Bartolomy’s Diary

I saw The Wrestler two nights ago and must say, I almost fell asleep I did not think much of it to tell yu the truth, I just could not get into it. Granted Rourke does a good job with his physique but there are just real dead moments in the film itself and all I could think of was “get on with it……”
It definately does not deserve the hype it has been getting, then again isn’t that always the case. The second PR’s and their goons start shouting of the rooftops it is suspect from the word go. Same with Heath Ledger, sadly passed away, but an oscar for his part in the latest Batman outing, COME ON…………

I am shooting Banjo or Freakout tonight for Ponytail Magazine.

I am leaving for France and Switzerland later this week, lil 5 day trip Hopefully catching some French/Swiss snoggers on the side…..otherwise I will bring some snowy shots back.

Friday afternoon, and a bad case of the runs hits me, I contemplated canceling both shoots but I knew it would be a missed opportunity at the Design Museum so I decided to go along with it.
I arrived pretty much on time at the Design Museum (which makes a nice change ) and started shooting Richard Slee, Carol McNickol and Clare Twomey right away, it was over rather quickly.
I stayed for most of the talk, which was interesting to say the least, some of the work shown was excellent.
Terri and I slipped out just before the end to make our way to Brick Lane to 93 Ft. East where Anna Calvi was going to perform. Michael Lewin chatted with her shortly beforehand and I spent 10 mins doing a shoot. It all went rather well, sadly I had to go as I did not feel too great so catching up on her performance in about 2 weeks time.
Here’s Michael Lewin interviewing Anna Calvi

I just arrived at Hoxton Bar & grille before the girls of An experiment on the bird in an air pump, I had checked their myspace page and played their tunes during the afternoon and I must say I liked them. The girls were all easy and it only took a few minutes. Then I just decided to hang about for a while as I wanted to do something indoors, at some point they just sat together and I started snapping after a few I asked them to look up once and knew right away that I got it.

I am going to the Design Museum to shoot Jerwood award winner Richard Slee, Carol McNickol and Clare Twomey.
After that it’s off to shoot Anna Calvi (formerly of Cheap Hotel) at 93 Ft East.

Friday eve went to Mien Tay, a Vietnamese restaurant on Kingsland Road. I have tried quite a few of them but never this one. The decor is plain and simple (like a cateen) but the service and the food there are superb. As a matter of fact it was too much (the food that is), I left feeling uncomfortable after all that grazing The waiter had to turn back at least 30 odd customers while we sat there and enjoyed the grub. Book b4!!!
The bill for 7 without drinks was 77 quid (7 peeps), we all looked at eachother in disbelief, so for a cheap eatery this place comes highly reccommended.
Saturday was more for sleeping and mucking about,sorting a few paper things out and so on.
Sunday went to Essex for a game of bowling with the family at Kursaal in Southend, which was great fun. The service from the staff was excellent to say the least, very accomodating.

Have just read that Jan Kaplicky of Future Systems has passed away at the age of 71. I photographed him just under two years ago at the Design Museum. This is terrible news really and my thoughts are with his family.

I have redone The Kiss site. It has a lot more pix in gallery format than my folio site.

I arrived early and Doll and the Kicks were not even there yet so I went to another pub across the road to have a quiet pint. Went to the toilet and it was out of order so asked the barman where to go and he says “upstairs”, the place looked like a grotto and “worst toilet of the Kings X area” came to mind, no way am I going to use that.
At Waterrats it wasn’t much better you’d need boat to go through it, absolutely disgusting and a total joke that the people that run a place like that let it come this far, I had to use the ladies (’owww Hi Hannah’) instead.
The council ought to pay a vist at Waterrats, charging £ 3.50 a pint and not having a decent toilet is an absolute joke.
I shot a few shots during the soundcheck and then just before they went on a group shot (which had to be cut short), and then during the show. The band were on second and they had a good sound (like always in Waterrats), the crowd lapped it up as well by the end they had an excellent response from them. Spotted Jonathan Ross and his wife in the crowd.
In the end the gig was good, but I thought 229 had more venom. The set sounds very tight though. I’l see ‘em again hopefully in 2 weeks time @ Proud.
We left right after to eat at Cats Thai restaurant on Stroud Green Road, I have been going there for 12 years and the place never dissapoints, NEVER!!!

They have added some new lights at Waterrats so that’s a good thing. I played around a lot with fill in flash and movement but in the end I just turned my flash off and that produced some pleasing results as well.

