Life vs Hello

 

Back in the fifties photographer Eliot Elisofon took photos of the real African peoples to show their true majesty and strength of character. Before this many African images were of famine or war.

Back then images (and text and music) made a difference in peoples lives. They hoped to show a better way forward, more understanding, knowledge, history, beauty and information. Perhaps the word I search for here is substance.

The biggest selling Photo magazines were Life and the French Match. Life was bigger than Hello and it had full page colour images of major events such as the first moon landings or the Kennedy's. In many ways it opened up a whole new world in ways that the small B & W Tv screen was unable to. 

By contrast today's Hello magazine is completely about our celebrity culture - and if you scratch beneath the surface I have no idea ( apart from fashion style) what the magazine tells us. There are no scientists, authors, artists and a few musicians, on its pages. It is all gloss, gloss, gloss and I worry for the impressionable young. They appear to be feeding an appetite for gossip, but are they not also creating that appetite? 

Today quality images of nature can be seen in tv films.

Nowadays only the Sunday Times magazine offers some quality photojournalism and nature images in  a proper full page spread. There is today an over emphasis (especially for women) on fashion and celebrity. While I enjoy creative fashion images in Vogue or Bazaar but….

for me nothing quite beats the incredible nature photo, an insightful portrait, the memorable photojournalism war photo, a dynamic or expressive live music image, or a moment in history..

I miss those large colour quality historic Life magazine images.

In fact it was Life magazine that first sparked my passion for photography and portriat drawing.

When I view the magazine racks I am discouraged by the low standards of images - the gaudiness, brashness, lack of subtleties..  

We can view millions of images online these days but to find the quality among the average.....now that is the challenge that is both time consuming and confusing too! 

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Eve Ensler One Billion Rising

Eve Ensler (born May 25, 1953) is an American playwright, feminist, activist best known for her play The Vagina Monologues. I was inspired last night on BBCs Hardtalk by writer and feminist Eve Ensler who works against violence towards women. Certainly when I listen to the news it is often about violence towards women ( just today in the UK DJ Dave Lee Tarvis and Rolf Harris are both in court for charges of sexual assaults on young women) 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/eveensler

She says women need to break the silence - and that most women keep quiet about their problems.  Violence towards women occurs in all countries worldwide - there is still incest, bullying, sexual harassment in the developed world - 1 in 5 women in UK are attacked, 1 in 3 in the US, 1 in 5 women on college compasses US are attacked.  Violence against women is what maintains Patriarchy. 

Her play The Vagina Monologues makes it OK for women to speak out. She heard women talk of these issues and stories that upset her.  One older woman spoke of being assaulted as a young girl and after this experience she never had sex. Eventually all the women's stories were made into her play The Vagina Monologues which is now performed world wide in 140 countries. She said the storied are universal and that all women understand them.  She claims that the violence perfumed by men against women can lead to depression, suicides and eating disorders.  She says women need to break the silence. She said that the threat of violence and daily terror leads to a siege mentality and that this existence of fear leads to depressions, destroys self esteem, confidence and sense of worthiness. 

Ensler stated that her feminism motivates her art and that they drive each other.  Eve was bullied by her own father and she said often these men are spilt personalities projecting one normal image to the outside world another violent one indoors. 

Writing was the one experience where she was able to make sense of her environment and have  a persona that wasn't being drowned. 

Of course we tend as women to blame ourselves - that is that we are somehow the cause of these attacks by our own behaviour.  I remember watching the movie Goodwill Hunting when the therapist says to Will - Its Not Your Fault, Its Not Your Fault over and over. I find it very hard not to believe it is not somehow my fault.  

Perhaps this book on art and words and music is about my journey to make sense of it all.  Music has been my escape route to a better place. When I was very young I started to write poems and  to draw. 

http://www.eveensler.org/

Ensler started the campaign One Billion Rising for Justice. She says this is a grassroots campaign organised worldwide. In 2013, One Billion women and men shook the earth through dance to end violence against women and girls.  She called on women to dance outside police buildings. Dance is a powerful expression of breaking free; tell stories, organise.   http://www.onebillionrising.org/

