Marc Provins

Well only battling the wind actually, and it was the Waterloo near Crosby of the Anthony Gormley iron men fame. Although I have been to the other Waterloo in Belgium, which is a huge manmade hill to mark the battle. I've only been there once and I was dressed as one of Abba, with three people dressed as the other members. It was as a favour to two Czech performance artists and involved marching up the hill in costume carrying a cassette player blaring out Waterloo by Abba! I think it might be on video somewhere... Anyway this weekend was the other Waterloo which turns out to be really spectacular in parts and really run down in other parts. There are two beautiful sweeping crescents of houses that stretch for at least half a mile all painted in pastel shades with well preserved front gardens looking over the sea. There is a park and a boating lake, but the little town itself is now like much of Britain, boarded up and past it's best. So the pictures are from th

Some experiments today inspired by a book I finished this week called 'INSTANT The Story of Polaroid'. It was a Christmas present and I'm afraid I thought it might be a bit of a cashing in job on the demise of Polaroid. However it turned out to be a really well researched and written book. I was literally hooked from two pages in as Christopher Bonanos has such a lovely lilt, his affection for instant photography shines through each page. The story of the ups and downs of the company is fascinating as is the technical complexity of the Polaroid process. Edwin Land was a remarkable man who brought the arts and sciences together into a mass produced technology that sold by the bucket load. Some very interesting parallels between his approach and that of Steve Jobs of Apple. Also the amounts of money and people involved in the making of a camera seems ludicrous. Apparently nearly a billion dollars were spent on bringing the SX-70 (above) to market, and this wa

I've had such an intense week, really glad its done with. We had an inspection at college this week which at the risk of sounding like a moany teacher is incredibly stressful as its essentially like waiting for a job interview all day, every day for five days. However it went to plan and we got a pat on the back. So I got home today and was just lying on the sofa feeling hard done by when I got an email pop through on the iPad from Joel Meyerowitz!! For the non photographers he's one of the most famous and influential photographers in the world. Originally famous for iconic street photographs of New York in the 1960's and 70's, later know for his large format pictures of Ground Zero just after 9/11. I should point out that he wasn't cold calling, I had emailed him about a blog entry I made in response to his work: http://www.marcprovins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/meyerowitz-made-me-do-it.html However I was just amazed that he took the time to respond and so genero

Such a strange week this week, hence no blog entries until now. My so called part-time teaching job has taken over my life, which is always frustrating as I try to maintain the balance between creativity and keeping the wolf from the door. However a highlight of the year so far was seeing Peter Fraser talk about his work at Manchester Art Gallery on Thursday. I've loved his photography for 20 or so years and it was inspiration to hear how he engages with the medium and to see more of his work with the added bonus of a live sound track giving some context. I think just about everyone in the audience was cheered on by the fact that he didn't really break through until he was 57!  One of the things he talked about was the struggle in this country for photography to be taken seriously by the major art institutions, in fact this has really only just happened. He gave as an example his friend Keith Arnatt, who had a successful career whilst he was considered a concep

A quick walk to Stretford Mall to stock up on Valerian Tea (can't sleep without it) today just before the sleet hit. This Hitchcockian scene awaited me!

Ended up in Liverpool again yesterday. Just can't get enough, I am officially an honorary Scouser, and that's according to a real one. Met up with our friend Michelle who kindly treated us to lunch at Salt House Tapas, which as always was fantastic. She brought along a copy of The Liverpool Post as she was interviewed by them in this weeks. She is a writer (responsible for some excellent witty, knicker gripper storylines currently showing on Coronation Street) and being a great friend bigged up my photography in the article - Thanks Michelle! On Thursday night we attended the Richard Billingham talk at Manchester Art Gallery, organised by Redeye. A great idea especially as the Galleries are all open until 9pm now. It was quite a strange experience and not what I'd been expecting. I was left feeling that he was carrying the burden of making a hugely personal, successful and influential body of work whilst quite young, being thrust onto an international stage and then ha

6 January, 2013 In an attempt to squeeze every drop out of the holiday before we are back at work tomorrow we spent the day on the Wirral. It is one of my favourite coastal areas at the moment. We drove to the Wirral Country Park and walked up the beach from Thurstaston to West Kirby and back again. It's amazing that such an unspoilt area with views across the peninsula to Wales is always pretty quiet. Afterwards we hopped back in the car and went to Parkgate for our tea. If you've never been it's definitely worth a visit  as it is a seaside town without any sea. Once an important port and resort, the twentieth century saw the estuary gradually silt up meaning the water no longer comes in. So now in its place are marshes that act as a home to wildlife. Despite this Parkgate still looks and feels 'seasidey' with a famous Art Deco ice cream parlour, chippy, four pubs and a hotel. By the way the picture is of my stylish friend Diane in completely inappropriate 

I've been in Liverpool today and this scene made me chuckle. It's Twelfth Night at sunset on Saturday 5th January.  So don't forget to take your decorations down, else you have to leave them up all year - apparently.

1st January 2013 Happy New Year - Gelukkig Nieuwjaar - F eliz Año Nuevo! Two pictures from the Northern Quarter today that seemed to mark the passing of 2012 (forlorn party hat) and the arrival of 2013 (silver lady gifting some as yet invisible offering). I hope everyone has a happy and fun packed 2013!