m.forrest photo

Oxjam Takeover Festival - Norwich

2009-10-26T17:20:00.002Z

I have just had the pleasure of covering The Norwich Oxjam Takeover festival on behalf of myself and Archant, shooting for The Evening News and The Eastern Daily Press.

The Norwich Oxjam Takeover festival was a part of a Nationwide annual day of events, which was held on October 25th. One day. 6 Venues. 50 Acts.

In the words of the organizers themselves:

"Oxjam is a month-long national music festival which takes place in hundreds of venues in cities across the UK every year. This year, Oxjam is raising funds and awareness for Oxfam's 'Stop Climate Change' campaign and wants you to 'Demand Action Until You're Blue in The Face.'"

I went along and captured some of the musicians performing, Here are some of the photographs:

more photos can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Oxjam Buskathon

2009-10-11T12:08:00.002+01:00

As part of my work experience/freelancing opportunity for Archant, a national publishing body, I was given an assignment to shoot for Archant Norfolk's daily titles, The Evening News and The Eastern Daily Press covering an Oxfam run event.

Known as the Oxjam Buskathon, this event saw 20+ musicians playing acoustically outside of The Forum in Norwich on the 10th of October. In aid of Oxfam and aiming to raise awareness and give aid to those who are and were effected by the fallout effects of climate change across the world.

The acoustic event outside the Forum was a mere taster of what is to come when the Oxjam Norwich Takeover Festival takes place on October 25th in aid of the charity Oxfam. I am glad that my first assignment was one that I could really get behind and support, with such a worthy and important cause, I was happy to both report on events and enjoy the musical talent on show.

Here are some examples of my photographs:

more photos can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Dub-Dub-Dub-Dub-Dublin Zoo

2009-07-08T14:24:00.001+01:00

I cannot turn down any opportunity to walk around and look at animals, so when I found out there was a Zoo in Dublin, I was always going to go. On a recent trip to Dublin with my girlfriend, we hopped on the bus and went to Dublin zoo. It rained a lot but I managed to get some nice photographs.

I'll let the pictures talk for themselves:

more photos can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Dub-Dub-Dub-Dub-Dublin

2009-07-07T16:04:00.001+01:00

I have just got back from Dublin, a trip to celebrate my girlfriends birthday and both of our graduations from university. Alongside the celebrating of both occasions in Dublin (i.e. road testing the Guinness), the trip gave rise to the baring witness of moments within and the exploration of some of Dublin and its streets.

Without doubt, one of my favorite and most entertaining elements of the trip were the street performers and the way people responded to them. Located in the centre of Dublin's cultural hot spot, local musicians set up and busk for the public. Within minutes it seems, a crowd forms and sits on steps, pavements, curbs, roads and just about anything else to observe and enjoy the artistry and talent of these performers. One of the most engaging crowd members was a man who seemed to be walking his dogs in a state, a little worse for wear and sat down next to me to watch the street performers. A blues and soul band, who for me were the highlight of the talent I saw on display in Dublin. Although half-cut the guy was truly immersed in and enjoying the musical creations of the street performers.

Who could visit Dublin, without a taste of Guinness, well people who don't like Guinness, people who don't want go on the tour of the Guinness factory and people who don't drink alcohol. So to clarify; Who could visit Dublin, without a taste of Guinness(please see exceptions above). We visited the Guinness storehouse, where I was particularly interested in the interior design/architecture of the building, a modern yet seemingly authentic building, a great balance between modern and traditional architectural styles. The great 360 degree sky bar, a huge wall of all the different Guinness bottles and an mirrored viewing station of all the old Guinness television advertisements.

