Vanitas Autobiography
Or: Dispatches #01
In the immortal words of the great Irish bard, Life is, indeed, a rollercoaster. Since my birthday in mid-March, I've flicked the vickies to corporate life (long, long overdue), and I've gone back to school to study towards a degree in photography. The product of my first assignment opens this email. A Vanitas autobiography, of sorts.
You may have read in issue 5 of Photos, mostly, that beginning April, I'll spin off my recommendations, mid-month, into their own email, and here we are.
So, let's crack on.
What's been happening this month
Kwame Brathwaite, the man synonymous with the slogan "Black is Beautiful" has died at 85 years old. Aperture's remembrance is both touching and inspiring.
That Donald Trump hasn't been held accountable for his more heinous behaviour is astonishing, but at least he has finally been indicted. Photographer Michael Santiago "shares his thoughts on capturing that historic moment".
As a Linda McCartney retrospective opened in Tucson, Arizona's Center for Creative Photography, Paul answered some questions from University of Arizona students.
There was an odd time late in my teens when the mathematical constant of Pi was everywhere. My birthday, the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, and a movie I loved, 25 years old this year.
Turns out "A Tattered Scrap of Fabric" found buried in peat is the world's oldest known shred of tartan.
Recommendations
Photographer
Not long after I began taking photographs in the mid-2000s, the BBC aired a 6-part documentary series named The Genius of Photography. Episode 1, Fixing the Shadows opened with an introduction to Meudon, an astonishing, kinetic street photograph taken in 1928 by Hungarian, André Kertész. I still feel strong nostalgia when I look at the photograph as it was one of several that started me on the path I still walk to this day. Kertesz was a true master photographer, and of his Underwater Swimmer, Esztergom, Hungary photograph, Henri Cartier-Bresson said it was the first time he had seen the world "truly photographed".
Television
Marta and I have been sporadically making our way through documentarian Adam Curtis' most recent work, Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone. In contrast to his recognisable style, Curtis has chosen to allow the unused BBC archival footage to speak for itself, and there is no voice-over or incidental music, the story told instead by captioning. The series documents the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Oligarchs leading to the era of Vladimir Putin, and how this affected the Russian people across their society. Absorbing stuff.
Music
In January, To build up to the 60th anniversary later in the year, I started a rewatch of Doctor Who from 2005 to the present. I recently reached one of my all-time favourite episodes, Capaldi's magnum opus, Heaven Sent. Murray Gold's soundtrack for this episode - even by his standards - stands apart and indeed spans its own disc, disc 3 on the 4-CD season 9 soundtrack collection.
Book
I am fascinated (and increasingly frightened) by the now international insanity that is the Qanon conspiracy theory. I have, for instance, watched several documentaries, and listened to every episode - over 400 - of the excellent Qanon Anonymous podcast. Recently, Daily Beast journalist Will Sommer released his much anticipated book on the movement, Trust The Plan, and it is every bit as good - if profoundly depressing - as I hoped it would be.
Online
A guiding light to most alternative, experimental, and independent music fans of several generations, John Peel introduced me, and so many others, to so much incredible music that it isn't quantifiable. Finding a random couple of hours from his BBC show on an old flash drive the other day, reminded me of this archive of the John Peel show. Beware of this one. If you get into it, you might get lost for days. To log in you'll need the username peel and the password group. After that, you're on your own. Hundreds of hours of listening pleasure await.
And finally…
…in service of answering a fictional client brief for school, I had to research the Danish concept of Hygge and define what it means to me. My own sense of Hygge was, I discovered, disappointingly common.
At home, putting a record on the turntable, and sitting on the couch with a book, especially accompanied by some Scottish treats - Irn Bru and Tunnocks Teacakes are a must. Or watching TV with Marta, as the dog lies at our feet, or walking the dog in the woods, laughing, joking, and being very silly indeed.
So, for this month's And Finally... my question is, what is Hygge for you? Let me know in the comments, and look out for Issue 6 of Photos, mostly coming 26th April.
If you’ve enjoyed this 1st recommendations mail, I’d be very grateful if you could subscribe, share, and recommend it to any street photography-loving friends.
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 buying me a roll of film. You can do so by clicking here, or by aiming your camera at the QR code below.
I'm partial to some of that Tri-X 400 if you're asking. Thank you!