Peter Wright Photography

Gambian portraits

2012-02-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

Just developing the photographs i shot in the gambia on my hasselblad. The 100 iso slide film has been coming out of the machine for the past few days and is looking crispy clean.

there are more to come and higher quality versions will be on my archive link.

a little late

2012-02-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

I got back in Falmouth and found out that people were following this blog and now I am trying my best to post what i have shot over the past month. I would also just like to say that going to The Gambia was one of the most amazing things i have ever done and i cant wait to get back there!

In the end i decided to concentrate on the smoke houses in Tangi. These are a handful of photographs i got from the fishing village:

And there are some of the negatives which i shot on the Leica IIIf:

More pictures coming this week including the hasselblad photographs which are looking lovely! Big shout out to everyone in these pictures and anyone who is following the blog!

A late happy birthday

2012-01-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

one person i have missed more then anyone else is Felicity Whitehouse who's birthday was on the 7th!

love you loads fiss
xxxxxxxx

This weekend

2012-01-11T06:58:00.000-08:00

I have a new project which i will be shooting this weekend which i am extremely excited about. it will be very colourful and hopefully will work very well with my IIIF and M9 combined (not a hasselblad project).

i have no new pictures to upload today which is a shame because the internet is running very well! On the 20th of this month there is a music festival in a village only a short while away that myself and a handful of artists will be attending to photograph, film and produce art involving the musicians and the attendance to the festival. i will be a very colourful and visually interesting couple of days so i hope that i will be able to produce as many images as possible of that.

people seem to really like the smokehouse project so i will be photographing more at Tangi and other larger smokehouses up and down the coast. i really cant wait to develop the film i have shot now... and there isn't long to go now!

the village elders project has had a breakthrough because i am being introduced to a man who is going to take me to all the houses in the surrounding area and explain to people what i am going and thus i can take better pictures and he can translate for me what i am trying to achieve. the only real problem i am having in this wonderful country is that i keep having to promise to send pictures back and at this rate it is going to cost me thousands to print all the pictures!

i have spent the last two day with Etu who is one of the greatest artists i have ever met and we have been coming up with projects for the future and the project i will be shooting this weekend.
have a look at his work at:
http://tunbungartvillage.com/

i will post more pictures of the smokehouses and more on Sunday.

07/01/2012

2012-01-07T06:55:00.000-08:00

Lamin, Frances and Fatu

these are lower res. files - quicker to upload but the original quality is much better
click on the pictures to see a better quality

a month down 25 days to go!

2012-01-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

i have officially been in the gambia for a month and in celebration i am posting some pictures. i will also be posting more diary soon to bore you all to death with.

hope everyone who reads this is good and healthy (and cold) and i will see you all soon.

i will be adding text tomorrow because it just took me 2 hours to upload 9 pictures!

101.1 FM

2012-01-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

My most recent photographs at the radion station:

01/01/2012

2011-12-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

pictures! (finally)

2011-12-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

internet is letting me down so badly!

the school for women which burnt down this week

fire and rescue service in Tangi

Saul Touray, 29th december 2011

Saul Touray, 29th december 2011

i would write more but i have run out of time! will write more tomorrow!

one month to the day to go!

Ok! basically if someone could please email me saying if the pictures look weird? they look strange on these computers.

i have been ill for a week! so that sucks but i have sorted out photoshoots all of next week from radio stations to fishermen and of course the council of elders which i am looking forward to getting.

good news!

2011-12-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

i would upload some images but i have run out of time

i hope everyone had a nice christmas! just to say that i have done nearly all the arranging i need to do for my projects and i am looking forward to posting more work soon for everyone to see.

i am ill at the moment which is a shame but i would just like to say that i went to the beach this morning which was lovely and i would like to say it is nice to talk to everyone i have talked to so far in Africa and a big thank you to everyone who is reading the ol' blog.

i will post tomorrow (hopefully) so goodbye for now!

nearly christmouse

2011-12-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 20th December
I woke up early in Tuesday morning and I talked to Lamin who was involved in a school talent show and he said that I should go and photograph it. I then got up and went and bought myself a stick of bread which was super delicious and then made my walk to the Junior school. I then bumped into a number of teachers who directed me to a classroom where the teachers were selling tickets for the show. I then met up with Lamin and we walked around and I had my second look at the school. It’s funny going to a secondary school as an adult because you still have the slight mentality that you are the new kid and this is your new school and you don’t know anyone, but then you remember that you are trying to be all grown up and pretending to be a proper photojournalist so I was all grown up and pretended to be a teacher for the day.
I ate the greatest lunch which was a rice and fish dish (obviously) with a peanut butter type of sauce. It was made by Lamin’s wife Fatu and it was just great. I need to get the recipe. I then found out that Lamin had a guitar which I played a bit but it was quite old and it needs some work done to it, but it was still really nice to get to play even if it was just for a short while.

the school pupils getting ready for the talent show

Then the show started and it was pretty much impossible to photograph it. So I didn’t haha! I decided to photograph the students in the audience and see what possibilities were there. I keep finding myself shooting in low light constantly which is keeping my on my toes. I found that photographing through doorways was quite visually pleasing... so that's pretty much all I did. It was nice hearing prays from both the Muslim students and the Christian students, because they supported each other with equal respect.
The actual talent was very impressive and it was nice to see that no one seemed to be embarrassed about any of the acts. There are kids of all ages at the school and things which I would have labelled as un-cool and lame were seen in a good light and the students seemed to support each other and everyone was cheering and people were getting on stage and joining in.

teacher and pupil

Local DJ

After a good amount of hours of being there I decided to leave and go and see Lorraine and her new guests who seemed extremely nice and well travelled (as are all of her friends). I will need to take pictures of them all.

