_“You are reminded that under UK law, there are no …
“You are reminded that under UK law, there are no restrictions on taking photographs in a public place or on photography of individuals, whether they are adults or minors. There is no right to privacy in a public place, although photographers are of course subject to the usual libel laws in the same way as any other citizen and should observe them. Equipment or film may not be confiscated, or images deleted by any person or officer unless a warrant for such action is issued. Any attempt without a warrant is considered assault under UK law“. This is a passage of text carried by a well known photojournalist to protect himself from confrontation with the public when taking street photography I am a big fan of street photography and photojournalism, I love to look at pictures that capture a moment in time of the reality that is around us everyday. I see the artistic quality in good street photography, I also see the historic significance of people attempting to capture life in this way. I believe it is a very important way of recording life as it happens, especially when it is unscripted and shot in a natural environment. That way there is no bias and no ulterior motive behind the image, just the image and how we personally choose to understand it. I however am constantly struggling with the ethics of photojournalism and street photography because there are 2 points of view. I feel sorry for those ‘personalities’ that the media latches on to and decides are ‘newsworthy’ and there to be ’in the public interest’ because this ultimately gives the press (in their eyes) the right to make sometimes disgusting and wholly unethical invasions into their private lives. I find this, at times, to be unsettling, especially after what happened to Princess Diana who ultimately lost her life to the intrusion of it by the press. When you now look at the treatment of celebrities such as Britney Spears or Amy Winehouse you worry that it is not long before a similar tragedy happens to them. I understand this is the price celebrities pay and they have a responsibility to be good role models however members of the press are more and more taking advantage of this. Yes these ‘photographers’ have their own name, ‘The Paparazzi’ and should, in theory be grouped separately just as trashy tabloids are grouped separately from the broadsheets. Unfortunately more and more it is the case that they are not in the eyes of the general public. The problem is the reputation and image of street photographers and photojournalists is being lumped together with ‘The Paparazzi’ by many of the general public and are being viewed with distain. The average Joe on the street is becoming more aware and suspicious of street photographers, often feeling a certain hostility towards SLR holding ‘snappers’. I added the text above to reassure those of us about our rights to photograph in public places and societies need to have these people. However we must also be aware of our responsibilities and the boundaries we must observe to avoid upsetting an already wary general public / Some of the photo’s I have included have been taken on the street, some without the subject being aware of the shot being taken. I’d be interested in what you all think about the ethical side of publishing these shots and whether they could be considered art, journalistic or simply an invasion of privacy? It has bothered me as to whether I should show them on Redbubble or not, what do you think? Alternatively please feel free to comment or debate about what I have said I’d love to hear your side of this argument. Ben
The UK has been a bastion of free speech for many years now and it is something I am very proud of. Our recent heritage is full of grea…
The UK has been a bastion of free speech for many years now and it is something I am very proud of. Our recent heritage is full of great bands, writers, artists and film makers that have thrived in tolerant society that has welcomed free expression. The UK’s artists are known the world over for pushing boundaries and mixing together genres of art to create sub-genres and in some cases completely new genres! However I sometimes wonder what this tolerant, free society is going to make of the latest trend to hit the streets of the city, political urban art. Of course I realise Its not a new phenomenon , look at the scrawl on the old Berlin Wall or on the walls in Northern Ireland and you would find political graffiti slogans left in protest and to provoke thought. You can even find the ancient paintings of any native race anywhere in the world on rock faces or cave walls, whether they were made as decorative pieces or with some social impact in mind, who knows? Even in its most recent form as scrawl with spray can on a wall it has been alive in this country for years. The point is it is becoming very evident to me that this is becoming something of an epidemic here in London. When I say becoming, well I travel the streets searching this stuff out and I can tell you it is on the rise in quite a dramatic fashion here! Kids, young men and professional artists are getting more and more confident and ballsy about making bigger and more controversial statements on the walls of our city. The obvious answer is Banksy has created a precedent for the flood gates to open… although he was not the first to create this form of political graffiti in London, he is just the most well known and the first to achieve worldwide fame and fortune. But I feel to blame him or to even praise him for this would be wrong because to me he is only responding to the problems in society not creating them. Almost like blaming Hip Hop for the problems in Harlem, it’s short sited and completely missing the point. These artists are responding to the way the people are feeling right now and trying to get their voices heard the only way they can. For me this rise in political graffiti stems from the feeling that the noise society is creating is so loud and inconsequential the important points are not reaching the people. For example, a messed up singer will get front page headlines of our major newspapers while continued atrocities are being committed the world over by that do not even get a mention! How can a footballers affair be more important to the people than 2 million refugees going without food, water and medicine in Dafur. We are being drowned in a sea of pointless messages, with the substance floating past unnoticed. Whether you think it’s a problem with society or a government ploy to control us it’s clear that that to get the message across artists are resorting to more drastic measures. These measure are to take to the streets and to paint them on our walls for all to see… and in that respect I support what many of them are trying to do. Now I’m not saying all of this is political, some is just a beautiful piece of artwork designed to brighten up a… well Urban sh1thole! As well as this much of it is blatant vandalism that causes distress to its victims and actually ruins a perfectly beautiful building. Whatever the point is I have been documenting these images in my own way for years now. I don’t want to just show the images, I want to show them in context, this means including a bit about their surroundings and even the people that pass them on a day to day basis. The rest is up to you as to what you consider art, political messages, vandalism or even all three put together! So I am making it my mission to bring these images to you in what will be called my URBAN DÉCOR Journal, this is part 1 Ben AKA Redtempa
Someone with impeccable taste has purchased a copy of my As Clear as Black and White 2009 Calendar...