These were great elements of the trip, there was however one picture and one man who I found very engaging and of great interest to me. A man we witnessed on the last day waiting for our flights, sitting in a memorial garden for the soldiers lost in the second world war. This man smoking and reading, set amongst the flowers the shot just seems to capture a great moment in the everyday of this man.

here are some photographs of some of the things I saw.

more photos can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Tip-Top Studio - Burlesque

2009-06-28T11:47:00.001+01:00

Again, another busy day with the Tip-Top Photography team at their studio in the jewelery quarter, Birmingham. I was there to assist and also shoot as part of a burlesque studio photography workshop.

Thanks to Deb and Steve for having me in to help out and giving me these opportunities. much appreciated Here's a link to their site, they are great people to work with. Tip-Top Photography

here are some of the shots I took:

Suzie Sequin

more photos can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

exhi-bit-bit

2009-06-17T13:25:00.003+01:00

I've created a condensed version of my work, which has gone up as part of the BA(Hons) visual communication graduation show. My work is within the photography department of Birmingham Institute of Art and Designs Gosta green campus.

They are a set of 13 photographs with one piece of accompanying text and a business card holder. The accompanying text reads:

"A search for the prevalence of public displays of conviction and determination is set in motion. A desire to capture that, which is important to others and the way this personal conviction manifests itself through its application. A purposeful and determined action captured for all to see, a beacon of personal activism flying in the face of societal phenomena of self indulgence and laziness.

Conviction
- A firmly held belief or opinion.
- The quality of showing that one is firmly convinced of what one believes or says.

Determination
- A firmness of purpose; resoluteness
- The controlling or deciding somethings nature or outcome.

This took me to many a setting, in search of that definition of character, the bit-between-the-teeth attitude which was displayed and enforced by ones self. I was able to bare witness to such public displays of conviction and determination, applied by the individual within various facets of their everyday lives. The determination to get and stay fit and healthy, whilst running in scenic surroundings. No matter their size or shape, whatever the weather. A display of a DIY ethic manifesting as a desire to learn in order to save money. Through a little hard work and determination, this was achieved. Rousing displays of zero tolerance to racism within the British education system. The amassing of outspoken opposition through unity and discontented attitudes toward the British National Party and its policies.

The humbling huge turnout of 7,000 people in unity fighting for the chance to work and remain employed in a time of economic instability leading to millions of job cuts in a small number of months. Those displaying self-discipline and a dedication to the artistry of classical music, coming together as an orchestra through a shared goal. To play beautiful music free of charge for the general public. A visit to a Christian church and having witnessed devout public, yet profoundly private displays of remembrance of the dead, the relief of a drunken man provided by the shelter of the church and the retail value of religious iconography.

It is humbling to see such dedication to a cause, the application of ones mind to such a degree based on a firmly held belief or purpose is a valuable thing to find. It is essentially, the things which matter to the individuals captured. The determination of individuals to represent themselves alone or as part of a group of like minded thinkers. Such events have real power to bring about change. This change be it small, such as lifting the mood of the general public through moving music, or the disciplined nature of personal fitness or as a much larger gesture. The lack of tolerance to the inclusion of racist people within the education system or a mass march on behalf of UK workers within British industry, desperate to remain in employment and gain vital funding in order to do so in a time of great public unrest and economic instability.

These displays of conviction and determination were ones which I did not only bare witness to, I felt inspired and motivated by them. These were displays of importance and note-worthiness, ones which others should bare witness to and act accordingly. We all have the power to act upon our convictions in a determined manner, and bring about positive change. We should do so. A good cause is a worthy cause."

The graduates showcase can be found at http://www.181show.com

here are some photographs of the exhibition piece.

more photos can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

business card

2009-06-10T17:10:00.000+01:00

I am a few days away from being a graduated freelance photographer. Conviction and Determination is finished as far as it being a University submission, however I will be continuing this as a personal project as I feel the project has a great depth and range of subject matter to be discovered and captured.

