On Friday I spoke to Sarah Clarke-Wareham. She has written Book of 24 different poems, and it is called Common Ground Anyone? Rhyme Time for SW Mums.
The following is one of the poems about Northcote Road, and for many who are familiar with the area it will make you smile.

On Northcote Road we dote

Armies have their HQ, while gangs feel safe on their turf
Sports teams have home grounds, or home breaks if you like to surf
Old men have their locals, city men have their clubs
Cool men have Shoreditch; our men have Youngs pubs
So it’s not surprising that SW Mums have somewhere to call their own
A place that we can be confident is filled with just our clones
Sanctity when we’re feeling down, a comforting, familiar abode
I couldn’t write this book without mentioning the glorious Northcote Rd

As a gaggle of mums we head to Crumpet, vying for buggy space
Oli is back on the road somehow, but Becky has given chase
Tommy has spied the fairy cakes; Molly is stuck on the loo
Amelia is Queen of the castle, Harry needs a poo
Ruby is eating sugar cubes, Marley is under the table
Josh has built a tower with blocks, although it’s not looking too stable
But it doesn’t matter you smile to each other, because you’re behind Crumpet doors
So you drink your coffee, have a chat, and pretend that they’re not yours

Another day and you’re there with just your kids; it’s time for a haircut
Sally’s booked up for the next 3 weeks, can’t even fit you in when you tut
So you head to Trotters, but struggle to drag them away from driving that car
Unfortunately the fish tank doesn’t do the trick, so you bribe them with a chocolate bar
While you’re there you can’t help having a little mooch around
Which is why husband says “How could 2 haircuts cost one hundred and twenty pounds?!”

Finally you have a morning to yourself, so you head to Questionnaire
You sail through Whistles, and Sweaty Betty, by Kew you just don’t care
By White Stuff you’re 25, by Fat Face you’re in your teens
A mixture of Neal’s Yard and Space NK gives you the necessary means
You stop for a Starbucks takeout latte, treat yourself to a blueberry muffin
A friend tells you she can’t find a thing, but you’re sure she must be bluffing
You walk past Jigsaw, Fat Face Kids, Jo-Jo’s and Petit Bateau
Today is me-time you tell yourself, only one place to spend your doe
But then you have a glass of wine or two (well, All Bar One is just so handy)
And you can’t keep away from those cute little dresses: to the baby, like candy

Saturday morning with nothing to do, there’s no better place to head
Don’t know why Boiled Egg & Soldiers closed down, but I think they probably fled
Toddlers throwing tantrums in the street, babies scream for food
Clapham Junction singles stay at home, they don’t dare intrude
Organic fruit and veg looks amazing, and is only twice the price
Fresh bread, muffins, pastries and pies means the bread stall is sure to entice
You spend a fortune on Mark Anderson photos; does London ever look that good?
If Northcote Rd committee took over City Hall, well, perhaps it would

You’ve shopped for your children and yourself, there’s only one place left to dress
But of course Northcote Rd knows you well, and so caters with equal finesse
There’s Cath Kidson for kitchenware or Rosie’s pink bedroom theme
Oliver Bonas for funky extras or Cuisinere for utensils that gleam
There’s Doves for your Sunday roasts, Salumeria Napoli for your Italian night
Fara for kids toys, Pretty Pregnant if you get that fright
One Small Step or Trotters means your children will always have shoes
And if you’re looking to sell your house? Well, there are a few estate agents to choose

But what is this? The sun is setting and suddenly things start to change
The haven of SW family life is looking a little strange
Buggies replaced with scooter man, lattes replaced with beer
Crying tantrums replaced with pumping music, and then that thing we fear
The thing that ensures we scurry home, why did we leave it so late?
The arrival en masse of twenty-somethings, with freedom in their gait

Home

Happy New Year!!!!
We had a very busy December and we were able to have some time off over Christmas and New Year.

