Documentary

Mick's Photo Blog
  • Photo|Frome programme announcement April 4, 2022
    Today we are all photographers We are very excited to announce the programme for the brand new, independent festival of photography for our community and ...
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  • Women of Frome March 8, 2022
    Frome Heritage Museum is opening the ‘Celebrated Women of Frome‘ exhibition today, curated by historian and writer David Lassman. To quote David: Such an incredible group ...
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  • The FSA & the Leica Manual January 3, 2022
    The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was a New Deal agency created in 1937 by Roosevelt to combat rural poverty during the Great Depression in the ...
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  • Why Is The Photography Of Vivian Maier So Popular? January 2, 2022
    Vivian Maier is an exceptionally popular photographer, but is this popularity because she is a good photographer or because of the myth surrounding her? Or ...
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  • Street and Travel Photography December 28, 2021
    I came across a really interesting YouTube video from The Raw Society on Street and Travel photography. Some of its is as you might expect – ...
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  • Closing down and Opening up exhibition September 2, 2021
    During the early part of the summer, I ran a series of Zoom workshops on creating a ‘body of work’,  as opposed to one-off images, ...
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  • 2020 Vision – Book by RPS Contemporary North July 21, 2021
    I am pleased to have been invited to a book by the RPS Contemporary North group. The idea was to bring together personal, photographic approaches ...
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  • My Fellowship Journey April 29, 2021
    I have just been honoured to receive the Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS) for my Unfinished Stories work in the Contemporary Photography category. ...
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  • Ken Baird April 23, 2021
    I have a set of the TimeLife Photography Yearbooks, for the period 1973-1983, which cover the latest news in photography – events, technology, books and ...
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  • Photographs and Words – immiscible? March 5, 2021
    I do a lot of work combining photographs and words, as I discovered that a photograph can sometimes only contribute to the narrative, rather than ...
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  • Photobooks are Forever March 4, 2021
    There is something about photobooks which is timeless. Exhibitions are fun, educational and inspirational. Social media can pique one’s interest. But a book is different. ...
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  • Stefan Lorant & Juxtapositions February 11, 2021
    It is interesting how serendipity ‘happens’. I was asked by academia.edu to consider reviewing a paper by Simon Pierse, Faculty Member at Aberystwyth University, entitled ‘DOUBLES: synchronicity ...
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  • Urban Narratives January 29, 2021
    This is an ‘Urban Narratives’ resource list, including many references that have influenced my work, for the University of Leeds COMM5801 Module. The list includes historical, travel, ...
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  • Contemporary Documentary January 28, 2021
    This is a ‘Contemporary Documentary’ resource list, including many references that have influenced my work, for the University of Leeds COMM5805 Module. My project, ‘Unfinished Stories: From ...
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  • Women Photographers – Part One December 31, 2020
    Here’s a short series on women photographers from early in the history of the medium. 1. Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) Frances was well-connected – she got her ...
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  • Vox Darkroom November 20, 2020
    Which came first, the chicken or the egg? When Roger Fenton took the first war photographs during the Crimean War (1853-1856), did he fake the most ...
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  • Social Media Likes – Redux October 14, 2020
    Well, broke my own record, again. I just finished scanning a series of Agfa CT 21 slides taken in Istanbul in January, 1977. They were ...
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  • Anatomy of Facebook Likes September 24, 2020
    In a combination of interests, I have been creating a database of my Facebook ‘likes’ for quite some time, as a source of analytical understating, ...
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  • Fifty Years of Street Photography September 8, 2020
    It is slightly ironic that when I started taking my photography almost as a full time job, about 6 / 7 years ago, I thought ...
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  • Daido Moriyama – Farewell Photography August 10, 2020
    The Japanese photography of the Provoke era has always held fascination for me, as I love the directness and spontaneity. And Daido Moriyama is  a ...
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  • Coronavirus UK Book August 4, 2020
    Very pleased to announce the publication of Coronavirus UK, in a signed, limited edition. The project combines an image taken daily during the Covid-19 crisis – ...
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  • Mark Sealy – Decolonising the Camera: Photography in Racial Time August 1, 2020
    Notes from Sealy’s book: ‘Throughout this text I suggest that a photograph of a racialised subject must be both located in and then de-located from the ...
