“Any man who goes to bed before twelve is a scoundrel”, so say The Black Dove on St James’s St, Brighton. That quote, slightly adapted from one by poet, Samuel Johnson, is the motto of Brighton’s coolest drinking den and with opening hours of ‘four till late’, it seems to have relevance. I love it when bars inform of a closing time of ‘late’. It’s a little vague but suggests some flexibility should one desire to drink into the early hours.
The bar is a visual and audio treat, with 2 floors of cosy but cluttered space and vintage artefacts adorning the walls and floors. The music policy is just as eclectic and simultaneously vintage, offering everything from rockabilly to blues, jazz to dub and soul through to contemporary house and disco.
The drinks are different from your average boozing den too, with Sheppy’s award winning ciders, cotswold lager, international pale ales, organic wines and cocktails.
I’ve suddenly decided I don’t want to be a scoundrel…
Ian
The Black Dove
Lived In
Cosy
On Tap
Cotch
Underground
A walk around Beachy Head on the Sussex coast is not only both beautiful and peaceful, the large white cliffs, gentle breeze and calm sea…
Beachy Head
Take a hike (spot the nutter taking photos from the edge in the background!)
Taking in the view
On The Edge
Lighthouse
However, the scenic spot is also slightly eerie, in the knowledge that it plays host to an average of 20 suicide attempts a year, dating back to the 17th century.
Flowers left as a mark of respect for several suicide jumpers.
While we were out finding appropriate settings for my work with Paul Normansell, Lina and I shot this image on Brighton Pier. The electric blue colours of the sea and clothing, the coastal scenery along with a retro finish, gives it a riviera-esque feel. I like this image a lot and more pleasingly, so does Lina!
Lina, Brighton Pier
So, its been a while since I updated here but since the last post, I’ve been shooting a variety of images from interiors, to product shots but more interestingly I’ve started a couple of people based projects.
The first one, I’m looking into Britain’s binge drinking culture and producing a set of portraits of self confessed binge drinkers. The image below is one of four that I’ve shot so far, with several more to shoot in the coming weeks.
31 years old, 60 units, 2 days.
The second project is my ongoing collaboration with Paul Normansell. As before I will produce several photographs which he will then paint in his signature figurative style. This time we’ve used Roland Barthes’ ‘A Lovers Discourse’ as a base and shot images to reflect some of his thoughts on the language of love. More to follow on that in the coming few days, once we’ve confirmed our final edit.
I’m off to shoot some more interiors this avo, as much as I love to work with people, there’s something soothing about shooting nice looking spaces in your own time. I better charge the Ipod!
