In The Name Of Originality, Enthusiasm and Pretentious, Self-contained Deconstruction

I am Gareth Dutton. My interests include photography, videogames, contemporary fiction (a snootier way of saying "reading") and original, exciting, good music.

Which is why I'm a fan of BBC 6 Music. Which is why I attended the recent Save 6 Music protest, 

held outside Broadcasting House on the 22^nd May 2010. This is one of those (many) occasions where photography brings me a real sense of purpose. Of course, just attending in the first place is a great way to show solidarity and support but when I am able to work in a medium I love in order to support something I love, it gives what I'm doing a real sense of validation.

As I mention on my website, my philosophy when it comes to photography is to always strive to photograph people, things and ideas that I truly have an interest in; if you have that personal connection with the subject of your photography, it comes across in the images you create. In relation to this point, the Save 6 Music Protest was followed by a gig in a secret location, available only to those who attended the protest. Amongst the bands were The Magic Numbers, a band who I've always had a passing interest in but totally fell in love with during the gig itself. Their live performance was incredible; full of charisma and brimming with emotion and a love of music.

I respect the fact that they're cool without feeling the need to wear ridiculously fashionable clothing and have stupid, attention-seeking haircuts. I've always hated those "cool" bands who, when interviewed, sit quietly, their heads dropped or looking away from the interviewer, saying almost nothing, like a 14 year old boy sat next to a girl he likes. Hiding the fact that you dont have a personality by being deliberately unenthusiastic about everything and anything does not constitute a sense of cool to me. Maybe I feel that way because I see enthusiasm as an important part of anyone's life. Surely a terrible life would be one without enthusiasm for anything.

I have noticed that in previous blog posts, I've been putting all the images right at the end, like some massive image dustbin. I'm going to sprinkle them around a little more this time, like jerk seasoning on a prime steak (I'm vegetarian, so I have no idea why I came up with that metaphor, or is it a simile?) and show you some Magic Numbers pictures at this point. I hope you can see how my newfound enthusiasm for these guys is reflected in the images. Oh, and yes I'm aware that I'm deconstructing what I do as I do it; it's what all the cool kids are doing these days.

(click for large)

 

They really do have a great stage presence. Michele Stodart, the bassist, totally captivates me with her performance, she's brilliant. Not to be creepy or anything...

...anyway, let's go back in time 3 hours or so to the protest itself. It was a baking hot day and, being whiter than a bleach-drenched snowman illuminated in the headlights of an SUV, I was suffering a little. Seriously, you could point a wind-up torch at me and I'd start sweating, although that might be to do with my fear of wind-up torches.

I digress. It was wonderful to see so many people turn up in support of this station – a humming throng of enthusiasm, people who care about something, all together in one space. Several of the DJs themselves appeared to say a few words, as well as musicians who had their break on 6 Music. Comedian Ed Byrne turned up to add his thoughts, giving birth to the phrase "Yes, we should be allowed to!" as an alternative to Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" speech.

(photographer's note - save Boggins)

 

 In addition, BBC Asian Network also attended, as this station is being similarly threatened, and provided us with some great soundbites and a bit of bhangra to dance to. This is where taking photos comes in handy, because you have a valid excuse to not dance. I'm far too long and floppy to be dancing to bhangra – everyone involved (and those not involved in close proximity) would end up terribly embarrassed.

To finish up, I'll confusingly swoosh us forwards in time again, to the start of the secret gig, where we were treated to performances by Eliza Carthy and Mirrorkicks, two very different acts that show just how diverse and wonderful BBC 6 Music really is. Those of you who have read the blog before (or indeed just by reading through this one) will know that I'm not a fan of concision, so for a change I'm going to stop talking now. Yes, right now. Thanks for reading (I use brackets a lot, don't I?).

For more images and info, be sure to visit www.garethdutton.com

Professional Conduct? Yawn. How about Charities and Six Shooters?

I wrote a blog post about conducting yourself out in the field when you're on commission. Then I rewrote it. Then I deleted some of it and wrote it again. Then I moved the paragraphs around a bit. Then I deleted some more. Then I re-worded it. Then I cut out the bits that didn't make sense and rearranged it. Then I didn't bother posting it, because I realised why I wasn't happy with it. It was boring.

Looking back at my original post, although this subject fits the introductory post's plan, I also mentioned that I would mix in general discussion, which hasn't really happened. I figured I'd adopt a change of pace for this entry; show you some recent work (although I'm afraid I can't show you some of my commissioned work until it's published, so I'm showing you some other stuff) and talk about plans, current artistic influences, that sort of thing.

If you want to learn about conducting yourself in the field (professional conduct that is, not holding a club aloft on a golf course in a thunderstorm) then there are plenty of resources out there online. It felt too dry and dull for my own personal tastes, which is probably why I couldn't make it work.


So, let's pop some photos down, eh? I did an unpaid, charity job recently in aid of the Homeless World Cup Foundation. I met up with three lads – An Eco Entrepeneur, a city banker and a property developer – who are being sponsored to sleep rough for three days and three nights at the end of August.


They contacted me to ask for some promotional photos to be used on a website. As it is for a very good cause and seeing as I rarely turn down an opportunity to indulge in some photography, I agreed to take on the job. The goal was to communicate to the website visitor that these three chaps – a banker, MD of a company and a property developer – are the sort of people you would least expect to find sleeping rough on the streets of London.

A few ideas came to mind, but I decided to go with making the shoot a sort of faux-fashion shoot, with a twist. The "models" wouldn't be modelling clothing, lifestyle or some sort of fashionable activity (you can tell I'm up to speed with all this fashion stuff), they would be modelling what it's like to be homeless.

The tone of this shoot was very important. I wanted the guys to use modelling style poses for things like asking for change, sitting in dirty streets, searching for food without it looking goofy or like a big huge joke. Obviously some humour would be involved, but very much on a tongue in cheek level, as opposed to making fun of homeless people.

Here's a small selection of the final images. Click for larger.

 

The Homeless Challenge website is still work in progress, but once their site is up, I'll give the site a mention in a future blog post and link you, for those of you interested in contributing.

That's your lot for photos this time around, folks. I've been experiencing a bit of a Wild West vibe as of late, as I've always held an interest in Spaghetti Westerns and the more factual, actual American history in general from that period but I've never really looked into it. Perversely, I have also been listening to the musical scores of Ennico Morricone, despite not having seen the films they are in, which I am due to watch very soon. My grandfather and my uncle were very much into the Wild West. My grandfather would read book after book of Wild West fiction and my uncle painted a huge scene of Custer's Last Stand shortly before his passing, which still hangs in my parents' house today.

All this has inspired me to take up a photo project that will be loosely inspired by the films of Sergio Leone. I'm not entirely sure what form this will take right now, be it incredibly literal or more of a flavour of his approach to direction. I have been toying with the idea of a photographic comic strip for some time and may take it down this road. Who knows? Well, I should, really.

For more images and info, be sure to visit www.garethdutton.com