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  • An Ethics Framework for Photography (Part One) July 26, 2020
    I have been researching the ethics of photography, as developed in earlier posts during the MA. My current ‘best approach’ is a Ten Point Framework. SURFACE ...
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  • A Question of Ethics July 24, 2020
    A very interesting conversation occurred recently in the RPS Documentary group on photographic ethics. Copied here with permission of the participants. Frankie McAllister A general question on ...
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  • Everbody Street July 7, 2020
    I recommend this movie. To me, it exemplifies the power of street work as social commentary and documentary. Time certainly changes how we view images, ...
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  • Boring Street Photography July 5, 2020
    During Lockdown, I have given Zoom talks on street photography to both PhotoBath and to the East Sutherland Camera Club. Having updated and extended the presentation, ...
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  • Reflections on the Pandemic June 28, 2020
    My photographic project on the pandemic and lockdown has also meant daily research and establishment of accurate medical facts, social statistics and news headlines. Today, ...
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  • Street Photography, the law and data collection February 27, 2020
    This summarises my understanding of the UK legal and data collection frameworks as they apply to street photography. There is much confusion on the subject, ...
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  • The Ethics of Street Photography February 6, 2020
    Fuji released a short promotional film for their new X100V camera, featuring acclaimed street photography Tatsuo Susuki. It led to a heated debate online about ...
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  • Dad’s Egypt Photos January 23, 2020
    Dad was in Egypt just after the end of World War II, 1946 – 1947. Some of his photographs were in an album, and others ...
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  • Slide Restoration January 17, 2020
    My Dad was also a photographer all of his life, and he kept meticulous records of every image – date, time, camera, lens, film and ...
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  • Life after the MA January 9, 2020
    The initial MA results are out – I’ll wait to see confirmation and comments before saying more. Suffice to say, I have been doing some thinking ...
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  • Philip Gefter: Photography After Frank March 8, 2019
    My notes on Philip Gefter’s book, Photography After Frank, Kindle edition (hence the location reference rather than page number) …………………………. Introduction Location 84  The twentieth century art became, then, less ...
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Final Major Project Posts
  • A Photographer, by Photographers December 18, 2019
    One of the most humbling things that has happened during the BRLSI show has been the reception that my work has got from other photographers. Perhaps ...
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  • Installation Photos December 9, 2019
    I have taken a series of installation shots, which I hope to use in future ‘marketing’ to see if I can get further shows in ...
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  • Opening Night December 9, 2019
    The main ‘private viewing’ was Friday, 6th December, from 6pm until 8:30 pm. I was very pleased to have between 70-75 guests, and in particular ...
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  • Reviews and Feedback November 9, 2019
    I have asked several people for feedback and / or reviews of my work. I know some but not all of these people personally, and it ...
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  • Photography and War – Pippa Oldfield October 31, 2019
    Reaktion books have an excellent series on photographic issues and theme, Exposures. A recent edition is by Pippa Oldfield, on Photography and War. The book is ...
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  • Week Sixteen Reflections October 27, 2019
    Today is Deepavali / Diwali, the traditional festival of light, when there is victory over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance, and a most ...
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  • At the University of Leeds October 25, 2019
    I was in Leeds this week,  giving my first lecture to the MA Media and Communications students. I had been invited by Dr. Jim Brogden, Programme Leader ...
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  • War Primer – 1 & 2 October 19, 2019
    The work of Broomberg & Chanarin has often featured in my critical reviews, alongside that of Sophie Ristelhueber, in the context of using traces to ...
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  • A Constructed Image October 16, 2019
    As I am closing in on the final choices and hanging plan – and nearing the time that I need to write a Critical Review ...
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  • Week Fourteen Reflections – video and subtitles October 14, 2019
    In the short video of Sarath narrating his story about going to meet his Mother, I use what is called the ‘UN Style’ of voiceover ...
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  • Quotes and Photographs October 13, 2019
    On Friday, I gave a talk to the Frome Wessex Camera Club, entitled ‘Unfinished Stories – From Genocide to Hope’. I was gratified that it ...
