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"When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me"
Lennon/McCartney
The Dublin home to irish Art
"Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty
in the moonlight
overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne,
she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah"
Leonard Cohen
I rarely photograph traditional beauty , but I made an exception for Spanish D.J. Annie Hall at the recent DEAF festival in Dublin. She had Latin beauty in her eyes and that magic sparkle of a smile , that made my camera come alive . I hope to work with her again , to proove I can work with female beauty.
"On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day. "
Paddy Kavanagh
My friend Piet Sluis was laid to rest today in Shanganagh, Co. Dublin , beside his beloved wife . As was fitting with the great man , he got a jazz send off from some of his old friends , relatives and Anne.
Blackrock will never be the same again , and as sad as the occassion was , there was a sense of joy and positive energy mirroring his jovial personality .
Pieter Sluis R.I.P.
Experienced both these fealings within 24 hours.
Music and dance soothes the weary soul and energises the heart.
DEAF 2008 was wonderfull.
b
For Will W.
"Maybe I've been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah"
Leonard Cohen (again)
Goodbye Piet - the Jazz King of Blackrock
"I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah "
Leonard Cohen
There was revolution on the streets of Dublin today ... and a bit of Love.
b
or the end of the begining ?
Following the death of Piet , the rejection by the Arts Council and my mounting financial worries , once again I questioned what I'm doing or not !
But the show will go on , and in his words work should be enjoyed not endured, and money will then take care of itself.
So I''m dedicating my upcoming show in the Pavillion to Piet's memory .
b
My good friend and visual mentor Piet Sluis died at the weekend , he motivated me to keep going through lifes hurdles , and shared the same birthdate as me .
R.I.P. Piet - Blackrock has lost a true character and me a good fiend and inspiration.
b
He loved this shot of the great man.
"Forget the camera, forget the lens, forget all of that. With any four-dollar camera, you can capture the best picture"
Korda 1928 - 2001
Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains,
I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways,
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests,
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans,
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
Bob Dylan 1963
Why is it so many good photographers suffer the blues ?
Do we only see the dark side of life , and is that dark side visually more interesting and real ?
good bye Mark.
"It's not easy always to stand aside and be unable to do anything except record the sufferings around one" Robert Capa
someone asked me why i take so many photographs ?
Simply I feal on a roll, that will end suddenly - next month I will have an operation on my right eye , maybe then the magic will stop.
b
on a bleak budget day ...
"Always, I think of the money I owe, the money I need,
never do I consider the money wasted.
Equally I brood on the love that I desire, the love that I
long for - never the love that I have or have had and have cast aside."
Pete Doherty
Just watched this classic , the camera work and score are simply breathtaking. Segio Leone was a complete genius , setting standards we must all be judged against . I thought I would concentrate solely on still photography , but someday I would like to make a short video . So many ideas go around my colourfull out of sync washing machine .
b
Relationships the most wonderfull and painfull and challenging and rewarding human experience .
b
or are they the same ?
"Painting gave meaning to my life which without it, it would not have had." Francis Bacon
Maybe the current economic downturn , will force us to evaluate our lives , and balance our Materialism and Greed with some Spirituality !
b
"The eternal silence of these infinite spaces fills me with dread. " Pascal
I woke up this aftenoon in the reality, of the freezing Irish sea, near Dun Laoghaire . I am very much alive , and my photography records this reality, as it happens around me. Why distort reality ? is it not good eneogh?
b
Parts of Dublin were lit up by Guerrilla lighting last night - thanks Agnieszka -
Earlier in the day I was hit by my own mortality , had to get a check up in a hospital for my eye - my eye may never get better , but i made a pact that as long as i breathe i will photograph - thats what feeds me my energy to live . Surrounded by sickness, I questioned my own mortality, and how long this life will go on for ? Better enjoy it , as it won't last forever .
b
The best way to respond to adversary is to dust yourself down and get back on that bike, and try again.
Begrudgingly I have taken the camera out again, and tested out my hometown of Dun Laoghaire.
“If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it.”
W.C. Fields
My mate Piet , recommended shouting when life gets too much , and occasionally the odd yelp can be heard in Blackrock.
Today , after a year of everything going smoothly on the photography front , I got my first major setback.
The Arts Council refused my grant application , the elitist establishment have blocked my progress ! Maybe this negative outcome will drive me on further, to proove "them" wrong . All my life I have battled the establishment never good eneogh, never fitting in , but I thought I might get a break here . For those that don't know me, or even those that do , the photography I do eats up my time and money , and in the main I make a pittance. I have given free training and portraits to the less fortunate , and asked only for a small salary so I could continue on doing what i'm doing , and leave some lasting legacy of 21st Century Dublin .... where to now , i'm not sure
b
it was mad , sunny , packed , fun, colourfull and full of action - and i nearly got killed down on the track, amongst the mayhem of the cart and bareback riders.
b
My magic returned , following the purchase of my new 50 mm lens . The first image I took with it, was of a flower breaking through net curtains in an old Dublin flat , near St. Stephens Green. I really like this.
Spent the evening trying to find a movie , and once again returned to the genius of Martin Scorsese , this time "The Last Waltz" - has there being a better documentary on music ?
b
The free take freedom for granted , maybe we should just enjoy it.
"I think someone should just take this city and just… just flush it down the fuckin’ toilet." Travis (again) .
"All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."
Travis
