Bartolomy’s Diary

So after meeting up with hair and make-up artist Charlotte Fisher and stylists Pamela Cochrane and Tabitha V. and a few more peeps in Camden for a few, I set off to Koko to have a look at White Denim for a Ponytail magazine feature. Shortly after I arrived at Club NME, as that’s what the night is called, at first I capture a few snoggers.

I see Die! Die! Die! about to start their set, so I just go into the pit and record a few, don’t know a lot about them but am fascinated by Die! Die! Die!’s performance. Expecting a three songs no flash rule, I at first do not use flash BUT….that changes after a while when I just chance it and I see that the security does not care, it’s a free for all.
I am not sure whether the crowd twigged a band like Die! Die! Die! as it was mostly middle class kids with quite a bit of dosh in their pockets….it was like only a few knew of the band and acted accordingly…..
I shoot the entire set in 3 ways, with flash, flash and delayed ambient shutter and just on ambient. The problem are the lights in Koko; the majority comes from behind and it gets rather boring after a while shooting just silhouettes….
Great show, and 20 minutes after that White Denim play and from where I was standing the band do not sound that great, I could hardly hear the vocals proper then again I am standing right in front of them,I suppose I will check them out proper at Cargo, anyways I had a good time and took some shots.
I shall post a few of my personal faves and also links to the galleries.

View all the Die!Die!Die! @ Koko shots HERE

View all the White Denim @ Koko shots HERE

So I left for the Design Museum and expected some sort of trouble in getting peeps in front of the camera, there’s always some sort of drama involved, or not…..
Richard Rogers came in, all colourfull, did a quick BBC interview and then I just nabbed him for about 2 minutes to chat and fire of a few frames, he said I was good at what I was doing as he felt very relaxed, actually he was so relaxed he smiled in every shot.

Alan Yentob was there and he was not keen, he was jetlagged or whatever…..and he sure as hell wasn’t in the mood for it. Then there was Richard Burdett who had a small role in getting that evenings’ talk on the go and as he is back in roughly 3 weeks time I have him a miss…for now.
So I sat there for the talk roughly 30 minutes and snapped away.

I had to give the Doll and the Kicks acoustic show a miss (I will see them on Monday at Pigalle anyways) but Joana and the Wolf were playing a lot later so I decided to pay them a visit instead.

From there I made my way to The Macbeth, I ended up walking from Tower Bridge to Hoxton as it was such a great evening, I even managed to snag a few subjects for The-Kiss and took a shot of Tower Bridge as well.

Arriving at The Macbeth Joana and The Wolf weren’t there, instead a metal band named No Sympathy were raging through overlong (look I can do a break a la Iron Maiden/Dream Theater) songs and their set was way too long as well…..then you have Joana and the Wolf following that, hmmmmm an open mind is required for sure. The night was set up by the fanzine “Freaky Jason” a mag. with an incredible healthy dose of humor and piss taking, good to see mags like these are still around. I thought the “Cock Rock” issue was excellent.
By the time Joana and the Wolf started there were about 50 punters who actually had come to see Joana and the Wolf. And although The Macbeth isn’t a great place to play sound wise, it all sounded ok and the band played tight. I had not seen them live for 15 months and they have progressed BIG time, not one weak song in their set. Even the new Natural Born Killer (with a cabaresque element) and which I had heard during their rehearsals a few weeks ago (apparently I was the first one outside the band to hear it….) went down very well. My faves “Frankie” (ending the set as an encore) and “Kingdom” sounded fab. This band is ready, it’s time they start recording…..
Some shots,there are jhalf a dozen good ones, hard to shoot in a place with so little light, plus that massive keyboard at the front….. hopefully more on the 2nd when they play Proud Galleries……….

View all the shots HERE

I had posted these images in a rawer form, but now they are sorted proper…………

Tomorrow eve there’s Richard Rogers at The Design Museum and I know Doll and the Kicks are playing another acoustic in Camden, not sure if I can make that, but I’ll try

Here are some more Doll and the Kicks pix:

Yesterday Terri and I went to Catford Bridge to see Ben Bruges and his missus Sally, both look waiiiii to healthy, too much of the good life me reckons, we have a super Turkish style lunch which goes down very well. Lil Lucifer, a.k.a. Thomas Bruges (4 years going 6 basically, a big kid) is there as well, ahhhhhhh kids ;).
We take loads of pix and have a great laugh. We discuss a possible urban exporation again, Ben and I used to do this as part of a huge project called The Derelict Sensation. In 2001/2002 we visited many derelict buildings and in the end we exhibited our material in St Pancras Chambers, a.k.a. The Midland Grand (now being refurbished in mega expensive apartments and a hotel again). And after that we did a film which got shown at the ICA, all many many moons ago. So who knows when or if this will happen, we’ll see.
If you wish to see some of this stuff (the pix you’ll see I took inside St. Pancras Chambers) then go to the website HERE

So Holland are out, they got a right beating from the Russians and deservedly so, Holland looked jaded, unimaginitive and what not, it was a faint reflection of what it was in the group games. Guus Hiddink is a brilliant chess player and knew exactly where to put pressure on the midfield and basically disabled the entire Dutch team, bravo Guus that’s football.

