Artists Book:Snowboy at the Sage

Snowboy at the Jazz Cafe London

This photograph of Snowboy  taken around 1999 at the Hi Hat on a Sunday afternoon at the Jazz Cafe, Camden using a Canon AE1 camera.

Snowboy and the Latin Section rehersal at the Sage, Gateshead

Back in March 2011 I was able to photograph Snowboy and the Latin Section as they were setting up and rehearsing ahead of their performance at the Sage, Gateshead.

I have had the photographs around for a while, and have recently revisited them in for a possible book project.

You can hear some of Snowboy and the Latin Section’s music by clicking below here:

http://www.myspace.com/snowboyandthelatinsection/music/songs/snowboy-rsquo-s-special-22419706

Contact Print

This 120 medium format contact print shot back in 1998 and forms one of a series of b/w photographs I took documenting street dancers and DJ s from several London clubs.

The portrait is of C.J. who along with Stevie C were the DJ s of the Sunday Soul Affair held upstairs at the Blue Note Hoxton Square, London, while DJ’s Snowboy and Phil Levene held the HiHat jazz session downstairs. (Goldie’s Metalheads session followed Snowboy’s HiHat on a Sunday.)

I photographed C.J. outside of the Blue Note one Sunday afternoon as he arrived for the session. This small image holds a poignancy as C.J. had only recently lost his wife to a very aggressive form of cancer.

The negative was professionally developed at a lab in Soho, London as at that time I did not have a universal enlarger.

The photo was taken with a 1950’s Delmonta 120 camera which was erratic but which took some intriguing images.

B/W Film Photography vs. Digital

I have been thinking recently about b/w film photography vs. digital photography and that for me they are completely different media, producing very different outcomes.

Photography allows me to be completely immersive in my response which ever format I am working in. I do find that for me film photography is  more instinctive and less predictable than digital.

However it’s great to have different applications for different projects.

Snowboy UK tour with Herman Olivera (at the Sage)

This Thursday, 31^st March I was up at the Sage, Gateshead  photographing Snowboy  on his UK tour with singer Herman Olivera. I spent a few hours documenting the band while they setting up.

Snowboy is a huge hero and it was at Snowboy’s weekly Hi Hat at the Blue Note  Hoxton Square, London that my interest in photography  began to come to the fore and the work that I did there at his sessions was the back bone for Clubtastic with Betty Schlesinger which showed at Madam Jojo’s, Soho.

Hadn’t seen Snowy for years and it was lovely to meet up with him again. He is an incredible musician and DJ and it was  so nice of him to take time to allow me access to him and his band while they were at the Sage.