Snap Snap

My new Seagull WWSC

I recently bought an old 120 film camera called a Seagull WWSC. It's a beautiful little box camera, not quite the standard of a Hasselblad or Rolliflex but totally capable of taking some stunning pictures with the right light and technique.

I used a couple of rolls taking pics around central london, and was lucky enough to stumble across two festivals going on, and to bump into two friends. I've got the contact sheets back, will get the pics scanned and post them soon.

Shout Out: Nasey - Flickr Photography

Hey people!

I'm very excited today. This evening I'll pick up prints from my new Seagull WWSC, one black & white, and the other a vivid colour. I'm sure I'll only get a couple of good ones, as is always the way was new cameras. One of my favourite photographers on flickr is Nasey from Malaysia. He has a few cameras, but his Seagull pics are lovely.

Quick Update: Rewire London

I spent most of today tweeting & blogging the Rewire London unconference event.

Here's a short blog post on one of the sessions

and the twitter tag #rewirelondon

Big thanks to @queeniecoop for getting me involved.

Looking Back. My photography 1 year on.

Just over a year has passed since I started taking photos seriously. By seriously, I mean actually thinking about what I was capturing rather than click, click, clicking. Inspired by some friends who are photographers and a few artists I'd been running workshops, with I decided to buy a DSLR camera. At that time I was having doubts about the poems I was writing, both the subject and the purpose. I'd lost a lot of confidence in my own words and photography was a way of still keeping creative whilst waiting for the words to come back. I started with photos of my friends and obsessions, like hoodies.

For the first five months of having my digital camera, I had no idea of how to use the manual settings. It was after buying a 35mm film camera that I started to learn about shutter speed, aperture and film speed. I took my Ricoh KR 10M with me on a British Council trip to China and learnt more about photography in those thirteen days than I had in the previous five months. In traveling to Shanghai and Fujian province I left Europe for the first time. China is such a beautiful country, and my I loved taking pictures of new friends and environments.

Following the China trip, I was expecting to have a long wait before leaving the UK again. But in December I got the chance to visit thirteen states in India on a train. The project called the TATA Jagriti Yatra takes 400 young indians on a tour around the country to meet role models in the field of social development. Having used my film camera for a few months, I was a lot more comfortable with my digital. I spent much of the eighteen day journey having fun with my camera, rather than being concerned that I wouldn't capture a moment or being disappointed with the results.

My travels last year really helped me to understand the the things I'm most passionate about: well-being, urban upbringing and creativity amongst young people. Lately I've been turning my lens towards these things, using both digital and film.

I'm at a stage now when I'm a lot more confident in my writing. I know I owe this to photography. The gift of just being able to look and compose images has given me time to think about what I want to say in words. At the moment I'm working on a booklet to end my In Between Residency with All Chance. Inspired by the Chinese form of literature the biji (which translates as notebook), I've written diary entries, taken photographs and recorded quotes that document working with young people on community arts projects, and document the journey of six young MCs from Islington. I've got to finish it by the end of the month. I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for reading!

Today in Pictures - May 16th 2010

      

Shakeel Meetoa

No 63

The Dream Team House

Me/ Poi/ Fists

So I have too many cameras that I don't use. I've decided to sell a couple of the film camera that are collecting dust. One that I'd never sell is my Chinon CE-4. I bought it in Feb for £10 and I'm having lots of fine with it at the moment.

Here are a couple of my pictures from the Chinon CE-4.

This is one of the few pics of myself that I actually like. All credit goes to the lovely LT.

LT tries poi for the first time, Primrose Hill

The fists of a Knight.

5 O Fresh - A success!

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came to 5 O Fresh last week. The four plays written and produced by young people from Battersea (South London) were fantastic. I ended up acting in two of them, firstly as a police officer and then as a crackhead.

The groups might be doing a tour of schools, so I'll keep you updated on that. Until then, here are some pics from the production week and the performance. Also wanted to say a big thanks to Lou Abbotts for managing the project wonderfully and creative a great culture amongst the group.

Running Lines

Dressing Rooms

Dress Rehearsal

The cast of Against All Odds

The cast of Truth Hurts