CLASSROOM PORTRAITS 2004 - 2012

EXHIBITION
The Future is Ours, Classroom Portraits, 2004 - 2012
Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, June 2 - September 2, 2012


BOOK
Classroom Portraits, 2004 - 2012

Hardback, 30.5 X 23.5, Dustjacket, 208 pages, 87 colour photographs, Essay by Dr Leonid Illyushin, Design by Why Not Associates, Statistics, Archive directory.
Classroom Portraits from UK, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Bangladesh, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Ethiopia, Nigeria, USA, Taiwan, Japan. 

Published by Prestel               £40 / €49.50 / $60       

Second edition now available !

I am very happy to report that the second edition of 'For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness' has been published by MACK. It will be launched this week in Paris at Offprint and at the Steidl / MACK stand at Paris Photo. Limited edition C-type prints from the series will also be featured at the In Camera Gallery space (Stand D55) at the Grand Palais.

80 Pages, 42 colour plates, 23.5 X 28cm, hardcover with printed cloth

Designed by Julian Germain and David Ellis at Why Not Associates

€35 / £30 / $45

ISBN 978-1-907946-13-4

Available from the usual outlets and direct from www.mackbooks.co.uk

www.incamera.fr
www.offprintparis.com
www.parisphoto.fr

Nothing in the World but Youth

Two pieces from the series 'Classroom Portraits' are currently being exhibited in this vast exhibition (over 90 artists; more than 200 works) at Turner Contemporary in Margate. One of the pieces - Hartsdown Technical College, Margate. Year 8, Drama - was specially commissioned for the show.
There's much too much to see in the time and space I had to look (the opening event was pleasingly crowded and the following morning was just as busy) but the self portrait by the 16 year old Richard Hamilton was rather moving given that he died last week, aged 89. JMW Turner's young teenage sketches are also astonishing for their skill and extraordinarily fine detail. Also enjoyed Phil Collins' video of Indonesian kids singing the Smiths, Graham Dolphin's fan drawings, S Mark Gubb's school desk with homage to Iron Maiden and Glenn Brown's 'Teen Age Riot' desk smothered in a tidal wave of paint, George Shaw's gloomy yet glowing painting of council estate garages; Toby Mott's fantastic collection of political and pop/punk ephemera from the Thatcher years. Lots of photography; Rineke Dijkstra, Craig Aimes, Mark Cohen, Corrine Day, Toby Glanville, Juergen Teller, Santiago Mostyn to name but a few....
The catalogue is interesting and probably more coherent than the exhibition; it features many illustrations as well as various texts including essay length excerpts from novels such as 'Absolute Beginners' and surveys such as 'The Problem of Childhood' from 1974 by John Holt.
There are also 3 large 20 page sections set aside for individual artists - Santiago Mostyn, Toby Mott and myself - who have all created large bodies of work where youth is a fundamental theme.



Nothing in the World but Youth runs until January 8th, 2012
Turner Contemporary
Rendezvous
Margate
Kent CT9 1HG

www.turnercontemporary.org

Michael Whiteley United

My friend Michael Whiteley died last Sunday morning and I want to pay tribute here over the next few days, to the contribution he made to my work and my life over the years. We were introduced by Gerald the haircutter (who cut my hair at the Royal College of Art and Mike's in the back of an old ambulance at Greenwich Market, cheaply, cheerfully and perfectly well) because we were both ludicrously obsessed by football and making art about it. Michael was a graduate from Goldsmiths and he did textiley things. Most impressively he made torpedo sculptures out of Subbuteo football pitches. We met, exchanged Panini stickers, drooled over each others collections of football 'tat', played Subbuteo, Tomy Super Cup Football and occasionally even had real kickabouts with a real ball with jumpers for goals. He was such a good laugh I was able to put his enthusiasm for Leeds United to one side.

I was very busy with In Soccer Wonderland and Mike became a close comrade. He came with me to games where I could wangle 2 press cards. He'd shoot some Super 8 from pitchside and I'd be in the crowd somewhere with my Plaubel 67. The 1992 FA Cup Semi-final replay between Liverpool and Portsmouth at Villa Park was amazing but simply traveling with and talking to Mike was a joy. He was at least half bonkers and I never knew what he'd come up with next except that it could be sublime or ridiculous or both. He also came to the Cup Final where he couldn't get in, but he had loads more fun outside the stadium watching the match on a little portable tv with fans who didn't have tickets, than I did inside.

