2011 Sideways Summary

A brand new year is just around the corner so I'll try and summarise 2011 with some of my favourites shots/shoots along with some pictures that never ended up going on the blog. I'll be the first one to admit that blogging has become a bit of a burden this year. The black hole of never ending good stuff that is Twitter overtook the sharing of online content. The planning of my wedding took up an enormous amount of time too, but lets be honest, laziness is at the heart of the problem. Enough with the excuses, here we go.

The moment my now wife said 'yes' to me on top of a castle overlooking the sea, with friends and family from all over the world gathered in one spot, was definitely the highlight of the year (and my life!), and these two pictures are from our resulting mini-honeymoon to Dorset, where amongst other things, we took in the delight that is Durdle Door.

One the funniest and most rewarding of my own projects that I worked on was the phenomenon of same-sex dancing. This picture is from an event at The Rivoli in Brockley, where couples from all over the world come to compete in ballroom dancing. An audio slide show will hopefully be complete in time for next years competition.

Sitting beneath West Norwood Cemetery is one of the country's few large-scale catacombs. Known as the Millionaire's Cemetery, it was one of the most fashionable places in the city to be buried during Victorian times, when death was commemorated in the most indulgent way a family could afford, and catacomb burial was seen as the pinnacle of high status. Chipped and moulding coffins are on plain display. There are approximately 1,500 coffins down here, with capacity for about 2,000.

The first thing to greet you when you enter the catacombs is the old hydraulic catafalque (above), aka coffin lift. At the end of a funeral, as something of a dramatic conclusion, this would have been used to lower the coffin straight into the catacombs from the old chapel above (which was destroyed by a bomb in the Second World War). Waiting below would have been a team of pall bearers, who would have then unloaded the coffin and taken it to its allocated space. An awesome place, which really gave me the creeps.

Since 2010, I've had the pleasure of working with Kick It Out. This shot is from one of their many coaching sessions for black and Asian managers, where England U19 manager Noel Blake (R) and Chelsea FC's Michael Emenalo (L) took part. The work they do is much needed, with only two black managers involved in top-level football in this country, and as racism charges against John Terry and Luis Suarez have proved, there is still a lot to do to stamp out racism from the game.

More sports, this time a nice portrait. I was sent down to Ladywell Fields in Lewisham to get a site shot as they had just had a new surface laid down on the athletics track. A chap which I vaguely recognised was about to start training and I got chatting to him. Turns out it was Conrad Williams, a Team GB athlete training for next years London Olympics, and he was more than happy to pose for a few shots.

A final sports pic, this one from Wimbledon, where sadly I only had time to go for one afternoon. This is ultimate champion Novak Djokovic twisting his arm unbelievably as he serves. I love how this looks and have a whole series of these.

A couple of shots from the flash mob outside City Hall in May, where security guards have made it into a sport to stop photographers from getting their cameras out. Getting creative with the message are Leah Borromeo (top) and NUJ's Jess Hurd. More on all things related at PHNAT.

The Royal wedding was fun! The nation went into hyper drive and got a day off for their troubles. Little girls dressed as princesses and neighbours threw street parties in a seldom seen show of friendliness. For me, it was a extremely busy day, but luckily I didn't have to go into Buckingham Palace, where photographers have been speaking of the job from hell. I was well fed and watered all day. This shot is from East Greenwich Pleasaunce.

More royalty, here's Camilla getting a stiff upper lip from an equestrian friend as she visited Ebony Horse Club in the middle of Brixton.

The biggest story in London was probably the August riots. I came back from work just as Hackney was erupting. I went down to have a look and within 10 minutes I'd seen three people being robbed of their cameras. There was no police in sight, people were committing robbery right left and centre, and as I wasn't covering it for the paper, I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Numerous photographers got beat up and robbed, and I'm kind of glad that I stayed away. The above pic's are of the aftermath in Woolwich and Lewisham, but, the riots also brought some good things. How about these (below) riot inspired custom finger nails from an art exhibition in Peckham?

Finally, here's a round up of links to some of the numerous 'Pictures of the Year' out there:

Tom Jenkins of The Guardian, AFP's Leon Neal, Time, The Guardian, BBC, Greenpeace, The New York Times, The Telegraph, MSNBC, The Big Picture parts I, II and III, Reuters UK and global, Flickr, The Daily Beast, British Red Cross, to name but a few, and of course the pictures of the year in LEGO.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Power to the people

Earlier today we went on the TUC organised March for the Alternative in central London. My fiancé (who works for Camden council) and me tried to find the NUJ section but finding anyone in this crowd was difficult. I ran into three SLP colleagues but quickly lost them again. No wonder when there have been reports of up to 500.000 people attending the event. Good show!