After that I went back home had my dinner and went to the restaurant and had a good couple of laughs with everyone. And that was my day!

Wednesday the 21st December

Today has been slow. I haven’t seemed to have done anything which is a bit worrying. I have been trying to send pictures back all day and they keep on corrupting and being lame. The internet here isn’t exactly fast (even Falmouth internet is faster) there must be a time where it is fast but I haven’t found it yet.
Tonight I will be taking portraits of people with the hasselblad so I will ghost them with the M9 so you can see what I will be photographing.

hello everyone!

2011-12-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

if you have read the ol' blog i would like to say a few things. thanks for reading! and im sorry about the pictures being slightly lame, but the lack of electricity 90% of the time is limiting my editing skills, but rest assure i will take better pictures as soon as possible for everyone to see!

i cannot wait to scan my film in now because i have a couple of cracking shots on the old blad and the iiif. if you have any tips of where i should be going with the projects or what you would like to see PLEASE tell me because it would be nice to get a good mark for this trip.

love from peter x

Bangee (i think that is how its spelt)

2011-12-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

Sunday the 18th December
(I am writing this from the future because I am being well slack)
In the morning I went and sat with the council of elders who were working hard this time. I sat through two cases; one of them was about a man who was telling fibs in the community about other people and had been summoned there to stop it which I thought was quite amusing, but the other case was much more exciting. It was about a man who had started a shop with a woman in the village who he was in love with, but then the woman kept on seeing other men and so the man then shut the business down and took all the money. It’s just like the Jeremy kyle show!

In the afternoon my new friend Pa and I went to Bangee so that I could have a look there. Bangee is a small fishing village a bus rides away from Tungering which is where I live. We went there and were immediately pounced upon by a guy trying to con be out of 200 dalasis and Pa then had a long argument about it and then we just walked on by. That was super handy because naive old me would have just given him 200 dalasis. We then walked up the beach and I decided not to take any photographs at this point because I didn’t know how sketch the area was and then I bumped into a man who I met at the paradise beach fishing village two weeks ago. I had given my word that I would give him money then and I was in no mood to argue with him again so I gave him 150 dalasis and that made him go away.

net house with boats

I told him that next time I saw him I wanted to see him in his fishing boat to see what reaction I got out of him because it was pretty obvious that he didn’t fish at all, but he just kept on walking away.
We walked all the way around the point to an old abandoned beach restaurant. It was a perfect little spot! I can’t think of anywhere better in the world I would have liked more then to eat lunch there, but it was super dangerous because the support for the roof had rusted away and every time it made a noise I wanted to jump under the table I was sitting at. We actually met the owner and he said that he was going to fix it soon so if you ever are in Bangee in 2012 I recommend you walk down the beach and have some food there.

We then went back to the beach because all of the boats were coming in. I took lots of very uninteresting photographs but the cool thing was that no one cared that I was even there at all. Everyone is just living there normal lives and everyone was in a rush so I guess that when they see some white kid taking pictures they can’t be arsed to go and tell me not to. Anyway so Pa kept on talking about smoked fish and that we should definitely get some. So we went and after listening to what the score was in the arsenal game we looked at some smoked bonga fish. It was amazingly photogenic and I will definitely be going back soon.

Smokery with a man holding bonga fish

the smoked bonga fish

Smokery man

We then went and literally just stood on the beach for about an hour. I didn’t know why Pa wanted to do this I kept on taking the odd picture or two but nothing special because I wanted to go home at this point. I kept of making very obvious body signs that I was tired but then I realised that Pa was just standing there to just watch and take in the whole place. It was amazing to see how content and happy he was just to stand and watch the boats and the busy people and the low sun over the water. So I stopped complaining and did the same.

After this I went and bought some smoked fish to thank Pa. We took the bus home and we started to de-bone the bonga fish. Now I have eaten a lot of fish in my days but never one with so many bones. It took us about an hour to de-bone about six of the fish... BUT IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT. We had fish with onion a bit of flavouring and lime juice. It tastes so delicious and good for you! Definitely going to be smoking fish this summer and doing that because it was the tastiest thing ever!
Monday the 19th December
I can’t actually remember what I did this day... but I remember that we finished off the smoked bonga fish in the evening which was amazing again! Also I have made quite a few friends now which I am super pleased about and everyone keeps on exchanging stories and funny jokes. Jokes don’t seem to work when you translate them. Every joke we told each other was hilarious in English or mandinka, but was no good the opposite language.

