Rob Birrell’s Photography Blog

One of my images “Mobile Phone” has been selected for this year’s Shot Up North (SUN) Awards. The SUN Awards – now entering its 20th year – recognises and rewards the best commercial photography in the UK regions, working in the disciplines of Advertising, Design, Fashion or Editorial Photography. The 50 chosen images are currently exhibited at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel and after that set off on a coutrywide tour.

SUN AWARDS Exhibition Tour 2008/9
MANCHESTER – Lowry Hotel, 6 November – 2 December 2008
LEEDS – Design Innovation Centre, 7 February – 2 March 2009
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE – The Biscuit Factory, 6 March – 19 April

the SUN Awards will also be at these Calumet branches:
Liverpool (Special Edition) January 12 – 31
and then Sun Awards as follows
Birmingham April 23 – May 10
Nottingham May 12 – 31
Drummond Street June 3 – 18
Belfast June 22 – July 10
Manchester September 1- 31

In addition to being selected for the main awards the image is also available as a limited edition print at a cost of £245 unframed, including delivery Buy Print

Yet another personal project … I’ve been working in a series of urban/hard landscape photographs. They started off loosely based within about 100 yards of the 55 degrees north roundabout in Newcastle Upon Tyne but I’ve extended the remit to include some photos of Durham and the University Running Track. Click through on any of the images to see the full set.

Ripon Races

I recently visited Ripon Races with my friend Anne with the intention of doing a little recreational photography. Well it proved to be more difficult than I anticipated especially in the overcast conditions. I had hoped to get more people shots but timidity got the better of me. The shots of horses were hampered by lack of practice with panning and the track rail which draws an obtrusive line across many of the shots. “Foxy Jane”, my wifes namesake, was my only bet of the day and true to her number “5″ she came in fith so no fortune won there.

Click through from the image above to see a series of photos from the afternoon which I hope give a flavour of the event.

Oh yes, and who would have guessed that the boards that the bookies use use some sort of scanning technology similar to a TV so, note to self, if you want to capture the text use a slower shutter speed in future!

I’m pleased to say that the above image of mine has been accepted into the 2008 People Show (formerly known as the Cravens Art Prize). The exhibition is open to painters, printmakers, sculptors, photographers, film and ceramic artists who live in the North East of England. It’s running at the Northumbria University Gallery until September 12th.

I’ve decided to take an opportunity to share some thoughts on what photography books I like and/or have found useful by adding a book shop to my blog website. Hopefully you will something useful and inspirational here too and if you click through from this website it will serve to bolster my meagre income in a small way as I will get a small amount of commission for each transaction. The cost to you is exactly the same as if you had gone through the standard Amazon website. All orders are fulfilled by Amazon.co.uk so you can be rest assured as to the security and quality of the order process. I apologise to international customers … as yet I don’t cater for you at this moment in time, though you’re are at liberty to order from the UK website. Watch this space however, as I hope to have something up and running for Amazon.com/US customers soon.

Photo Copyright Joakim Eskildsen

I visited Joakim Eskilden’s exhibition, “The Roma Journeys” on Friday at the Side Gallery in Newcastle.

Between 2000 and 2006 Joakim Eskildsen travelled in seven different countries photographing the life of the Roma and the conditions they face. The journeys, in India, Romania, Russia, Hungary, Greece, Finland and France, came about as a result of chance, coincidence and personal contact, rather than any process of meticulous planning. What the journeys open up on is somewhere and something beyond nations.

It was the first colour photography exhibition that I have seen at the Side but I was completely overwhelmed by both the quality of the photography and the printing. The exhibition runs until 14th June 2008 and I would heartily recommend it. Whether or not you can make it the book of the project is an excellent buy (The Roma Journeys by Joakim Eskildsen and Cia Lungile Rinne).

At my recent GLEAM showcase one photograph seemed to be universally popular. I called it “In the Cheap Seats”. Its a group of interesting old characters sitting at the back row of the Middelton in Teesdale cattle market.

Brenda Burrell suggested that if I had anymore photographs from this day that it would make an interesting series. Well here is the result of me revisting the images. Click on the image above to see the series in its entirety.

Firstly, I have to apologise, its been a bit quiet on the old blog for a while now. I’ve been pretty busy with one thing and another namely organising an exhibition of my work for the GLEAM Showcase 2008. I didn’t advertise it here lest it became some sort of rave. Anyway, if you didn’t make it along click through on the image to see a representation of what I exhibitied.

The showcase was the culmination of a 6 month programme run by GLEAM. The programme aims to help creative graduate entrepreneurs (like me) through the early stages of the startup of their businesses. 18 other businesses and myself took over a disused warehouse, 51 Lime Street in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley and converted it into an exhibiton and performance space for 9 hours of Thursday 1st May, 2008. All in all it was a great success and great fun was had by all.

I’d like to welcome you to my photography blog. I intend it to be a place where I can debate, inform and generally sound-off about photography and specifically stuff that interests me. While I am a practising professional I am still constantly learning, experimenting and exploring new avenues for work and pleasure.