Sky and Rusty

No trip to Dudgeley would be complete without a dog encounter and this years Easter tip was no exception. Rusty and Sky or as I would more commonly refer to them as my shadows due to the way follow you closely hoping you will throw a ball or stick for them. They belong to my girlfriend Rachael's Aunt and Uncle Liz and Steve and are lovely, clever and inexhaustible dogs. Although I have two cats that own my girlfriend and I - I grew up with dogs and miss not having one.

'Throw It Then' © Anthony Dorman

 'Mine' © Anthony Dorman

'Ready When You Are' © Anthony Dorman

www.anthonydorman.com

Signal, what signal?

I have spent the last 6 days in Shropshire with my girlfriend Rachael at her Nan's house. In that time I have barely had a phone signal never mind an Internet signal therefore I have not blogged or uploaded to flickr for a while. Normally I would freak out with the lack of communication but the unusually hot weather and great rural settings have played a big part in my photography over the last few days.

View this image on flickr by clicking here © Anthony Dorman

I'm often told that I only take photographs of people which is not always true, very rarely I manage to shoot a landscape. I'm not passionate about landscape photography as I tend to like human stories and interaction and I have no wish to sit in a freezing field waiting for a cloud to pass at a certain point in time. If I take a landscape shot its because I have seen something I don't see in my everyday life which has drawn my attention. On a family walk up the Burway (Long Mynd) Shropshire I was surprised at how often I was taking landscape shots. I think the sheer scale of the landscape and the rich colours won me over. I did notice later that all of my landscapes had some evidence of man in them from signposts and fences to vapor trails from passenger planes. I guess at heart I am a city boy, don't get me wrong I like the countryside, I just like the seemingly endless stories and rapid change a city can offer. I like being in contact. I will be posting more images from my time in Shropshire over the next few days.

www.anthonydorman.com

North Sea Adventure

Earlier this year I took a walk along the Fish Quay at North Shields which is a place I really like because there is always someone or something interesting there to photograph. I noticed some fishermen making some repairs to their nets on the quayside and decided I would ask if they would be in my 100 Strangers Project. Philip pictured below agreed to having his photo taken as he said he really liked photography. I said how much I would like to go out on one of the trawlers to get some reportage style images. Within 5 minutes we had agreed that I would go out on his boat the 'Aspire'

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

The images below where taken in order and where shot using only natural light. The lighting conditions where extremely difficult from the early morning pitch dark to the below deck ambiance. I was determined not to distract the crew with flash photography so I shot with a large aperture and some very high grainy ISO settings. I also wanted to present un-edited real photos, I was not going to airbrush or remove unwanted items. I wanted to tell the real story including the wonky horizons caused by my land lubber legs and slight sea sickness.

View the full set of images 'North Sea Adventure' by clicking here

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

© Anthony Dorman

For me the day was a success, I was still alive, had not thrown up and had some interesting reportage images and a lot of new knowledge. For Philip and the 'Aspire' crew it was another frustrating day with a poor catch and a damaged net costing £1000 to repair. I was really looked after and had some great conversations, especially with Philip about everything including fishing, religion and art. I wonder how many people will get the chance to do what I did that day considering how the industry is suffering through high costs and crazy regulations set by men wearing suits in Brussels? I hope that this industry survives unlike many others once essential the the North East economy and history.

I decided to post this today as I received a disk in the post from Martin (hands image and goatee images) as he is a keen photographer who wanted me to see his photos.

www.anthonydorman.com

The Tattooist

I went to the Cluny on Saturday to meet up with a friend of mine Chris Harrison as it was his birthday drinks. Everyone was outside having drinks and enjoying the unusually warm weather, its weird to be warm at 7.30PM Newcastle in April. I probably could have finished my 100 Strangers project that night with the amazing characters in attendance. I saw "Low" (as in Now and not No) and knew I had to get some images. He turned out to be a mate of Chris Harrison's and his tattooist. We chatted whilst I took some images including how he knew one of my 100 Strangers "Leon".

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

© Anthony Dorman

I'm really happy with the light and atmosphere on these images however it is the character of the subject that for me - makes these images work. Its great when you get to capture the image and character of someone who is both interesting and likable in one.

http://www.anthonydorman.com/

Film Noir Femme

I have been wanting to shoot some highly stylised images based on the crime noir books by James Ellroy. I am a massive Ellroy fan who once met the author of such great novels like The Black Dahlia and LA Confidential. When I read the books I imagine highly seductive and glamorous women of the noir films of the 40's and 50's. Actresses like Barbara Stanwyck or Gloria Grahame come to mind. I rarely use flash never mind studio lights however I knew I would have to create some strong contrast lighting to achieve the look. My long suffering girlfriend Rachael was my stunning model for the shoot which is a work in progress. I will be producing more work in this theme very soon.

View this image on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

View this image on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

View this image on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

I have always liked film noir, as a fan of crime thrillers and high contrast photography I wanted to make the most of my stunning girlfriend and her striking  film noir vixen looks.

www.anthonydorman.com

The Beard and the Albatross

I was out walking along Tynemouth Longsands with my girlfriend when I saw Chris (below) and I knew I wanted him for my 100 Strangers Project.

View this image on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

I chatted briefly with Chris and his wife and they told me that people often ask to take his portrait. I'm not surprised with such a fantastic beard. As Chris said "had it before ZZ Top did" I gave Chris my card and continued my stroll. The next day I received an email from Chris to say he liked my website and could I send him the images which I have done. Then came the weird bit, Chris sent me a link to his business which is called the Albatross http://www.albatrossnewcastle.co.uk/ which is a backpackers hostel in the city centre. The weird part is that a friend of mine Chris Fleming provided the hostel with all the stencil artwork you can see on their website. I have recently photographed these stencils in The Albatross for my friend. I would recommend anyone who is traveling to Newcastle who wants a low cost, funky place to stay to try this hostel.

http://www.anthonydorman.com/

Thelma and Louise

I took this image earlier today as part of a promotional shoot for a VW Camper Van event that is happening in Tynemouth later this year. As soon as I saw how this image looked in the view finder I was reminded of the film Thelma and Louise.

View the image on flickr by following this link  © Anthony Dorman

www.anthonydorman.com

Food, Neon, Life, Death and Wallpaper

For reasons I am unable to properly articulate I have been mostly thinking about food, neon, life, death and wallpaper today. After looking through some of my older photographs I came across these images which are not very typical of what I shoot but for some reason interest me now.

 View this image on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

View this image on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

The first image was taken with my old Canon 450D when I was in NYC in January 2010. The image was taken in Katz Deli which is famous for many things including the famous orgasm scene in "Where Harry Met Sally". I am dieting at the moment now that age is catching up with me. This image reminded me of a place where people almost worship the food they eat. The second image was taken in my Gran and Grandad's house two days after the death of my Granda. I wanted to take some images of the house where I had spent many happy years and because I was scared I would forget how it looked. The crucifix was important for me to capture as my grandparent's faith had always played a big part in who they were. Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about the real basic elements of life from food, faith and mortality. I'm not a deep thinking intellectual person who can articulate in words how I feel. I am a visual person trying to express how I feel. My camera gives me an identity as well as a conduit to express myself more freely even if I am unsure of my message.

www.anthonydorman.com

Jack

I have so many ideas at the moment about what I want to shoot but I am struggling with my time management to do the things I want rather than the things that need to be done. I am currently working on some commercial retail based images for a local marketing initiative and also some model portfolio images. I would love to shoot some fashion related imagery and also some reportage. You really do need to be a Jack of all trades.

View this on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

This image was taken last year but I think it sums up how I am feeling at the moment about a great many things.