Manchester United supporter

the radio station

2011-12-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

Today is Saturday the 17th December
Hello everyone! You are reading text written from a man who has just had a really good day! This morning I woke up and walked to Lorraine’s compound because she said that kids at the primary school would be singing and it would be photogenic. Little did I know that we were going to a local radio station where the kids would be broadcasted on air singing and spelling to the ears of the Gambia. I got there and immediately talked to all the local DJ’s telling them what I was doing and snapping away generally. We got on really well and I was allowed to photograph all over the station (it wasn’t very big but I was having loads of fun!) and I was not photographing anything over 1/30 of a second on either camera but I got some pretty good stuff. I also got a shout out three times on the air!! It was amazing! The people there also said that I could come back and photograph whenever I want as long as I book in advance.
When I got back I bumped into Babucar in the village who said that I would get better photographs of the elders if we worked together and then maybe even have a gallery space together at his art village. I was super stoked because the only problem with photographing the wise old members of the community is that most of them don’t speak a word of English. So I will photograph and he will paint and I cannot wait to get started.
I also posted on my blog today! Which was really nice to get done finally and I hope that people read it and think that everything is a ok.

Cunjur radio station

"DJ Blacka" relaxing

Radio girl

eating breakfast

Breakfast leftovers

Lorraine smiling

"DJ Blacka" giving me my first ever radio shout out

DJ Blacka behind the scenes

the children after singing on the radio

I would just like to say thank you to all the members at the radio for being so welcoming and i hope i see you all soon!

some other pictures

2011-12-17T08:30:00.000-08:00

basically the internet is slow as hell down here and power cuts can ruin your day, so photographs are hard to upload.

this is my bible! i found it in my room and i decided to write a message in the back of it for the next person who reads it with my name and the date.

this is my perfect little room! no electricity or anything but it is mine!

today was the best day i have had since i came here. i went to a radio station in a village near to where i am staying and i got my name said three times over the air! how cool is that! they have also said that i can come back and take more pictures and they are going to introduce me to the other radio stations in the area (gunna be an awesome project just you wait and see). i also took some damn fine pictures there already which i will be posting on monday. i also had a meeting with Babucan the local artist who i will be doing a joint project with on the village elders which i am super excited about.

anyways lots of love from me and from The Gambia.

the diary so far

2011-12-17T08:19:00.000-08:00

The Gambia

5^th December

Day 1

I am writing this at 5 30 on a Monday afternoon. I have been in the Gambia since I touched down on African soil for the first time which was at 2 00. I am writing this in a weird way because I want to remember all my dates and times for the future so that I don’t get anything wrong! All my photography equipment made it through customs and none of it has broken. Also all of my film is ok as well so I am feeling pretty damn confident in the whole photography side of the trip. What I am not confident in is myself. I seem to have suddenly become very aware that I am in a very different environment to what I usually am exposed to. Even my trips to the Caribbean are different to this; I am in way out of my depth.

I am staying with my godmother Lorraine Smart for the first week but then I am off to stay with different families. I have met one person I will be staying with next week and for the life of me I can’t remember his name already. In the compound where Lorraine is living there are about four or five other families who all seem to have thousands of children. It is pretty damn hot here as well. It’s December which is not the hot season and it is about thirty-something degrees which was exactly what I was expecting really. What I wasn’t expecting was how amazing Lorraine’s house is. It truly is a slice of paradise. I am glad that I decided to take my Metz with me because the insides of everyone’s home are very dark and flash is definitely needed.

I have had to sacrifice quite a lot of things to bring the 20+kg of photography equipment but it was totally worth it! Having everything with me is the only thing keeping me strong. I am being a bit over the top at the moment by the way. I do understand that I have only been here a couple of hours, but usually I am pretty good at being on top of situations and I really am not at the moment. At least I have my laptop set up and I should be getting internet tomorrow so that will be super!

The language barrier is a serious, serious problem already. A lot of the people do speak pretty damn good English, but a lot more don’t and it’s the people that don’t speak English who seem the more interesting. There were two things that happened as we got food and drink. The first think that happened was we picked up a school girl who lives in the same compound that Lorraine lives in. I don’t know exactly what happened because I had no idea what anyone was saying, but two dudes tried to get into the car as well and there was a commotion. After that there was a military police road block which I found slightly weird, and when I asked about it they said it had been there for years, so I don’t know what to make of that.

I just had a cold shower which was awesome! I also made plans to have coffee with two guys who live nearby. They are both artists so I am pretty pumped to meet them and see if I can stay with them in Banjul and in another village.

I would just like to add that I have never needed a cigarette more in my whole entire life, but having bragged about giving up to Lorraine it seems a bit stupid to go looking for some. Genuinely hard.

