Robert Golden is a humanitarian and an activist and has a huge body of work (go here to read an overview). ​As a young man he participated in race riots of the 60’s. Wherever he is – on a farm, working with young people in Bosnia, in hospital – he is always seeking to talk with people to excavate and reveal neglected, unprioritised stories.  

He captures and sculpts photographic images with aesthetic purpose and meaningful intent. Robert has carefully articulated his thinking on photography – go here to read and see more.
 
With his film work, he mixes social documentary with music and poetry as well as comprehensive research. His documentaries and photo series have provided platforms for people to tell their stories and to articulate environmental truths.

With his teaching work, he guides and encourages others to examine and to express.

I am full of respect for his ability to constantly envisage and create and complete new projects.
 
He currently has an exhibition on the important subject of the Windrush Generation – worth a trip to Dorchester to see it.

This emotive photography exhibition by Robert Golden offers an intimate insight into the lives and experiences of the Windrush generation, 25 years after their arrival in the UK. Alongside by poetry from Shaniqua Benjamin, this new exhibition explores ideas of belonging, cultural difference, and the ways people respond to social change.
Searching for the Motherland features over 50 photographs of London’s Windrush generation and their families during the 1970’s. These images capture the daily experiences and challenges faced by this community. Robert Golden said “I wasn’t photographing events so much as photographing people’s pain, hardship and joy”.
Searching for the Motherland is on display at Shire Hall Museum from Friday 27th September until Saturday 16th November. Entry to the exhibition is included with a Museum ticket.

 
And you can read more on his Substack blog here https://rjgolden.substack.com/
​

A Thousand Words
is the title of an exhibition by a unique artist, Benji Reid. I am dazzled, moved and inspired by Benji's powerful portraits. His stunning images combine dance and dramaturgy, and leap out into three dimensions via artfully managed lighting and the vivid presence of his subjects. His work is a testament to human expression.

The exhibition is in Manchester - I urge you to go and see it.Thu 22 Sept - Sat 17 Dec (open daily) 
Contact Theatre, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6JA

'Contained within these images, the choreographer, the director and photographer are in constant conversation.' Benji Reid 

Go here to read about artist Benji Reid, his works and the exhibition.

Occasionally I forget the single premise of my practice: obey the urge.
Sometimes, for extended periods, one can be so busy that there are no flirts. Nothing pulls at an eye that is in tunnel vision.
Welcome back breath and space. 
​Persist.

After recent shocking events, a Facebook friend is calling all his friends to account and to action. For him signing petitions is not enough. He is right.
I sign petitions (it does not feel enough to me, either).
The timeline is well populated with discourse, anger and sorrow.
My own head is full of discourse, anger and sorrow. This is no excuse, nor justification, I simply report.
I continue with my practice.
I am mainly moved to post things that may nudge the heart or refresh the eye. 
As ever, I walk and the street calls to me. When things beckon, I listen.
I combine incompatible things.

Beauty where we find it, playful spirit, compassion.

Just a reminder to myself to follow my rule - it's a simple one,  I know. If it attracts my eye or attention, stop and capture.

Lately my familiar stomping grounds and been traversed through too quickly or with insufficient belief in the fact that we are surrounded by small miracles.

There. Despite my own resistance to sentimentality. Small miracles.

I am not going to lie - lately life has been looking somewhat 'flat and stale' as Hamlet would have it. I took a break from desk work to walk to the shops and followed the 'flirts' (see the work of Arnold Mindell). I had to walk into a courtyard to snap something that I pass everyday but had never seen before.
And, then when turning back to come out, this image here was what i discovered. Always take the shot. It might not be the best shot but it might be a 'breadcrumb' (as in the story of Hansel and Gretel) to lead you to something else.

I like the way this image mirrors the overlay images I have been creating lately. This image is untouched.

Working with accident and intuition and 'messages received' (does that sound very spooky? - I'll explain another time), I have been working on a series of images involving cats and dogs. 

Here are two of the cat images - one taking kitsch for a remix with the found (someone had left a 'Big Eyes' style print of girl and cat on the pavement in my street). The biggest eyes of all belong to a cat that was interrupting rehearsals of a show I was working on recently.

In the second - a friend's cat gets similarly mixed, to darker effect.

These images are not posted in full resolution.

A few days later, a friend's cat wandered into our meeting. This time the real life kitty got mixed with one of my urban abstracts.

(No cat was harmed in the making of these images)

yes a film: 'Urban Images' - you can see it here. moments of brokenness and beauty that inspired the spirit of my recent performance 'Imperfection'.

Thanks to Colin Watkeys and the Face to Face Solo Theater Festival and thanks to the wonderful folk at the Lost Theatre in Vauxhall, I had the first exhibition of work 'Images of Imperfection' in October 2014.

For those of you who might be curious about exhibiting your work for a first or second show, I came across this article on getting an exhibition today.

You may find your first experience is like mine, via an existing relationship, but this article is a wonderful reminder of the value of creating relationships as you go forward with or develop your artistic practice.