"Cui Bono"

Alas, we seem to be moving from one crisis to another, the war and the terrorism crisis, to the food and energy crisis, and now a financial crisis. What is brewing next to keep the population engulfed in fear and confusion? We have to ask ourselves, Who caused it and "Cui Bono."

Wed Sep 17, 8:54 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters): The U.S. Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a $612 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2009, including $70 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Illuminati news, bankers are ok people

"We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."

David Rockefeller Baden-Baden, Germany 1991

#28 For Wall Street & Mr Bush

"A woman in red" walks past a mural of Picasso's painting depicting the Nazi bombing of Guernica, Spain, by twenty-eight bombers, on April 26, 1937........photo west belfast 08

The last I heard the bill for Mr Bush's controversial war games was 3 Trillion something or other. The last I heard he is now paying the Iraqi opposition good dollars not to shoot at his men. The last I heard he has broadened his operations to include Pakistan while loosing ground in Afghanistan. Last I heard he says America is in crisis. Last I heard he is soon leaving his office. Last I heard the military complex is happy with their balance sheets.
Is this globalisation? The world is infinitely more complexed than the simplistic views of boardroom bankers wishing to print a new global banknote. Successive American leaders for true democracy have warned of the danger from faceless greedy people behind a giant military octopus stretching beyond beyond to strangle our globe. Overall, the world spends in excess of $1 trillion per year on defense , and this figure has grown by $100 billion per year for the past few years. Almost ninety percent of that money is spent by Western powers with the US leading a staggering $581 billion compared to China's $46 billion or Russia's $34 billion with Europe looking for a new army to use its $361 billion. Crisis?

Is Nato preparing a new Barbarossa

On Europe's Eastern Front 1992, Moldovans fighting the Russian separatists of Trans-Dinistra .

Dispatches from Brussels sept 1 2008.....

"Old Europe" and "new Europe" agree on a tough line on Russia ---- at least for now.

After a summit lasting just four hours, Nicolas Sarkozy -currently in charge of the EU rotating presidency - announced that Europe was united.

the summit conclusions strongly condemn Russia's "disproportionate reaction" in Georgia, describe as "unacceptable" its recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and call on other states "not to recognise this proclaimed independence".

Dispatches from Sochi sept 11 2008....

Mr Putin accused the Western press of an "immoral and dishonest account of what happened".

And he went on to dismiss out of hand European criticism of Russian force as "disproportionate".

"What did you want us to do? Wave our penknives in the air and wipe the bloody snot off our noses?" he asked, adding: "When an aggressor comes into your territory, you need to punch him in the face - an aggressor needs to punished."

"God forbid that we should tread on US toes in its backyard," he said, expressing frustration that the United States seemed to think it was all right to arm Georgia on Russia's border - a move which he repeatedly argued had provoked Georgia to take up military action.

Missed a flyght

I was to fly back tot he UK last night for a short and not very important visit. At the airport I was taken aback by the nature of the toilets. Apparently we men are able enough to decide most of the things we generally do in life.......holidays, eating, genocide, rape etc etc.......But at Schipol airport the wise people have instructed us were exactly we should pee into the bowl to get the least offensive relief...........You are expected to pee on the fly......and why a fly I ask?????? There are more undesirables in the Netherlands right now including the Butcher of several thousand Bosniak men and boys.

Anyway, because of the interest I sallied about making more pictures and eventually arrived at the gate as the plane doors were closing.....but worse, security took my sun block lotion....they must think little of the great British weather

Rainy day dream away- global warming spoils the day

There is something fishy about wanting to live in a summer of continuous rain............


Rainy day, rain all day
Ain't no use in gettin' uptight
Just let it groove its own way
Let it drain your worries away yeah
Lay back and groove on a rainy day hey
Lay back and dream on a rainy day
jimi hendrix electric ladyland






enthusiasm wanes during a boat trip through Leiden july 2008

last updated at 09:31 GMT, Saturday, 19 July 2008 10:31 UK


Pope Benedict XVI has told Australians he is deeply sorry for the sexual abuse of children by some Catholic priests.

The BBC's Nick Bryant, in Sydney, says victims have complained that the Church in Australia has tried to stall compensation claims and cover up certain cases.................

there have been 107 convictions against Catholic clergymen on sex charges in Australia. But the campaigners estimate the number of victims to be in the thousands......

On Saturday, several hundred protesters rallied in Sydney against the Pope's opposition to homosexuality and contraception.