Lorraine's beautiful house

Day two 6^th December

I slept extremely well last night. Everything was very comfortable and when I did wake up in the night I just fell back asleep. I woke up and had a cup of tea with no milk and I think ‘tea with no milk’ will be my life-long tea setup now because it was amazing. After tea I photographed the families praying as it was the Muslim New Year today and it is their day off. I got a couple of good shots but nothing special at all, but I feel that that is expectable and I did get a couple of keepers. Wrote my first letter for back home today and did some editing for my pictures. I love the Leica M9 because it is so similar to using a film camera and you don’t have the need to Photoshop your images at all. I did a couple of crops and some burning but that was all. It is all just darkroom methods.

I am feeling a bit like a zoo animal at the moment because everyone is just staring at me, especially the younger members of the compound. I am also a bit worried about my stuff. Apparently the five finger discount offer is at large for some of the girls... so hopefully my lies of my equipment being broken and old will discourage them from taking anything. Today I met babucar (I think that is how you spell it, I will find out soon... I have never been good with names) and he is an artist who did a degree in art in Holland of all places, and he has also been around Europe. I am looking forward to spending time with a lot of the men around the compound because they all seem so interesting. However the women in the compound are also very photogenic.

The freedom to photograph is very prominent here. I obviously ask first and will oblige if anyone doesn’t want their photograph taken, but in general everyone is happy about everything. I am looking forward to taking the blad for a spin soon, but I am going to make friends with everyone until I can get the go ahead to do formal portraits in their homes with flash before I do. I am starting to get a little worried about how awful my dissertation is now but I am in Africa and there really is nothing I can do about it. I also hope that everyone else does well with theirs and I am looking forward already to see everyone again in February to exchange stories about our projects.

One thing that I found remarkable about this morning’s shoot was that you would see exactly the same thing in England if you were standing outside a church on Christmas morning. The kids were all misbehaving and the parents were all trying to make them sit still and pray, the actual praying was quite an eye-opener for me. I don’t believe in religion or any other spiritual phenomenon such as a people having souls or there being a higher being watching over us, but the praying the families did this morning made me feel very peaceful just listening to them. They were mumbling more than speaking, a little like you would hear the Lord ’s Prayer being said, maybe it was just the tone they were speaking in and the fact that I had no idea what they were saying. Nevertheless it was a pleasure just to see it happen.

It’s funny that even the little things here are different. Even the pigeons don’t hoot the same! It’s hilarious... it will take some time before I start being able to trick them like you can in England. I am very glad I have two months here, it gives me a chance to produce an insider’s set of photographs which in day two I will not be able to do. I have two months to photograph a huge an area that really isn’t large at all, but I seem to be having problems with something that usually would boost my image taking capability. That problem unfortunately is I! However I am going with some of the compound group to town which will hopefully loosen me up and get me back into the swing of talking and making contact with new people.

My want for a cigarette is still very, very prominent and I keep finding myself pretending that my pen is a cigarette as I take long drags of ink-tasting air from one end. But I am still determined not to buy any because if I go back to uni with a nicotine addiction I will be spending so much money again, which I definitely can’t afford after this trip. I will however be smoking a cigar on Christmas and new year.

I am determined to photograph my ass off tomorrow and even shoot a film on the hasselblad if I can be bothered to carry it anywhere. I am going to go exploring to the nearest village tomorrow early in the morning and then go onward to the beach and try and get back before the heat gets too unbearable.

Day three 7^th November

I didn’t get up and photograph with the hasselblad this morning like I wanted to which is slightly annoying but I have done some productive things. I have been talking to lots of people in the compound which has felt pretty good, and I did a circuit of the place and photographed about (that is what I came here for). Cigarette cravings are getting better every hour I spend getting used to the place and the fact that no one here seems to smoke which is good. I still need to go exploring which I will do later today (its 2 00).

I am looking forward to posting on my blog as the internet is up and running although it is a bit slow, and I have sent my first emails out to my mum and fiss. I am drinking so much tea at the moment and I know that will make the boys proud back home, but it’s getting worrying. I must have had 8 cups and its only lunch time and I am buzzing my tits off.

I tried some fruit which I had never seen before and I took a picture of it. You have to chew it and then spit it out... it’s more of an appetiser I suppose. It makes you hungrier that’s a fact. I keep on getting flash-backs from watching sanchez get high and I just hope no one catches on to me not knowing anything and makes me eat something stupid.

I went to the back of the compound and saw three paths. One goes into the bush, one into the village and the third one is hardly a path at all, but it goes to the sea. I have tried asking about surfing to the locals but they don’t understand what I am talking about. There is a fishing village not too far from me which I want to go to, but I think I will wait until I feel more comfortable in my surroundings. It is so frustrating not being able to talk to people properly and then sometimes they talk perfect English to you. It’s quite embarrassing really being so uncultured and only being able to speak a bit of French and nothing else. I am definitely going to try and learn some more languages in my life.