See the whole set of pix HERE

It’s my hunnybunny’s birthday so….we are going to celebrate later on.
First we shall see Doll and the Kicks at Waterrats and then we are going for a meal. Probably at Cats Thai restaurant on Stroud Green road

On a whole different note I have been emailing with Andrew Wilson from Die! Die! Die! and he proclaimed to be completely useless but at the same time manage to record their second album and come over here for April for some shows.

So there was a panel talk at the Design Museum regarding Penguin Covers from the last 30 odd years. Designer David Pelham and former Penguin editor Judith Burnley talked about their particular Penguin heyday and current Art Director Jim Stoddard described his bits while he is at the helm.
Very interesting to see how the whole series were produced and the difference between designing covers then and now.
I shot their portraits quickly beforehand.

Yeah sleap inducing all this photoshop.

I am working on the Die!Die!Die! photos, loads to go through as well.
And am trying to put a great looking ten page spread together. I worked on the Doll and the Kicks stuff and sort of reached an end for now, just a matter of making the story up, the images have been worked on.
Ben Bruges & Co. are coming over tomorrow for a Sunday lunch.
Monday it’s portraits at the Design Museum.

Bit of a quiet one this week, I have been working on a lot of Doll and the Kicks pix for a possible spread. I had to go through every shot I had taken of them, quite a lot. Same has to be done with Die! Die! Die! later on today.
I worked on a facial shot of Doll and the Kicks, and it became too perfect, I managed to blend elements of all bandmembers’ faces into one. In the end I went b&w and even Olivier Nicholas looked white so……..it was too neat.
I will have to play with it a lil more.

Other than that the website will be updated with a lot of recent stuff on travel and the kiss. Now that I have a few days to myself I better dig in with this stuff.
Next week some shoots are planned, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on it……we shall see.

Here is a revised version of the Dec. 8th DATK band shot, this one is just better.

And here is The Kiss in Italy…..

Terri and I left last Sunday for Italy to go on a quick break before it all kicks off again.

Arrived Sunday in the snow and freezing cold and went to the main square, Piazza Maggiore, to check things out such as the statue of Neptune and the cathedral of St. Petronio, but we had forgotten that things tend to shut at half 12 only to re-open at 3, so our timing was not that great, so we bought a couple of train tickets to go to Ferrara, a town about half an hour away, by the time we got there things would be open again.
Ferrara is a little quaint town with a beautiful castle, Castello Estense, in the town center, an impressive cathedral, Duomo, a stone throw away and some excellent eateries/coffee places. Classy tourist place so to speak. Could have stayed there for a couple of days easily.
We take the train back to Bologna and eat at a ristopub (?) where we order food which is alright. The students have a better idea; they arrive half an hour later and graze the free food from the window instead…..

The next day we decide to make a dash for Ravenna. this is towards the coast above Rimini and Imola. This town is famous for its mosaics, and boy is it a trip. We go to the Basilica and are both blown away by the sheer size and craftsmanship of it all. Besides that we see various museums and churches/cathedrals. The town comes alive at 7PM with lots of people shopping. The sales are not as huge as in London; the discounts are 20/30% tops. Besides the pound losing up to a third against the euro has made everything very pricey. It is a few degrees colder in Ravenna (add the cold sea air and brrrrrrrrrr) and after dark it really kicks in.

We spent NYE in Bologna, after having a great meal in a local restaurant, Anna Maria, we make our way to the main square and see 90% blokes to 10% girls, and the guys are mad; they keep throwing bangers everywhere, we realise we are there early as the square has not filled up at all yet, so we walk back to the hotel where we are greeted with champus and chocolate, both go down well. 45 Minutes later we return at the square and it has filled up. The countdown starts and the huge dog/wolf statue is being set alight and tumbles over after one minute. ok seriously, it means saying goodbye to the last year and getting rid of all bad things so to speak, if only were it that easy…….
Other funny thing is that the crowd doesn’t wish anyone else besides their close mates a HNY.

We spent New year’s Day catching up on sleep and wandering around the town, check out a few more churches and go for a good meal close by the hotel.
Jan 2nd is our travel day and besides a slight delay nothing really eventfull besides the lack of sleep the night before, this is due to a heavy snorer next door at some point I have had enough and pass on my disapproval rather loudly, enough for him to quit.
The pix:

See the whole set of pictures : HERE