Police said there were minor scuffles as some of the demonstrators pelted Catholic pilgrims withcondoms..........ends.................................................................................................... pictured Hungary 1994.

"The Catholic church says it will not tolerate that which is un-natural........what is natural with the policy of this church forcing its priests to be celibate and giving them physical and psychological power to abuse innocent children unable to defend themselves?"

Spotlight on Summer thoughts

Summer is a good time for travel and taking time for forward planning. The first term has directed me to a point where, after beneficial sessions with the tutors, the course of the work is forming a clearer route. I am hopeful that the road ahead will open a metamorphosis.

Qui est Qui et Non est Qui

Green Bananas 2008













Green Coca Cola bottles 1962 with a real dissident European 2008

Jose Manuel Barroso, can't wait to be president, Silvio Berlusconi can't wait to eradicate the "Army of Evil" and Xavier Solana can't wait for his army to make foreign policy. There is no NON in the language of the Euro Disney Land.
Didn't some famous democratic republican once talk about...... all of the people some of the time......but not all the people all of the time......Can the wishes of people of Europe be so unreal for these would be leaders?

Moody blues red & greens

These mid summer days are devoted to travel and colour with william eggleston and 60's art in mind. For this I will mostly use a little cannon ixus 75 which was lent by a good friend in exchange for pics of her family. This use of digital should help with a part of the project about Europeans having fun....... before War once again is forced on the people.

Obama has a mountain to climb

The Boston tour bus 1989

By Matt Frei ...................................AFP
BBC News, Washington

The man who once walked on water has been limping of late, his feet weighed down by a whole catalogue of sinking issues - race, elitism, an excess of academic aloofness in times of gritty gravity.

For millions of Americans, who have not read his book, who do not read the New York Times and who do not follow politics obsessively on the cable TV networks, he is a blank canvas, which his opponents can paint on.
That is dangerous and that is why one recent opinion poll suggested 15% of Americans still believe - astonishingly - that he is a Muslim................ ends.......

God may bless America but only the spirit of the founding fathers will save America.......these coming months will test that spirit in a way not seen since the sixties......Martin Luther King climbed a mountain 45 years ago, looked over, saw the promised land......and paid the price...this time around let the people not the gun speak ......loud and clear........

War News.....is Oil News

Thursday, 22 May 2008 14:37 UK

By Anthony Reuben
Business reporter, BBC News

"Who knows why oil prices are so high"


"It's the fundamentals, stupid," says Mark Lewis from Energy Market Consultants.

Its the increasing demand from China and India, a stand-off between the US and Iran, a hedge fund having to sell a particular oil contract so it does not end up receiving a tanker-load of oil - or a trader deciding it would be fun to be the first to trade oil above $100 a barrel.

It was the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, to over-optimistic expectations of oil production by non-Opec countries -the rocket testing in North Korea.......................

"We really don't know what the fundamentals are doing at any point in time," Mr Lewis says.

"The markets are looking for signals from the fundamentals. Some of them are irrelevant, some of them are wrong, some of them are meaningless, but they affect prices nevertheless."...........ends.................................................................................

What is the matter with people to listen to such claptrap........don't they know there is a war on and someone has to pay for it......and the oil tax is as good a way as any to pay off a war bill currently standing at three trillion whatever.....after all it was conducted by concerned democratic governments on behalf of the people and for the welfare of the people.......

#18 The Army of Evil

Italy Police to protect Gypsies
By Christian Fraser
BBC News, Rome

There is deep suspicion throughout the country of the Roma community..............The government is preparing controversial anti-immigration measures targeting Romanians in particular..........a 16-year-old Roma girl was caught inside an apartment last weekend, allegedly trying to steal a six-month-old baby girl...........vigilante groups in the suburb of Ponticelli took to the streets chasing the Roma out of two squatter camps....... Silvio Berlusconi has described the Roma and those committing the crime as "an army of evil"..........ends

Is Mr Berlusconi also referring to forces in Iraq? In a democracy there is a thing called due process.............

The "Madness" that plagues the hearts and souls of the easily frightened mind tours the world endlessly looking for a temporary home........it is parasite by nature..............but encouraged by the black hearts of politicians............people get exactly what they vote for...............

#18 Is Pluralism Finished

Roma in Bucharest
1997 ............................................A Bucharest theatre 1997
The world service tonight discussed the
topic "will the internet revolutionise democracy?"
From around the globe came the response that for most people in the world the internet is but a dream.............the exporters of western Democracy should look closer to their own houses and the growing practise of collective punishment against groups of people less able than
others to defend themselves.