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  • A research-led practice September 26, 2019
    The MA is now in its 21st month. In that time I have flown almost exactly 50,000 miles to and from Cambodia. Looking at my ...
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  • Webinar with Wendy – Sept 25th September 25, 2019
    Had a good webinar with Wendy today. I started by saying that I was quite pleased with how things had developed, and could now see ...
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  • Book files sent to Printers September 23, 2019
    Well. it is done. The Indesign and PDF ‘ready to print’ files have all been sent to pour printers in Phnom Penh. We are missing ...
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  • Changing the Story September 20, 2019
    Frank Finlay, Dean of Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures at the University of Leeds put me in touch with Paul Cooke. Paul is Professor ...
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  • Week Twelve Reflections … ish September 2, 2019
    The wedding went well. it was a lovely, relaxed affair at a  very pretty church – the oldest in Bath by all accounts. Simon and ...
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  • Wedding Photography August 30, 2019
    I am photographing a wedding today. I have done this before, although it is not my normal activity (nor, necessarily, my favourite thing to do). ...
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  • BRLSI – Venue August 26, 2019
    I have booked the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI) for two weeks, from Wednesday, December 4th. Installation day will be on the 4th ...
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  • Socially Engaged Photography August 24, 2019
    In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Farm Security Administration (FSA) to aid American farmworkers during the Great Depression. Its photographers aimed to document what ...
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  • Multi-media August 20, 2019
    I finally got around to working through some ‘road trip’ photography from my last Cambodia visit. When Simeth and I were driving north, I decided ...
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  • Portfolios of Stories August 19, 2019
    I have started thinking about Wendy’s challenge – to create mini-portfolios of the Unfinished Stories – to help the creative juices flow, look at ways ...
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  • Place and Placelessness August 18, 2019
    As I have been finalising the book edit, I have increasingly been drawn to maps to help tell the story – both the Khmer Rouge ...
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  • Photographs with Text August 14, 2019
    In my teens, I started painting and writing. Pop Art, Op Art, and the beginnings of Conceptual Art were everywhere. Psychedelia either added or confused ...
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  • Bending the Frame – Fred Ritchen August 14, 2019
    Notes from Ritchin’s 2013 book: Chapter 1: The Useful Photograph Sets stage for profusion of images, loss of professional monopoly, power of tech and the web. Citizen journalists ...
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  • Week Ten Reflections August 13, 2019
    It is the ‘final’ push on the Book at the moment – Vicky is hoping to get the file updated this weekend. I am still awaiting ...
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  • Let Us Now Praise Words August 13, 2019
    During the Depression, Fortune sent writer James Agee and photographer Walker Evans document the lives of cotton sharecroppers in Alabama. It was meant to be ...
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  • Stereotypes and Navajo August 9, 2019
    Photography’s Other Histories, edited by Christopher Pinney and Nicolas Peterson, is a well-researched work covering a lot of ground on two broad issues – the ...
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  • Week Nine Reflections – Frome Festival August 5, 2019
    Small wins – but I noted before how much I enjoyed shooting the Frome Festival events. It is a little late, but I wanted to ...
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  • RPS Contemporary Group August 2, 2019
    I had noted in May that the RPS Contemporary Group planned to publish some of my work. Well, on returning from Rencontres d’Arles and vacation, ...
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  • Week Eight Reflections July 28, 2019
    This was our first visit to Rencontres d’Arles, and it will not be the last. A terrific experience. The venues and presentation puts Paris Photo, ...
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  • Angkor Chum July 18, 2019
    One story that will not feature in the book is one that concerns our family. It also is an exercise in rephotography, in the sense ...
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  • FMP Proposal feedback from Wendy July 17, 2019
    Had a good conversation with Wendy of my proposal for FMP. Feedback was good, and I think the proposal (and project) was well received. Wendy ...
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  • First Book Spreads July 16, 2019
    The content of the book is coming along, and Vicky has been doing some design layouts, which look great. This evening, she created a series of ...
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  • James Tyner – The Killing of Cambodia – Notes July 12, 2019
    Book Notes Chapter 1: Imaging Genocide Can we define Genocide? Mick Q: Am I structuralist or post-structuralist? Mick Q: Role of power/knowledge nexus in ethical framework ‘Given that knowledge is ...
