People on Trains, Optimo (Espacio), and a Very Long Piece of Music
Or: Dispatches #11
Long-time readers will know that I began making photographs when taking what was supposed to be a short break from playing music in 2006. It was to be 5 years later that I would begin playing music again - photography, mostly street photography, had taken over my life.
I began, though, not by making photographs on the streets of Glasgow, but in the dark, sweaty music venues around the city. Making my way as a music photographer was admittedly easy at the beginning. I was the owner of a small indie record label so I knew well most, if not all, of the promoters in the city. To get that all-important photo pass stuck to my jeans, I needed only to ask.
From small 100-cap shows, I quickly grew to photograph 1000-cap shows and then to festivals. My few years travelling back and forward to Reykjavík for Iceland Airwaves were some of my favourite times in both music and photography.
In 2022, after many years, I returned to music photography, this time shooting on film. It was something of a learning experience but I began to settle back into it like I hadn't been away. This time, however, I took somewhat better care of my hearing. In a short few weeks in winter 2022, I photographed Trail of Dead, the Peleton Records festival, Tides From Nebula, We Lost the Sea, Little Big, Idlewild, Mogwai, the Delgados, and a few others.
In 2023, life took a turn and all manner of changes occurred, but most of that regular readers will be well-versed. This year, however, with my shiny new digital camera, I'm getting back onto the gigging hamster wheel. As I write, I have passes for 16 shows until the end of May and I'm waiting to hear about several others.
There are some I'm doing because I'm a fan - Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Smile, Still Corners, and Deerhoof. There are others I'm doing for the work - Dotan, Jonathan Roy, Devendra Banhart, and Dopelord. And then there are even more that should be bananas either way - Dragonforce, Kid Kapichi, Psymon Spine, and Truckfighters.
My hope is I'll keep my gig calendar busy throughout the year and there will be a lot to tell you about in the future. I may begin to thread some music photography into the paid content as we go, but no fear, Photos, mostly will always be a street photography newsletter 1st and foremost.
Ok, enough blethering. Let's get to the news.
What's been happening this month
Melissa Harris, author of the Visual Biography of Josef Koudelka speaks to Aperture about working with the photographer on the book.
In Blind Magazine Augustin Pasquini presents a beautiful collection of pictures of people photographed on trains.
The folks at Periscope Films have uncovered a short documentary of how Kodak was making film in the 1950s.
Celebrating with the Arsenal club photographer, Martin Ødegaard caused ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher to lose his mind after the Gooners defeated his team.
John Cage's remarkable Organ²/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) - the longest and slowest composition ever created - had a chord change this month, its 16th chord change in the 1st 23 years of its 639-year duration.
An Intermission
Before I move on to Dispatches, I want to beg your indulgence for a few seconds. I am nearing 1000 subscribers to Photos, mostly, a milestone that feels significant when selling myself elsewhere as a writer. I would be so grateful if regular readers of my blethering could help get me over that particular line. Please consider sharing Photos, mostly with your friends, colleagues, or subscribers - anyone who may be interested.
Thank you! And now back to our regularly scheduled programming…
Dispatches from Substack
On VII Insider's newsletter, David Campbell writes of the photographs of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and how visual journalism counters the rewriting of history by the authoritarian-curious.
On My Morning Muse, Susanne takes note of the over-representation of male photographers on her bookshelf and kicks off a new series to focus on photographers who are women.
Marcel at Darkrooms has stepped in recently to push for a sense of community with the Photostackers among us. This month, he writes about making 2024 a year of collective growth. Hear, hear!
Having just finished Naomi Klein's book, it was an enjoyable coincidence that Bryan Padrick took us for a ride on The Bus to the very topic of the Doppelgänger.
This one's a bit Glaswegian. In his new Spicy Crisis newsletter, Andy McColgan writes his ode to, arguably, Glasgow's best club night, JD Twitch and JG Wilkes' Optimo (Espacio).
Recommendations
Photographer
A couple of years ago, I took part in Magnum's Professional Practices course - specifically centred on Working with NGOs. As part of this module Olivia Arthur, who was the Magnum president at the time, delivered a talk on her work and practice - a talk I found both inspirational and informative. Since then, Arthur has gone from being a photographer I know of and enjoy to one I actively follow and study. One of her bodies of work that I love is her photography of women in Saudi Arabia, her Jeddah Diary.
Music
I came to the music of Damo Suzuki through his band Can and to Can through my love for Radiohead. Sadly, unlike several friends and colleagues, I didn't have a chance to meet or perform with the man but I loved his music. The ever-improvising and innovative musician sadly passed away last week, and though the cause of death hasn't been stated, it seems likely it will have been a result of the cancer he has been battling since 2014. It seems fitting, almost inevitable, that I recommend Suzuki in this month's Dispatches recommendations. Though with Can for only 4 years he was the vocalist for the album considered their peak, well, by me at least, Ege Bamyasi. Enjoy your jam up there with Michael, Jaki and Holger. RIP Damo Suzuki.
Television
Having never watched the 2005 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie vehicle, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I was excited for Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge's take on the story. That is, of course, until PW-B left the project. Glover stayed on with much of his writing team from the inimitable Atlanta and so while disappointed, my anticipation remained. The series premiered at the beginning of February and Amazon dropped the whole thing at once leading to a binge-watch. While fans of the movie seem to be less impressed, I thought it was tremendous and the chemistry between Glover and Maya Erskine is electric. A solid spy show with just enough off-the-wall, Atlanta-esque eccentricity to pepper the more traditional espionage.
And Finally…
Paid readers, keep a look out for next week’s email and everyone else, stay tuned for Issue 15 of Photos, mostly coming on 28th February.
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I'm partial to some of that Tri-X 400 if you're asking. Thank you!
I agree about Mr & Mrs Smith! I'm really enjoying it. It has just the right amount of drama and comedy and the stakes are how I like them. I did watch the original but it was on a plane from Costa Rica to Mexico, I watched it in Spanish while extremely jetlagged, so not sure if my recollection of it is correct. But I like this new series vibe better.
Great shot of Alice, really encapsulated their energy from back then.