Later that summer I was teaching on a summer school at Sunderland Poly and Mike and I spent a weekend in the studio making portraits of me for In Soccer Wonderland. We ran and dived about outside in 60's/70's Ipswich / Leeds kits to get authentically sweaty and muddy, then dashed up to the studio. This was of course long before photoshop and we used a back projection machine to create the enormous crowds in the background. Michael pressed the button for me and then me for him. I don't think he ever saw more than the contact sheets of him, as everything was buried in the chaos of the build up to the exhibition and publication and then by ongoing laziness, busyness and eventually the mists of time .....I dug these out a couple of days ago, hugely relieved that I could find them.

Michael also contributed to various other parts of the project, introducing me to Kevin Ealand, the Barnsley 'supporter of the year' and orchestrating the shoot of the kids doing diving headers and flying saves, all pupils of his at Wombwell School, where he was doing his teacher training. We also had great days interviewing and photographing other characters for the book, especially Dr Hugh Simons, a fantastic 77 year old gentleman we went to play football with in the park. Afterwards Hugh opened a couple of bottles of wine (good for the circulation after exercise) and we all talked for about 4 hours.

Mike also wrote the introduction for the catologue of the exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery in London (a Panini style sticker album) and was there with many of his excellent friends at the opening night. I realise now with enormous regret, that a copy of that catalogue, with his signature, would be a wonderful thing to have.

No Olho da Rua 20/12/2010

The Book

The 22 hour journey home from Belo Horizonte always offers ample time for reflection. After 2 and a half weeks of 18 hour working days I am exhausted and in equal measure exhilerated and troubled by everything that has happened and may happen in the future. Saying goodbye to Landia, Licaõ, Haidé, Patricia et al gives me an extraordinary feeling. They know I will go back to another life and they so genuinely wish me, my family and kids well - it's extremely touching and humbling. I ask them to take good care of themselves and each other. Licaõ asks me to throw him a message from the aeroplane as I fly overhead....

They have asked to have cameras for christmas and Patricia A and Murilo will organise this, as well as making sure Licaõ has a camera for the birth of his and Patricia's baby in January. Otherwise, contact will be only occasional for the next few months. Patricia A and Murilo will do what they can re Elisangela's situation and will help Celia visit Piriquito and can be contacted by phone for help if necessary. Our experience though, is that when the project is not 'live' they very rarely contact us. Also, there seems to be an invisible line on both sides of this relationship which isn't crossed. From our side, we never press them about what 'crimes' they have committed, 'why' they have been in prison, about the bad things they must inevitably have done. From their side, they have a clear understanding of a boundary that is our home lives. Not one of the many people involved has ever even asked which area of the city Patricia and Murilo live in.

So as I leave Belo Horizonte the objective of the next 12 months is to finally publish this book. We all want this to happen, everyone who has been involved. We have agreed to try and self-publish it and to raise the money to do so by selling full sets of enprints from entire rolls of film. Any roll of film in the archive (from 1995 - 2010) containing a photograph classed as 'A' (which means it's in the 1st edit) may be printed only 3 times. One set is with the photographer, one set is with the archive, and only one set will be available for sale. When viewing all the images from a roll of film - not just the good one - you are seeing a broader vision, what came before and after, sometimes ideas or actions evolve, time moves on. Some pictures are destroyed by fingers, camera straps or faulty wind-on mechanisms. There will be approximately 200 sets of prints available, most with approximately 24 enprints, each 10 x 15cm. We just feel that this approach offers a real insight into the process of the project and avoids celebrating only great images.

In order to set this in motion we agreed a 'contract' with the participants:

It is agreed that the authors of the project "No Olho da Rua" will respect the integrity of the archive and credit individual participants wherever appropriate. Royalties and profits from possible sales, publications or exhibitions shall be distributed to projects, organisations or activities that bring pleasure or practical assistance to people who live on the streets of Belo Horizonte. If the book of the "No Olho da Rua" project is finally realised, all participants will receive a copy.

It is interesting that they aren't interested in money. They freely acknowledge they can't keep it or use it wisely. Neither are we, nor have we ever been, interested in receiving fees from this project. We all want the book so initially all revenue will go to producing the book and subsequently to other projects which fulfill the above criteria.

