My Website

www.david-langham.co.uk

Autumn is Coming

 Haven't made a post in a while, as i have been too busy pretending to be busy.

 Since i last posted, i have visited spain, which was an experience. I shall post photographs and a diary in the coming weeks. I also start back at university next week. i was under the impression it was this week, and now i am bored as i want to use university equipment!

 Work to come up soon....

Isolated Landscapes get removed!

 Here is a recent news story which has some connection to my 'Isolated Landscapes' work. They now have connotations related to economy, as we can't afford to uphold our isolated landscapes.

Derby City Council said that by removing flowerbeds from its public roads and roundabouts, it will save £102,000 over the next two years.

Things I learnt at Hurricane Festival, Scheeßel, 21-23 June 2013 (PHOTOS TO COME SOON)

Foreign festivals are great if you’re unsocial

 Not speaking everyone elses language means you can be ignorant and feel fine about it! Dont want to speak to people today? You don’t have to. Because you cant say anything! Want to speak to people? your conversation starter is that you barely speak a word of the language! Win win.

There are no hipsters in Germany. Apart from me.

 We were the hipsters, gloating about how we’re at a foreign festival because its so much better than our festivals. Plus I spent the weekend walking around with a 35mm film camera, which added to the look. But everyone seemed to not give a fuck about fashion statements or fitting into some pre designated look. Everyone just dressed like normal people. And there were no loud attention seekers. Well, besides the drunk guys wetting themselves.

Rammstein will haunt me for life

 Rammstein are terrifying. huge men which dwarf the stage. A shit tonne of fireworks, pyros and smokes. And a lot of flamethrowers. Mounted to everything. The singer has such a low, powerful voice and when the crowd sings along, it really is quite intimidating. Especially when we have no idea what they’re singing. Not being able to contextualise the performance thru lyrics was especially vital, when the singer simulated sodomising the keyboard player whilst on a hydraulic platform.

Top that kiss, with your shitey fireworks.

Germans love simple and repetitive music.

 Bloc party are a shadow of the musical brilliance which they once displayed. And this was encapsulated in their “new song” which sounded like when my year 8 band wrote their first ever song. A constant riff throughout with not much change at all. But germans loved it. And later in the “discotent” the german pop punk music was predictable and, well, poppy. Even rammsteins music is pretty repeatative and simple.

Cigarettes are cool

 This was the first time I’d been abroad since I was about 14, so I was a lot more wary of things around me. I was surpised when at the aldi checkout, that amongst the sweets and chewing gums towards the counter, were also boxes of cigarettes and rizzla papers. Now this may not sound like a lot, but in England, you’re not even allowed to see cigarettes. If you walk into a supermarket here, you wouldn’t know they even exist. In germany, you could just pick them up.

 One of the festivals sponsors was actually a cigarette company. They had their own hut and bar, and several people walking around the site all day selling products. It was colourful and great! There was such a freedom about it. if you want to smoke yourself into an early grave, the media isn’t going to beat you down for it.

Tent safety isn’t an issue

 The policy with pitching tents was anywhere but the roads/lanes. Literally, anywhere. We had a small circle of tents in our travelling group. The open space in the center was small enough to only fit us sitting around. When we awoke on the first day, a huge group tent had appeared in the middle of it all. Later on that day, a man pitched his pretty much in my porch. Why not?

Nobody wanted it to end

 On the last night, an angry mob developed. Because queens of the stone age played a shorter set than any other headliners? Nah. Because the way to finish a festival is to destroy your own tent, swing off a gazebo and burn down the toilets whilst people hit tribal drums to no particular rhythm.

Germans have NO sense of humour

 What do you do with a dog with no legs? Take it around the corner.

Manners don’t exist

 Either im just really English, or germans have no sense of manners. Even walking thru crowds and brushing up against people im obliged to have a constant stream of “sorry, sorry, excuse me, sorry” most people will just pretend you don’t exist.

Trains are awesome

 Double decker trains which were quick, quiet, and on time. EFFICIENT.

But music is more awesome.

 Portishead, Sigur Ros, Arctic Monkeys and The National really impressed me this weekend. Bosnian Rainbows are going to be a force. And seeing Smashing Pumpkins is now off of my bucket list.

