Miniature Love

2012-01-06T22:36:00.000Z

Photographs I wish I had taken #1

2012-01-06T21:52:00.008Z

Jeff Wall Pawnshop, 2008

Like the overlooked song that creeps up on you in the shower or the book you have to re-read as soon as you get to the end, this image keeps nagging at my senses. When I saw it as a huge print at White Cube it pounded my brain like a pinball, lodged, then disseminated like a roman candle.
Walking around East London this morning I had discarded Christmas trees on my mind. Then when deciding to photograph a window full of crisp boxes the Pawn Shop came booming into my consciousness.
I love the muted colours of this photograph. The distanced empathy of the artist, the uncertainty between reality and artifice.
The impeccable construction.

Looking Forward

2011-12-31T19:53:00.003Z

My Dad died five years ago today. I think he would have been excited about the onset of 2012 and the changes to come.

The other day in LA

2011-12-29T16:16:00.004Z

Blue Afternoon

2011-12-17T21:44:00.004Z

Paris Photo

2011-12-15T22:16:00.004Z

Caro

2011-12-14T16:55:00.002Z

I need to gather up all the leaves in the garden, I've brought lots of the plants inside now so the colour palette is golden but muted.. it made me think of this day in the summer with Caroline

Wandering Eye

2011-12-11T21:12:00.004Z

Hackney Flowers

2011-12-09T20:21:00.001Z

From the Treehouse

2011-12-06T14:12:00.008Z

A few days ago I received an amazing package from the forest.
Milena has made a collection of exquisite, original hand knits this season.. there are a few items left to buy on Etsy but I don't think they will be there for long

Inca brings the Sunshine

2011-12-05T10:31:00.003Z

Louise Gray

2011-09-19T10:20:00.008+01:00

I met Louise on a rainy day in Hackney.. I was concerned about the light but I needn't have worried as Louise brings her own..

Moondog - Westward Ho!

2011-06-22T17:12:00.000+01:00

Show Down

2011-05-23T19:25:00.000+01:00

Ben and Cat came to help me take down the show.. a rainbow glistened over Regent's Studios

ying/yang

2011-05-09T13:11:00.000+01:00

Es Cucons

2011-05-01T10:35:00.002+01:00

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter at Transition Gallery

2011-04-15T17:22:00.000+01:00

Origin of the Zero

2011-03-29T18:16:00.000+01:00

Milena and I went back to school for a night.. she lit up the room with the patchwork inside of her coat

The Golden Heart- tonight

2011-03-28T16:38:00.004+01:00

Special thanks to Heidi James, John Welch, Ben Weaver, Touch Digital and Sandra at the Golden Heart

I love Ridley Road

2011-03-27T16:45:00.002+01:00

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter in Another Magazine

2011-03-07T13:28:00.006Z

Another have run a three page feature on my Heart is a Lonely Hunter series that I shot in Selma, Alabama..
Here is an excerpt I wrote which talks about Robert, one of several incredible characters we met on our travels.
Love in Store
A mist covers the river as the sun comes up, I meet a woman called Dr Love. She tells me it is her mission to spread love and soften people’s hearts. Afterwards I go into an antique shop, the owner is called Robert. He is smoking and mending a broken table. He tells me people are getting bigger these days and chairs keep breaking. He has rows of tools and a letter addressed to him with Mother Theresa stamps stuck on, there is a smell of something cooking. He takes us out for a drive to a forgotten church that he takes care of. Light pours in and he gives us bourbon, ice rattles in the plastic glass. Later we drive twenty miles to eat dinner with his girlfriend. We sit on the porch while she cooks and he asks me if i have a man and is he supportive. I say I do and he is. He says he would be too, that he wouldn’t mind if a girl travelled and followed her passions. I say for some people it’s a problem. He says of course and that any man who says otherwise is lying. The next day he gives me a Indian arrowhead carved out of rose crystal.

Literary Journey opens at Transition Gallery on the 29th April 2011

Damian Le Bas- Gypsy, Poet, Mystic

2011-03-04T09:50:00.004Z

Lost Transmission

2011-03-03T10:43:00.001Z

I received this sad package in the post today.. an empty torn envelope addressed to me sealed in a royal mail bag with a printed apology. Who knows what the contents may have been and where they are now...

