Satomi Shirai - Arlington Arts Center

Satomi Shirai, cleaning, c-print, 28" X 35", 2008

My friend Satomi has Six photographs in a group exhibition at Arlington Arts Center, Virginia entitled 'Public/Private'.

If you're in the area I recommend checking it out.

Here is the Info.

Opening Reception: Friday, January 30th 6-9 pm

The exhibition will be running until April 4th

Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 11am- 5pm

Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Blvd,
Arlington,
VA 22201

(Metro / Orange Line: Virginia Square_GMU )

Viewfinder Gallery Open Salon

Some shots from the January 9th reception of The Viewfinder Gallery Open Salon in Greenwich, London. Myself and Lucy Helton had work in the show. There was some good shots in the show but I lost my guide to the exhibitors on which I'd made all my notes, so I can't tell you anything more about it!

If you're in London the exhibit runs until February 1st 2009...

My picture on show (top left)

Lucy Helton's picture on show (bottom right)

Isreali war crimes.

Let's be straight about this. The Israeli military has committed war crimes and should be held accountable.

Can I put it in any language any simpler to understand?

Watch this report of an attack on UN school in Gaza. And demand the prosecution of Israel's government.

Who's the daddy now?

You gotta love Uk tabloid newspaper 'The Sun'. They always manage to bless important occasions with the required touch of class.


Anyone who grew up in England will know the reference. If you don't, check out this clip on Youtube.....

So long Bush

It is far too easy to say good riddance to Bush. Let me put it this way; he should never have been president in the first place. Thanks to him people like Rumsfeld and Cheney were allowed to do untold damage to the planet, and I don't think that's overstating it. The world is in more trouble, is more dangerous and more fractured than perhaps it ever has been and the U.S. Administration of the past 8 years has done more harm than good. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

Anyway, there are plenty of photographs and videos of the man making an idiot of himself (and us) but one of my favourite galleries is this one by cartoonist Steve Bell. Also, here is a photograph I had not seen before that makes me chuckle.

9 May 2005: Children in North Korea make fun of President Bush.

Photograph: KCNA/EPA/Corbis

Let's see if the next administration does any better....

Where's my fucking bailout?

On a day when I read about the Bank of America receiving another $20 billion, when my father in law (who owns his own mechanic's workshop) stated that he has not received a single phone call for a job so far this year and when I reflected on the fact that everyone in my family has lost money thanks to the gross mismanagement of the the world's financial system, I was on my way to a job in Newark (thankfully my income has not completely dried up yet!) when I saw this graffiti. All I can say is; my thoughts exactly.

Plane Crash in the Hudson

Photograph: Edouard HR Gluck/AP

I don't really have much to say about this that hasn't already been said by everyone else, but thought I'd post this picture because, honestly, how often do you see a photograph of a plane sitting barely afloat in a river whose shoreline includes two of the most densely populated cities in the world? Respect is due to the pilot - Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger - and his crew. That is a remarkable crash landing.

Expiration Notice

Stan B. over at Reciprocity Failure has just embarked on a new project with Mark Page of Manchester Photography to showcase the work of photographers aged 35 and over. As anyone in the photography world will tell you, there is a great emphasis on emerging photographers, often meaning young photographers. Many photographers don't qualify for some awards due to their age and even when competitions and grants don't have an age limit a mild prejudice often exists. This can be a problem if - like many - you don't start your career in your early twenties (or teens!)

So if you are over 35 and do not already have gallery representation make sure you get in touch with Stan and Mark by checking out their submission guidelines over at www.expirationnotice.blogspot.com

I'd send them some work myself but for once I'm a couple of years shy of the required age!