We went along to show our support for the people who have already lost their jobs because of this Con-Dem government, and for those that are fighting to keep theirs, and for the future generations of children who can no longer afford university, for the people who might not get proper health care and to show our outrage at the bankers getting bonuses while the rest of us paid with our tax money to fix their problems, etc etc etc. Hey David Cameron, if you ever wanted to see a big society, look now.



As I write this, the 24-hour news channels are busy repeating the incidents caused by a few idiots who took the opportunity to cause havoc in London under the guise of The March for the Alternative, rather than focusing on the enormous amount of people who marched happily and peacefully, unified against this unholy coalition government.



With that in mind, I'd rather share some 'ordinary' images from the march as it was perceived by the majority. Power to the people!














All images © Magnus Andersson

PS. For a little extra flavour you can check out my earlier live feed from today here.

Sally McKay

Sketch of me while I was busy taking portraits of the artist. © Sally McKay

Isn't it funny how things turn out sometimes? Bored stiff at work, I have taken exactly zero pictures that are worthy of going on the blog. Planning ahead on personal projects becomes a salvation from the dross that I turn out every day at work. The reduction of staff in the newsroom has inevitably taken its toll on interesting jobs. Most days I mainly shoot school children or boring PR jobs for either the local council or a local company. No room for manoeuvre. Hence I'm pleased to announce that the above picture was neither taken by me nor made for PR purposes.


Artist Sally McKay. © Magnus Andersson

It is a picture drawn by artist Sally McKay as I was photographing her and it all came about when she confessed that she hated having her picture taken. As photographers we are acutely aware of this disposition - I for one am not very keen on being photographed. Anyway, the portraits were done in her studio in Charlton and she had a nice set of sketches on the wall that would make a nice backdrop so we got down to work, but Sally was very nervous and in a bid to stave off her self consciousness I suggested that she do what she does best - draw. And so she drew a sketch of me while I was moving around doing my job. Voila! Job done.


Artist Sally McKay. © Magnus Andersson

Later, after having seen the published article, Sally emailed me and said that I had snapped her looking relaxed and smiling - a feat that no photographer had managed before - and asked if she could use one of the images that I took for her website. I said of course, BUT only if I could have a copy of the fabulous sketch she created during our session. The rest is history.

But if you think that us creative types come for free, just have a look at this outrageous attempt of trying to to get professional pictures for nothing. The answer they get is truly what they the deserve (also the best cut'n'paste job I have ever seen)!

Like all photographers, I'm pretty sure that Sally and her fellow artists get the same ludicrous propositions, trying to get us to work for free.

You can read Sally's new blog here.

Working together?

The financial district of London partially immersed in clouds, as seen from Greenwich Cemetery. © Magnus Andersson

There was one very significant development over the weekend here in the UK after chief constable Andy Trotter declared that photography was no longer to be seen as a threat by police officers. Both amateur and professional photographers should now be allowed to enjoy the hobby/work without being hassled by real police and/or plastic police (Police Community Support Officers).

And then this happened today. Photographer Grant Smith was first questioned by security guards (who have no rights to do so) on why he is taking pictures of a building. It should be noted that Smith is an experienced London architectural photographer. The security guards call the police and shortly three police cars and one police van are on the scene, with up to six armed police officers. WTF?

The problem seems to lie with ground staff's training: #1 why would the police operator who took the call decide to dispatch four patrols to a photographer? #2 why would the officers at the scene think that this was a terrorist at work? #3 why did the security guards get involved at all? Smith was photographing the building next to theirs.

You might argue that a crime was potentially prevented here, but I would argue that a crime was potentially enabled here; four police units and two security guards allowed themselves to be drawn into a perfectly peaceful and non-violent past time of most UK citizens, i.e. photography. Meanwhile genuine criminals went about their normal criminal routines, safe in the knowledge that the officers on the ground waste their time pursuing law abiding, tax paying citizens. These officers don't have a clue about how to interpret the laws in place.

Here's the official line from the Met Police. Their slogan is: 'Working together for a safer London'.

Great piece from Henry Porter in The Guardian.

Tomorrow's BJP piece.

And perhaps a silver lining to all the media exposure these events have been given in the last few days?