Illuminations

2011-03-02T13:48:00.004Z

Cat gave me these plants a while ago. Even in low light they have an iridescent glow. If the sun is behind them they are luminous; at night the street lights throw their shadows on the wall. They always make the day feel better.

POV Female- London

2011-02-22T10:55:00.004Z

Love More

2011-02-14T13:59:00.002Z

Super Natural

2011-02-10T12:37:00.000Z

Delaine's aura caught on film
the camera never lies!

Vivienne and her Sisters

2011-02-04T10:35:00.001Z

world of echo

2011-01-20T17:16:00.001Z

unseen Hype

2011-01-19T12:01:00.001Z

golden

2010-12-26T11:22:00.007Z

shifting patterns

2010-12-22T12:39:00.002Z

Shifting Patterns from taradara on Vimeo.

In August i went to the Arctic and travelled for two weeks on a Russian ice breaker.. the experiences, sights and sounds are hard to put into words so I made this short film to give a feeling of what we saw, heard and flew over...
Special thanks to the following people-
Editing: Nick Seaton
Music: Mark Wagner
Colour: Touch Digital

it's time

2010-11-21T11:11:00.002Z

Delaine Le Bas

2010-09-16T18:15:00.003+01:00

Delaine came to visit today.. we picked up just where we left off last time i saw her in the Summer
I finally gave her a card i made for her 5 years ago which got mislaid in a move..

This is for the Ghosts

2010-09-12T14:20:00.005+01:00

I found out too late that the Tate modern were showing Vivienne Dick's films over the weekend.. and that on Friday night there would be a performance by Lydia Lunch and a Q+A by one of my all time photographic heroes, Nan Goldin.. it was completely sold out. I decided to go down anyway and by a huge stroke of luck (thanks Gil!) managed to get in at the 11th hour. It was an incredible evening which started with Lydia's performance before the screening which silenced the packed auditorium with awe. The films and music were disarming, tense, threatening, beautiful and haunting. The power of the images, colours and sounds have stayed with me over the last few days. The rollercoaster scene in She Had Her Gun All Ready is an unbelievable cinematic moment.. I would love to post it here but cannot find any clips on youtube. So instead I will sign off with this song by The Marvellettes, which plays in the most sublime and tender dancing scene in Beauty Becomes The Beast.. filmed in Nan Goldin's loft on the Lower East Side.

Fragments of a Dream

2010-09-11T10:09:00.004+01:00

Last night i kept dreaming about this apocalyptic scene... If you haven't managed to see The Surreal House yet at the Barbican go this weekend before it closes.

James

2010-09-09T18:00:00.002+01:00

Instructions for leaving...

2010-08-30T20:43:00.001+01:00

...but we don't want to go

Bears in the woods

2010-08-26T18:17:00.000+01:00

Full moon by the lake

2010-08-25T01:40:00.003+01:00

Jenn, Jason, Sam

2010-08-20T18:20:00.001+01:00

Touchdown Montreal

2010-08-19T20:14:00.005+01:00

Journey back to Resolute

2010-08-17T15:36:00.004+01:00

My cabin window

2010-08-15T00:40:00.001+01:00

When the light is like this at night there is no time for sleeping

Ice Breaking

2010-08-14T12:12:00.003+01:00

The mist hung low in the icy air I kept thinking about the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. One of the only bad things about the Arctic is that there are no albatross...

81 degrees North

2010-08-11T12:56:00.000+01:00

Perpetual daylight

2010-08-10T10:39:00.002+01:00

When the sun is out the most beautiful time of the day is anywhere between midnight and three am.. the sun lies low in the sky, we crunch through ice. This is the control room, my favourite part of the ship

Ice Swan

2010-08-07T20:16:00.001+01:00

Many mystical, magical creatures in the Arctic.. many of them made of ice

My new home for the next two weeks

2010-08-06T11:42:00.003+01:00

all aboard the Russian ice breaker Kapitan Khlebnikov
cabin 710
we have no phones and no internet access
i hand over my passport and receive a coded russian email address
this ship has an ice knife, an ice skirt, an armoured steel hull, a cast steel prow
it was built in the 80's to keep the north west passage clear and then handed over as an expedition ship when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991
this will be it's last ever journey to Tanqueray Fjord as the Russians want her back

Crossing the frozen ocean

2010-08-04T14:06:00.002+01:00

à plus..

