The Great Escape 2012 New Music Festival – Brighton

The connection to photography is tenuous with this post, however we will be in Brighton at this excellent festival of new music as official photographer for the world renowned music blog The Recommender Between the 10th and 12th May we will be down by the seaside without our buckets and spades (Brighton has pebbles) but with our cameras to record the very best in new music.

Captured: The 85th Anniversary of U.S. Route 66

Here is another excellent set of images from the Denver Post pblog series. This is a celebration of Route 66 and if like me you are drawn to the music of popular culture the name of this road is quintessential rock and roll. “”(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66“, often rendered simply as “Route 66“, is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup.”

I must say though for me my interest in pop music is always about the future rather than the past and as such I devour the music blogs that bring me new sounds, my favourite is The Recommender based in Brighton but finding music from all over the world. On Friday based on The Recommender I went to see The Braids supporting Wild Beasts at a venue just across the road from my studio. The Braids were magical, powerful, inventive and absorbing, I liked Wild Beasts but sometimes they strayed too far into the world of Coldplay for my tastes. If you are interested you can hear the Braids here

Back to the photography, it seems that in the way rock and roll has become a tired medium so has Route 66, many of the images in this extensive selection show a route in decline, I have no idea why that is but it reminds me of the post we did on that other former music giant now in decline Detroit, Forgotten Detroit – 100 Abandoned Houses

If you would like to see the full set of images go here

Cars at “Cadillac Ranch” on historic Route 66  in Amarillo, 06 July 2003. As a tribute to America’s relationship with one of it’s favorite automobiles, a collective of artists called Ant Farm in 1974 placed 10 Cadillacs, ranging from a 1949 Club Coupe to a 1963 Sedan, in a wheat field located west of Amarillo.  Visitors are encouraged to draw or paint on the cars.  Cadillac Ranch is a popular stopping off point for tourists on historic Route 66 which stretches from Chicago to Los Angeles.  (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A lone motorcycle rider travels on historic Route 66 across the western Arizona desert on the approach to Oatman, AZ, 12 July 2003. Route 66, 2,448 miles (3,939 km) of two-lane highway, was once the main artery between Chicago to Los Angeles. Between the early 1970’s and 1984 the road was slowly bypassed as Interstate 40 was built.  Now remaining sections of 66, including this desolate and winding 50-mile stretch from Kingman, AZ to the California border, still serve local traffic and attract motorcycle riders and tourists in search of classic Americana. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A motel stands abandoned on June 16, 2007 in Newberry Springs, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Cameraless photographs

My last post showed a picture of The Recommender screen grabbed from a skype call. The idea of cameraless photographs is something that has been prominent almost since the birth of photography. The V & A in London currently has an exhibition of such photographs and although I don’t really think of this as photography it is certainly using a photographic medium, and sometimes produces interesting images.Susan Derges

Here is a link to the V & A site http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/shadow-catchers-camera-less-photography/exhibition/index.html

The world famous Recommender and his Movember moments

You may be aware of the Movember Charity, it is worldwide, the renamed month of November is when heroes like Mike Bradford grow a moustache in aid of a Prostate Cancer charity. This rather poor image is a screen grab from a skype call, he is so busy it is impossible to meet him in person. The Recommender is the foremost source of new music in the UK, probably the world for all I know and brings knowledge of new and emerging bands and artists to our ears. If you think The Recommender’s new found hairiness deserves support here is the link where you can donate, even a small amount helps. The Recommender writes about new music and a stone’s throw from Recommender Tower in Brighton they have regular gigs, the next is on the 4th December at Audio details on The Recommender, if you are anywhere near Brighton come to the gig and have your picture taken with The Recommender and his new ‘tach