Someone with impeccable taste has purchased a copy of my As Clear as Black and White 2009 Calendar / My thanks to all who have supported these works. GB / Dennis
Thank you Blue Room for featuring Rope ”!http://images-1.redbubble.net/img/art/f…
Thank you Blue Room for featuring Rope
After publishing Urban Décor part 1 on M…
After publishing Urban Décor part 1 on Monday I was interested to see the reaction from the Redbubble community on the subject of urban art. To be honest I was expecting a mixed reaction because this form of art has many guises, some of which have a habit of pissing people off… tagging being one of them. This side of graffiti is the hardest to justify, something even I would struggle to do… not that I would want to anyway! Personally I am not even going to get involved in the debate because I can see both sides of the story and both are as valid as each other… in reality your opinions will probably be individual and varied and will be based on your personal experiences, good or bad. My own experiences have been both negative and positive and I’m pretty open minded on the subject, so I can understand the mixed reactions that some of the images I produce may cause. Some people will say tagging causes distress and is just blatant vandalism created by bored jobless youths with no respect for the property of others. Others will say it has been around for as long as the human race has been able to express itself through painting and (in some cases) can even brighten up the ugliest of human creations. Whatever your opinion in a free society such as the UK’s it is not going to disappear anytime soon. This is because to truly stop it we would need to take drastic measures that would not sit comfortably in our so called ‘free society’. However, as a photographer I like to document a street scene that I’ve found and I see beauty in. As I primarily photograph natural street scenes in urban areas urban art/vandalism is often a major feature of my work. This is because to me it is such and intriguing and powerful form of artist expression completely without censure that can reach and effect anybody or any age. I am intrigued as to the thought processes that go into designing tags and what they tell you about the artist/criminal that has created it. My intention with these is not to express my personal opinion, instead just to document a scene I think is beautiful and to show it in context with its surroundings. The fact these scenes are dynamic and constantly changing as more graffiti/urban art/tags gives me confidence that recording them is an important thing to do. In fact many of the scenes I have shot in my portfolio have been whitewash or replaced, something that makes me feel justified in spending the many days trawling the streets looking for them. Peace Ben AKA Redtempa
05-04-09 The award winning Into the Mist #2 / !http://images-3…
05-04-09 The award winning Into the Mist #2 / / has now won the Australian Bush and Rainforest Photography Group’s ‘The Bush in Black and White’ Challenge. My utmost thanks to all who voted, the Hosts and to all who have supported this misty mono landscape. GB / Dennis
Someone else with impeccable taste has purchased a copy of my As Clear as Black and White 2009 Calendar...
Someone else with impeccable taste has purchased a copy of my As Clear as Black and White 2009 Calendar / My thanks to all who have supported these works. GB / Dennis
Scene in New York ”!http://images-1.redbubble.net/...