2010-07-26T18:43:00.007+01:00

Corner Shop, Rambuteau style

2010-07-23T09:18:00.002+01:00

YSL

2010-07-22T08:03:00.003+01:00

Love the Sun

2010-07-18T10:39:00.003+01:00

Pink Sky at Night

2010-07-06T12:23:00.001+01:00

God Bless America

2010-07-04T17:19:00.002+01:00

Un Anda Solo

2010-06-18T22:01:00.001+01:00

Some things remain forever Unspoken

2010-06-17T22:34:00.003+01:00

Sisters

2010-06-16T13:42:00.002+01:00

/Wake Up/New Day

2010-06-16T03:47:00.001+01:00

ByeBye Brooklyn

2010-06-14T16:22:00.000+01:00

Pocket Rocket

2010-06-10T22:08:00.002+01:00

Annika

2010-05-25T02:42:00.001+01:00

Lacey

2010-05-24T12:12:00.002+01:00

Sunshine or rain Ain't a damn thing changed

2010-04-25T17:07:00.009+01:00

My friend Harry recently digitised an old mix tape of his that brought back so many good memories of my own from around that time... this song in particular took me back to the Summer of 1995, a rooftop party with one of my oldest friends, Jack.. sunrise, high tops and a Barcelona skyline...getting lost on the way home and going to the beach. Woop.

p.s check out Jack's amazing work here

Lizzie Love

2010-04-22T16:49:00.003+01:00

I am the lucky owner of this Lizzie Finn loveheart which is in pride of place in my studio..i love it so much. Look at Lizzie's beautiful, fun and awe inspiring work here

MGMT polaroids for INTRO

2010-04-16T18:29:00.002+01:00

Om Namah Shivaya Gurave

2010-04-15T15:36:00.004+01:00

See you soon Lulu.

Big Surreal

2010-04-10T18:25:00.001+01:00

Beautiful Berkeley

2010-04-06T15:44:00.004+01:00

In Lak'ech Ala K'in

2010-04-02T12:12:00.004+01:00

Elena

2010-03-30T22:55:00.001+01:00

Luna Llena

2010-03-29T18:44:00.000+01:00

Laura

2010-03-24T14:54:00.004Z

Alma

2010-03-22T15:25:00.002Z

My New View

2010-03-18T10:22:00.000Z

High Rise

2010-03-16T17:55:00.001Z

On the Acapulco Rocks

2010-03-13T14:13:00.001Z

Lucy Lucy Lu

2010-03-11T12:01:00.001Z

Lucy has been working with me for four months... she will be very missed..!

Jess Hellicar

2010-02-18T17:51:00.002Z

Caledonia Dreaming

2010-02-08T19:58:00.011Z

This is a cover I shot in January for The Wire magazine featuring Alasdair Roberts in Glasgow. I also went to Carbeth, outside the city.. here are some polaroids of Alex and Vinnie from Trembling Bells.

American Dream, American Nightmare

2010-02-04T12:29:00.001Z

Please read episode 6 here

OSTWALD HELGASON SS10

2010-01-29T11:22:00.012Z

This is a short film I made for designers Ostwald Helgason collaborating with JJ Marshall Associates and stylist Jane Howard.. it was edited by Sophie MacCorquodale.
The soundtrack is by Sylva Kay...her album 'Undercut' will be released in April 2010 on Spillage Fete Records.

Sound Recordings

2010-01-28T19:12:00.003Z

At first we couldn’t find the house. Judy, an old school friend of Nancy Clutter’s, told us that the driveway was no longer beautiful the way she remembered it. The “tunnel of darkening green” that Capote described has been reduced to a line of seemingly burnt out skeleton trees. Silhouetted by the setting sun behind them, they stand as silent sentinels to what happened on that night fifty years ago. Like plants growing out of contaminated land they hold a disturbing memory that neighbours have tried hard to forget.
November 15, 1959 was a full moon and the driveway would have been illuminated. The wind blew the sound of the intruders’ presence in the opposite direction. Dick turned off the headlights and waited. As we drove down the track I looked for a trace of their forms, a hologram hanging in the air.