We write to you one month before 14 February, the actual day we will rise and dance for Justice. But we all know One Billion Rising for Justice is clearly not just a day. It is a campaign, a strategy, a determination, a new energy. It is months of preparation, investigation, and collaboration. It is the careful, conscious work of building a coalition, inviting new activists, and acknowledging those who have been on the frontlines for years. It is envisioning and writing new laws and legislation. It is breaking the silence, releasing our stories, naming and identifying injustices, creating demands, organizing forums and panels and events, as well as writing songs and poems and plays, and making videos. It is identifying the places where we will rise. It is learning about our sisters’ struggles around the world and making them our own. It is bringing the most marginalized to the front. It is the grassroots leading the way. It is men joining and standing with us. It is acknowledging the places of intersection. It is a decision, a vision of the world where the bodies of women and the body of our mother earth are honored and cherished and safe and held sacred. It is trust. It is expanding our identities and wounds to include the others. It is a fierce refusal to undermine or attack or diminish, but to take the time to find the language to express our grievances and frustrations, with the belief that each one of us in this struggle is on a path of evolution and revolution, wounded, broken, and doing our best. It is a wild energy that says Yes. Freedom is possible. Unity is Possible. Everything is possible. It is a Rising – dissolving borders, edges, separations. It is love, an unstoppable wave of love and justice.

This year, on 14 February 2014 we are calling on women and men everywhere to harness their power and imagination to rise for justice. Imagine, One Billion women releasing their stories, dancing and speaking out at the places where they need justice, where they need an end to violence against women and girls.  Join us!

Emeli Sande Photos

Emeli Sande Photos - from her gigs here 2007 to 2012 are available to purchase on my website - http://pkimage.co.uk/f514285744

PHOTOS – our eye improves  - just through practice, practice, practice. Sorry there are no shortcuts.

 

Celtic Connections 2014!

I am looking forward to Celtic festival 2014!

Celtic Connections includes well known musicians from traditional and roots music,world, indie, jazz, folk, soul and Americana. I always particularly enjoy the unique and often fun collaborations.  

This year the festival will host concerts at the new Glasgow Hydro venue and will showcase some of the cream of Scottish musical talents. Highlights include 80s Scottish band Del Amitri and respected rock band Mogwai along with RM Hubbert.  

Also an International Burns Night at the Hydro that includes - world musicians The Mahotella Queens, Alkinoos Ioannidis, Raghu Dixit, Neil Finn of Crowded House alongside Scottish talent with Karine Polwart, Salsa Celtica, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Capercaillie, Rachel Sermanni and Dougie MacLean

The Old Fruitmarket during Celtic hosts fun ceilidh nights with bands such as the Treacherous Orchestra and  Irish singer Imelda May.  

There are also wonderful small venue gigs worth checking out that include some of the stalwarts of the Scottish music scene including - Rab Noakes, Dick Gaughan. Plus the beautiful singing voices of Julie Fowlis, Eddi Reader, Mary Chapin Carpenter,  
  

Also a 30^th Anniversary concert for Capercaillie one of Scotland’s foremost Celtic bands. The band were among the first to connect Scotland’s Gaelic traditions to the pop and world music scene, with all the “boldness, sensitivity and deep-dyed musicianship” such cross-fertilisations demand. Their new album, At the Heart Of It All, circles back towards Capercaillie’s founding Gaelic wellspring, centring on Karen Matheson’s sublime vocals, arranged with consummately elegant restraint. 

Among the artists appearing  -  Del Amitri, Imelda May, Capercaillie, Bobby Womack, Mahotella Queens, Salsa Celtica, Amadou & Miriam, Lúnasa, AR Rahman & Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Mogwai, Peatbog Faeries, Julie Fowlis, Elephant Revival, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Manu Dibango, Treacherous Orchestra, Shawn Colvin, Nicola Benedetti, Stockton's Wing, The Gloaming, Lau, Suzanne Vega, Seth Lakeman, RANT, Boban Marković Orchestra, Alkinoos Ioannidis, The Olllam, Bill Callahan, De Temps Antan, RM Hubbert, Lloyd Cole & the Leopards, Kathleen MacInnes, Tim Finn, Dick Gaughan and The Stray Birds.

2014 will see Celtic Connections celebrates its 21^st year. Over 2000 musicians from every corner of the globe will come to Glasgow between 16^th January and 2^nd February 2014. 
 All Photographs are copyrighted Pauline Keightley and are taken with the permission of the artists, the festival, and the venues involved. Please respect my copyright. Photos at Celtic Connections since 2008. http://pkimage.co.uk/celticconnections

Next summer Glasgow will host the Commonwealth Games. Celtic Connections has become the biggest celebration of the tunes and songs that connect Scotland’s musical legacy to the rest of the world.

 http://www.celticconnections.com/

Del Amitri Fri 24 Jan 2014, 07.30 PM
The Hydro

MOGWAI
Tue 28 Jan 2014, 07.30 PM
Main Auditorium