It's been a blast I must say ... Jason Royce

Now here is a story from Jason Royce, I saw this work at one of our carousel evenings, I wont say much as I think Jason says it just fine:

"These colour photos are from a series shot on Fuji Velvia & black & white film back in 1994.

they depict the Environmentalist Non Violent Direct Action scene that burst into existance just a coulple of years earlier. I had just finished A one year photography course at the St. James The Less School In Pimlico. And someone I met In the Samuel Peyps pub in Hackney suggested I get my arse down there.
Well That was It - The first time I saw that street I was Hooked. I decided straight away that I was going to photograph the Undergound Environmental Movement properly . That Is to say becoming an Activist as well as a Photographer & ignoring the press .

So after a couple of visits of photographing the street & 1 day pulling nails out of bits of wood. I was prepared for the Final Eviction of Claremount Rd . I was on the roofs & In a cargo Net strung between treehouses & the victorian terraced houses before I knew It . And It was the best day of my life. I was published In the Crusty press & that was it - I met the Underground.Where I was asked ' What I wanted to do next " ? And my reply was photograph the tree camps " Fairmile & Trollheilm " In Devon .

That was It - next come Reclaim The Streets - The 1st proper big one was In Camden Town In the Early 90's - And no one has seen those pictures ( apart from the Police who raided me about 5 years ago ) false allegations were made against me - relating to another Photographer. My first proper audience who sitting on my bed going through my photo's exclaimed " This Is Another World " . Oh And there was A section back In 1999 the Underground scene got pretty hectic with the squat scene back in the day - there was a lot of drugs & lot of Pisstakers In the end. And a lot of pressure was put upon me to publish. Everyone saying " When are you going to Do Something with your Photo's " at the same time not really offering any help or advice.
So after being " Jacked Up " & then released from the Funny Farm I went travelling around the world - my thinking being " If I'm going to be miserable anywhere it might as well be abroad. So I went travelling ( without a proffesional camera ) to many different countries & got into all sorts of scrapes & adventures , but that's another story.

So returning home After my 3rd trip abroad I put an Exhibition on at the " Foundry " entitled " Demand The Impossible " & printed up 1000 flyers and leafleted various places ( lot's of pubs in the East End , The Guardian Newspaper & areas in Hackney where I knew A lot of the Underground would be - very low key .

The Exhibition was a wild success and I got a rave review in Focus - Fine Art Magazine by Bill Troop & The rest they say is history as they say. Well apart from me continuing " Shooting " & Training both at Climate Camp & over In Eire' more recently.
It's been a blast I must say .
And I must give A Big Shout Out to Alll those selfless Eco Warriors & Worriers out there. With paticular attention to those whove passed on . Namely Dolly The 93 year old " Protester who was born in Claremont Rd " And to whom there was a 100 foot scaffold tower erected in her honour - That was 1 Hell Of A Climbing Frame .

And of course I must not forget The Police & MI5 / MI6 who have been monitering us for years and lastly of course - The Press & All those Paps.
Tou You I can only say Feck You .

Thankyou everone else ...."
Jason Royce

Joachim Schmid / Ed Ruscha / Joachim Schmid

OK so this is not the most recent title, but I only became aware of it when Joachim Schmid showed the book at the photobook publishing seminar we held at the gallery last weekend. Its in part a homage to Ed Ruscha..
Its titled:
Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Thirtyfour Parking Lots, Nine Swimming Pools, A Few Palm Trees, No Small Fires
Being a big fan of the books of both Ed Ruscha and Joachim, it was good to see....

And here is what Joachim has to say about it:
Between 1963 and 1972, Edward Ruscha published fifteen artist's books, his first being "Twentysix Gasoline Stations"; a book which is considered to be the first modern artist's book, and has become the iconic precursor and a major influence on the emerging international artists' books culture.
"Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Thirtyfour Parking Lots, Nine Swimming Pools, A Few Palm Trees, No Small Fires" is a modern remake of some of Ruscha's famous books, all grouped in one volume. Unlike the original books it relates to, this work was made entirely at my Berlin studio. I didn't visit Los Angeles to make the book and I didn't use a camera either. The camera is out there.

The picture above is of one of Rucsha's originals, and will set you back quite a bit, but thankfully as with many of Joachim's books its available through Blurb on demand here...

Reality World cup

Marking the end of the Wordlcup, I thought I would mention Alan Powdrill's show that's on at the Printspace, London until the 20th July....
Powddrill photographed over three seasons in the Sunday Leagues across seven UK cities, this is a humanistic focus on the unsung heroes and dreamers who week-in week-out live out Match of the Day fantasies for nothing but love.