Snow!

Snow in Horniman's Museum Garden. © Magnus Andersson

Today was a beautiful day - the snow finally arrived to London. We had been promised some for the weekend but the prognosis was revised until today. Snow, snow, glorious snow! There are of course more pressing matters going on in the world, but when the snow hits London, we do as we are told. In other news: wikileaks, student protests, Lewisham Town Hall, etc.

Sitting on the fence

Three crow siblings sitting on a fence in Oxleas Woods. © Magnus Andersson

Drive by shooting

Fancy Dan photographer with a Ha$$elblad and Ray-Ban's and his smoking model, London Fields. Jealous, me? © Magnus Andersson

New hobbies

Portrait of Frederick Salter in his home. © Magnus Andersson

Today I met Frederick Salter, a man at the tender age of 99 who also happens to be the oldest competitive dancer around. He told me about his recent appearance on TV with Bruce Forsyth. He told me about his experiences in WWII and likened the current war in Afghanistan to 'peanuts' compared to what they went through back then.

He's 99 and only took up dancing six years ago. What new hobby will you take up at 93? This man is of the kind which I think wont be around by the time my generation (if ever) reaches 99, let alone taking up new hobbies.

Just look at the twinkle in his eyes. Makes me proud just to have met him and shared some stories together.

Jallim Eudovic

Three people carrying the body of a dead person; sculpture by Jallim Eudovic. © Magnus Andersson

Last week I visited the Stephen Lawrence Centre in Deptford for an event on Black History Month, but this post isn't really related to that (yet it is). Instead, the receptionist kindly reminded me of an earlier session which I photographed during the summer and then completely forgot to tell you about, along with a million other things.

Mother and child; sculpture by Jallim Eudovic. © Magnus Andersson

As a newspaper photographer I meet and photograph a lot of people during the course of a week and occasionally you make a connection with your subject. I'm not going to go into the art of handling your portrait subject (just google it) because I don't know how it works , but when the connection happens, it is a rare thing, and on this particular occasion my subject was a young artist from St. Lucia called Jallim Eudovic. I arrived early and had time to look at his sculptures on my own. They were nothing short of exceptional.

The banking system; sculpture by Jallim Eudovic. © Magnus Andersson

Cutting long stories short, I was already taken by his work but when Jallim himself arrived, he was certainly a breath of fresh air. He's a modest man, and he took great care explaining every single sculpture to me, the history, the cultural significance, and his recording of fading traditions from his own society, the story behind each object. It dawned on me that he really is a man documenting, observing and writing the obit of his own local history. To be a local newspaper photographer somewhat paled into insignificance, if it wasn't for these moments of connection.


Building windows; a sculpture by Jallim Eudovic. © Magnus Andersson

If I had been rich I would have bought one of his sculptures straight away but as it stands, all I can do is try to share some of his craftsmanship. Wouldn't it be nice to make a visit to Jallim's studio in St. Lucia one day?


Portrait of artist Jallim Eudovic. © Magnus Andersson

Ai Weiwei

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. © Magnus Andersson

Last Monday I was down at Tate Modern to witness the opening of the new installation in the Turbine Hall by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. For those that don't know, the Tate Modern is housed in an old disused power station (designed by the same man who gave us the classic red telephone box as well as Battersea Power Station). The size of the building is enormous and the Turbine Hall is one huge empty space; a real test for any artist to inhabit with a single piece of work.

The turbine hall in Tate Modern. © Magnus Andersson

For me, the most impressive works to date have been Anish Kapoor's 'Marsyas' and Olafur Eliasson's 'Weather Project' (below), who both really made the vast space their own. This time was different though...as the doors were opened for us, I couldn't see anything at all. As we drew closer I noticed that there seemed to be a beach of some kind at the far end of the hall. My first impression was one of disappointment.