I would like to know the exact figure on stopped photographers versus discovered terrorists. I suspect it stands at umpteenth vs. none. I think the Met slogan should read 'Working to alienate the population of London, especially anyone with a camera'.

Even more scary, today it was announced that the British Transport Police will be allowed to carry 50,000volt taser guns. For those that remember, the police officer that illegally confiscated my camera was also from the British Transport Police. And next time he will be armed with a taser gun as well? Lordy.

Photography Matters - live update II

Commander Broadhurst tries to answer photographer Michael Preston's (who had his arm broken by an officer) queries regarding training of officers. © Magnus Andersson

Right, the conference is actually drawing to a close, we are now in the final session for the day, but the previous session - concerning the changing legal landscape - was by far the most interesting, not to mention worrying - of the day.

Commander Robert Broadhurst, responsible for policing all public order events across the Metropolitan Police Force area, spoke of the difficulty officers are facing when policing events. However, when he questioned who actually gets a press card and then admitting that he is unaware of the vetting process behind it, it was literally a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A senior officer - invited by the press to speak on dealing with the press - displaying such a lack of knowledge led to a number of raised voices before - amongst many others - Marc Vallee and Michael Preston (who had his arm broken by police) asked some pertinent questions and tried to get reassurances that positive change actually will happen. See pictures above and below.


Photographer Marc Vallee (left) queries Commander Broadhurst. © Magnus Andersson



Met Police Commander Robert Broadhurst (centre) gives an unimpressive performance when questionedby Jeff Moore (R) on press card issues. © Magnus Andersson

NUJ Photography Matters - live

Kevin Cooper at Photography Matters. © Magnus Andersson

This will be the first - and probably only - attempt at live blogging from me. I'm at the NUJ organised annual conference for photojournalists in the UK. Right now 'Risks of the Trade' is being discussed by Kevin Cooper from Belfast, seen top left. The day is so packed though, so I'll probably have to come back in a later post to the day in full.

There is power in the union

Union protest outside Lewisham Town Hall in 2006. © Magnus Andersson

Quoting Billy Bragg in a blog header can only mean one thing: strike. I voice my support for the striking colleagues across the UK, and I would like to highlight the situation for The Yorkshire Post in Leeds; I commend The Shakeouts for writing a song which can be heard in this brilliant video from the strike.

Its easy to think that in an economic downturn we all have to fight individually to keep our jobs, but in fact the opposite is true. These owners took out high salaries, enormous profits and big bonuses from our livelihoods, whilst denying us even a pay rise in line with inflation. Year on year our salaries have actually gone down compared to inflation while these few took the fruit of our labour. Now some of us are being told we can't be afforded anymore. How convenient.

If you haven't joined your union yet, the time is now. United we stand, divided we fall.

Al Qaeda post

Kids playing in the snow, how innoncent, no? © Magnus Andersson

Ha ha, you police officers are sooo funny. This particular officer was [illegally] forcing a journalist to delete photos of his (dare I say) fully clothed children playing in the SNOW! This says more about this stupid copper than anything else. At least the copper permitted his kids to wear clothes whilst in the snow.

Actually, most police officers that I've met through work are decent, but the one's that give you trouble lack not only judgement, but also proper education and common sense. That's a fact, not merely based on chance encounters. Regular readers will know, sadly.

The number of intelligent officers that I've met can be counted on one hand. They are either CID already, or they have gone private: i.e. been promoted to investigations or are working a security detail somewhere, because as we all know, having a reliable police force in the UK is not really a priority.

Different country, I know, but as Ice Cube, Dr Dre, MC Ren and the late Eazy-E so eloquently put it: Fuck tha police!

The above picture could have made me a criminal, providing the insufficient uneducated off-duty officer would have been at hand, with his winter clad kids. What are the chances??!!?!

To get involved, check this out, and go here on Monday, if you happen to be in the UK. I am sadly working but my colleague Rob Logan has taken a day off work and will be exercising OUR legal right in shooting police officers - via camera - until he drops (or gets arrested/handcuffed/assaulted/shot). Go Rob!

I spoke to soon

A picture of two forensic officers entering a crime scene from this morning - which potentially could land me in jail for 10 years. © Magnus Andersson

Following on from the previous post, it seems I might have spoken to soon. The totalitarian society has now arrived with full force; from February 16, if you photograph a police officer in the UK, you can expect up to ten years in jail. Ten years! Read the BJP article here.

I think its about time for the NUJ to organise all its members into a boycott of all Government press calls, then perhaps we might see a shift away from criminalising the press.

