New Light / Old Subject

Sometimes it's difficult to make time for the things that that you love. Recently I have been working so much that trying to find a spare hour or so to get out with my camera. Although I have been producing some commercial work nothing excites me more than spare time and my home town of Newcastle to explore.

View Tyne Bridge on my flickr page here © Anthony Dorman

I ventured into the city very early in the morning and was mesmerised by the winter light. I hardly ever take photographs of the Tyne Bridge as it's done to death. Don't get me wrong its an amazing iconic bridge synonymous with Newcastle but there are too many standard images of it around. Saying all that I simply could not help myself, the light was too nice. I have to say that I do like the image, although it's square format it feels cinematic to me and I am always drawn to images that could be movie stills. I posted the image on flickr and it had a great response. 

View Breathe on my flickr page here © Anthony Dorman 

As the morning was getting later the and the light was becoming stronger I saw a young guy about to light up. I watched him for a short while to see how the smoke would show up in the sunlight. Deciding that it looked great I walked up to him and told him I wanted to photograph him. Like a lot of people in my city he was quite relaxed and said 'OK'. I told him to forget I was there and just enjoy his smoke. The way the sunlight, smoke and hair looked in the contrasting light suggested black and white was the way to go. I quite often set my camera to B&W when shooting as I like to read the image in its highlights and shadows. I always shoot RAW just in case I am wrong and want colour.

I'm still struggling with time to shoot what I want but will hopefully be out and about with my camera soon including two location model shoots which I'm planning.

Homeless In Newcastle (Homelessness Is No Joke)

Anyone who follows my blog or my photography will know of my photographs of homeless people in Newcastle. The image below was taken a few weeks ago in Newcastle. Its hard to believe that this was taken only 5 mins walk from the city center but it was. There is no editing on this photograph at all - converted from RAW file to JPEG only. I was quite nervous taking this image as I did not want to wake the sleeping man.

See my flickr set on the Homeless here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/sets/72157631500006958/

One thing I have found since posting my original homeless photographs is how polar opposite people are on the issue. They either find time to ridicule the homeless or try somehow to help. I have been disgusted at a local facebook page dedicated to a particular homeless man who has passed away recently. Although there are some lovely people who use the page it is populated by the dregs of society using it to be vile towards people less fortunate. In this day and age there should be no need for people to be homeless. Its also sad that people still act like nasty children on social media sites.

Here is my post for the 'Homeless Jimmy' Page:

Anthony Dorman14 November 2012 11:07

Hi - the facebook post is rubbish. I have spoken with the Hostel mentioned this morning who have never heard of the man mentioned. They do not actually take homeless people either. I have spoke also with the family of the homeless man and whilst their is still an official police investigation I won't name this man but here are some facts.

1) A homeless man was taken into hospital in a serious condition. He gave his first name and birth date. The surname he gave was almost identical to the name of his family who have come forward. First name and birth date were an exact match. This man who was in hospital for a few weeks never regained his health and passed away.

2)His Family who do not live in Newcastle watched his reported sightings on facebook and via communication with police support officers for years. When they had not heard anything they reported him missing to the police. Both the family and the police used my photographs to confirm the identity of the man. Unfortunately his body was cremated before a formal family identification could take place.

3) There is an ongoing DNA test going on which is taking a long time much to the annoyance of the family who would like finally to put this whole thing behind them.

I would also like to add that the family (I met up with this man's sister recently) gave me his entire life story. He chose to be homeless and suffered with mental health issues. They have for years tried everything imaginable to get him off the streets and look after him. They are devastated by what has happened.

A second person who knew him came forward on my twitter account and gave me the same name as the family did.

I don't know why people feel the need to be so nasty on social networking sites. I have a feeling that the 'Jimmy' group will end up in trouble at some point. I can't post on the page because i'm banned. I was banned for defending myself. Someone thought it was acceptable for me to be abused whilst sticking up for the plight of homeless people.

As soon as the legal issues have been resolved and with the blessing of the family i will tell this mans story ASAP.