Money is extremely short at the moment. Just looked into my account and I am in trouble. This whole trip has completely emptied me, but also just spending money freely back at university has cost me dearly. I need to get me a job when I can. I also need to find some more stuff to sell or something. I don’t want to sell by double bass but it sure would help at the moment, especially with how my account is looking. I also might sell a lens or something like that, although all the lenses I have I use quite a lot. i am going to have to do a lot of busking if my double bass is to stay. I am missing an instrument to play at the moment because all I have is a harmonica which is only adding to my longing of a guitar. I must finish my guitar when I get home. It looks so good! (In my eyes) and it would seem a shame to see it unused by the end of the next summer.

In the afternoon Lorraine drove me to the village to meet some people and generally see the place and actually see the village. It was amazing to meet some more people and it was cool to just get out of the compound and get my head around where everything was. I had my first ever coca cola in Africa which was super refreshing and in a glass bottle. Annoyingly good seeing as coca cola is slightly evil.

I did my first ever bit of photography for the Gambia today as well! Took a passport photograph for one of the girls in the compound and printed it and made it look super good. Apart from that and a couple of other alright photographs I took today it was a pretty uneventful day in terms of photography. I loaded the blad up with a film and I am looking forward to using her.

I’m still pissed off about money. Stupid fucking money right? In a word where there is no money is little old me stuck for cash in a foreign country with debt rising around me. I can’t really blame anyone else but it’s an expensive idea going to Africa for two months to photograph. I don’t mind if I don’t ever make any serious money in my life, but I can’t deal with the idea of me feeling the weight of HSBC on my back for the rest of my life. Anyway I’m tired and I’m going to go to sleep.

My first coke in the Gambia

Day 4 8^th December

This morning I learnt something. I don’t know shit about football! I got completely schooled about English football and even couldn’t remember David Seamen’s name. I photographed workers tackling a termite mound which was extremely hard to photograph because there was no angles and no space to photograph them unless you were behind the termite mound. This was a problem but I decided to shoot a 35mm film and a 120 film anyway which hopefully will produce some good stuff. The main importance of the shoot was talking and making the workers feel at ease when I was around them, I even got them to joke about which was cool.

Digital ghost shot of hasselblad photograph

I had a dream last night and decided to write the last bit of it down because it was so fresh in my memory and I am going to send it with my letters to fiss. Still no internet here and even the internet on my phone has died, which is a good thing really because it is rinsing my money right under the tap and down the drain. I am working on poetry and lyrics for the blog as well as getting all my photographs and this diary in order for it to be put up when the internet picks up.

One rather important thing I learn't today was of course where I would be staying for two months. You didn’t think that I could stay in heaven for ever did you? I went with Lorraine and say where I would be living and it’s exactly what I want and it’s exactly what I need. It’s a bedroom with another room at the front and an outside bathroom which had chickens in it. The guy who lives next door is the school teacher of the secondary school in the village and his father is my landlord. The landlord is awesome. He said right off the cuff that I didn’t have to pay for rent or food (which is obviously not true but it was nice to hear!) he says that I can live there forever if I want which is good news for if I come back I suppose. I can’t wait to live in the village although I will miss exactly what I am doing now. I am sitting in bed perfectly relaxed and without a care which I don’t think I will be doing much of because I think I will be worrying too much and quite on my guard seeing as I have so much expensive equipment and I don’t know anyone fully yet. I have still yet to go exploring and I still haven’t been able to phone home.

I had lunch with the neighbours today and it was fish in sauce with rice like I had before. It really is tasty and I wouldn’t mind the recipe. I also had some ‘gunpowder tea’. It’s like drinking shisha tobacco but with loads of sugar. They also pour it into shot glasses and then proceed to pour it over and over again until it is all bubbling. Apparently it is just tradition but I do not know really. Another beautiful day in the Gambia for me.

My new land lord Mr. Bojang

My new favourite drink; attire (that might not be the right spelling)

Day 5 9^th of December

Today I accidentally had a lie in until 9 00 and I leaped out of bed only to find that Lorraine was also not up so I didn’t feel so bad. I had papaya and a nutella sandwich for breakfast and lots of tea and coffee. I don’t really know what else I did this morning, but it must have been pretty damn uneventful because it’s 5 47 in the afternoon and I have no idea what I did!

For lunch Lorraine and I went to paradise beach and we had fish and chips. We talked a lot about some cool stuff from what we did at college and school and the Gambia project groups to the government and all that going on in England. After this I decided to go and photograph the fishing boats up the beach. I met some guys and they took me around and showed me everything. I knew in the back of my mind that they would want some money but I didn’t have any on me and I wish I did now because I feel quite guilty. I will definitely be going back to photograph and I will give them some money then because they did show me around and let me photograph everything. At one point I offered them my harmonica but then decided I wanted it back to I got it back (that added to my guilt a bit). They said they were fishermen which I am pretty sure is bollocks. It sounds very unfair and I am annoyed that I am saying this but I feel that if they were straight with me at the beginning and said ‘we will show you about for a couple of quid’ I would have been super cool with that, but they gave me the whole sad story about their boat was broken and it was their grandfathers and he died and the list of sad things kept on going. I still wish I gave them some money they deserved it. Hopefully everything will be good if I go back with some cash and get some better pictures.

