photoGrant

So there you have it. The first set of a series I’m hoping to produce on the regulars that visit pubs. They suck. Round 2 next week.

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So I answer the request of a friend to help replace a photographer in London who backed out of a shoot. I mean, who passes up the opportunity to shoot in London? Basically the stylist had a set brief to conform to with her college (London College of Fashion) and I had a weeks notice to research a studio, get down there, shoot it and come back. Well, I did. The journey there was horrible. Absolutely disgustingly horrible. I went on the coach. Megabus! £10.50 each way. You can’t really complain about the price to be honest, but the journey. Oh, the journey. The journey! Christ almighty, the journey! It was nausiatingly terrible.

So I sit in the most cramped seat I could possibly find, I mean literally – I hunted for the most uncomfortable one possible, any sane man would. And it was 9 1/2 hours of torture. It would’ve been 8 hours of torture but a truck decided to tip over an embankment a mile outside of London so they decided to close the entire motorway for an hour. Marvellous. Regardless, and to cut a long story short, I love London. I love the people I met and the faces I stalked, the tubes and the walking. Greta let me stay at her home which housed wonderful people, despite being about as far out of London as Preston probably is.

I loved it so much so infact, that I couldn’t bare to return on that godforsaken Coach and taint what was an awesome time. So I paid for a First Class ticket back on the train. Holy cripes am I glad I did! Absolutely loved it. Free lounge to sit in whilst I wait for the train, free drinks, free WiFi, posh hand soap in the Gents pisser – it’s truly wonderful. Free food and drink on the train as well as free WiFi there too. Best of all? 2 1/2 hours to return home. TWO and a HALF HOURS. That’s amazing.

So here are the final shots in all their glory. I’m not happy with them. I’m not. I feel they’re weak, static, bland and pretty meaningless to me. I had a week to fill in for another Photographer and I had no ideas to bring to the table. I didn’t like the studio, the lack of available kit (the cost!) but it was an experience. I learnt a lot – I learnt that I love a place I once had mixed feelings about. I learnt that it’s difficult to conform to someone elses brief and still produce high quality, effective and unique work. But the biggest lesson of all? The one thing I took away from this entire experience? To say YES. If an opportunity arises to try something new, grab it by the ballsack and tug until you know you’ve grasped it in its entirety. Seriously, do that.

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I grabbed a load of friends together to go see Lisa Mitchell at Night & Day in Manchester. She was absolutely stunning. I mean, really great. I think I was more-so impressed with the talent and surprise I got from Jo Rose. Click his name and go listen to him. If you don’t you’re committing a crime worse than murder. He’s great and deserves your ears for a few minutes. For someone that appeared so deceptively shy he was captivating and hauntingly serene.

On a side note, I’ve not been documenting my life so much at the moment. Particularily because it’s quite bland, but even in the case of the London trip I shot nothing but what was in the studio. It’s quite sad, I think I’m good at documentary work. So here’s my promise to myself to shoot more. I promise to shoot more.

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Oh, I forgot how much I love you.

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