We are back at work this week and the stall on Northcote Road will be open on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. We’ll then be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
This year every couple of weeks I will be writing a piece in my blog that I think may be of interest to you, stuff like how to take seasonal photographs, tips and tricks using your camera and flash, and some photoshop tutorials using shortcuts and tricks the pros use.

But there are also a number of other things we do which you may find interesting too. They are:

T Shirt and garment printing: http://www.excellentprint.co.uk

Photography Courses: http://www.photoarte.co.uk/phototours/index.html

Art and Photography for Offices: http://www.artforoffices.uk.com/index.html

I hope this year is good for you, and I look forward to hearing from you again or seeing you again on Northcote Road.

Home

There are pine needles all over Northcote Road, the Christmas lights in Tony’s cafe are blowing the fuses in the upstairs flats, and next week there will be queues outside the butchers. It’s Christmas at last and we are at our stall everyday from now until the 24th December.

We have been very busy this year and our framers have asked us not to overwhelm them with orders at the last minute, so here are some cut off dates.
Last day for the free portrait street studio photography- Sunday 20th Dec.
Last Day for Large Prints on Board Sunday 22nd Dec.
Last Day for large frame orders (Panoramics and 700mm x 570mm frames) Tuesday 22nd Dec.
Last Day for small frame and mounted prints orders (500mm x 400mm) Wednesday 23rd December

Home

I was extremely flattered to be asked by Anita, who organises the annual Grandison Road Camera Club competition, to help judge the competition and award the prizes. The children who entered ranged in ages from 6 to 13 years old and the standard of work was exceptional.

The children were all given a disposable film camera, yes a film camera, and were asked to take photographs covering the following themes: Common Life, City and Town, Animals, Scenic/Landscape, Humour, Family Group, Portrait, and That’s Life.

Anita not only spent hours of her time on the competition she also paid for the cameras and the prize money. She also gave up most of the table space in her house for a number of weeks so that the photographs could be displayed. So from the children and parents who participated, and myself, many thanks to Anita.

Here are the prize winners and the photos that they took. 1st prize category winners were awarded £5, second £2.00
COMMON LIFE:
1st Prize: Madelaine Leggett aged 10
2nd Prize: Emma Whyte aged 13

CITY/TOWN:
1st Prize: Robbie Whyte aged 11
2nd Prize: Amy Smith aged 6

ANIMALS:
1st Prize: Tom Sheldon aged 8
2nd Prize: Emily Sheldon aged 9

SCENIC/LANDSCAPE:
1st Prize: Madelaine Leggett aged 10
2nd Prize: Bella Stevens aged 6

HUMOUR:
1st Prize: Dan Smith aged 9

FAMILY GROUP:
1st Prize: Amy Smith-Cornfield aged 6
2nd Prize: Nicholas Legget aged 8

PORTRAITS:
1st Prize: Emma Whyte aged 13
2nd Prize: Madelaine Leggett aged 10

THAT’S LIFE:
1st Prize: Nicholas Whyte aged 8
2nd Prize: Robbie Whyte aged 11
THE MAJOR PRIZES
FIRST PRIZE: £20.00
Dan Smith aged 9

SECOND PRIZE: £10.00
Bella Stevens aged 6

THE JUDGE’S FAVOURITE:£5.00
Emily Sheldon aged 9

THE SPONSOR’S FAVOURITE: £5.00
Robbie Whyte aged 11

Merits (£1.00) were also awarded to: Emma Whyte, Tom Sheldon, Madelaine Leggett, Nico Whyte, Bella Stevens, and San Smith.
Overall Effort Prizes (disposable cameras) were awarded to: Amy Amith and Robbie Whyte.

Home

I was born in New Zealand and I spent my childhood there. I am the eldest of four and looking back on my time there compared with friends who grew up in the UK I feel incredibly lucky that I grew up without any of the influences that big cities have on children. My father is English and my mother Australian, and with that influence as children we understood from an early age, unlike many of our contemporaries, that there was a world that existed outside New Zealand. As children we travelled to Sydney to see my mothers family quite often, it was always very hot.  In the winter of 1981 my father took my brother and I to the Uk to visit his family, My brother Simon and I had couldn’t believe how cold and damp it was.