This is episode five in a series of nine. Please read the other episodes here

Murder Cycles

2010-01-25T17:53:00.002Z

Perry and Dick stopped at an isolated gas station near Garden City before reaching their final destination, River Valley farm. Dick got annoyed with Perry for staying inside the bathroom for too long. The pump attendant complained the next day that he’d had some “tough customers in here last night,” woefully unaware that the unpleasant stench they’d left behind was an ill portent blowing in the Clutter family's direction.

Perry crouched in pain waiting for his aspirin to take effect – I believe he was hoping for a get-out, stalling for time, that it was an indication of his reticence. In prison Perry had met Willie Jay: "the chaplain's clerk, a slender Irishman with prematurely grey hair and grey, melancholy eyes". In the prison's distorted microcosm he was Perry's beacon, a mentor who saw Perry's creative potential but warned him against his fatal flaw, his explosive temper, his capacity for self-destruction. Willie Jay said Perry had a finely tuned sixth sense, he hailed him as a “natural born medium.”

Perry respected a host of superstitions – the number 15, red hair, white flowers, priests crossing a road, nuns, snakes appearing in a dream. Any one of those might have warned him against what was to come. But Dick was rattling the door, insistent and like actors resuming their parts in a tragedy they got back in the car and drove on.

This is episode four in a series of nine installments based on Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood. You can read the other episodes here

Grazie Nero

2010-01-23T16:34:00.004Z

Got this nice surprise on email today from my friend Nicola in Rome. . you can see the whole magazine here
I am missing the Romans. . here is a picture of Nicola, Gio and Michele (L-R) in Bracciano

Selda- bundan sonra

2010-01-20T22:30:00.004Z

I came across this song a while ago on a mix tape and then heard it again today by chance winding through the countryside in Scotland with snow capped mountains in the distance... it's amazing.

False Projections

2010-01-18T23:38:00.007Z

Episode 3 is ready to read here

Beyond Cold Blood

2010-01-13T17:39:00.007Z

The second installment of my Capote In Cold Blood Literary Journey is ready to read here

Eating Rainbows

2010-01-12T19:22:00.019Z

Fred made me this amazing rainbow, psychedelic birthday cake which was hand delivered to me yesterday. . not only did it look beautiful, it tasted sublime. I recommend the mood enhancing virtues of this cosmic cake to anyone lucky enough to try it. . and listen to this song at the same time
Thank you Fred! xx

Towards A Mirage

2010-01-11T16:53:00.013Z

Last November I flew to Wichita to meet my Texan friend and musician JM Lapham. Together we travelled around Kansas following the path of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith from Truman Capote's factual novel In Cold Blood.
Another Magazine are serialising the nine installments over the next few days.
You can read the first one here

Maya Lilley Rainbow Wild Child

2010-01-10T11:52:00.003Z

0 1 0 1 1 0

2010-01-01T20:09:00.002Z

I came outside today and found this written on my car. .

L O V E

2009-12-31T11:43:00.002Z

In To The New

2009-12-28T14:14:00.001Z

Pretty in Pink- **k at Sunday Space Ritual

2009-12-21T10:17:00.006Z

http://www.myspace.com/2stark

The Beautiful Persists: Ellie and Jiva

2009-12-19T21:39:00.006Z

Ellie and Jiva are amazing and two of my favourite people to photograph. I met them a few years ago by chance on Navarino Rd in the rain when Jiva was a baby. My friend Sylva is also someone I love to hang out with and photograph- I met her by chance too on the other side of London. A couple of years ago I went to see Sylva play at the Spitz and bumped into Ellie there. It turns out Sylva and Ellie know each other from when they were kids growing up outside London. I like these kind of coincidences a lot.

Jess and Angie

2009-12-07T19:35:00.004Z

In India. . a while ago. . this time of year always makes me start thinking about travelling East.

Moon Child

2009-12-02T20:00:00.002Z

Last night I couldn't sleep, maybe it was the full moon. . tonight I walked home in it's glow. . I love the moon!

Bunny Girl

2009-12-02T18:47:00.001Z