month. I have to be honest, I'm borderline obsessed with the New York Times' new Connections game. The seconds tick past midnight and I'm straight to my phone to solve it.

And Finally…

Look out for Issue 11 of Photos, mostly coming on 27th September.

If you’ve enjoyed Dispatches #6, I’d be very grateful if you could subscribe or share Photos, mostly to any street photography-loving friends. It really does help more than you would think.

If you’re a Substack writer and enjoy this publication, I’d be more than humbled if you would consider recommending Photos, mostly to your subscribers.

This newsletter is free to read, however, I've recently left corporate life and returned to school, so if you like what I do, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or buying me a roll of film. You can buy me a roll of film by clicking here, or by aiming your camera at the QR code below.