Welcome, fellow terrorists!

Police attending a fire in the Bermondsey area. © Magnus Andersson

UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith didn't give two hoots about my last post on the subject. Now it seems that any man/woman wearing a police uniform is perfectly intelligent enough to decide for themselves if that person over there - with a camera - is a terrorist, and then take the appropriate action. Journalists have no rights in the eyes of a police officer anymore, the once 'open society' is now well and truly gone.

The UK is currently one of the most oppressed countries to live in, just take a look at this story from 2002. Back then, we were photographed on average 300 times per day! Imagine what the stats would show for 2009?! And why do the police deem photography unlawful only when they see it so? It seems to me that there are a huge amount of double standards going on here.

I deleted a lot of ranting here for the benefit of keeping this blog on the clean side of commentary, but I can only refer to a story that I shot a few days ago on the repercussions of this disastrous government decision.

Apart from the fact that democracy as we used to know it is falling apart, there's not much to report. The Mugabe approach (see earlier posts here and here), which Gordon Brown seems to have adopted, is so much more effective than we ever imagined.

See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. © see here

The suspects are of course the tabloids' obvious caricature: beard-plus-Middle-Eastearn-looks, but we can now also add ANYBODY with that well known WMD - a camera - to that list.

Well done Gordon Brown! The democracy that you foster is second only to, well, most of the rest of the world.

Did anyone tell you, Gordon, that Guantanamo Bay is closing down forever, for the simple fact that it was all a BIG MISTAKE? Didn't anyone tell you, Gordon, that persecuting journalists is a Mugabe sport, not something that an instigator of international freedom should engage in?


GAZA, GAZA STRIP - JANUARY 06: (EDITOR'S NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT) Palestinians evacuate the dead body of a child from in the rubble of a four story house that collapsed when struck by an Israeli air strike on January. 6, 2009 in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Israeli forces killed at least 30 people today when artillery shells targeted a United Nations run school where Gazans sheltered from fighting. Israel continues to intensify its wide-scale ground assault against the Gaza Strip ignoring mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire. (Photo by Thair Hasani/Getty Images) © Getty Images

Did you think that the Israeli tactic to not to let any journalists into Gaza was a good move? See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil? For a so-called Labour man you seem to have forgotten your core values a long time ago.

So why allow this stupid guilty-before-proven innocent-approach in the first place? There can only be a couple of good reasons, the first one being to get elected again by pretending to be tough on terrorists. Well...so far, not a single terrorist plot has been stopped by checking someone's camera. Secondly, it might favour the police if they can confiscate any photographic record of their own wrongdoings. Or am I just being cynical, Rodney King?

Things are looking gloomy for UK photojournalism, perhaps worse than it ever has been. We're all terrorists now, professionals and happy amateurs alike, and entirely in the hands of people that are neither elected nor properly educated on human rights.


This is the police officer, TL 270, whom I wrote about here, and who will know not even have to apologise when he takes my camera next time. © Magnus Andersson

Dear Jacqui, when will you ever learn?

Home Secretary Jacqui on the left. © Birmingham Mail

STOP PRESS: It's ILLEGAL, if a cop - even a smiling one - decides it is! Disregard my previous post.

Sweet Jesus, this is an incredible development. BJP reports here that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith (above left), after the November meeting with the NUJ, has said that photography CAN be limited in public places in special circumstances, see her quote below, (my brackets):

'This may be on the grounds of national security (PJ's photographs a terrorist in the act - surely not news?) or there may be situations in which the taking of photographs may cause or lead to public order situations or inflame an already tense situation (perhaps the institutionally racist Met Police beating up black people? Nah, not of interest to the public) or raise security considerations (weddings as we all know, are of a high extremist danger, read on). Additionally, the police may require a person to move on in order to prevent a breach of the peace or to avoid a public order situation or for the person's own safety and welfare or for the safety and welfare of others'.

Thank you very much, Jacqui Smith!

Just to clarify, Jacqui, if there happens to be police officers present at my next job, can I assume that there is bound to be nothing of interest - whatsoever - for the public for me to report on? Nothing in the interest of the people that you serve, the people that elected you? Please, Jacqui, please get in touch, don't be so (camera) shy.

What exactly are the police protecting us photographers - and thereby the public at large - from seeing? Did the UK just become a four-letter word that spells I-R-A-N? No crime reported in the newspapers? Then surely we must live in a crime free society! Hurrah, Jacqui. Civilisation at last, thanks to New Labour - and The Met - one of the oldest police organisations in the world.