I have reached a small lull in general today. I have no idea why, but I feel stressed out of my mind after things happen. Everything is so alien and I am just out of my depth in a place where I can’t speak the language, don’t know the people etc, but I am putting on a brave front. I keep on rattling my brain around for final project ideas but keep on coming up short. I am going to have to think of a corker if I am to ever be happy about this trip. At the moment I seem to just be photographing everything as a tourist which is exactly what I don’t want to do! However I reckon that after this weekend of photographing for Lorraine’s friend’s birthday photographs everything will start panning out and I will be able to start digging up some photography gold. I would write more but I am tired and I can’t be fucked. Goodnight.

Gutting fish by the boats

Day 6 10^th December

What a day! I will start with the end and then back the beginning so that I can the return to the end which is actually the present. I am in my new accommodation! It is fan-fucking-tastic.No running water or electricity but it has a bed and a mosquito net! I am sitting in it now and it feels like I am sitting in a dream! I am happy again. I am living with mister Bojang and his son who is a local secondary school teacher. They gave me chicken and chips today which I will make sure I don’t get again because I don’t want them spending any money on me, and I don’t want to be spending any money either!

chicken and chips... damn that was good.

I woke up this morning early thinking I over-slept. It is nice waking up early and this morning was the coldest it had been. I keep on meeting loads of new people and instantly forgetting their names which is a problem. I need to find a system of remembering everyone’s names.

I didn’t take any photographs today but I did find a local photographer! He says that he can develop my film very cheaply which would be amazing! I don’t know if they do slide film though ha-ha! I have been filled with life now I have my own place to stay. I feel like I am a real photographer and have a purpose and I don’t feel like I am being looked after (though the chicken in my belly would beg to differ). I am meeting the village elders tomorrow so I am looking forward to doing that. I will be approaching this very delicately from a photography point of view. I will not be taking my camera this Sunday and I will only take one when they remember who I am and when I they feel comfortable with me. I don’t want to be a dick and go in guns blazing because I am here for a pretty long period of time and I feel that it is necessary to go about things the right way.

I really don’t want to end this log short like the last one but I will make up for it by writing lots when I start shooting properly. Also there is no electricity to charge this laptop so I’m going to save the battery.

Day 7 11^th December

Today was interesting. I had some crazy dreams but sleeping was not a problem in my new home. I woke up had breakfast and then Mr. Bojang took me to meet the village elders. It wasn’t exactly what I expected but this trip seems to completely throw me every time I go anywhere so there we go. They were all sitting around laughing about a story about a headless chicken and not being very wise at all really. They then all said a prayer and started to talk about village news and problems which need sorting out. They basically sort out problems quickly and quietly without involving police or lawyers, and this means that people spend less money and everyone gets along better as well so everyone is a winner apparently.

After this Lorraine took me to a trade fair that was held at the national stadium. This was rather a disappointment because it was all a bit modern and boring and reminded me a bit of the student fair back at university. After walking around for about half an hour or so we left to go fix a flat tire at a local town (I need to get all of my names down soon or I am going to look like an idiot). The tire shop was basic and generally was pretty amazing just to see it because it was a little business which was helping the community tremendously and to fix a tire and pump up all the other tires on the car cost about £1 which fascinated me. The tire shop was right next to a church which I was interesting because it was the first one I had seen. With the build up to Christmas they were singing carols but not in English but in their own native language. It was funny because I actually knew the songs but couldn’t remember the words.

For lunch we went and saw another family that Lorraine knows well. Once again I can’t remember the name of the family but they were so lovely! A cute little family who lived behind a hair salon who Lorraine later told me were extremely poor, even more so than any other family I had met. You wouldn’t have known it though; they were all so nice and had so much soul and vibrancy any they were always smiling. I thought they all looked slightly Indian but apparently it is because they are from a different tribe to the other people I had met on my travels.

After this we went to a wood workshop to see how Lorraine’s chairs were going. I thought the place was a slice of dusty heaven and a photographer’s dream; I will definitely be going back there as soon as I can and also to take photographs of the family who were so nice to me.

Carpenter's workshop

When I eventually got back to my little place and washed up a bit and then asked Lamin (Mr. Bojang’s son and the school teacher) what he would be doing and he said going to the youth centre. We went there and I checked out the computers and then he took me to the secondary school. It was a little further than I expected but it was really great to have a look around my first ever secondary school in Africa. It was amazing too! I would have loved to have gone there. It even had a basket ball court.

We then came home and decided to have dinner which was my first ever chicken benajin. It was delicious but I actually liked the fish benajin just as much as the chicken which surprised me. Anyways I am now in bed under my mozzi net so goodnight!

Day 11 15^th December

Hello everyone! I don’t know why I’m saying that because I still haven’t posted anything on my blog but hey. Hello everyone! I have been ill the past few days and I haven’t been able to do any writing because there is no place in my little apartment to charge any of my equipment. But today I feel a lot better and this is what I have been up to the last few days.

