Mamucium

“Just tried a mounted print out in a frame,really getting excited now! A1 prints look cool.”

has been the sort of unassuming Tweet I’ve been seeing from Jon Shackleton recently. Unassuming because what this chap has had the drive and determination to achieve recently has been nothing short of remarkable.

I’ve known Jon for a couple of years now and I’m sure that he would be the first to say that his love of photography has been a big part of his life. It has certainly got him very well acquainted with his adopted home of Manchester (his moniker of TdM being short for Tourista De Mancunia) and has opened doors for him that he probably wasn’t expecting!

Jon has developed an excellent eye for a genre of photography known as ‘Light Painting’. In essence, an atypical scene is lit with theatrical gels to form the basis of a moment in which Photography definitely swings towards the ‘Art’ end of it’s constant oscillation between ‘Art’ and ‘Science’. Expect to see industrial equipment, abandoned buildings and Communist Statue parks all given the light painting treatment as part of this exhibition.

I’ll be there for the opening night on Sunday 11th October (where another highly talented acquaintance in Air Adam will be massaging our ears with a DJ set) at Font Bar on New Wakefield street in Manchester. However, don’t despair if you can’t make the opening as the next three months give you ample opportunity to get along and move, “Into the Night”.

I’ve had a decent run on photography recently and have been helping the chaps over at the City Warehouse Apartment Hotel get the images on their website up to scratch.

With a brief of accuracy and honesty they let me loose on a few of the rooms to give them images to use to help prospective visitors get an insight into what they’ll find when they get there. I have to say that I did find the place to be very tastefully decorated and finished to a standard higher than you would expect.

Clearly I was here to work, rather than to stay so I’m not going to launch into raptures over the comfort, the space or the service as that simply wouldn’t be fair but as first impressions go – I’m quite impressed.

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay in the centre of Manchester, I think there is a new destination you can add to your list. Visit the chaps over at http://www.citywarehouseapartments.com and have a look for yourself.

ED

I have to say that my time with the Festival was a full blown, seat of the pants, thrill ride from start to finish. To say that I loved it is just too much of an understatement for words!

I have occasionally got involved in charity fundraising projects in the past but I have to say that I may have had some pre – conceived ideas about what a volunteer workforce would be like that I am now rather ashamed of. The ambition of the Festival demanded a small army of 300 or so volunteers in order to make it happen and I can honestly say that I would be honoured to have this quality of workforce in any FTSE 100 listed company. Stuff just got done. It’s that simple!

As a photographer for the Festival my interactions with a lot of the volunteers were sadly quite minimal but the number of times in conversation I would hear visitors commenting on and praising the staff for their professionalism was simply too often to be coincidental.

Personally I was exposed to opportunities that I doubt I’d have got anywhere near otherwise and I’d like to think that in the main, I was able to deliver what I set out to achieve. have a flick through the photos and see what you think. They are held in the Gallery section of the main Festival site.

Missing It Already . . .

Well this is all very exciting!

Much to my delight I was recently accepted to be a photographer for the upcoming Manchester International Festival. This was a huge opportunity for me and , even though I do say so myself, a little unexpected. After all, little old me working on a project like this? Heady times indeed.

Still, what it did demonstrate is that sometimes even a mug with a portfolio gets lucky!

Even better than finding out this news however was finding out that I get another look at the Great Hall in Manchester Town hall tomorrow. MIF are hosting a volunteer event there for a couple of hours in the evening in a ‘meet and greet’ sense.Not only will the opportunity to meet all the wonderful people who are volunteering be great but the setting is truly magnificent.

The Great Hall does have to be seen to be believed. It’s a tremendous example of Neo – Gothic architecture (as is all of Manchester Town Hall) and the Ford Madox Brown Murals tell a magnificent story of the origins of Manchester. So, if you are a MIF volunteer I’ll see you there!

ED