freedom fries

From this






to this....



and finally this...



The good folks at this Salford chippy had a horrible few years when the streets on every side of them became more and more derelict and were finally condemned to demolition. Even once they started bulldozing around them, its owners hung on - first because they were unhappy with the paltry amount they were offered for their business and upstairs flat [one official actually told them it was assumed they would be retiring] and later because no alternative premises had been found for them and fitted out. Now, finally - 15 years after regeneration of their area was announced - they have been given a new shop and are once again getting customers. Winners or losers? I don't think even they are completely sure.

links

I've had a couple of things published today. An audio slideshow on haaf fishing in Cumbria, on the BBC website (click above or see my original - slightly longer version HERE). I've also got a written piece and image in Guardian Education - a profile of an enterprising head teacher who has won an award.

regen

It's been an afternoon of photographing housing regeneration - although some would dispute that phrase - in Liverpool for me today.
I have a tendency to come up with lots of ideas and then spread myself too thinly, with the inevitable effect of getting very little done - or being disappointed with the results. So I'm giving myself between now and Christmas to focus on regeneration, and to hopefully finish something.
Yeah right.

brooklyn, baby

I've just returned from a week's break in New York. It was my first time in the US and I've fallen in love with the city. Can't say I'm too excited about having to return to work...

states of play

I've been a bit lax on the blog lately - mainly because I've been pretty busy but have had relatively little to show for it.

* I've filed quite a few written pieces and/or pictures with various publications - Guardian, Big Issue in the North, Marie Claire and New Start - all of which are still in the pipeline.
* I've had a second audio slideshow bought by the BBC but it's awaiting its big moment in the publishing schedule.
* I've put together another multimedia piece - on this - which I'm pretty pleased with and hope could go somewhere promising in due course....watch this space.
* I've started a simple but hopefully effective little project related to my three-plus years of work on housing regeneration in the north of England, which I aim to have finished by Christmas. A selection of my written work on this subject can be viewed here.
* I'm plotting a further photography project - this time overseas - which, if it happens, I hope to complete gradually over the course of next year.
* And I've set up part of my first assignment for the MA photojournalism course I'm due to start in the New Year and am very excited about what I'm doing.

So it's not as if I've been slacking. Well...just on the blog front then.
I'm now about to sign off for another week and a bit as I'm heading Stateside, for a holiday. I'm also officially hiding from my 30th birthday, which comes to pass later this week.
see you on the other side......

say 'paneer'

(Kolkata, March 2009)

I don't have much to blog about this week. So I'll just post some photos.

next level

I love this series of little multimedia features so very much. If you are interested in this kind of thing and haven't yet checked out the New York Times' One in 8 million series then I urge you to do so. I WISH I had the time and funding to do something like this where I live.

top slacker

I haven't had much time to post this week as it's been quite a busy one.
I returned to the homeless gypsy family I mentioned last week and although it was a more fruitful visit than my previous one I still had a frustrating experience because I was there on someone else's time, she had things to be getting on with and I just couldn't stay as long as I would have chosen to. I know that while I have some decent audio, and therefore potential written interview that the images just don't do their situation justice.
Tonight I'm going to sit in the audience while they broadcast this...such a geek. If I get to ask a question I'll be sure to post a link

EDIT: my question wasn't picked. booo hiss