Shooting!

Bullet hole in a window of the office building next to our bedroom. © Magnus Andersson

This was quite scary; while we were asleep in our hotel in Perpignan, a shooting occurred less than 10 metres from our bedroom. When I woke up the following day I noticed the police outside our window, and they were inspecting the office building next to where we were staying.

After breakfast we went to have a look and this (above) is what we were confronted with. The amazing thing was that (apart from nobody being hit by a stray bullet) not a single person in our hotel had heard a thing; must be the fresh Perpignan sea air that gives you such a deep sleep.

A Beatles album cover?

Abbey Road, Perpignan, 2009. © Magnus Andersson

Of course not! This is photographers Sofie and Lisa, mentioned earlier here, and Mattias, leaping like a salmon out of the water, only in this case I cant quite remember why we took this picture. We were coming back from le grand finale party on Saturday night and the sun is already up (which makes it Sunday morning)...maybe that explains my amnesia.

So what about the shows in Perpignan?

Exhibition goers at Eugene Richards' 'War is personal', Perpignan, 2009. © Magnus Andersson

Next year I will definitely try to go and see all the exhibitions, we missed some of them and sadly we didn't make it to a single one of the talks that were given by various photographers. It is difficult when you go to these places though; you need to strike a balance of trying to enjoy your holiday, make the most of the exhibitions and also the city itself, socialise and have fun, outside all of the industry hullabaloo. It is also quite easy to over do it, there's only so many harrowing stories you can take in before your mind goes numb.

Of the exhibitions we saw, 'War is personal' by Getty photographer Eugene Richards is one of the stand outs. Centred around wounded US soldiers after their return from duty, it is a very simple show, nothing fancy, just uncomplicated images and a wonderful presentation of large captions from relatives and carers, giving a strong voice to the people in the images, something that was often lacking elsewhere in the shows.

It was telling to see that hardly a word was spoken by the large crowd when we went. It was absorbing, and the viewers seemed to be really moved by the images and the words, watching in hushed silence. You felt a kind of respectfulness in Eugene's work, something which was reflected in us as we took it all in in silence. You can find a BJP interview here.


Tattooed gang member in prison by Miquel Dewever-Plana in his exhibition 'The other war', Perpignan, 2009. © Magnus Andersson

Another good exhibition was Miquel Dewever-Plana (again a BJP interview here) of Agence VU, with images of Guatemala's gang members inside prisons and with the police on the violent streets, where a human life is worth next to nothing, a country stuck in an endemic cycle of violence.


Obama with his feet up from Callie Shell's exhibition 'Barack Obama', Perpignan, 2009. © Magnus Andersson

TIME photographer Callie Shell also had a great show of Obama's journey to the presidential seat, three years in the making, showing the man we all love to love. See the whole essay online here.

One of the funniest shows was 'Only in America' by French photographer Francois le Diascorn. Humorous B&W images from the US, circa 1960 onwards, with a gentle touch an and almost Cartier-Bresson-like quality to them, but sadly I didn't take any pictures in there.


The giant screen at Place de la Republique, Perpignan, 2009. © Magnus Andersson

The one thing we didn't miss was the slide show held every night for the duration of the professional week. You could either watch it live in the stands of Campo Santo, enabling you to take in the booming voice of Jean-Francois 'the general' Leroy, or you could opt for a live transmission in the main square; Place de la Republique. We went for the latter and this meant we could also have dinner and a drink at the same time, watching the slide show on a screen at least 30m wide. Great stuff!

Wall of fame

Remy Cortin's photo of David Burnett at the Canon party at El Boca Boca, Perpignan, 2009. © Magnus Andersson

I've mentioned it before and Mattias has the shot to prove it, but legendary photojournalist David Burnett had just had his photograph (above) taken by Remy Cortin when we decided that we should have a go as well.

It was inside Canon's area at the Palais des Congres and the best shots were then displayed in a mini gallery on the wall. Safe to say that only the famous photographers got to hang on that wall, but at least we walked away with a free A3 print of ourselves from the event.

That is until someone stole my Visa Pour L'image press bag where I had stashed my print whilst I was busy doing the jitterbug on the dance floor of Habana, sometime around 3am....

Anyway, later on we had the pleasure of being in the mix of the wall-projected slide show at El Boca Boca during a VIP Canon party (OK, maybe not that VIP as we were allowed in, but people were offering us Euros for that black Canon wristband when we left), sharing the wall with selected PHOTO front covers and Remy's shots. For those not familiar with PHOTO, it basically took the Playboy cover and gave it an eighties French twist. Very good company indeed for Mr Burnett.


Conflict photographer Philip Blenkinsop sporting a black eye, signing books outside Couvent des Minimes, Perpignan, 2009. © Magnus Andersson

And then there was the story of the experienced conflict photographer above Philip Blenkinsop of the NOOR agency. Having safely negotiated his way back from his latest assignment, perhaps he forgot that the civilian world can sometimes be a lot more dangerous than his usual subjects.