In 1983 I bought my first camera, a second hand Practica MTL3 with a standard glass 50mm lens in 1983, it weighed a ton and I rattled through hundreds of rolls of Agfa Black and white 100 asa film, I didn’t use colour film for years because it was to expensive to develop and print, and as I couldn’t develop and print it myself I stuck with black and white. The Practica camera was built like a tank and it survived many a ski accident and drunken evening at the Carlton Hotel in Christchurch. The Practica camera had a huge paddle shaped depth of field button on the side of the body which when pulled back gave you an exposure reading and a depth of field preview, and although it looked like something Dell boy would try and sell you it took fantastic pictures. My father bought me a tamron 70-100mm lens for my birthday and I could now take take pictures of the girls in the flat next door sunbathing from the roof of our house without being noticed, I had arrived, I was now a photographer.

Like most New Zealanders the travel bug bit me and I left New Zealand in February 1985. My trusty Practica and two lenses travelled to London for our big ‘OE’ (Overseas Experience) I met up with four Australians and together we bought a lime green Volkswagon Combi van from a Dutchman in Waterloo and headed off around Europe. The five of us spent five of the best months of our lives traveling around Europe, I still have the photographs I took on that amazing trip in a huge box in the loft of our house. How naive we were, I’m sure my two daughters will want to do something similar at some point and I’ll have to bite my tongue and let them go. My traveling companions had cameras, the two girls had Nikon compacts, I had my East German cast iron box with a hole in the front of it, and the two other guys had very stylish Canon cameras. Murray, one of the Aussie guys had a Canon AE1 program. I thought the Canon A series cameras were a breath of fresh air, likewise the fantastic Nikon F series. I knew that when I returned to the UK I was going to have trade in the tank for something with more bells and whistles with aperture priority at least.

So we all went our separate ways, I went back to stay with my Aunt in Chichester, the boys to Melbourne and the two girls back to Sydney. In Chichester my first stop was Whitby’s the camera shop with everything a broke aspiring photographer could want for. This I think was a pivotal moment for me – Nikon or Canon? What system best sits me, I couldn’t afford a train ticket to london let alone a new camera body. The months went by and in that time between returning from my trip at  the end of summer and December 1985 I had secured a job as a ski guide in Val D’Isere France. Two days before leaving on the coach for the next big adventure I went back to Whitby’s in Chichester and traded in my Practica for a gleaming new Canon AE1 program. About a thousand mountain scenes later I returned to London and set about deciding what on earth I was going to do with the rest of my life.

By 1986 New Zealand was in the grip of recession and although London was in the grip of ‘loadsa money’ things were rapidly hurtling down hill. I had been digging ditches for a landscape gardener since returning from my ski season in May but my photography life had changed beyond recognition. I had discovered medium format. With three weeks ditch digging wages I blew the whole lot on a Bronica ETRsi and although it seemed foolish at the time (as I had been lumbered with the combi van which badly needed a few grand spending on it) this new larger format totally changed the way I took photographs. Most of the London and world photographs I sell today were, and still are taken with that camera. It sits on a tripod most of the time, it’s a manual camera with no automatic settings and you look at the image in the viewfinder upside down. Before you click the shutter you’ve scratched your chin, fiddled with your filters, had a sandwich, scratched your chin again and the two or three  images you finally take are well thought out and generally spot on.

The years rolled by I was making good pocket money selling my photographs to image libraries taken with my trusty Bronica. In the days before full frame digital SLRs it was possible to make a good living as a stock photographer because demand for good images was high with so few photographers, comparatively, taking high end images. I tried my luck as a paparazzi photographer working for The big picture following celebs around at 2am hoping for the scoop. I never got the scoop although I was chased across Leicester Square one evening by one of Peter Stringfellow’s bouncers. Most of the press and paparazzi guys at that time had high end Canon and Nikon cameras with lenses zooming up to at least 400mm and I was still using my trusty AE1 program with a motor drive that chewed through film and batteries.

