Stephen and myself have ventured into the world of soft enamel pin badges.
Our first design, a ‘Gay Boy’ Gameboy is now available to purchase and with a cut of the proceeds going direct to the Kaleidoscope Trust in support of upholding the human rights of LGBT people internationally you’ll not only be supporting our new venture, but also be doing others worldwide a solid too. Winner.
Pick one (or a few) up at our store http://pinnedandfabulo.us and follow us on instagram.
They’re rad.
Look…
Ok, so the three-parter blog posts about Scarborough turned out to be a mistake, there’s another one due. I almost compiled it all into this, but I don’t have the time today to sort through everything and I want to keep blogs somewhat regular. Besides, I’m gonna be pretty full on as of tomorrow morning ’cause I’ve got a pal coming over from LA for a couple of weeks and another is joining from Prague on the Sunday. So I’m not exactly sure when I’ll post again, but hopefully I’ll manage to fit something in during some downtime.
Maybe I should start scheduling posts…? Hm.
Usually when around pals I’m a little more pro-active with the camera, however I’ve just realised how little I actually took. I’d done a couple of pretty big shoots the day prior, so I suspect that has something to do with being out of it.
That said, it’s often a welcome change of pace to leave the camera out of it and actually just sit and listen and catch up properly without such distractions.
Though I did manage a few.
The morning after the rave I was up early to go meet Jesse. I’ve known Jesse for a few years now. Nowadays, the vast majority of our interactions are online, but he’s always someone I enjoy bumping into when I’m back in Scarborough; even if it’s quite literally to pop my head through the door for a quick hello as I’m passing while he’s performing at Cellars.
He’s been threatening to hire me to take some photos on a more official capacity for a while, and it just worked out that this time it actually happened.
We met by the sea, but the beach was rammed. People everywhere, and I think if we stuck around any longer we’d have both exploded. Instead, we drove the the middle of nowhere, and found a location which felt suitable considering the example photos he’d sent me to look at around 10 minutes before we met.
I shot a bunch of portraits on my X-Pro2 as is standard now, with the Pentax 50mm 1.7 lens. However, I took along my Nikon D610 and also gave that a run for a change. We got a whole bunch of photos that I think is fair to say we’re both pleased with.
Here’s a small selection of the handsome bastard.
I’ve a little catching up to do, so this is my first post of three from my time in Scarborough a couple of weeks ago.
I’ve entered a bit of a lull with party photos lately. I think the fact I’ve stopped drinking so much has become a huge part of that, and when you go at things with a more sober and ‘professional’ mindset, it gets stale real goddamn fast from my perspective.
I’m definitely due a blow out, I think…
That said, just over a month ago a friend of a friend got in touch with me about heading down to Scarborough to shoot a night they were putting on in a Brewery. It’s been a while since I’ve shot anything other than a rock club, so I jumped at the chance to do something a little different and arguably out of my comfort zone. Even if it did technically mean travelling to another country.
My history within Scarborough’s nightlife scene undoubtedly riles some people up the wrong way, and in all honesty I know a lot of the people who’d quite enjoy seeing me put into hospital would be into this particular event. Continue reading “Scarborough: Por Favor”
On Sunday it was pissing it down, proper.
I’d arranged to meet Katy for a day out and when I woke I figured the rain was about to put an end to that. It actually subsided somewhat by the time the afternoon came along though, and I was just about to set off to meet her when the post arrived…
The mount I was waiting on to use my Elmar 5cm lens on the X-Pro2 had arrived. Sweet.
The following photos are taken using the xf18mmf2 and Elmar 5cm 3.5 lenses.
As the title gives away, we headed to the Botanic Gardens. I switched up a little more from my usual black and white routine and shot colour.
Because, check these out.
I’ve recorded a whole bunch of music over the past year and a half, and some EPs have just been released as strictly limited physical releases thanks to Cow Tongue Taco Records.
I’ve finished painting each individual tape and case, and I think they’re looking pretty neat…
First up, Magnificent Bastard.
The stars aligned and Omar, Steven, and myself managed to arrange another day out.
Rather than start from our usual spot, we took a train just out of the city to a place called Hartwood.
Omar mentioned there was an abandoned hospital, and that we should try and get in and see what was happening there. Two minutes out of the station, and we found ourselves in woodland.
We approached a building and wandered around looking for a way in, until we realised that this wasn’t in fact the Hospital we were looking for.
I’m not entirely sure what that building was supposed to be, and the brief look I’ve had online isn’t offering any useful information – though I suspect it’s still a part of it in someway. Either way, it was completely sealed off and would have been pretty dangerous to make any attempt to enter, and there were also signs of security near by.
We darted off through a field, climbed some fences, avoided a near death experience, jumped a train track, and ventured through more woodland – and that was it, we found it. All we had to do was try and find our way in.
The fence around the grounds was daunting, yet somehow Jeffels got over without impaling himself. Omar and myself were a little more sceptical after some half-arsed attempts to jolt over. I found a hammer, and tried to bray my way through the fence to no avail and eventually I just decided to go and check the entrance to see if it was actually properly locked.
It was.
But I found a hole, and crawled under. I don’t think I’ve felt that elated in a while, and when I got through it was like some sort of Shawshank Redemption vibe, just without the mile of shit and piss.
We started to explore all the smaller buildings before working our way into the towers.
All the rooms were interesting, and in various states of decay. If you plan on going though, I’d take a cheap respirator mask just to be safe as some of the room don’t have the best ventilation.
There were some distant voices, and it turned out they were getting closer.
We went to investigate, and eventually found a small group of teenagers who had also come to explore the place.
It was a relief to find they weren’t a bunch of dickheads, and it was pretty neat to bump into others who just wanted to find cool shit.
Here’s a couple of them, I think they said it was their first time here too. They went off to do their own shit, but would occasionally shout back if they found something that we should check out.
We carried on up.
Despite getting to the top, Jeffels still wanted to get higher for “the shot”. If he fell, it would be death. No doubt about it.
The light at the top was pretty flat and I grabbed a couple of portraits just because.
Knackered, and filthy, we made our way back home.
I’ve included a ton of footage from the hospital in the vlog below so definitely check that out if knackered buildings are your thing, and I’ve also included photos from Omar and Steven.
If you dug these photos, I’ll be posting more on my B-Sides Blog which can be accessed for $7.50 via my Patreon Page. If you check it out there’s also other rewards like having photo-prints and Instax delivered to your door each month. All funds directly help me complete projects and keep shooting photos.
