Saddened to hear this week that Robert Breer died at 84.
I was relatively new to his work and had only recently visited a fantastic exhibition of his work at the Baltic, Newcastle which I mentioned in my previous post Planking in Newcastle .

For more on Robert Breer and his death you can read this New York Times online article

Here is a ’typically’ extrordinary video by Robert Breer…

Some couples go for romantic weekends, some go caving, while others prefer dogging, swinging and various other things ending in ‘ing’. In an attempt to be part of the ‘ing’ crowd, last weekend we decided to go planking and owling in Newcastle!

Staying in the Copthorne hotel we had a great time revisiting some of our favourite spots, coffee shops and watering holes, which, (naturally) included the Baltic and the Great North Museum

Currently on at the Baltic is Photographer Mariah Robertson who’s large scale abstract and sculpted photographs are both intriguing and original as well as beautiful.

Another highlight at the Baltic was seeing Robert Breer’s work, in particular the work on 2nd floor of the exhibition. This floor is full of fun pieces that after careful and considered observation are infact constantly moving. This really was a very captivating exhibition space and created an entirely different atmosphere from that containing his works on the floor below and any other room in the Baltic for that matter. Well worth a visit!

In between the moments of culture we still found some time to do some good ‘ole fashioned planking, while trying out the new school version: ‘owling’…  though it didn’t quite feel as good as the classic plank!

Here’s some photographs from our planking weekend in Newcastle….

I recently got meself a Canon G12. This stylish, retro-esque compact digital camera that can shoot in RAW is a handy addition to my photographic arsenal.  I had been eye-ing up this camera and it’s predecessor the G11 for some time and last week I finally succumbed to the seductive powers of this discreet and versatile camera. I got the opportunity to give my latest addition a test drive this week and this is what I got…

It’s January, you’re broke, over weight and truth be told a little bit down, as you reflect on the overindulgent festivities that occurred just a few weeks ago; those warm, happy memories seem so far away now.

So what do you do remedy this rather drab situation? Well, dress up in some ridiculous and entirely inappropriate clothing, plunge yourself into sub zero waters and swim your arse off of course!

Photographs from the 2011 British Outdoor Swimming Championship held at Tooting Lido…

This week saw the official launch of one of my projects Culture Kingston, which is a not for profit organisation seeking to promote and inspire creative thinking in Kingston. The co founders of Culture Kingston are Natalie Kay, Mark Springthorpe, Natasha Morrison, Jo Pena and Nigel Bunner who have all worked very hard to help turn the idea of Culture Kingston into an existing organisation…. Here are some photographs and video from the launch night party which consisted of a postcard exhibition, open mic sessions and other performances from Kingston based artists and acts.

Yesterday work began on the building of a car park over the east side of famous footballing spot, Hackney Marsh, where the likes of Bobby Moore and David Beckham learnt to play England’s favourite sporting game. In the way of the building site, stands, or rather stood, three football pitches including a pitch described as the “premier pitch”, the pearl of Hackney Marshe’s pitches, used for big matches. News of the construction’s commencement came as a surprise to regular users of the pitches.  Interestingly, it seems no one had informed them of the start date.

Several months ago I went to Hackney Marsh with documentary production company, Spectacle and writer Claire Sharples who are exploring the impact of the 2012 Olympics is having on the peopIe and communities in the chosen areas for ‘development’. Commissioned to take supporting stills, you can see a selection of photographs from the series below.

Today is England Vs Algeria and this game holds a special interest for me as a few weeks ago I met several lads from the Special Olympics who had been selected to carry the flags out at the England Vs Algeria game.  I was asked by Coke Cola UK to meet the boys and get some photos of them before they left on a once in a lifetime experience to the world cup in South Africa. They were great group of guys with a good sense of fun and I hope they have a great time out there…