Update: http://anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ice-cream-and-aesop-and-truth-about.html

Natural

I was contacted by an old school friend about producing some portraits of her daughter Bethany. The images below are a mixture of natural and studio lit images produced in Mayfield Studio in Newcastle. Bethany was very natural in front of the camera which made my job much easier.

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

© Anthony Dorman

Although the majority of my photographs are taken using only available light I feel a studio project may be on the cards as there is something very dynamic about having total control over lighting. I hope I can find more models as natural as Bethany in the future.

I have started a facebook page for my photographs which you can view here;

facebook

I also tweet here;

twitter

Homeless in Newcastle

Anyone who knows me or follows my blog will know that I have recently posted about the death of a well known homeless man in Newcastle. There have been developments that I can't go into just now regarding his death that are to say the least 'complicated'. Due to supposed recent sightings of the presumed deceased man I ventured back out onto the streets of Newcastle in search of answers. After speaking with the Police and The Cyrenians I was even more perplexed so decided to find Newcastle's homeless themselves in search of answers. Here are a couple of humble souls who looked at the photo of the man I was searching information about and offered their knowledge. 

                                                                © Anthony Dorman

I believe the man above is often mistaken for my missing homeless man due to his beard, hat and posture. In fact I believe Eddie below believes the man pictured above to be the missing man.

                                                                  © Anthony Dorman

                                                                   © Anthony Dorman

                                                                © Anthony Dorman

I might now begin a serious project based on homelessness based on my experiences of dealing with the homeless of Newcastle.

View the photo of my missing homeless man here http://www.anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/homeless-man-newcastle-dies.html

I Tweet: https://twitter.com/AnthonyDorman

I Tumble http://digitaldorman.tumblr.com/

I Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/

Update: http://anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ice-cream-and-aesop-and-truth-about.html

Korcula Procession of Candles

I have been on honeymoon with my wife in Croatia recently. We stayed on the wonderful island of Korcula which is a fantastic destination on the Dalmation coast. Its a real gem, not spoilt by overly commercial tourism like many other European holiday destinations. Twice a year there is a candle light procession through the streets of the old town where crucifixes and other Catholic icons are carried through the streets by the local men.

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

 © Anthony Dorman

© Anthony Dorman

One of the things that impressed me about the island and the procession was that children are actively encouraged to participate in every aspect of life.

These shots were taken with only the available light which was tricky as there was very little. A large aperture and high ISO was used with slow shutter speed.

I Tweet: https://twitter.com/AnthonyDorman

I Tumble http://digitaldorman.tumblr.com/

I Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/

Homeless Man Newcastle Dies

Update: http://anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ice-cream-and-aesop-and-truth-about.html

I was informed a few days ago that the homeless man I have photographed on a number of occasions has passed away. I have held off from commenting or posting about this until I had received confirmation of his passing. Although I have searched Google everyday since I have found no official account of his death the overwhelming chatter on facebook does point to his passing.

See the image on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

                                                          See the image on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

                                                       See the image on flickr © Anthony Dorman

Although he was known as Homeless Jimmy it appears that he may have been called Arthur (although I was once assured his name was Dave by a reputable source. Like many people in Newcastle I have been aware of him for some time, probably 15 years at least. On a few occasions I bought him food and gave him some money. People say that you should not give homeless people money only food but I'm sure he simply used it to buy tickets to ride the Metro System. Despite what people say I have been told he always had a valid ticket. Considering that he never begged or harassed people I was alarmed last year to be told that Newcastle's main shopping mall had banned him from sitting inside the public areas.

 My first image of him was a candid shot taken through the door of a town centre shop. The most recent black and white images were different, I quietly asked him if I could take his photo and to my surprise he said yes. Although I have never started a 'Homeless' project as some people on line have claimed I am glad to have taken his photograph. As I am someone who is interested in human faces he has such a deep expression that goes against everything modern society deems acceptable. I have seen and heard people mocking him, only the moronic who are uneducated and weak minded would act in such ways. I don't know the back story of this mans life but from experience I found him to be humble and passive. I hope that he did not suffer too much in his last few days after such a hard life. Although I'm not a religious man I do hope he is now in a better place and at peace.