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  • What I Love To Do … Part 2 July 10, 2019
    Music gigs. As I noted in the weekend reflections, I am doing some work right now, reporting on the Frome Festival. The Coral are still quite ...
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  • Week Five Reflections – What I Love to Do July 7, 2019
    Events, getting mixed in with people, getting close, trying to capture the atmosphere. That is my reflection this week. The local camera group have been asked ...
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  • Sarath – Earliest Photographs July 3, 2019
    Sarath and his family destroyed any photographs they had during the Khmer Rouge years, for fear of being interrogated about their past. He has been ...
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  • Roland Neveu July 1, 2019
    Roland Neveu, a journalist born in Brittany, and now living in Bangkok, took many iconic photographs of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh, in ...
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  • DC-Cam Archives June 30, 2019
    As part of the FMP Installation, I intend to have a section on the history of the Khmer Rouge. The Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam), ...
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  • Anthony Luvera & Collaboration June 29, 2019
    I enjoyed this week’s lecture by Anthony Luvera. He has a socially-engaged practice, usually involving some form of community photography. As such, he has a lot of ...
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  • Feedback on Journalistic Ethics June 27, 2019
    Feedback on my Journalistic Ethics post from Paul Clements and Gary McLeod. Paul: Such a coincidence that only last week I was talking about Joan Diddion’s book ...
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  • FMP Project Proposal June 22, 2019
    Submitted the Proposal, timeline and Risk assessment Downloadable here: FMP Final Project Proposal & Risk Assessment ………………….. Header: Mick Yates. 2001. Ta Prohm, Angkor.
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  • Cambodia Project Ethics June 17, 2019
    There are several layers in any ethical discussion of photographs. I am researching new ways to address these issues, with global relevance. This includes research ...
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  • Week Two Reflections June 16, 2019
    I have separately written on the Lewis Bush Storytelling Workshop, which was really helpful, so I’ll just note a couple of other reflections on a ...
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  • Lewis Bush – Storytelling Workshop June 16, 2019
    I attending a workshop this weekend with Lewis Bush, on Storytelling. A little while ago I had written on ‘Narrative versus Story‘, which included some ...
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  • Lewis Bush – Storytelling Workshop Notes June 16, 2019
    Section One: Story versus narrative  One story (event) can produce multiple narratives. Narratives are all about choices and decisions. Narrative directs audiences. From my earlier post on Narrative © Beemgee ...
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  • Looking is Necessary June 4, 2019
    Gian Butturini (1935-2006) was an Italian graphic designer who travelled to London most likely in 1969. He took photographs of what was happening in the ...
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  • My Practice and Slide Film June 2, 2019
    In the FMP, I will be re-looking at my photographic and other archives. Pretty much from the start of my photography, I used 35mm slide film. ...
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  • What is ‘Truth’? May 23, 2019
    When we talk of a picture being ‘accurate’, we are using a variety of the concept of ‘truth’. Its meaning depends on the context that ...
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  • Narrative versus Story May 3, 2019
    I bought a copy of Lewis Bush’s Metropole at Paris Photo, intrigued by his use of semi-abstracted or manipulated images to tell the story of ...
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  • The Triangle of Photography May 1, 2019
    Malick Sidibé (1936-2016) was a Malian photographer, who gained an international reputation. He documented Malian culture as the country transitioned to independence. Sidibé photographed on the ...
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Informing Contexts Posts
  • Informing Contexts – Grades – Where To, Now? May 31, 2019
    I have just received the grades for Informing Contexts – 69% overall, pretty much in line with Sustainable Prospects,  Surfaces & Strategies and Positions and ...
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  • Todd Heisler – Final Salute April 25, 2019
    I was reading Hariman and Lucaites The Public Image, and came across a picture by Todd Heisler, in the header. Heisler won the 2006 Pulitzer Prizes ...
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  • Informing Contexts – Assignments April 24, 2019
    All submitted, this morning. Mick Yates. 2018. Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields). The opening statement from my Critical Review: I am documenting the personal stories of people that ...