So there I was going to the West End trying to find a pub to watch the game Holland-Russia, I wanted to be close to Metro coz Doll and the Kicks were on at half 8 which was right in the middle of the game and I wanted to go in and out to get back to watching whatever was left of the second half. Seemed like The Tottenham, the biggest tourist trap on Tottenham Court Road was playing the match on a single screen in the back and guess what, two dozen Dutch were there as well (nothing I h8 more…………..). Well in short, Russia kicked our arse and we deserved it badly. Guus Hiddink the old Dutch national coach did a brilliant bit of chess playing and outclassed us big time. Good luck to ‘em.

Doll and the Kicks started about ten minutes late but sounded fab, I thought their acoustic gig from a few weeks ago was good but this was excellent, and Hannah is a great front woman. Some cool interaction with the other bandmembers. I hope to see them in a few weeks time again.

A few pix

I am putting a few more old scans up, from aaaaaaaaaaaaaaages ago, which I just found from like 1992 and 1993. Ann Trepte from Varenna, Italy 1992 (great place, maybe one day I will go back there again just to do a shoot for old time’s sake….) . These are cross processed, from neg to slides, my first attempt and after that Carlo @ Carlo Color in Via Novi, Milano corrected me and told me how to really do it. With technically much better results after that. now you just open photoshop play a lil’ with a few sliders and voila….any schmuck can do it… Photoshop has taken the craft out of all this…..actually anyone can be a photographer these days, photography has been downgraded like never before.
Funny thing is that since the take over of digital hardly any shots leave the computer screen and get printed up properly.

Also Marielle Cornelissen and who was the very first pro model I shot back in the day at Harry’s studio in Den Bosch.
These were shot in November 1993.

And last but not least a shot from 1989 (no idea what the model’s name was, she was with Q Models from Rotterdam), the cool thing about this, was this was done with a delayed background flash, meaning first the main front light would go off, and a fraction of a second later the background flashes would go off creating this cool movement effect.

Over the next weeks I will gradually add more old stuff as the archive section gets sorted.

I have internet probs, no, no stalkers but my setup box is kind of hormonal and throws me of for long periods of time. So I am supposed to get a new setup box tomorrow
I also have come to the conclusion that I will not show any pictures until they are completely finished.

I was going to see Doll and the Kicks yesterday @ The Fly but something had come up and made sure I would miss the gig, I will see them Saturday instead @ Metro (great sound system there anyways).

Here’s Dan Le Sac and Christian Stadil in the up and coming Notion magazine (out next week if I am correct).

Last night went with da missus to the Rio Cinema and watched In Search Of A Midnight Kiss which simply said was brilliant. It starts with a really funy scene and after that the director has everyone in the palm of his hand. It’s a love story in a way but in a modern setting, besides that Los Angeles looks like you rarely ever get to see it. It looks real:)

Terri and I left for the new Proud Galleries where Kaputt were playing, I had not seen them for more than a year. They started about 90 minutes late but sounded very good and also a lot tighter with a new drummer and bassplayer. I did bring my camera but no one bothered to sort out any lights besides a back wall projection so I gave it all a miss and watched instead. Thought it was pretty good.

Straight after to Scar studios to shoot Joana and the Wolf for Ponytail Magazine, a band I had not seen play for more than a year as well (as a matter o’ fact it was at The Enterprise in Chalk Farm with Kaputt). They were in their rehearsal studio and Joana was busy applying make-up on Katie, Alie and Louis. We shot for about an hour which went good and then had a 20 minute interview afterwards. Been invited to their gig @ Proud Galleries (!) in a few weeks time. Looking forward to that, especially as I think the band has progressed a lot with their material.

Nice day today…..
If you want to see some of the Cat the Dog feature which was done for Ponytail then please go HERE

Furthermore I have been scanning more old stuff in, as the whole archive section with fashion will be overhauled. I am only going to put my fave images on there, and they will be heavily manipulated so to speak. This will take some serious time and gradually be built up….

Tonight I will try and see and photograph Kaputt at Proud galleries and then straight after shoot and inteview Joana and the Wolf for Ponytail magazine @ Scar studios which is just over the road.

So I was going through some old stuff and found these polachromes of Shirley van Loosbroek. What happened next was a coincidence and the results stunned me so much that I decided to go through the same procedure for 3 shots that I found (no idea where the rest is). I shot these in 1993 at Harry’s studio in Den-Bosch where I used Shirley van Loosbroek as a model quite a few times.
I love ‘em.
Als je dit leest, dan mail mij!

Damn fine footie game last Monday, as a matter of fact I mailed a few peeps (who happened to be Italian ) just to rub it in a lil’ deeper. Quite unreal how everyone responded to the quality of the football, at moments it was sheer bliss to watch and some other time it could have gone the other way as well…..but then again it could have been 5-0 as well….exciting stuff.
Anyways I look forward seeing them on Friday against France.

Here are some more shots of Doll & the Kicks.