Digital photography hit me later than most of the pros largely due to the fact that I didn’t have any money. I was though scanning slides and negatives mostly for cataloguing purposes in order that I could make some sense of my mountain of 35mm film strips and medium format material. I bought my first digital SLR, a Canon D60 in 2002 and then it’s successor a 20D a year later. I must have shot about about 200 weddings on the D60, the autofocus was terrible, it hunted around for a fix in low light, skin tones were green, it would seize up just as the bride and groom would be walking down the isle, and it gobbled up battery power at an alarming rate. Luckily I had invested in a fast mac desktop and I was able to correct most things in photoshop. The 20d was much better and Canon had ironed out most of the oddities the D60 would throw at you. I’m very glad I didn’t buy the D30!

I have now completely embraced digital, I still use film occasionally and just about all my gallery images you can see on my site are shot on film. I have two Canon 1ds mark 11 cameras which are terrific pieces of kit and bags of L lenses and other studio gear. I still have my trusty Bronica. Much better working on a mac in an airy studio than breathing in all those smelling chemicals in a cellar. It’s easy to feel nostalgic about film, particularly black and white film, but high end digital improves workflow to such an extent that it’s hard to imagine doing half the stuff that we all do now with an analogue set up. Clients too understand the immediacy of digital, they know that they can see proofs very quickly after a shoot. I haven’t got to play with the new Canon 1ds mark 3 yet, if I’ve got time next week I might have a look at one at Calumet!

Home

I try and bring new photographs and formats to my stall in Northcote Road as often as I can.

This weekend I will have the first of my poster print series to view, it’s the first of the New York colour  photographs and it looks fantastic. These will sell for £55.00 as a poster rolled up in a tube, and £95.00 framed.

And the second new item is a small set of large mounted prints from the London set of images, the prints are A3 in size and the outside dimensions are 700mmx570mm these will sell for £110.00

We’ll also be doing the usual free portrait photography sessions, for more details go to my portraits page.

I’ll be there myself on Friday and Saturday, and Jimmy will be running things on Sunday. Hopefully the weather will be good.

The stall is on the corner of Northcote Road and Bennerley Road, London SW11, opposite Tony’s cafe. Nearest British rail is Clapham Junction, nearest tube is Clapham South. It is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Home

I haven’t run a competition for sometime and I have been asked quite a lot lately if I’ll be running another. So here goes…….

Can you guess where the following photograph was taken? I need city and country. The prize is a framed 700mm x 570mm photograph or image from my art site (see the link under Blogroll) worth £185.00. You have until the 31st August ‘09 to enter. All you need to do is reply to this post or if you don’t want others to see your answer email me with your answer ma@photoarte.co.uk. You’ll find this image somewhere in the buy and rent prints gallery page (see the link to ‘buy and rent prints’ under Blogroll on the right hand side of this page.Good luck and I hope to hear from you soon.

Home

The first of the New York Poster prints is now ready, and I will have it at my stall this weekend (24th, 25th and 26th July). I thought that I would start with my New York colour prints first as they are all quite dramatic and if anything will make a good poster they will. The poster rolled up in a tube is £55.00, framed it’s £95.00. So please come and take a look, remember that any one of my photographs can be produced as a poster.

Home

This site started life as photography rental site. Since upgrading it a year ago we now sell and rent fabulous modern art and photography to offices, businesses and private individuals in the UK and abroad. We’ve made a number of changes to the service in the last week adding new categories of art and framing options and now we can provide stunning, framed and borderless images to hang in your office or workplace.

The art is for Sale and for rent. Renting is easy and cost effective. It gives you flexibility, new and varied interest to your office, and in these difficult economic times it often makes sense. And every 3 or 6 months you or your staff can pick a brand new display, which we will install. Take a look at the website, http://www.artforoffices.uk.com/ I’d welcome your comments.

Home