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  • Allan Sekula – Fish Story, and Critical Realism April 22, 2019
    Allan Sekula was one of the most influential documentarians working in the late 20th Century. An incisive critic, he also was part of the re-imagining ...
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  • Realism and Imagination April 20, 2019
    This week has been focused on completing the Critical Review. The recent Oral Presentation was well received, although I knew that for the CR, I ...
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  • Jungle Guard April 19, 2019
    Jungle Guard, directed by Makara Ouch, in his work with the Cambodian Sleuk Rith Institute (founded by Youk Chhang, of DC-Cam), will be released in ...
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  • Afterwards April 16, 2019
    I thought that I had posted about Afterwards before, but somehow it got missed. It was one of the first books that I bought, early ...
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  • Notre Dame Fire April 16, 2019
    Most of us will have got the news about the terrible fire via video. On Twitter, my usual source for breaking news, citizen journalist pictures ...
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  • Infrared in Colour April 15, 2019
    I am finally getting around to looking at the colour versions of the images I took on my the last Cambodia trip. In an earlier post, ...
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  • Coleridge, Imagination and Fancy April 11, 2019
    In thinking through the upcoming critical review, I realise that I have been working in two parallel directions. First, my photography has become increasingly abstract, traces of what ...
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  • Susan Sontag – Quotes from ‘On Photography’ April 10, 2019
    Quite frankly, I am not a fan of Susan Sontag. I find her work lacking in academic rigour, and very prone to deeply personal judgment ...
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  • Informing Contexts – Oral Presentation – Feedback April 9, 2019
    From Pierre: Well done video Mick. Good to see your journey from where it began to where it is now.  The painterly influence never goes away, it ...
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  • Informing Contexts – Oral Presentation April 7, 2019
     Partly because of some misguided feedback at the Falmouth F2F, and partly because I felt a need to ‘go back the beginning’ to explain my ...
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  • Don McCullin April 5, 2019
    Ingrid and I have seen a lot of exhibitions over the years, but the current Don McCullin show at Tate Britain really rates as one ...
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  • Week Nine Reflections – The Two Headed Monster March 31, 2019
    There has always been at least two Micks. There is the artist, the poet, the dreamer. And there is the logician, the business-person, the practical problem solver. Where ...
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  • Interview with Mak Remissa March 31, 2019
    Mak Remissa is arguably the most successful and important photographer working in Cambodia today. He is a working photojournalist, and is heavily involved in the ...
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  • Feeling a little frustrated March 28, 2019
    There is some kind of irony in the fact that, just as I (and others) feel that I am making some real breakthroughs in the ...
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  • The University of Leeds March 21, 2019
    I have been a Visiting Professor at Leeds, my Alma Mater, for the last 8 years, working with the Leeds University Business School (LUBS) and ...
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  • Sebastião Salgado March 19, 2019
    A couple of years ago, the PhotoBath collective, of which I am a member, mounted a successful exhibition of Sebastião Salgado’s work. It featured 8 ...
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  • Pictures and Words March 17, 2019
    Robert Frank said, ‘Above all, life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference, and it is important to see what is invisible to others’. (cited ...
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  • Book Design March 17, 2019
    From the beginning of this project, I have been planned a book capturing the ‘Unfinished Stories’ of Sarath and family. Whether this is actually my ...
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  • Responses & Responsibilities March 16, 2019
    James Elkins, in What Photography Is (2011), analyses photographs from 1905 of Lingqi, the Chinese ‘death by a thousand cuts’. (chapter 6, pg 177-220). I ...
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  • And When I am Formulated, Sprawling on a Pin March 14, 2019
    And I have known the eyes already, known them all, The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a ...
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  • Week Six Reflections March 12, 2019
    The Face-to-Face was, of course, both the highlight and the majority of the week. I really enjoyed the event – ‘The Living Image‘ content, group critiques, ...
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  • Webinar February 22, 2019
    It was an interesting webinar yesterday with Michelle. Clive, Vincent and Peng were in the group. I shared two (early) sets of work from this trip. ...
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  • Week Three Reflections February 17, 2019
    As I write this, I am on Day 3 of a two week Cambodia trip, so most of my thought processes are focused on the ...