Stateless is hopefully happening at the end of this month.

So yesterday Terri and I grabbed the train on a hot and sunny day to go to Brighton (Stokefest, just down the road was on as well, sadly had to give that a miss) to shoot Doll and the Kicks for Ponytail Magazine. We got picked up at the station from which Terri went for some retail therapy and we left for a friend’s place and used his roof terrace for some shots. Spent about 40 minutes there and then went for the marina where I spent another 30 to go back to Dolly’s place and do the interview in the park next door…..
All in all a very productive day, quite a few really good pictures. No idea what I was going to do and felt slow, sluggish and what not at the beginning (I felt really rough driving backwards in this 5 seater taxi towards the marina…..) but midway the juices started flowing and things worked out real nice…….
Afterwards I met Andrew Newton of Cat the Dog fame in The Office pub in Sydney Rd. Gossiped loads, not saying anything in here tho and from there we moved to Sidewinder where Doll and the Kicks started their acoustic set the second we walked in. They did two 30 minutes sets. Only saw the frst set (2.5 hours return travel ahead of us and Terri starting a new job today) and I thouht it was really good. I can’t wait to see them electic on the 21st @ Metro. Cool band, and very relaxed amongst eachother. Certain bands thrive on tension and you notice bickering etc , not one bit while being with them. They were ultra relaxed, calm and confident. They will make a dent I reckon.
In the end a great day.

I am still toying with them technically but it’s close……then again it could end up in b&w, ya never know

Joana and the Wolf are next, hopefully this Sunday.

Here is some old stuff, just scanned some in these past few weeks. They are still works in progress, so don’t get yer knickers in a twist

Becky was shot in Varenna, a place I have done shoots in at least 4/5 times. These were shot late 1991. Then there’s Chantal who I shot in Bergamo, early 1992 if I am not mistaken. She’s Dutch and I love these pix. Then there’s Kelsey, the first model I tested in Milano near Porta Genova September 1990. Feels like a different lifetime to me…..that long ago. Anna Thornquist, shot in Como 1992 at an amazing villa. Cheryl Cacioppo in Venice 1991 and Kay in the Pensione Dante ( a total hellhole of a pensione, back then costing 20.000 lira, 20 usd roughly, and you shared with total strangers). I used the room for hair and make-up and started to take a few shots while she just stood there. The agency (Marcella Studio) ended up picking 3 prints from the indoor shots I seem to remember and nothing from the outdoor, as requested, shots….

Peter Gallina commented that the girls looked better those days, hmmmmm……

Meanwhile I just read that Cursed had all their money and passports stolen at the end of the tour, fucking tragic…….. I hope they get over this a.s.a.p. and get back together and get going to destroy the world. A band like them is needed badly!!!!

I have to get a new power supply for my photo PC, it seems to shut down whenever it feels like it, like in the middle of an edit. All basic fixes were to no avail, so I am going to get a new power supply and hopefully that will sort it. That way I can start getting the flowers and the Holland pix posted.
Furthermore I need to check out a location for a band shoot in Camden. Looks like a nice day ahead.

Here are the shots from Holland, I just bought a new power supply for the PC and sofar it runs like a m0f0 and I am working hard getting rid of the backlog.

I am going to Brighton this weekend to shoot Doll & the Kicks and I will shoot them for a few hours for Ponytail magazine. There’s two more bands lined up for this and I am busy setting it all up, in a week or so more about this.

I will post some scans shortly of some really old shoots from Milano from the early 90’s

Terri and I left last Thursday early to go for a quick break to Holland. My Mom needed a hand with some things and Terri just finished her old job and is about to start a new one so it seemed the right thing to do.
We arrived at 9 am in Eindhoven where it rained big time and where also the busses were on strike….a nightmare to get away from there to jump on a train to see Momma……………
I shot a few pix of a few happenings but nothing serious. On Saturday I had my birthday and celebrated it in a quiet way at a wok place in Almelo called Wok Centre, it was ok. Not sure whether I will go back but neva say neva
The whole thing was just too Dutch to me …..

I hooked up with Rob Nijhuis who I have known since kindergarten. I lost track of him for a solid 10/12 years and through a reunion site we found each other. Over the past few years I met him and his lovely wife Hildegaard. She had left to go on a detox week in Ibiza. Rob is an excellent host/chef. Great food and chats from the Dutch multi tasker…we had a great time

Sunday (an extremely hot and sunny day 30 degrees in early June) I met Boudewijn Schoemaker, one of my oldest mates, we go back almost 30 years. Terri cooked a lovely dinner and we chatted for a few hours. There’s a reunion from the hockey club I used to play at in about 3 months and we will all hook up and get sloshed of course……something to look forward to. No doubt pictures of this special event will be posted in due course.

Today on the train ride to Eindhoven Airport we got out in Vught and hooked up with Harry van der Brugghen and his lovely missus Monique. Harry sorted a quick meal and then the four of us drove south to Eindhoven airport and we had to say our goodbyes. The weather was great but by the time we arrived in Stansted it was misery galore, wind & rain…..