Skunk Anansie, Jillian Edelstein & A Sunday Market

At the end of November I shot Skunk Anansie at Brixton Academy which was absolutely epic, to say the least.

Supporting were The Chemists:

They weren’t too bad, considering I’d only heard negative things about them.

Compared to Skunk Anansie though, I think it’s fair to say they were quite bland.

There was a 45 minute wait for the main band, and the atmosphere was pretty immense.  There were around 15 of us in the photo pit and one photographer turned to the crowd and got them to scream for him as he took pics – he really egged them on almost as though he was there performing for them.  I have to say, I was quite impressed with his tactics, and I’d love to find out who he was so I can see how his pics came out.  I spoke to a few photographers who were  really friendly, although one woman who I thought I recognised from a conversation I’d had on Flickr gave me the cold shoulder when I asked her what her Flickr account is  Oh, well!

Skin was dressed up as a giant gold and silver pom pom.

She really performed for the photographers.

I don’t think these images do the gig the justice it deserves.  Skin walked ON the crowd (yes, on) a few times.. eight years after they last toured, it’s like they never left the scene.

Full set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/city_poet/sets/72157622883109734/

Some random pictures over the past couple of months.

:D

Oxford Street Christmas lights:

Along with 60 others, I got selected as part of a competition to be shot by celebrity photographer Jillian Edelstein. Very exciting stuff!  The idea was for her to capture 61 pairs of eyes over 2 days.  When I arrived, there was a makeup artist on hand to emphasise the eyes, and Jillian decided to shoot me with a mask.

I’m not sure if it worked –  I saw some of the other girls’ images and no one else seemed to be wearing a mask.. I wonder if Jillian was trying to tell me something! :P

Anyway, I’m not sure which image she’s going to pick for the online  gallery (it’s not up yet), and I didn’t feel best-placed to voice my opinion, after all, she’s shot the likes of Nelson Mandela so I’m sure she knows what she’s doing!  It was great to meet her and obviously a pleasure to be photographed by her.  I took her portrait : )

The latest Unilever Series installation at the Tate Modern, by Miroslaw Balka:

It’s basically a giant steel container immersed in darkness, except it wasn’t so dark, or much of a giant.  Still, it was definitely something different.  I always look forward to the Turbine Hall installations, although nothing has topped The Weather Project from 2004.

Hoping to see Florence and the Machine this month, fingers crossed..!

I almost got run over by this guard:

He was walking towards me as I stood still, and it was a case of either him moving, or me.  For some reason I stood where I was, taking his picture from the front, until I realised he was half a metre away and was clearly not going to be the one stopping!

Randomness around the Brick Lane/Shoreditch area:

This reminded me of Mumbai, where there are “Bean Bags” signs all over the city:

Some of the many items sold in Brick Lane’s sunday market:

I got shouted at for taking this picture:

There were a lot of hostile people in the market, despite the fact I wasn’t taking pictures of people. I started explaining to the owner that there is nothing wrong with taking the above picture, but she was babbling away saying it was rude I didn’t ask permission.  There was just no point explaining so I walked away.  I mean really.. a picture of cassettes isn’t going to do anyone any harm.

It’s funny – when you’re walking around with a 24-70mm you get hostile reactions, but I’m sure this guy was left to his own devices :P

So, some radical Muslims decided to hold a march to promote the idea of Sharia Law in the UK.

The day came and riots were expected, except the organisers decided to cancel it for that very reason.  Cowards! The English Defence League still showed up.

It occurred to me that I still haven’t posted many images from my last trip to India – hopefully coming soon.

Thanks for looking, as always