Scene in New York
You may not realise but the dark s…
You may not realise but the dark streets of London are littered with some of the worlds most cutting edge and ingenious marketing campaigns. Stencils, billposters and general scrawl are being used to sell products or raise a public profile, in some cases very effectively. You only have to look at the money behind some of the brands turning up on street corners and street signs to realise this is no longer only the work of kids with too much time on their hands. These are big businesses that have recognised the impact guerrilla marketing can have on creating brand awareness. The most recent example to be seen on the streets of the East End of London are stencils of a Zepplin with the word ‘Mothership’ emblazoned across it. To those that know this is advertising the new album from Led Zepplin, and to those that don’t this creates a certain intrigue and awareness that Atlantic Records hope will boost sales amongst a younger generation of music fans. My point is this is not a small back street company that has employed these techniques and Led Zepplin are not a bunch of ‘wannabe’s’, these are big names utilising urban art as part of a high profile campaign. Some, of course are not big businesses and do not have a capitalist agenda. They just want to spread a message or an ethos and are utilising the best cost effective methods available that can reach the widest possible audience. Some of these are even global movements expanding their cause (quite strategically) by using guerrilla marketing techniques. / Artwork by Obey Obey is a great example of this. Obey is the brainchild of Shepard Fairy and is a regular feature on the streets of some of the worlds major cities. He explains his work as “an experiment in Phenomenology” with one of the aims being to “awaken ones sense of wonder about their surroundings“. He says of his work; “The Obey campaign attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the campaign and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with Obey propaganda provokes thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewers perception and attention to detail”. / Artwork by Obey Whether or not you agree with the point the is trying to make or the methods he is employing you have to admire the sheer scale of his work. Much of it is also very attractive and really does brighten up some of the dingiest London streets. I have taken many shots of Obey’s and other guerrilla media campaigns, some of which I have posted here and on my portfolio. To be honest some of them I love, some I hate, some I understand and some, well, I have no idea what their rhyme or reason is! They come in many forms with many points to make on many levels from the blatantly obvious to the completely surreal, the commercial to anti-capitalistic, the humorous to political. I’ll let you make up your own minds! Please feel free to comment, I’d like to hear your opinions on the subject Peace Ben
March 2009 Into the Mist #2 / !http://images-3.redbubble.net/i…
March 2009 Into the Mist #2 / / was awarded 1st Place in the Black and White Landscape section and / Cacey the Presenter / / was awarded 2nd Place in the Black and White Portrait section, / in the 2009 Castle Hill & Hills District Agricultural Show. Many thanks to the judges and to all who have supported these works. GB / Dennis
I hope you will find this video I made of interest, it’s a slideshow of my black & white seascape images set to one of my favourite piece…
I hope you will find this video I made of interest, it’s a slideshow of my black & white seascape images set to one of my favourite pieces of music. If you have fast enough Broadband there’s an option to watch in High Definition. Click to watch on Youtube I’d be interested to hear what you think. Also, thank you to everyone who has left comments & faved my images so far, it’s been a real boost and very encouraging to know I’m going in the right direction (particularly Dyin’ Alone which has had an incredible response).
Leather Pride Fine Art, Folsom Street East, 2006 – 2008 ...
Leather Pride Fine Art, Folsom Street East, 2006 – 2008
I don’t proclaim this very often, but because this is one that I enjoyed both shooting and manipulating, I am quite chuffed! “Knot T…
I don’t proclaim this very often, but because this is one that I enjoyed both shooting and manipulating, I am quite chuffed! Knot Tied Down has been ‘Featured’ within South Australian Artists (9th May 2009) See how good it looks in the various formats available: Framed: Large, Border:Charcoal, Matte:Bright White, Frame:Boxed / Lamination: Large / Mounted: Large, Black Border: / Canvas: Extra Large (This is new to me!) / Thank you to the moderators of South Australian Artists!
My Boat image was featured in the Layered With Texture....
My Boat image was featured in the Layered With Texture group! Thank you!
Sometimes; / I feel blue, and out of sorts Sometimes; / I feel green, and inexperienced Sometimes; / I see red Sometimes; / I want …
Sometimes; / I feel blue, and out of sorts Sometimes; / I feel green, and inexperienced Sometimes; / I see red Sometimes; / I want to remove the colours I seek black and white / monochrome / colour removed / colour desaturated / colour converted to grayscale Sometimes I want; / no distractions Sometimes I want; / the simplicity Sometimes I want; / the subtlety Sometimes I want; / the detail Sometimes I realise that / black and white are colours too. Narration for Audio Visual
I have a couple of calendars available to buy! I’m thrilled with how they have been designed by Redbubble and they look great hanging on …
I have a couple of calendars available to buy! I’m thrilled with how they have been designed by Redbubble and they look great hanging on the wall. Attractive and practical. Scenes Through a Lens contains a range of my black and white photographs. I tried to tie the images in with the seasons. View a reduced-quality version in PDF. Warm and Blue contains images with orange or yellow and blue tones in them. I noticed that I had a few in this vein and thought they might look good in a calendar. View a reduced-quality version in PDF. Hope you find one or the other to your liking.
I ordered a set of my cards and the calendar to check out the quality … and really .. WOW ! ... they are so beautiful … i am very…
I ordered a set of my cards and the calendar to check out the quality … and really .. WOW ! ... they are so beautiful … i am very excited … the quality of the cards are fantastic and the calendar looks so beautiful …. i often wondered if there was one pic i the whole calendar i may not like so much or something … (or worse, more than 1) ... each page is gorgeous and the work looks fantastic … thank you REDBUBBLE ! >>> Gina
Hello, all: I have no clue if I can add an image to my journal so I’m going to point you to my myspace blog for the foto of a painting…
Hello, all: I have no clue if I can add an image to my journal so I’m going to point you to my myspace blog for the foto of a painting I just finished. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=25403664&blogID=457911670 Let me know what you think. E
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