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  • Photographing the Holocaust – Janina Struk February 16, 2019
    I have just finished Janina Struk’s Photographing The Holocaust. Michelle Caswell’s Archiving the Unspeakable was ‘book of the year’ for me last year, Struk’s might ...
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  • Olympus Infrared Experiments February 7, 2019
    I have just received the converted Olympus OM-D 10, converted to 720nm, as previously noted.  Here is a reference set of images. First, a straight colour ...
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  • Photography, Photographies February 3, 2019
    This week’s task: Post a brief commentary below that identifies the inherent characteristics and contexts of the ‘photographic’ nature of your own practice. Specifically refer to ...
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  • IC Week One Reflections February 2, 2019
    It has been a good start to the new module, with a good range of intellectual content, and helpful first online discussions with Michelle and ...
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  • David Goldblatt February 2, 2019
    ‘I suppose at best, I had hoped we might see ourselves revealed, as it were, by a mirror held up to ourselves’ David Goldblatt, 2017. I was ...
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  • Soviet Holocaust Photography January 29, 2019
    I have just been reading a paper written by David Shneer, in the Humanity Journal, 2014, University of Pennsylvania. Shneer discusses the approach taken by ...
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  • Reflections on my Photographic Practice January 22, 2019
    Robert Frank said, “Above all, life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference”. I provided  a reasonably thorough review of my photography in my ...
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  • Provoke January 22, 2019
    The Japanese photo magazine ‘Provoke’ only published three issues, in 1968 and 1969. It was a rejection of many of the then-prevailing ‘global’ photographic norms. ...
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  • Cultural Context January 13, 2019
    Almost all of this MA program to date uses a European / American ‘gaze’, in its choice of reading and referenced photographers – even the ...
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  • What is Street Photography? January 2, 2019
    I have an ongoing project to digitise my film archives, which has been a bit interrupted by the MA. So a 2019 resolution is to ...
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  • Ain’t no Shame in my Game December 29, 2018
    I used to do a lot of street photography, although most recently I have been a little bored by it – in the sense that ...
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  • Dorothea Lange December 19, 2018
    A while back I was asked to make a short presentation to the PhotoBath group on an image that has always inspired me (September, 2016). It ...
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Positions & Practice Posts
Surfaces & Strategies Posts
  • Surfaces & Strategies Reflections – Grades – Where To, Now? September 20, 2018
    Just got the Surfaces & Strategies results – and although the overall result (70.6%) is remarkably consistent with Positions & Practice (70.8%), the internals are ...
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  • RPS Presentation August 31, 2018
    I have been invited to give a talk to the Western Region of the Royal Photographic Society, next Sunday (September 9th). They have advertised it to ...
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  • Week Eleven & Twelve Reflections August 20, 2018
    Bill Jay, in Occam’s Razor, 1992, wrote: ‘… all good photographers have a deep commitment to, and involvement with, their subjects, and through photography they are ...
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  • Book Dummy August 20, 2018
    Now that I have completed selection of images for the Work in Progress portfolio, and finished Landings, it seemed right to update the book dummy. I ...
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  • Surfaces & Strategies Oral Presentation August 19, 2018
     I am exploring the long-term impact of the Khmer Rouge Genocide, and especially its impact on education. This includes revisiting our family history with that ...
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  • Work in Progress – I missed my Mother August 18, 2018
    I have completed the S&S WIP selection. Posts have already been written which explain my rational on intimacy, landscape and negative traces. Some of my fellow students ...
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  • Intimacy August 16, 2018
    ‘… all good photographers have a deep commitment to, and involvement with, their subjects, and through photography they are communicating their understanding and passion to ...
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  • Street Portrait Workshop – August 19th August 11, 2018
    As I already noted, I am conducting a ‘Street Portrait’ workshop in Bath next weekend. So far 12 people have signed up. Workshop background is here. In ...
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  • WIP – Telling Sarath’s Story in the Jungle August 9, 2018
    Part of this project is to tell the personal stories of the people who survived the Genocide. I am using video, and will include segments ...
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  • Negative Traces August 5, 2018
    The impact of the Genocide of 1975-1979 is still, in many ways, hidden. It is visible only in traces, both physical and psychological. My project is ...