On Tuesday I went for a walk in the bush (hehe) and walked for miles and miles only to find that there is always someone somewhere in the Gambia. It doesn’t matter how far into nowhere you go there is always a happy face. I also at this point didn’t know how ill I was so after walking around for about three hours I decided to come home and I passed out for the rest of the day. I didn’t even get any good photographs! But it was nice to go for an explore I suppose.

The next day... wait was that Tuesday? Naa I don’t think I have lost a day. The next day I went for a shorter walk around to Lorraine’s house to pick up my hasselblad, some more film and my tripod to get ready for a shoot I have arrange this weekend with the elders. I met a local football player which gave me an idea to photograph football teams or something like that for a small project. That's what I like about this idea of a long time to photograph an area. I have two months to photograph as many projects as I see fit and I get to meet even more people which then opens up even more projects. Win win.

It’s funny really because the football players in the village walk around like stars and you get the feeling that they are coolest guys in town, but they are all unemployed and like with their parents (I’m not having a go because living with your parents is completely normal here... it’s just funny is all). I was still ill so in the afternoon I crashed again and went to sleep early. Also on these days I was eating something called peanut soup which is like curry but with a peanut sauce. It was really good but very oily which made my poor body very sad.

On the Wednesday I decided to relax in the morning and test my flash gun with the metre ready for the weekend which took all of one minute so I then relaxed for the rest of the morning writing letters and coming up with a damn good idea for a music video. Then for lunch I had lamb stew. Now I was told over and over again not to eat lamb because it would not be good but I was starving, and it was amazing! One of the best lamb stews I have ever tasted (not as good as yours mum don’t worry).

Then in the afternoon I went on a walk to internet cafe to post on my blog and send emails but the internet was down. The internet seems to be down every other day in that place I swear. Now the problem with it being closed was this. In the village (which is more like a large town) it takes me about 45 minutes to walk what would normally be a 15 minute walk because everyone is out and everyone whether they have met me before or not wants to talk to me. This is great for meeting people and photography, but not if you want to get anywhere in the whole of the Gambia. So I walked back to Lamin’s brother’s restaurant where some guys were playing drafts. Now the restaurant is like a pub but with no booze and it doesn’t smell bad, so this is the place to be if you want to hang out with the lads. No one here seems to have a job and people seem to just laze about all day playing drafts and drinking attire. This is my kind of place. Anyway there way of playing drafts is a lot cooler then how I have ever played. It is a lot harder and it acquires a lot of thought. Anyway the grand champion who was playing that day looks exactly like the black version of Cooper Henderson from back home. So Coop if you ever for some reason read this know that your brother is in the Gambia and he is an excellent drafts player.

After this I charged up my laptop and was educated about the Muslim faith by one of the guys at the restaurant. It sounds like a pretty nice religion really and when I ever talked to them about the kind of Muslims that we seem to always hear in the news doing terrible things they simply say that “they call themselves Muslims but they are not, they are insane”.

Anyway I’m going to try and post this on the internet down so good day to you all (if anyone ever reads this) and I hope everyone is alright and is nice and cold back in England!

my phat wodge of cash!!

some fruit

after the naming ceremony (iso 1000 at 1/2 a second... it was well dark)

Hello from The Gambia!

2011-12-16T04:33:00.000-08:00

hello from africa!

i have so much work so post and my diary too but this is the first time i have been on the internet... and i dont have my hard drive with me! the internet here is sketch and only works some of the time and it is even slower then falmouth internet, so we will see how uploading goes.

anyways just to say that i am fine and dandy living in my own little place with loads of nice people. i am doing lots of work and actually writing everything down which is nice. dont know why im writing this down... i will be posting my diary as soon as possible so you can read it as well as photographs if the internet is feeling up to the amount i want to post.

anyways just to say happy birthday to my sister who is in australia and is having a lovely time

dont worry about little old me i am fine and i will see you all very soon! (i dont know who i am talking to... i think only about four people know about this blog!)

peace x

On the train

2011-11-25T04:36:00.000-08:00

recently i have been spending a stupid amount of time on the firsts great western and whilst spending thousands of pounds and making me sad i decided to start writing down stuff and trying to be arty and cool. so far i have been failing miserably at both equally but then i wrote a poem which is the best thing i have, and ever will come up with:

Comes up to me smelling of fresh paint and hard work
whilst the rest of us sit atop the dirt unhurt
from the real world knowing wo dont have to deal with it
at least not today

jiffi bag fingers leave me speachless
in and out of the beautiful light and the feeling of being feetless
and floating with the souled up species of our companions

colour on our faces for the first time in ages
transport us back to the greatest of days in exactly the same places
and in some cases seem more like a dream then an old memory

the off tasting liquid early in the early morning spawning our good friends
around our tents and the knights out of their armour talk even louder
about these happy events

thousands of feet in the air without dispare or care we find ourselves without fear
as we shout out to the teary eyed viewers below
who reach inside their pockets to sell their lockets to climb higher to reach us

we wake up in a daze with the mornig haze casting the glaze over our tired eyes
as each of us turn to one another in our recordings of proud memories
of last nights remedies and special specialties which make us feel young again

seeing old faces touching bases and tying old shoe laces
caked in mud but free of the crap which we chose to leave behind
which we will find in the unkind tomorrow

and here are some pictures! i never remember to do this blog... the only reason i am doing it right now is because i should be doing my essay but i dont want to!

i have been shooting alot on my 12mm lens because its good practice because its such a slow lens... also its super fun!

i took this photograph whilst hanging out of the train window. i have come up with another secret project which i will be doing after university and i might get arrested to im super pumped for it!