I have developed a business card, a simple elegant design, showing the youthful and contemporary nature of the photographer (me), portraying a sleek aesthetic quality and an eye for composition. Some nice hand made type and the visual communication of the role the photographer.

here it is, front then back:

source magazine grauate photography online 2009

2009-06-03T15:35:00.003+01:00

Just got an e-mail through today that examples of my work are up as part of the source magazine's graduate photography online 2009 section of their website. Think the shots came out a little too dark, but got on the main/front page of the listing, so pretty chuffed. There's loads of good work by people on various courses at various institutions, you can check them out here.

Along with my work within the Birmingham City University section are other people from my course, who have a variety of photographic interests.

here is the link to my page with some shots from my conviction and determination project

Kitten Von Mew - Burlesque Shoot

2009-05-30T12:20:00.002+01:00

I have had the opportunity recently to shoot at tip-top photography's studio space in the jewelry quarter, Birmingham. A great studio location, with an easy to use set up and a choice of backdrops the stage was set for a pretty successful shoot. The model was a burlesque dancer called, Kitten Von Mew, who comes highly acclaimed. I shot two different outfits/looks using different methodologies for lighting. With some post shoot processing and a little tweaking the shots were looking great.

This was my first studio experience outside of using Birmingham City Universities studio and I'm pretty pleased with the experience, having learned a lot and getting some nice shots.

here are some examples:

Convcition and Determination - Jobs March

2009-05-17T20:02:00.001+01:00

This was my second real experience of what I would call newsworthy photojournalism/reportage photography. Photographing the Birmingham jobs march organized by Unite the Union. On the 16th May in Birmingham, UK as unemployment this week across the UK rose to more than 2.2 million, Unite the Union received a turn out of over seven thousand people from across the country to march in defense of their jobs, campaigning to get monetary support from the government now, rather than when they have lost their jobs. With all manner of slogans from "Jobs Not Dole" and a very eye catching "Hey Brown Ignore Us At Your Peril" the supporters were out in full. With a great number of representatives from Corus, Jaguar, Vauxhall, United Biscuits, LDV and Visteon among various other workers from the public and private sectors, UK industry was well represented.

Among the more high profile marchers were, former trade minister Lord Digby Jones, Unite the Unions joint general secretary Derek Simpson and Unite the Unions joint general secretary Tony Woodley.

Digby Jones was quoted as saying,

‘‘The Government has used £900 billion of our money to bail out the banks but the money is not rolling out of the banks into small and medium businesses and jobs."

“It’s no good just bailing out the banks and the spivs and the speculators who caused this global crisis. It’s about the workers."

‘‘We have lost 67,000 jobs in the last three months and that will more than double by the end of the year if the Government doesn’t do more."

The spectacle of 7,000 protesters was something to behold and I for one fully support them. I got in and around the protesters, speaking with many of them to learn more and more and become enlightened to a higher level as to the situation. I shot in a documentary/reportage manner, trying to simultaneously capture evocative and communicative shots whilst also ultilising strong arrangements of forms within the viewfinder.

here are some shots from the day:

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Convcition and Determination - Canonhill Park

2009-05-09T14:06:00.000+01:00

I ventured out to my local park, aiming to shoot fitness runners and walkers. Those determined to either get fit, stay fit or just lose a few LB's. This was such a great setting with so many strong compositions possible while also capturing the essence of their conviction and determination. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people running and keeping fit, having myself recently decided to run in order to lose some weight and get fit.

There were all ages and sizes making their way round the park, mixing it up with walkers, granparents and parents with their kids. The great thing I discovered is just how many people with their kids seemed to go to the park and how much their kids enjoyed the stark contrast to much of Birminghams landscape, Canonhill Park offers some natural refuge against the onslaught of the urban sprawl, or the blandness of it on the eye. I decided to capture some people with their kids too, I found their dedication to their children a little humbling, their conviction and sense of parenting was apparent immediately. Almost instinctive, which I saw reflected in a duck and her new ducklings.

here are a few shots I captured:

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Convcition and Determination - Salesman

2009-05-05T16:28:00.000+01:00

Just a quick one I felt like sharing! Today I saw a break dancing egg salesman. That's right a bust-a-groove, break dancing, 12 eggs for a pound egg salesman. It takes a lot of conviction and determination to care this much about selling eggs. Also, I found probably the worlds most timid looking balloon salesman, as if he wasn't a people person with 40+ balloons in his hand. The two extremes of customer friendly street salesmen.