 

Home book

 This is a video of a blurb book I created for a project now known as "Home," created in 2010 and filmed two days ago! The original title was "This is Old Factory Town," as I believed it could be representative of many other towns similar to it. However, I have since decided that the title has too much responsibility, and it is now simply titled "Home."

This is Old Factory Town book, 2010 from David Langham on Vimeo.

Website

 I have my own website currently in the works! Keep your eyes open for details. I aim to launch it around August 13th (lucky 13).

Chris Anderson Interview

 Vice magazine is currently running a series of interviews with magnum photographers. Here are some exerpts from an interview done with magnum photographer chris Anderson, which I found very interesting and down to earth. The full interview can be found on the vice website, at http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/christopher-anderson-interview .

“Unlike most agencies, Magnum's members are selected by the other photographers on the agency, which, given they're the greatest photo agency in the world, means becoming a member is a pretty gruelling process”.  (Bayley,B. 2013)

 Magnum is more of a community of renowned photographers, rather than having some distinct aim. This is a healthy way of considering magnum, rather than struggling to understand how they work, and what they’re mission is.

 Here are two questions and answers which I have highlighted from the interview. The bold is spoken by Bruno Bayley, and the answer is by Christopher Anderson

RUSSIA. Novosibirsk. 2006 © Christopher Anderson/Magnum Photo

“Hello Christopher. You've vocally distanced yourself from "photojournalism" in the past. Why is that?”

“There are photojournalists in Magnum, but I don't see it as a photojournalist agency. It's more founded in documentary photography. If I were to use a term for myself, I feel I'd fit more closely in the bracket of documentary photography than photojournalism. The term "photojournalist" tends to be loaded with meaning: specifically that one reports the news. I don’t see that as my function. Even when I was photographing things that were news topics, like conflicts, my function was not that of a news reporter, my function was to comment on what I saw happen that day and to offer a subjective point of view. In my role I was commenting on what was happening, but also trying to communicate what it felt like to be there when it was happening.”

Wow, this guy is great, and so is the interview. He recognizes that his work isn’t photojournalistic, and he is see’s himself more of a documentary photographer, despite being quite subjective. The argument of objectivity vs subjectivity is quite large in documentary, but with my recent readings, it feels like can ever be objective.

KUWAIT. 2002. Soliders from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team 3rd Infantry Division take a snapshot of the battlefield during excercises in the Kuwaiti desert. © Christopher Anderson/Magnum Photo

“Have people ever reacted negatively to your work because you champion subjectivity in a field which many argue should be entirely objective?”
“Yeah, especially with the blogosphere there is a lot of criticism. I can't pay attention to all that; I don't mean that in an arrogant way, it's just a waste of my energy and time. My photographs are a reflection of the experience I have, I can't really be ashamed or embarrassed about the photograph that results from those experiences, any more than I could be uncomfortable about the experiences themselves.”

 The key thing is that he says his images are a result of an experience, and thats how they should be read. He’s not trying to profile some exotic culture, or dramatise a situation. He’s simple commenting on an experience. What a wonderful way of working, which has reignited my passion to create similar works!

 This interview has made me realise many things about the photographers of magnum, and their place in the documentary world. magnum is simply a community of like minded photographers, but not too like minded. They all have their own distinct ways of working, and their work showcases experiences of humanity. I shouldn’t worry about making works which are accurate and valid to a specific group of people, I should just go and experience the people and places, and my pictures should voice that experience.

References

• Bruno Bayley. (2013). The Way Chris Anderson See's The World Is Amazine. Available: http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/christopher-anderson-interview. Last accessed 28th March 2013.

pictures

Chris Anderson/Magnum Photos, (2006), RUSSIA. Novosibirsk. 2006 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://mediastore.magnumphotos.com/CoreXDoc/MAG/Media/TR2/7/0/d/8/NYC70198.jpg [Accessed 02 April 13].

Chris Anderson/Magnum Photos, (2002), KUWAIT. 2002. Soliders from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team 3rd Infantry Division take a snapshot of the battlefield during excercises in the Kuwaiti desert. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://mediastore3.magnumphotos.com/CoreXDoc/MAG/Media/TR2/5/3/5/f/NYC52276.jpg [Accessed 02 April 13]