Friday, 18 July 2014

Leipzig | Germany

I went to Leipzig in the winter, when all was black and white. The city was way more derelict than I had expected, but in between the broken houses is a fun place in possession of hidden corners, smoky bars, monumental monuments, art, and a restaurant serving the best hummus I've ever had the good fortune to place on my tongue. I hope to go back one summer and shoot it in colour.

Sunday, 13 May 2012

iLiKETRAiNS

These photos are from a recent visit to the Railway Workers Ku Thap The in Hanoi, which are communal living quarters for the rail workers and their families, adjoining the Hanoi Railway Station.

We had a tour of the place - not the living quarters but the workshops. Grease-covered men in blue overalls attacked pieces of metal, did things to massive wheels, and hunched smoking around ancient machinery. We saw a turntable and the men turned it for us. We were taken to see an old steam engine being renovated. We fumbled around in the dusty old cab, pulling levers and staring at dials. We pulled the chain and made loud tooting noises. We - myself and the writer - realized that we still wanted to be train drivers, or trains, or something on rails. Which is why I'm posting all of the photos I took that day, not just a selection. Choo choo.

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Exhibition / Prints for Sale

Monday, 7 November 2011

Ooooh-wwAAAH! HAHAHA!

While you are asleep in the early morning there are some people who are very, very awake - and they are laughing at nothing. Next to Hoan Kiem Lake, beneath the statue of Ly Thai To, a man named Le Anh Son is instructing a group of perhaps 200 people in the art of Laughing Yoga. First comes the warm-up, with moans, lip-smacking, bug-eyed mouth exercises in the key of 'ooh' and 'waaah', and a snaking chain of back massaging.

Sunday, 6 November 2011

The Last Blacksmith

On the corner of Lo Ren Street in Hanoi's Old Quarter is the workshop of Mr Nguyen Phuong Hung. Lo Ren, in Vietnamese, means 'blacksmith', and although many years ago this would have meant that the entire street was used for the trade, now Hung is the only one left. On a coal fire, his irons grow red hot. Once they are ready, Hung places them on an anvil and sets about them with a sledgehammer. His forearms are massive, coal-streaked hams.

Friday, 4 November 2011

Through the Dreamcloth

These shots were taken for my brother's side project tiNhearT. Some of them look as if they were taken through cheesecloth. They weren't. I don't own a cheesecloth, although perhaps I should. Others look as if I took them in my sleep, while dreaming, and I have no way of verifying whether that's true or not. In any case, there are several photographs here I have no memory of taking.

Monday, 22 August 2011

Summer Cleaning

Just dusting off and re-toning some photos taken - with my first ever digital camera - many years ago now on the deserted beaches of Quan Lan Island.

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Holga Bleak

Trying out double and triple exposures with my Holga - some rather bleak looking pictures coming out.

Friday, 18 February 2011

Holga Foam

My Holga recently decided to part company, bit by bit, with some of its foamy innards, scatter them liberally over my shots and eventually rub out jagged chunks. Thankyou Holga. I love every weird little thing you do.

Monday, 20 December 2010

Latest Holga Shots

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Rotted Shots

I left some film in my Holga for months and months. So in the Hanoi weather that oscillates from hot to cold and wet to dry overnight or overday it went the way of all perishables and rotted. I think. I hope it's not the camera. Anyway, either way, the photos have come out all speckled and you can see the dots on the film backing poking through. Here are three that i like:

Friday, 30 July 2010

Some New Holga shots

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

Bike Trip 2010: III

First outing for my Zenit 122.

Thursday, 8 April 2010

Wat Bang Phra

Outtakes from the Wat Bang Phra Tattoo Festival. Trances, animal spirit possessions, screaming, running full pelt, covered in holy tattoos, praying, getting doused with water, more screaming, slithering like a snake along the ground. Standard stuff for a festival, Thai-style.

Friday, 29 January 2010

Stick In A Holga

Back in England for Yuletide with a new Holga and fisheye in mittened hand on frosted hill I took some portraits for my brother's band Stick In A Pot. Here's one shot and there are a couple more on my website. Through the squinty eye of a mackerel...

Portrait Photographer

Dominic Blewett Photography