Here's proof:

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Conviction and Determination - Orchestral Performance

2009-04-28T17:58:00.000+01:00

On another day out, shooting for my current University project looking at the prevalence of or lack of conviction and determination within a selection of facets of life I stumbled across a public event, that of an orchestra playing free of charge for the people of Birmingham to witness and enjoy. The dedication and sheer amount of work hours dedicated to learning the instrument and music to such a high level was testament to their skill and the labour of musical artistry.

I wanted to shoot a mix of almost portraiture style shots of members of the orchestra, as well as shots which gave a greater sense of contextualization to those captured and the events captured. I felt this subject matter was relevant, both for the conviction and determination it takes to learn the instrument to such a high level, but also for the sense of being part of the orchestra, combining together to each achieve the same goal, of playing beautiful music as almost a combined entity.

here are some examples:

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Conviction and Determination - St George's Day

2009-04-23T19:08:00.001+01:00

I decided to shoot on St George's day for this project, looking at the prevalence or lack of conviction and determination within elements of societal phenomena. Set in the central areas of Birmingham I wandered camera in hand and decided to record that which I felt was relevant to my project title and a few others for myself. I witnessed patriotism and I witnessed street salesman with bags rammed full of tacky paraphernalia looking to make a quick buck (or quid, being more appropriate to modern England), and the opportunity to represent national pride on a personal patriotic level.

From those dressed as if it were any other day, to those adorned in full St Georges red and white attire, with more crosses than a christian convention on show, it was a day of public portrayal and celebration of nationality. There were street performers, salesmen, people in celebration, white knights, a grimacing Morris dancer, friends and families and I captured that which I witnessed, as seen.

here are a few examples:

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Convcition and Determination - Car DIY

2009-03-26T15:06:00.001Z

I chose to shoot my dad, a strong believer in the D.I.Y. ethic. He has always been a believer that if he can do it himself he shouldn't pay someone else to do it. I decided to include these shots within my ongoing body of work, titled conviction and determination. I shot these whilst fixing my car with my dad, we practically removed half the engine to fix a couple of new parts, a job that would have a considerable cost had we paid a mechanic. I used a documentary style, observing my dad whilst he worked to fix the car, managing to capture the look of determination and belief that the problem was fixable, laced in my dads body language and facial expressions. The D.I.Y. ethic and the state of mind captured are great examples of both conviction and determination.

Here are a few shots:

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Convcition and Determination - Church

2009-03-20T20:39:00.001Z

To portray a small area of one element of contemporary lifestyle choice with regard to conviction and determination as a project title, I chose to shoot in a church based in the centre of Birmingham, UK. I shot subject matter which I felt would convey the link to conviction and determination. Whilst shooting as I witnessed, that, which interested me and compelled me to photograph was captured in a documentary manner. From peoples methods of remembrance to the cheapening of religious symbolism to make a quick buck, in the churches shop no less.

Here are some examples:

"drunken man asleep in the pews"

"religious conviction can be yours today, for just £12.95!"
"congregations notes"
"a method of remembrance"

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Conviction & Determination

2009-02-26T12:20:00.003Z

I have begun to develop the idea for my Final Major Project for My Visual Communication degree, specializing in photography. I have started to shoot and develop my idea looking at conviction and determination and their prevalence and how they interact with one another and alone within various facets of human lifestyle and social phenomena.