The Weather Project by Olafur Eliasson in 2003. © Magnus Andersson

It turned out that my fears were unwarranted. Although smaller in size than some of the previous Unilever Series, it is certainly one of the most thought provoking. What first appears as a beach of pebbles soon becomes a vast ocean of slightly over sized sunflower seeds.

There is over 100 million of these hand crafted seeds. © Magnus Andersson

Once you are in it, it then becomes clear that they are not 'real'. There's over 100 million of them. In fact they are individually crafted and hand painted by skilled artisans, and it took a small army (1600 of them) over two years to create.


A TV reporter lies in the porcelain seeds. He asked his crew: "Why am I doing this?" © Magnus Andersson

The sheer work that has gone into creating this is breathtaking and Ai Weiwei makes several comments on both mass production (Made in China) vs. individuality and Chinese history during the Cultural Revolution; something which he experienced first hand.

The foot steps. © Magnus Andersson

Ai Weiwei himself is one of the most significant living artists on the planet today. You might not have heard his name but you have most certainly seen his work before. He was involved in the design in some of the Chinese Olympics venues. But he is also an activist risking his life. He believes in mass communication and he also dares to go against the Chinese regime, (requiring brain surgery for his efforts). He's a massive Twitterer, blogger and his Wiki page is fascinating. If you are in London anytime before May 2, 2011, go see it! Just make sure that you read the artists' notes before you dive in.

Ai Weiwei about to be interviewed on live TV. © Magnus Andersson

He's also a cool dude. During the photo call he took the time (and I mean a looong time) to stop, pick out his compact digital camera, take a few pictures of us while we were shooting him; then he tweeted it. Nice.

Close up of the porcelain sunflower seeds. © Magnus Andersson

Bad news came through yesterday though, with reports that the constant walking on the seeds created a fine cloud of porcelain dust, which in no way is healthy for you, so for now the exhibition is one to be looked at as opposed to immersing yourself in. What a shame. Picking up a handful of the seeds and inspecting them up close was a massive point in this work of art. Hopefully they will sort it out.

Ai Weiwei throws his creation up in the air. © Magnus Andersson

Ps. I may or may not have kept one of the little porcelain sunflower seeds for posterity. ;)

Pps. Exhibition gets a 5-star review in The Guardian.

Autumn (updated)

Discarded shoe and autumn leaves. © Magnus Andersson

Autumn has arrived in London. This morning it was cold and raining, the leaves were hurling themselves off the branches of the trees. Only six months more of this stuff! :)

_________________

Updated 06/10/10

I think I jumped the gun a bit, it turned out to be a lovely day in the end; see pic's below from Battersea Park where I had some time to kill after arriving early for a Royal appointment. /M

© Magnus Andersson

© Magnus Andersson

Raid

Police hat on the dashboard of our van. © Magnus Andersson

The picture above is from a police raid that I went on this morning but sadly - for reasons I can't divulge - it was called off. A bit like all the blog posts that I had planned from Perpignan haven't materialised either. I will try to do better, maybe find some time this weekend, next week or before Christmas at least. I call it the 'Perpignan effect'. The festival experience was great but you feel a bit empty afterwards. Behind the scenes there is work on my homepage plus book finishing still going on so hopefully you'll be updated again soon.

No news

Another face (painted kid) in the crowd, this time Jonathan, aged 6. © Magnus Andersson

Its August, the driest month of the year when it comes to news, and consequently there aren't that many interesting images being produced either. Many people are away on their holidays, the school kids are off for the summer and we struggle to fill the pages with interesting stories. For us photographers its an endless sea of face painted kids (like Jonathan above from earlier today) enjoying their well deserved break.

My little summer break comes up in a weeks time when I'm off to the grumble fest of photojournalism; Visa Pour l'image in Perpignan. There will be lots of grumbling of course, but also tonnes of rumbling. Bring it on.

The boxer

Otuo, a 15-year old boxer, photographed after sparring with his trainer in an east London gym. He is a promising young boxer from Peckham, south London, one to keep an eye on for the future, according to his trainer. © Magnus Andersson