No Olho da Rua 08/12/2010

Elisangela's not at home / Licaõ's rat ramp

We went to Elisangela's apartment yesterday and she wasn't there. Her sister, two nieces and two daughters were. They simply said she 'went out yesterday and hasn't come back yet' and seemed completely at ease. We gave the children their pictures from the zoo trip, stayed a while and then left Elisangela's 2 processed films for her to open when she got back. On Sunday she hadn't made it to the zoo - they'd all stayed the night at Licaõ's place and Elisangela couldn't get up, had probably overdone it a bit.

We couldn't find Sandro either which was a shame as I leave on Thursday, and with him in particular, I wonder if he'll still be around when I next come back. We leave him a note with the guy who runs the bar he's generally sitting outside. Patricia and Murilo will probably see him on Saturday at the 'Soup', where they can all go and get a proper meal for free, at least once a week.

Licaõ's place was as usual, calm. As such places go, as I've mentioned before, it's really a pleasant setting. Lots of rubbish around of course, but it's relatively quiet, some 75 metres from a road (street people usually live with trucks and buses thundering past their ears) and there are those beautiful mango trees to sit under. They have news about Elisangela and also Bilu. Rumour has it they are both in prison. Licaõ says they could lock Bilu up for 10 years this time as he's only out on license and hasn't been 'signing on', plus he has a fake ID. He seems to be implying Bilu is a pretty useless petty criminal. Haidé arrives and says she also believes they are inside. No one knows what has actually happened or if they do they aren't saying, but it's a pity Elisangela has got tangled up with Bilu. We speculate that this is about her electric bill (see No Olho da Rua 02/12/2010), that Bilu was only allowed to stay at Elisangela's apartment if he took responsibility for sorting it out; or it could have just been to feed a hunger for crack. Whatever, if she's in prison it's a potential disaster re her new life / new apartment etc. And with Manchinia in prison too, what about their kids? We worry she could lose everything....

Luceni, a neighbour who was also living on the street, took the picture of Elisangela at her window last week. It's hard for them both the transition, clearly even harder than we initially thought. Nearly all their friends are still out there, or it seems sleeping on Elisangela's floor and she seems to be a regular weekend sleeper at Licaõ's. Bilu had said, only half joking, that Elisangela hadn't left the street, just moved it in to her flat. Luceni told us she'd been incredibly lonely there in the apartment block at first, just 4 walls and an old television instead of all the activity outside. Now though she has a boyfriend who has a job and her sister and niece have moved in too so she's coping much better.

Licaõ has a laugh showing us the ramp he has installed for the rats to more easily get up into the mango trees. I take a picture of it which i'll post later if it's half interesting. He says there are more than enough mangoes for everyone and he'd prefer to share them than the meat / rice / beans etc that are kept on the 'ground floor'. There is a stew cooking as darkness falls. An ancient pot balanced on a bit of scrap metal mesh laid across a scrap wood fire.

No Oho da Rua 07/12/2010

Visiting Piriquito

Celia and Piriquito met on the street and have been together on the street for more than 20 years and they have 2 or 3 children. At the moment though, Celia is with his younger brother Alexandre - at least while Piriquito serves a 2 year prison sentence for robbery with a knife. Celia is desperate to visit him with their daughter Bruna and we agreed to try and help. She needs official ID, 2 recent photographs, a document proving she has no criminal record, a fixed residential address. If she wants an 'intimate visit' a negative HIV and full gynecological check are also required. She then needs to travel to the prison, about 60 km north of Belo Horizonte to present these documents in person. The travel expenses alone would make it impossible for her to visit without our help and the beurocracy also requires lengthy, confusing telephone conversations with numerous government departments (if someone actually ever picks up the phone). If she ever gets as far as making a visit there is another long list of rules, such as:
- she must wear light coloured clothes (not see through), with short sleeves
- dresses must be below the knee
- no shoes, only sandals or flip flops
- no jewellery
- she must sign a document agreeing to be searched, x-rayed and gynecologically examined if the authorities deem it necessary.

What's also interesting is the long list of items she is allowed to bring for Piriquito, for example:
- food that doesn't require cooking such as chocolate or biscuits (with no cream)
- soft drinks (max 2 litres)
- soap, shampoo etc
- up to 5 packets of cigarettes
- toilet cleaning materials
- notebook and pen
- 1 ball
- all items should weigh a maximum of 5 kilo's
- all items must fit in no more than 2 plastic bags