To clarify the definitions I have used as starting points:

Conviction - A firmly held belief or opinion
- The quality of showing that one is firmly convinced of what one believes

Determination - Firmness of purpose, resoluteness
- The controlling of or deciding of something's nature or outcome
- The process of establishing something exactly, typically by
calculation or research

I will examine various lifestyle choices, occupations, emotions, hobbies, social phenomena, politics, peoples actions, religion and various other elements of society where conviction and determination are prevalent. I will bare witness to relevant subject matter and shoot accordingly to capture an insight into conviction and determination as human elements.

open beats - subject matter experimentation

2009-02-25T21:30:00.009Z

Yesterday 24/02/09 saw open beats' second birthday party, a local(Birmingham) hip hop/breakbeat/drum 'n' bass/dubstep music night. I shot on other peoples cameras as I didn't take mine with me. The night was good fun with plenty of good DJ's and some live artists illustrating on boards, here's a few examples of some of the better photographs I took of the event. I hadn't really shot a live music event before and thought I may as well give it a go, with basic use of flash I feel I managed to capture some o.k. shots, I want to experiment more with this subject matter and use of flash.

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

Inspired - John Moore, Benazir Bhutto Assasination Set

2009-02-12T18:06:00.004Z

World press Photo '08 named John Moore of Getty Images as the winner of the 1st prize for stories. The reason I liked this set so much is due to the power and experience conveyed through the photographic methodologies applied, the set functions extremely efficiently leading the viewer through the sequence of events portrayed within the set of photographs. The sense of serenity developing into chaos and then despair is highly engaging and the reportage of the happenings are both aesthetically strong and displays leading fluency of narrative.

The accompanying text for the set reads:
"Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated after addressing thousands of supporters at a rally in the city of Rawalpandi, on December 27, 2007. She had been campaigning ahead of general elections scheduled for January. As Bhutto's convoy was leaving the rally, an attacker opened fire on her car. Shortly after that a bomb exploded. No autopsy was carried out on the former prime minister, and it was unclear as to whether she had died from bullet wounds, from the explosion, or by hitting her head on the sunroof as she ducked back into her car." (John Moore, World Press Photo, Thames & Hudson, London, 2008)

original set can be foud here

Conviction and Determination - New project begins with ANTI-BNP protest

2009-02-10T17:05:00.012Z

I have just begun a new photo project focusing more so on editorial and photojournalism/reportage photography in order to develop my skill set and a to develop a body of work which is more aligned with my desire to pursue a career within both documentary and photo journalistic practices.

I started this pursuit by attending an ANTI-BNP protest in Birmingham(UK) town centre and decided to photograph some of the happenings which underwent in the process of the protest. Members of Unite Against Fascism and NASUWT teachers union, as well as members of the public came together to protest against the actions of a British teacher. The man was a BNP member working within the British education system, who posted racist material on the internet using his school computer. The protest was directed toward the teacher and the organisation of the BNP, demonstrating against their actions and policies and their impact upon the British population.

I really enjoyed this location based documentary reportage style of shooting, it makes me feel much more inspired and engaged with the subject matter I am photographing, being among people and interacting with and without the camera.

I focused upon members who spoke as well as those who protested within the crowd. Here are some examples:

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

The end of one thing and the beginning of another

2009-01-19T12:00:00.002Z

Beginning this blog has taken a while as I felt that I needed to start it on the right note. I have just completed a photo-documentary project called "unknown urbanite stranger", I say completed, it is finished as far as the assessment of it for a university project. As a personal project it can run and run, capturing further photographs demonstrating the everyday and the everynight of the unknown urbanite stranger of Birmingham, to further strengthen the body of work for my portfolio and maybe publishing in book form.

Here are some examples of the developed photographs

more photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeforrest/

open for exploration

2009-01-01T13:10:00.000Z

Exploration is open for business, a exploration of my journey through the photographic medium. It will take the form of technique, subject matter, research, outcomes, themes, documentary, happenings, thoughts, feelings, snaps, photographs, influences and undertakings.

I'm plugged in and ready to go.