#17 Archive.Photographer.RU

Игорь ГавриловКонкурс парикмахеров в
Москве. 1975................................................. Рождение человека. 1970-е

For the essay I have chosen No 8 ...... did a distinctively different 'new photojournalism' developed in the 1980's or was it simply a repackaging of traditional values.....For me this is an interesting topic as it can be viewed as during the watershed of contemporary photojournalism and the consequent degrading of the media's responsibilities to uphold fundamental principals of questioning the role & actions of government in a democratic society...Some say history has a way of correcting itself......

Сто авторов и пятьсот фотографий на выставке CCCP «Фото 60-70»

Вадим Алексеев

#16 On the Blower for street work

Armed with what can be described as a Wild card, I walked along the South bank of the Thames from the Eye to The Tate Modern' view of St Pauls.....Later in the Week I went to Exmouth and at last to see the famous Dartmoor. The Wild card was my old fashioned mobile phone and these are some of the results.........Homer and I agree that change can be a good thing. Even to change from Nikon to Nokia can help the process of development and break the chains of stagnation.

#15 LCC main projects 1

Divided Cities.........For a main project I want to continue with the project on divided cities. The cities want to tell their/my story through portraits streets scenes and architecture. It was primarily a European story but then these things have a way of spreading. The cities in question are Berlin, Jerusalem, Belfast, Nicosia & a recent addition Mitrovica. I want to use this year and the first half of next year to update and present the sequence up as far as 2009.......the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Nicosia, 10 years of peace in Belfast, a breakthrough in Jerusalem and for Mitrovica an uncertain future.

#14 Recession ahead

Now...is the winter of our discontent.......As recession looms from across the pond, is it time to accelerate the plan to relocate to the Benelux? Will there be pictures about akin to those of the F.S.A.? I think the West is not so broke. I see more that there could be opportunities to visit the house of Brussels to propagate ideas.
Street boy in
East Europe 1996

#13 Silva's “Sanpietrini”

"When you are in a car, (or near one as in my case), which pass from the smooth tarmac to the sanpietrini, the tyres make a characteristic noise."..........Silva talking on the sound of the “sanpietrini”. Something very familiar in European cities.

Reading Silva's account of walking home and hearing the “sanpietrini” as the car passed the guard hut gave me a flashback to when I lived in Bucharest's leafy diplomatic quarter during the nineties.

It also reminded me of by own borders. Borders are different things to different people.....

When I made this picture in the Royal palace, converted to the national museum after the communist takeover and during an exhibition on the '89Romanian revolution I could hear the continuous smack & rumble of the “sanpietrini” outside in the "Revolution Square." It was as if the “sanpietrini” played to the gallery inside

You know, all that time I never knew there was a name for that sound.......thanks for that Silva.....ps. the picture is of the gallery on fire.

# 12 Eden project/Irish DancerTwo magazine projects

As for the features during the first break............ I went for two subjects that interested me with the view to winning some images that can join the Europaeus project........

The Eden project in Devon was the first and it certainly lent its self to the theme of Post Modernism and the aesthetics of engagement with the natural environment for the 21st century.

It was a beautiful rainy west country day and as flat as a pancake..........this was perfect for working with the brightness and contrast controls to get an Eden effect...........





The second was how to illustrate the progress of peace and cultural pluralism in Belfast.....for this I got lucky.....on my return home I noticed a competition which might produce an image I had in my head for some time.....as it was..... the image was not exactly the same but was better........the lady was not Chinese.........but a beautiful black English girl from London participating in the Irish world dancing championships in Belfast.

# 11 Borders

I have finished a trip to England and return home today...the group decided on the topic "borders" for the group project.....

I will listen to the archive to understand the concept.....






Thorpe Park London 2008
by Tom Nangle 16yrs

#10 Easter/Holy Week

We are discussing the group project and it seem that FAITH is the clear front runner....Thinking in pictures this can be quite visual as well as topical. I just hope we dont give faith too much respect and allow for a healthy spectrum of views.

# 9 Stormy weather

I watched the recent storms from a Co Devon (west england) window still thinking about the projects ahead.

The weather/energy/environment topic needs to be addressed if only lightly in some shape or form....even Salgado feels the same....if only to have it in the flow of final portfolio and not ignore such an important issue......

I raised the question during the Bresson lecture on whether magnum chose correctly not to cover the 1930's german story.....

I now ask myself if there is room for me to be political or ethical in doing what I feel is my privilege to record what interests me as a photographer without considering the views of Sontag or others...........