He hitched a ride on a friends scooter down the narrow alley streets of Perpignan, and before you knew it the driver lost control, Philip flew off and the handlebar connected with his eye socket...I think he was lucky that he didn't suffer any permanent damage to his eye, a photographers worst nightmare.

-----------------------
Update: Just found it, below is the print of Mattias and me along with various others.


© Magnus Andersson

Have you ever felt like...

MJ with an LX3, shot on an LX3. © Magnus Andersson

...someone was always looking over your shoulder? There is always this little worry that things are not quite right, that you're gonna get punched in the stomach any minute? Welcome to Perpignan 2009!

Luckily for me it was an endless journey through pain (laughing, only punched twice) and pate cuisine (food), and it was dished up by my travel companion who kept all dangers at bay.

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Mattias, travel partner extraordinaire!


Mattias (in a bear suit) and a museum exhibit of early Swedish man (appx. stone age). © Magnus Andersson

Sisters are doing it for themselves

Photographers Lena Kvist and Sofie Isaksson sharing a light, and the chin of Pontus Hook. © Magnus Andersson

The man who left Magnum

Charles-f. Ouellet after I put superglue on the viewfinder of his Leica, Perpignan, 2009. © Magnus Andersson

Charles and I used to work together in a camera shop here in London before he went back to his native Quebec. He taught me everything I know about medium and large format photography, but deep down he always preferred creeping around with an inconspicuous Leica rangefinder.

After belatedly going digital he opted for a Canon 5D and L-series lenses, but didn't like the bulk of the kit and decided again to switch back to Leica (now an M8.2) , and this is how I found him in Perpignan, nearly three years after we last saw each other in London.

In the meantime he has started up an image collective called N+3 and in Perpignan I met his friend Christian Lamontagne, fellow collective photographer and also a film maker. A thoroughly nice chap who kept apologising for his English not being good enough...very humble considering that my French is near non-existent and certainly not something that should be published here...again Charles is to blame/thank for this.

Earlier this year Charles started out an internship at Magnum's Paris office where he was working as 2nd to one of the main people there. A dispute (which I wont go into here) arose and Charles, being the honourable man that he is, felt that the person in question was forced to leave and that he couldn't stand by their decision, so he left to work for another agency in Paris and had an excellent time.

However, he is one of very few people who has seen a well kept Magnum secret; the thousands upon thousands of colour slides which Henri Cartier-Bresson took during his lifetime, and there are not many that has made it out of their archive, but Charles made full use of his time at Magnum and went through them all. Verdict? Not very good. The man was thinking in B&W, he just didn't see in colour.

But I digress; what Charles doesn't know about cameras isn't worth knowing, so it was quite interesting to hear how he dealt with [insert famous photographer's name] in Perpignan.

Lets just call him the 'old man in the photo vest'. He overheard our conversation of the new Leica M9, coincidentally launched today (09-09-09, geddit?) and decided to invite himself onto the topic by pointing to the taped over Leica slung on his shoulder, and yes, it was a Leica M9, not yet released.

In his eagerness to convince us of the marvel of a full frame Leica, he managed to stay over 20 minutes, leaving Charles utterly unimpressed by the his knowledge. It was quite amusing watching the old man in the photo vest growing ever more desperate in his attempt of convincing Charles, finally leaving us with the grace of a car salesman desperate for a sale.


Charles-f. Ouellet. © Magnus Andersson

A look back...

Dog on the lookout from his balcony, central Perpignan. © Magnus Andersson

Over the next few days I will try and go through all the stories and pictures that were accumulated during our fantastic trip to Visa Pour L'image in Perpignan. Hopefully you'll get a smattering of posts, but if you cant wait, head over to my roomie's blog here, as he kept up superb commentary while we where there, thanks to his Macbook.

Below is said roomie, Mattias Johansson, looking fresh as a daisy in the first sun rays of the day, an hour or so before we went on a Mediterranean cruise courtesy of the good folks at Canon Sweden.


Mattias Johansson in the morning. © Magnus Andersson

Au revoir Perpignan

Sunset at the end of Boulevard Henri Poincare. © Magnus Andersson

We're packed and waiting for our bus to Barcelona and one of the most enjoyable holidays is coming to an end. I'll be posting more images later but rest assured, I will definitely come back again next year!

Perpignan day 5

Panorama of Perpignan and the Pyrenees as seen from Palais de Rois de Mallorca. © Magnus Andersson

Last nights party was immense and I kept running into people I know. We were amongst the very last to leave and despite being a lot worse for wear, we still had time to photograph the fire department putting out a blazing car.

Today has been the best day by far though. Canon again showed their worth by renting a huge boat and taking us on a Mediterranean cruise with food, wine, music and swimming. Look out for the forthcoming calendar...proper pictures and more stories to come later, above is an iPhone panorama taken from the medieval palace with The Pyrenees in the background.