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  • This week’s ‘to do’ August 5, 2018
    Well, where to start .. 1. WIP: Go through the images from the past two weeks trip to Cambodia. Sort into themes, and start the process ...
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  • Week Nine reflections – Cambodian Narrative August 4, 2018
    It was a very busy but productive time in Cambodia. My reflections this week (partly whilst sitting on the plane home) are about clarifying the narrative. ...
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  • Webinar with Gary, July 31st July 31, 2018
    Notes from today’s webinar with Gary, not necessarily in order of importance, and referring my last weekly reflections – Week 7 and Week 8. Noting that ...
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  • Week Eight Reflections – Cambodia – My Practice July 29, 2018
    Another intense week. I left London on Saturday morning, having completed a 4 day, full-on shoot with Andrew Mlangeni. I arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday ...
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  • Week Seven Reflections – My Practice July 21, 2018
    This week my reflections are about my practice, after a multi day event/documentary gig in London. Whilst I have shot events before, this week’s project was ...
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  • My Friend’s Mother Passed Away – I Missed My Mother July 15, 2018
    The first fully-translated ‘story’ from Sarath. Warning: gruesome reading in parts. …………………………….. It was possibly in 1977, I do not know for sure, but it was a ...
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  • Conversation with Lukas Birk July 13, 2018
    Following an introduction from Cemre, had a terrific conversation today with Lukas Birk. I explained a little of my background, motivations and the Cambodia project itself. These ...
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  • The Public Image July 13, 2018
    Notes on Robert Hariman & John Louis Lucaites, 2016, Chicago: Univ Chicago Press ‘Photography is a small language about vernacular life in a public world. Each ...
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  • Negatives July 12, 2018
    Interesting webinar with Cemre, Sarah, Danny & Ant. We were sharing our exhibition thinking, including Landings. Amongst other things, I shared the experimental ‘negatives’ work ...
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  • PhotoBath Exhibition & Book July 12, 2018
    PhotoBath, the local photography collective, are running their third annual show, in September, at the 44AD ArtSpace Gallery in Bath. They are also creating the ...
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  • Preciousness July 11, 2018
    Two things happened in the last 24 hours, which I would like to connect. First, I saw Sian Davey‘s guest lecture. Second, I had a conversation ...
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  • Cambodian Photography – Part 1 July 5, 2018
    Arguably, Dith Pran (1942 – 2008) is the most famous of Cambodian photographers. His story, working with foreign journalists, before the Khmer Rouge takeover, and subsequent ...
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  • Windows on the Hidden June 30, 2018
    I have found the last couple of weeks most enjoyable, exploring new kinds of imagery, both to learn new techniques and to consider ways of ...
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  • Documentary & Art June 29, 2018
    Had a very good webinar today with Cemre and Yas. Just want to jot my thoughts down here, not in any particular order. Cemre asked about ...
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  • Postcards June 25, 2018
    In Week Three Reflections, I noted some thoughts about how I might bring alive an installation / exhibition of the Cambodia project. That, pause being pushed ...
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  • Week Three Reflections June 25, 2018
    For this week’s reflections, a little late, a few questions stood out. How could your subjects be influencing you and your approach? Well, unfortunately that has been ...
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  • Pop June 21, 2018
    I have been experimenting with some of the ‘traces’ work, not least as a couple of the images have been chosen for the PhotoBath exhibition ...
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  • Trailer June 19, 2018
    One of the tasks for Week 2 was to create a 2 minute trailer for our projects. A little late, but here it is.  Soundtrack: The Industrialism ...
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  • Rephotography June 13, 2018
    In preparation for the next Cambodia trip, taking Cemre’s advice, I’ll be looking at the implications of this project for our family. As noted elsewhere, our ...
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  • S&S Week One Reflections June 10, 2018
    I consider my photography is about storytelling (when I get things right, that is). And I call this ‘Unfinished Stories‘, because the best that any ...
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  • It’s Not All About Genocide June 8, 2018
    It has always been my intent to go back and re-imagine the journey that we took with Sarath, though I have, to now, seen that ...
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