Since taking the initial candid image a few years ago I have been contacted by many people all sharing positive experiences, encounters and often acts of generosity towards this man. I know these are just photographs however I hope that in some small way they will remind people to be more compassionate to those people in our society who are less fortunate and need assistance. We are all just a few poor decisions or moments of bad luck away from having nothing.

R.I.P

Here is a link to an update (14/11/12)
http://anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/homeless-in-newcastle-homelessness-is.html

100 Strangers Fleeting Moments

The personal project that always inspires me to pick up my camera is the 100 Strangers Project. The idea of the project is to learn not only about portrait photography but also to improve social skills by interacting with complete strangers. The flickr group is heavily moderated and there are a number of rules to guide participating photographers through the challenge.

I always have my camera with me as you never know when something or someone interesting might appear. The three images below were taken very quickly in three very random locations including the beach.

71/100 "100 Strangers" view the image on flickr image here. © Anthony Dorman

 71/100 "100 Strangers" view the image on flickr image here. © Anthony Dorman

79/100 "100 Strangers" view the image on flickr here. © Anthony Dorman

I'm always on the lookout for different types of people for my project. You can see my set so far by clicking this link; http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/sets/72157624767974686/with/7184948775/

I tweet; https://twitter.com/#!/AnthonyDorman

I tumble; http://digitaldorman.tumblr.com/

Homeless Man Newcastle (Revisited)

On April 2010 I took the following candid photograph of a well known homeless man in Newcastle upon Tyne. Read my original post here;

 http://www.anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Homeless%20in%20Newcastle

                                        View this image on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

Whilst walking in Newcastle last week I saw him again. This time I wanted to ask him if I could take his photo. I was expecting him to say no as he generally avoids people - you never see him begging or being a bother. He stopped in his tracks and quietly said yes. I took about five quick shots aware that this was a rare  and special privilege. I did not want to hassle or embarrass him so this all took about 90 seconds. At the end of the encounter I thanked him and gave him a few quid to help him out.

View this image on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

View this image on flickr here  © Anthony Dorman

View this image on flickr here  © Anthony Dorman

I have been contacted about this man via the first image I took and posted on flickr a number of times. Thankfully I can say that the emails I have received have been great with people telling me how they have helped him out with a bit of money or food. Hopefully these new images may inspire the same results.

I have been interviewed for a new photography website called Worth The Shot recently about my approach to street portraits and other stuff. This is a new page that will feature photographer interviews, tutorials and all things photography related.

Check the site out here: http://worththeshot.co.uk/

check out my flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/

I also tweet here: http://twitter.com/anthonydorman

The Many faces of James

As part of my 100 Strangers Project I am often found wandering the streets of Newcastle for someone interesting to photograph. Often as in this case it can take hours to find someone of real interest. I was about to give up shooting and head home when I saw James swaying from side to side saying hello to passers by. Most people would have gone out of their way (everyone else was) to avoid James but not me. I asked him if I could take his photo and was treated to 10 minutes of surreal emotional entertainment. This guy had so many expressions it was amazing, as we talked II just kept shooting and got the following images (and more).

James is one of those characters destined to be on the fringe of society, he was erratic and unstable in his dealings with me, one minute happy, the next intimidating. Above all he was a dream subject because he played to the camera and offered a human insight that you rarely observe from the general public. If James ever sees these photographs I would like to thank him again and wish him luck in life. 

See my photos of James on my flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/

Strangers In The Night

I have been shooting more strangers for my 100 Strangers Project recently. Due to the weather, boredom and lack of inspiration I was in some kind of hibernation mode. One night recently I thought sod it go out and see what wonderful strangers would be on the streets of Newcastle at 10PM. I took a few that night but these were my favourite images. Both were taken with the available ambient light, no flash was used.

 View this image on flickr here

View this image on flickr here