# 8 London Town

I've been in London for a few days and unfortunately I'm leaving this afternoon. I haven't been in town since 1994 and what a difference a decade makes. I wanted to do a Sco and use the mobile phone in dark and underground places. I have no idea what the picture quality will be if any at all but still it was a thrill to be able to use the digital format candidly in areas where I would have stood out as a professional photographer with my bulky nikon.....I will try to post on my return......This has put me in the mood to seriously think of a good digi for night time life and subdued situations.......

# 7 Planning for spring

I can't seem to get beyond the idea that a major trip has to be planned for this spring summer and autumn......for the past two years I restricted travel to the Netherlands as there had been a major tour in 2005.....Now a re-think on how travel should be planned is shaping around the future of my projects that have taken on a life of their own and are challenging me to forget other ideas and focus on their completion and development for its sake and its sake alone........

I had heard this forecast and predicament during a conversation with an artist friend in his Bucharest studio in 1999.....

# 6 on the wall.

Last week I took a trip with my brother to the city of Londonderry......While he attended some meetings with local drama people I walked on top of the historic walls....about a square mile.......there was hardly anyone around but the few who were there were enough to make a couple of pictures.....nothing specular...... but because the place was a different environment to my usual abode it stimulated me.......I got a sense that the discussions on changing approach to the way I see and make pictures is gonna be not just beneficial but also fun.......

I think I'll keep an eye out for an old rolliflex or something similar......I mean they must be as cheap as old boots right now........and ask kodak to supply the film....

#3 50/35mm

I have decided to finish the 50/35 mm assignment tomorrow. The weather here has been putting me off.......dark and damp......still the dark can be a friend if it is dry. There is a gentle sweep into night time were the city lights and the fading sky do justice to one of my worker subjects.......a large ferris wheel parked in the centre of town which has litterly lifted the spirts of the people..........this is the 35mm shoot. The 50mm shoot went well even though it was pretty dark in the guy's workshop. The 50mm is my most used lens so I treat my 23yr old nikkor F1.2 with respect. In fact if anyone one wants to make me happy out there in cyberspace.......post a leica F1.0 noctilux.

# 2, 50/35mm

This first assignment is a good exercise. Like everything else, we need from time to time to tune, repair and service everything. Working with one lens is a great exercise to sharpen the senses.......but I see it as an exercise and I'm not sure I can pass over a good picture, if it presents itself, by not selecting the lens for the job......so should I focus on subjects which matter little to me or to my projects????? Its also hard to give full attention to that which comes and goes, but then, isn't that part of the business.......... I'll think about........

My Diary, intro

Classmates,

This diary will serve as a record of the journey I've commenced, with the help of the LCC course, to becoming a full-time documentary photographer/photojournalist focusing on the topics, projects and issues that have interested me as a photojournalist/documentary photographer. If during this transition I manage to carve out a decent living to accompany this lifelong goal.... then I will be one hell of a lucky person.

For me, like the most of us, this blogging is also a first. When I made the picture of the baby camera above earlier this summer, I was thinking it would serve as a logo for an old fashion business card.....the same week while viewing the graduate photography exhibition in the Hague Netherlands the students were asking not for a visit card but an internet address. Don't get me wrong I've been at the website photo-sales counter since the outset but those little requests for a blog address made me think.

I am astonished at the speed and development of the digital era and more than surprised at the complete shake-up or shake down of our newspaper industry over the past number of years....my last two post were on the picture desks of iffy national tabloids ........but that's part of the life in being involved in a technological revolution, which these days, is simply continuous. You never know what's around the corner.

I returned to the UK after enjoying the nineties and the first part of this decade, living, travelling and working in central and south east Europe, the Med basin and the near East from my base in Bucharest, Romania..........As people in a similar situation you can imagine my amazement at the change of attitude towards the status of the once respected press photographer. It all got summed up in a footnote on the BBC's website news pages inviting the world's citizens to help out and donate their pictures to the agency with a short line cautioning them on laws and personal safety.
Everyone was now the worlds press.......but strangely enough....rather than humble our work as professionals, it seems this surge in cheaper digital visual communication has enhanced the general public's awareness, appreciation and appetite for the best photography this remarkable medium has to offer.....we need to find new highways and by-ways to feed that hunger. For me, as a student once again, the LCC programme is a revolution in itself. A programme that has stepped forward in a time of change to lead and guide...........so good luck to ye all and lets work as a team to achieve our common aims.............