Fez to Casablanca

We've had a heavy week's shooting in Fez for our film about Leo Africanus. We shot scenes about his childhood, university days and his first job as a scribe at a mental hospital. Astoundingly all the locations are still there in the Medina. His university, Al Karouine, is the oldest institution in the world to have continuously issued degrees: sadly they wouldn't let us film inside. The hospital - or maristane - where he worked is also still standing and is used as a market now. We also found some old lodging houses next to the university and it's quite possible that he lived and worked there.

We also travelled to just outside Fez to find the farmlands that Leo's father owned and where Leo liked to go for quiet retreats.

Then we headed for Casablanca by train..

Here's a short timelapse shot during the 4 hour train journey.



We were en route to meet and interview an old friend of mine called Tahir Shah: more about Tahir in the next post.

I shot this in short bursts, hand held on a D700 and then made the slideshow in Aperture.

Leo Africanus Shoot

After a few short weeks of planning we finally set off on the trail of Leo Africanus: a 16th century geographer who wrote the first accounts of the interior of north Africa.

His story is fascinating. Born in Muslim Granada around the year 1490, his family fled the forces of Ferdinand and Isabel and the Spanish Inquisition. They found refuge in Morocco in the city of Fez. Later Leo began to travel as diplomat, spy, merchant and writer. His travels would take him across the Sahara to Timbuktu, to Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and beyond. In 1518 he was captured by Christian privateers and presented to Pope Leo X as a tribute. While in captivity he was baptised and took the name of Leo. At this time he wrote his great work on Africa.

We’re following in his footsteps for BBC film. So far we’ve shot in Grandada and made an epic crossing from Europe to Africa and we’re now in Fez.

The day we made our crossing was my first day of proper travel for nearly a year: I’ve not covered so much ground since filming in South East Asia for ‘Tropic of Cancer’. On Sunday we travelled for 17 hours crossing from Europe to Africa by ferry. The trip went
Grandada to Gibraltar – shoot at Europa Point
Gibraltar to Alagaceras
Algaceras by ferry to Cuerta – a Spanish enclave in Morocco.
Cuerta to Tatouan – where we stopped for mint tea and pastries
Tatouan to Fez – 7 hours by road through a miserable thunder storm. We stopped half way for kofta…

Stills Photography and Video

Over the last few months I've been advised by several people that video is the way to go for stills photography.... strange as it seems combining a sequence of images into a slideshow or video along with some commentary and music adds interest and dynamism to a website or presentation.

Although I've made some slideshows of my work and I'm preparing a couple more, I find this trend slightly unsettling for a couple of reasons....

Firstly, what does it say about stills photography that to make it hold people attention we need to add movement and commentary?

Secondly, I'm dismayed by the editorial and technical quality of some of the pieces I've seen. When you add extra elements such as music or interviews and you begin to sequence images with movements or transitions, you're no longer producing photography but television. I've spent well over 15 years learning to make TV - to plan, shoot and edit a meaningful piece takes significant resources and a high level of skill in several different fields. So high in fact that these jobs are usually done by separate people.

Part of this drive is technological: DSLRs can shoot "HD" video - although try and convince a TV engineer that a 5DII shoots true HD.. and it must be tempting to knock off a few seconds of video while you're shooting stills. Great perhaps for spot news or a blog but much less satisfying for a longer form documentary.

It's interesting that it's stills photographers who are simultaneously predicting the demise of photojournalism and moving away from their main skill set into a different medium.

Have a look at the following pieces and see what you think.

The first is by noted photographer Anthony Suau. I've admired and followed his work since 1999 when he published Beyond the Wall. He's a Pulitzer and Capa Prize winning photographer.

The second is from an organisation called DuckRabbit. They bring together the skills of a photographer with a radio journalist: their pieces are planned and conceived as what they call photofilms.

ANTONY SUAU


DUCKRABBIT


I think that the DuckRabbit piece is a more satisfying combination of sound and image and represents a carefully thought out use of media. The sounds and interview added another layer to the images without striping them of their power. It makes no use of video and it was also satisfyingly short.

Peter Ackroyd and Dark Waters - a photovideo slideshow

Some of the inspiration for the Dark Waters project came from Peter Ackroyd's books - London: the Biography and Thames: Sacred River.  I came across some audio of him talking about the river, its light and the origin of its name (darkwaters.org) so I've appropriated it and pulled it into a slideshow with music and pictures. I'm trying to track down Peter Ackroyd and secure his permission...

This approach - using video and slideshows not pinching audio from other people - has been suggested to me by Gina Glover from Photofusion Gallery and Lorna-Mary Webb from RhubarbRhubarb: they both encouraged me to make use of my TV skills to add interest and value to my site....

I'm due to interview Gina about her work and the gallery that she co-founded: video here shortly.

In the meantime here are the two 90 second videos.

Digital and Darkroom

For the first time ever I had a digital camera with me during a darkroom  session and shot a few pics. This one shows the process of proof printing some of my Dark Waters project. Negs from my recent Cornish trip are drying in the cabinet.

I’d just shot a final session with Ptolemy the Weaver. The three pieces that she’s been working on are framed and ready to go to the exhibition that commissioned them. Inspired by the Legacy of Anni Albers is showing at the Ruthin Craft Centre: Ptolemy Mann has produced 3 pieces that are inspired by the colour work of this Bauhaus colourist. The show runs from 4th Dec 10 to 6th Jan 11. Have a look ...www.ruthincraftcentre.org.uk

It’s been an absorbing process to follow the making of these 3 pieces of art/craft: I’m planning to shoot a video with Ptolemy and look forward to exploring the boundaries between art and craft in her work and also showing more of the process of weaving.

Deptford, Putney, London Bridge & Timbuktu ...

... all locations that I've shot at this week or been asked too... I started the week with a great shoot for Made in London, with Ndidi Ekubia at her workshop in Deptford.  Ndidi is a silversmith who crafts beautiful 3 dimensional pieces out of single flat sheets of metal.  I was expecting a delicate, gentile operation but the grace and precision of her pieces belies the effort and power that goes into their making.  I've never been with a worker of precious metal who had so many anvils and hammers.  I'll be shooting more with Ndidi when she returns from New York where she's taking part in a show at the Museum of Arts and Design.


Meanwhile I've managed a couple of shoots for dark Waters - from the footbridge at Putney and from London Bridge.  


And where does Timbuktu come into it? I've been asked to shoot a documentary for BBC World following in the footsteps of Leo Africanus - a 16th Century traveller and writer.  His most famous destination was Timbuktu.... so if we can get visas from the Mali government, we're off to Timbuktu. Although I'm not the first person in my family to go there... apparently my grandfather made it there too.....if I can believe the family stories....

Made In London -Ptolemy Mann and more people and more pictures

A new and improved blog for my latest project - Made in London - a book length documentary project to discover the lost crafts of London. This picture is from one of 5 shoots I've done with the weaver Ptolemy Mann.