Let’s Get Lost with Jim McHugh

Recently, there seems to have been a fair amount of material resurfacing in the Cybersphere on Jim McHugh’s Polaroid series, Let’s Get Lost.

And little wonder as this great body of work, shot on 5×4″ Polaroid over a fifteen year period in Los Angeles, is now on show at the LAX Exhibition Space in Terminal 3.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jim for a few days in Cologne a while ago.  Seeing this video brings back happy memories of a calm, content man who seemed to have it all going on…

Jim McHugh and Jack Lowe in Cologne, 2008 (photograph by Paul Kenny)

Spillers’ Downfall: The Demolition of Spillers Mill

I’m pleased to announce the release of my first photography book, Spillers’ Downfall — a self-published series of images documenting the demolition of Spillers Mill here in Newcastle upon Tyne.

“…a set of images that are both strangely beautiful and undeniably awesome.” — Rob Meddes, The Crack

I affectionately named this iconic building The White Cliffs of Byker after cycling past it for some eight years.

I’ve photographed it on so many occasions, building up a library of nearly five hundred images in the process.  Sadly, the last six months of 2011 became a record of its demolition.

Spillers’ Downfall forms a special selection of those photographs.

— A Selection of Photographs from Spillers’ Downfall

Page 11 — ‘The White Cliffs of Byker’

Page 29

Page 41

Page 69

Page 75

Page 77 — “Insects pick over the carcass…”

Spillers’ Downfall is available to buy in both printed hardback and eBook formats.

UPDATE Spring 2013: A special Collectors’ Edition is now available. Read more…

OR

Click here to buy the printed hardback version for £39.99

Click here to buy the eBook version for £3.99

— Media Interest

Interest in this project is really gathering momentum…

• On 17th February 2013, I was invited by Gem Andrews to ‘Culture Shock’ on NE1fm to discuss Spillers’ Downfall;
• On 18th February, the Evening Chronicle published this article;
• The March 2013 edition of The Crack contains a great piece by Rob Meddes (p.13);
• Sky Tyne & Wear have already paid a visit to my studio and posted an article that you might also like to read…

https://twitter.com/skytyneandwear/status/269424487638917120

— Are You a Publisher?

This title is currently self-published.  If you are a publisher interested in working with me on this title, then please do contact me — I’m all ears!

Portraits 1997~2005

Kath, 2004

I always think of myself as a landscape photographer.

Why I think that, I don’t know; I photograph all sorts of subjects all of the time.

Like many of you, I guess, I often make portraits — usually of my nearest and dearest.

I love making them but, moreover, I love that I only ever make them for pleasure with no commercial angle involved.

Photography is intrinsic to my makeup and it feels wholesome somehow to keep a part of it set to ‘hobby status’.

You can see more of my favourite portraits in this Behance Collection…

Ethel and Peter, 2001

A Perfect Sunday on the River Tyne

Six bridges over The River Tyne, Newcastle

A perfectly cold and crisp Sunday on the River Tyne in Newcastle.

I’ve now lived here for twelve years and remain constantly in awe of the beautiful views in around the city I now call home.

I thought you might like to see this photograph I posted on Instagram this afternoon, depicting six of the seven bridges that cross the river.

So, where’s the seventh bridge? I’m standing on it — the Millennium Bridge.

For those who like to know, this scene was captured on my iPhone 4S and processed using Snapseed.

London: A Painterly Portrait

A portrait of London at sunrise from Primrose Hill…

Imagine you are standing at sunrise on Primrose Hill, looking south across the vast cityscape of London.

Now rewind the clock to the turn of the Century: ‘Pre-Shard’ and ‘pre-Gherkin’, it’s hard to believe that the newest structure on the horizon was the London Eye (the Millennium Wheel).

Construction cranes can be seen in the distance, beavering away to build the new future that seems so normal today and, unusually, there’s not a single human in sight.

My peaceful, painterly portrait of London heralds the new Millennium — a slice of time from a skyline that will never look the same again…

Print Detail — The trees at the bottom of Primrose Hill, with the silhouette of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the distance…

Print Detail — The Snowdon Aviary of London Zoo nestles among the trees and the BT Tower in Fitzrovia makes its iconic statement on the skyline…

If you would like to own one of these beautiful prints — made, numbered, signed and embossed by me — you can buy it directly from my Cornerstone Collection.

Click the image to see the 12×8″ Archival Pigment Print in my Cornerstone Collection…