Marc Provins

I'm really excited to have been invited to participate in a group exhibition taking place in Arles whilst Les   Rencontres d’Arles photography festival is on. The show is called Spreads and organised by Roast Beef. Have a look here for more information and to see the other participating photographers: www.facebook.com/events/471812872902675/ www.rencontres-arles.com I've created a hardback book of my pH6 hydrangea project for the occasion which can be found here: www.blurb.co.uk/b/4363116-ph6 I've also made a hand-made book-folio (that's my new invention) in a limited edition of 6 for the exhibition. This is essentially 6 archival prints from the pH6 project along with a signed and numbered artist statement contained within an A5 cover. The original work can be viewed here by the way: www.marcprovins.co.uk/ So if you happen to be in the south of France between 1-5 of July do drop into see the show. Right, I'd better get back to learning some French..

Every so often I need to get to the coast, I find it inspiring and restorative. Luckily living in Manchester it only takes about an hour or so to reach some great bits of water, with plenty of choice from Wales to The Lakes. Yesterday it was the Wirral. We walked a good few miles of coastline without seeing a single human being and the sun was strong illuminating our bit of England. I made quite a few photographs but the two that stood out to me both contain lines dividing up the frame. This may have come from my subconscious having strolled for a while down a very straight disused train line and mulling over all the history of those being built, used, closed down and returned to managed nature.

I couldn't resist recording this scene, such ridiculous colours, such an even sky. They were marking an allotment party but, and this might be me being a bit immature, they looked a bit Carry On. Suddenly I could see a young Barbara Windsor in my mind. Anyway a lovely pair however you look at it and when you do stop and think about what you are looking at, it's quite strange really. Four brightly coloured sheets of Latex probably from Asia stretched into a ball shape by the breath of a human being, suspended on a periphery fence, designed to keep vandals and thieves away from the rhubarb or courgettes. Back to photography, and apart from Barbara this arrangement also put my in mind of Peter Fraser and an early piece called Two Blue Buckets: ©Peter Fraser www.peterfraser.net/

Well tomorrow is the official end of LOOK/13 in Liverpool, so I went to see one of my books on display in Central Library (Picton Reading Room) for the last time and to distribute the few remaining postcards.  I was hoping I'd be able to take my camera for a walk and make a picture of some significance to mark the end but unfortunately it was very bad weather, raining cats and dogs and blowing a gale. At one point I was waiting for the lights to change so I could cross the road, huddled under a Primark umbrella I'd hastily bought, when the woman next to me, without turning her head just shouted 'horrible!' in the thickest scouse accent as she pulled the cord tight on her anorak hood. That said it all really. So I thought I'd include the final (94th) picture from my book, which just happens to link really well with the next exhibition I'm taking part in. The hydrangea photograph above was taken a few years ago but must have sat in my subconscious and emerg

Us humans think we run the show, that we are in control. So the sun comes out, it's really, really big news if you live in northern Europe, and we all go la la. So I struggled with sweltering city sunshine earlier today, long enough to record some light bouncing off a few hard surfaces. Then retreated to a deckchair in my yarden, headphones and suncream on...

From a sporadic series of found dead creatures, this poor fella was on the road on my way to work this week. Three more in this vein to be found here: Staying Alive Pond Life DEATH ON THE CANAL

I tend to shy away from the news these days, especially on television. I find it disturbing and sensationalised, but mostly I think a constant stream of misery that we can do nothing about is quite unsettling.  I particularly avoided the terrible story of the soldier being killed in London recently as it sounded so brutal.  I heard people talking about images and video they had seen on the tv and the internet and it struck me as ghoulish to be a deliberate witness to that kind of horror. So it seems ironic that I was greeted by this view in our neighbours front garden on Saturday morning, presumably lifted by the high winds from our local shop. News literally delivered to my doorstep. I've long been a fan of the writings of Neil Postman, in fact I've probably quoted him on this blog before. He always has something thoughtful to say on the concerns of modern life. Here are some of his thoughts on news: “Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have

Some evidence of what went before, left on the city streets to be illuminated by the bright light of the day. These pictures look best accompanied by An Imperfect List by Big Hard Excellent Fish. If you've not heard it before it is a track written by Peter Wylie in 1990 with Josie Jones speaking a list of 64 least favourite people and things. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3h1ehKMe_4M&feature=related