Here's some sobering facts on how the Met, in extreme cases such as public disorder, the armed forces were deployed, instead of what we have now, individual officers left to decide when to take individual journalists out of the equation.

Imagine Brixton in 1981, imagine 1985 imagine 1995, without the media. Erased from history, Jacqui? A young and promising photojournalist by the name of David Hodge was killed at the 1985 riots, and yes others died as well, but from governmental failures; institutional wrongdoing.

Individual officers deciding when to pull the hood over the nations eyes, let alone multiple bullets to the head. These are dangerous times, indeed.

Without getting too political, this government has had serious misjudgments on the issue of national security ever since the '45 minute' claim. A decision which so far has lead to the loss of over 100.000 Iraqi civilian lives.

But wait - Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary - makes things worse. Seven days ago a wedding photographer in London - on the very day of UN Human Rights Day - was detained for 45 minutes (oh, the irony!) under section 44 of the Terrorism Act. Laugh your head off/cry your eyes out here.

So please, Mrs Thatcher, Jacqui Smith, I'm expecting a personal reply from you to the question; Exactly how many crimes have been prevented, how many lives have been saved by criminalising trained photojournalists to carry out their profession and their chosen duty to inform the public of events in their society?

Alternatively, Jacqui, here's another question; do we have a police force inexcusably unaware of its own operating limits, without proper training? Surely you wouldn't start killing innocent civilians to protect national security? Surely you have security of this country under control, without resorting to extreme measures?

PS, Jacqui, here's some video of your boys protecting national security in the last few days:
http://www.1854.eu/2008/12/heavyhanded_policing_against_p.html
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XxXfcgC67Z4 (gets interesting just before 4:00, and after that becomes compelling viewing for the mere fact that these (just like all the other) police officers don't have a clue what they are doing, no explanations for their actions, no knowledge of the law, no knowledge that they can get serious repercussions, even loose their job over this).

At least in my case, as soon as the officer in charge found out what the plods were doing, my equipment was released immediately. Don't know what happened to the promise that "all ground staff would get proper training on how to treat the press", though...do you, Jacqui?

ps, Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary: there is plenty more to come at Marc Vallee.

Bedtime reading for Jacqui only: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/apr/24/britishidentity.race Yes we have come along way, but why rewind the clock in the name of national security?

Help if you can

picture from http://blog.iconflict.com/a-moment-for-zimbabwe/

While we journalists in the West worry about a downturn in the economy, there are colleagues in Zimbabwe who can't do their job at at all, or do it in fear of death, due to Robert Mugabe's evil regime and his effect on their economical landscape.

Eight continuous years of a financial downturn, inflation at an astonishing 231,000,000%, and more than one journalist murdered.

They are in desperate need of equipment to continue their important job of reporting. If you have a disused camera, laptop or a PC that you don't need anymore, get in touch with the NUJ to see how you can donate it to a country that really needs change. Find the necessary email address and a video here.

"Sometimes I rhyme, sometimes I dont"

No picture today, becuase I need to moan.

As implied in the title of this post, sung by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco (easily the best band in the world), on 'Woodgrain', I have been out of sorts lately. I've had another birthday, terror, shock, yes, a big one.

But there's also been some trouble at work which has really put me back. Its affecting my photography, its affecting my sleep and its affecting this blog.

The story is so long that I cant tell it all here, but it relates to my pension payments which were supposed to go into my account since 2006. Turns out the money only left my bank account into, well, nothing.

When this was discovered, my salary was adjusted without asking me. Turns out that I am now NOT eligible for the new toughly-NUJ-negotiated-pay-rise plus three month back pay
that everybody else will benefit from. Only because I was paid back my own money that was lost due to company incompetence in the first place.

If any NUJ staff reads this, please advise. Jeez.

Lovemore and Wellington mosaic

A while ago I was asked by the NUJ to submit a photo of myself that was to be incorporated into a massive mosaic in support of Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, the President and General Secretary respectively of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).

On 30 July Lovemore and Wellington are due in court to face charges of what Mugabe's brutal regime call 'spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state'. In fact they were speaking out about the state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe.

Their trial date has been postponed from their original trial on 23 June. As part of their extended bail conditions they are not allowed to address political or public gatherings. These charges and bail conditions are clear breaches of free speech and freedom to associate.

Read more and get involved here and here.

My mug can be seen in there too, #8 from top left.