Giacomo Tilli with his mustache

Mr Steven Coombes outside the university

MR Simon David outside university

thats all for now hope everyone is ok

A blast from the past... the summer

2011-10-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

After a week of feeling like shit and feeling sad about my electric guitar STILL being unfinished i have decided to link something to my blog. Giacomo Tilli a fellow photographer (whos website is on the right of the blog) and good friend did a video of me playing my old acoustic with a 'de luxe' beer bottle from asda.

http://vimeo.com/30005928

Enjoy!

Fiss

2011-10-05T04:25:00.000-07:00

Here are two photographs i took of fiss yesturday as she was recovering from the night before.

I get really beautiful cold light from my bedroom window and i love the photographs which you can get from the natural light of a single light source.

Cider making

2011-09-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

My good old friend Nick Alford and I have been picking apples for cider for a couple of weeks now and Nick decided to go and get his own oak barrel from a farm near Frome in Somerset.
The barrels were owned by an old man who imports them from France and we got a second hand one which had wine it it before.

There was also a beautiful old black Cadillac in a shed which the man was building and he wouldn't tell me much about it, but it was amazing to see such a car under wraps.

Guitar update

2011-09-24T02:33:00.000-07:00

Finally my Gibson L-P paddlehead build has had its final touches done to it... it still doesn't work electrically though.

the strings go under a spring and then through an old trombone mouth-peice where they go to the machine heads which have been switched around to face backwards... i think it looks awesome but now the head of the guitar is really heavy.

I really need to get on and make it work now... i am itching to play it!

The EZ Crew

2011-09-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

My sister and her boyfriend Zappa have made a blog which will show their adventure to the great country of Australia! Have a look because it will only get better over the next year!
http://zapemtooz.blogspot.com/

Ben Duckworth

2011-09-13T01:50:00.000-07:00

First photographs of my alternative lifestyle photographs are on my archive slideshow, have a look and there will be more infomation and well, more photographs aswell to come;

the 3rd of September

2011-09-04T04:34:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a long summer of amazing experiences and good times with old friends and i have emerged victorious. My camera collection has reached new levels (as has my overdraft) and i have finally come up with a suitable life-plan that will keep me going until 2015.

I have come up with my third year university project which is to fly out to the Gambia, which is an African Country on the west coast of the African continent. The plan is to do a portrait project on villagers and village leaders in the more isolated regions of the country, and to also do a documentry peice on womens education which should keep me on my toes.
However over the summer I have been concentrating more on a secret project which i will be revealing next summer and another photography project which is more of a life project than anything else. After university this blog will be basically documening my friend Dave Pender-Cudlip and myself planning and eventually travelling the length and breadth of the great continent America travelling (hopefully) from Toronto, Canada all the way down to brazil so we can go to Mardi Gras and have an awesome time.
Although our plans are still very dream-like and childish we are already starting to contact distant friends and relatives to aid our stuggle which will be needed seeing as we will have very little cash!
I will be updating the plans for my photography trips and musical endeavors as much as possible, so i hope all is well to whoever reads this blog and i hope you enjoy the next 3 years of posts.

paddle-head

2011-09-04T04:33:00.000-07:00

Over the summer i have been constructing a guitar out of lots of other pieces of broken guitars!
I have always wanted to make a guitar but i didn't want it to look too new and i didn't want to wear it in
so i just ebayed a load of old broken guitars and eventually came up with a design and this is what i came
up with:

I also fulfilled a dream which i never thought i would do. I have been playing bass guitar for about six years
now and i have always dreamed of getting a double bass, so i bought a cheap one off the internet!

It looks and sounds fantastic... it's a bit hard to start with but i'm sticking with it and getting on it.

First EVER

2011-03-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Cooper Hempson-Simpson

Mark 'Mowgli' Loizou

Sadge Atkins

Strode College 2008

Found the first roll of film I ever took in an old polly pocket behind my bed. took on an OM-10 if i remember correctly..

Good old Strode College! Found my love of photography there along with a load of life-long friends.

Felicity

2011-03-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

Photograph I took of Fiss for my fashion brief 2010.

Shiny new blog!

2010-11-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

After bloody ages of marvelling over photo blogs from my course mates, I decided to make a blog!
Starting off with my most recent work I will hopefully be putting up photographs and writing about them...
so enjoy!