It’s always a treat when I can be involved in a body of work over a long period of time, seeing its progression and printing the resulting exhibition.

I’ve worked with Damien Wootten for many years now — nine, in fact. During that time, he’s visited several North East locations repeatedly for the last eight years to form the series, Coastal Retreats.

Mainly working in and around Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Damien’s immersion in the area really shines through.

As he describes:

“At times everyone needs somewhere to retreat to, and I’m sure — like many — my destination seems to be the coast, and being a photographer it seems inevitable that I take my camera with me. I’m very familiar with the North East coast of England and parts of it are deserted, wild and beautiful — but it is the more ordinary, everyday and less attractive areas that interest me more photographically.”

Damien continues:

“I have never questioned too deeply why I have chosen these locations to work in and accepted it as an impulse and a need. Hopefully these images have something more to give than just to show the surface of things and offer something worthwhile and contemplative to say about our place within our landscape. These coastal areas seem to symbolise that – where the man-made reaches the edge of things. This is where the natural environment takes over, restraining human encroachment.”

I love the Northernness of ‘Coastal Retreats’, a feeling that I’m sure prevails as a result of Damien living in the area along with his seemingly unconditional persistence!

Anyone who lives in the wild and woolly North East will know exactly what it feels like to stand in many of the scenes Damien’s captured, not least a biting one such as this:

Printing this series has been a true pleasure — I hope all those who manage to see the show between 12th October and 2nd February at the Woodhorn Museum in Northumberland enjoy it as much as I have.

The photographs are all 40x40cm Archival Pigment Prints on 60x60cm Museo Silver Rag 300gsm using HP Vivera Pigment Ink.

This year, the Bupa Great North Run was a two-pronged affair for me…

Firstly, I ran it (see my blog post Great North Humanity). Secondly, I made a series of one metre high prints for designer and illustrator Daisy de Villeneuve and Great North Run Culture 2013.

Daisy de Villeneuve with ‘Run Colour Run’ at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (Photograph © Colin Davison)

Best known for her eye-catching designs for the likes of the V&A, Nike, Moët & Chandon and Topshop, Daisy created a series of portraits in her distinctive colourful style for the commission, entitled Run Colour Run.

Daisy writes:

“What I saw when I went to the Great North Run was there were a lot of people, it was very visual. I went around with my camera and I took photos of anyone I thought looked interesting. So, I’ve taken pictures of a whole range of people – not just the athletes and participants, but the hospitality staff, security, the Red Arrows, event organisers, people with their families, kids cheering on their dads, people in costumes, different characters that stood out to me. A lot of these will show up in my portraits.”

‘Run Dad!’ by Daisy de Villeneuve

From her Paris studio, Daisy discusses the project further:

Recently, top international athletes Ryan Bailey and Josh Cassidy came face-to-face with their portraits, now showing at the Laing Art Gallery here in Newcastle upon Tyne:

Ryan Bailey (Photograph © North News & Pictures)

L-R: Great Nort Run Culture Director Beth Bate, US track and field sprinter Ryan Bailey, Canadian Paralympian Josh Cassidy, Daisy de Villeneuve (Photograph © North News & Pictures)

Fresh from his flight across The Pond, I had the pleasure of meeting the street artist Yis “NoseGo” Goodwin in my studio yesterday.

As recently described in the Huffington Post, Goodwin creates playful, energetic totemic imagery of animal characters born from his imagination.

Goodwin is working with Unit 44 Gallery here in Hoults Yard, gearing up towards a solo show opening this Friday 10th May entitled The Marvelous Clash.

I’ve known Danny Hughes and Steven Dunn at Unit 44 Gallery for some time now — Goodwin’s work has provided a great opportunity for us to collaborate together for the first time in making the editioned Archival Pigment Prints to accompany the show.

Danny kindly describes the editioned prints I’ve made for Unit 44 as, “the most beautifully finished print we have ever released.”

Find out more information on their pricing and availability here.

In his latest blog post, Danny recalls a conversation with Goodwin over breakfast:

“He [NoseGo] described the totem composition of a number of his paintings, comprised of multiple layers, each distinguishable, separate however contributing to the over all form of the character. He referred to peoples experiences, lessons, and memories good or bad that make up who we are. He then went on to describe the somewhat ‘random’ composition of style, character, and look of the artworks. The result in this made absolute sense. He described the childhood toy box filled with all kinds of gems, figures, characters, animals, action heroes, vehicles etc. He then described that back then there was no constant ‘style’ in which you would arrange and play with your toys – this being the ‘marvelous clash’.”

Finally, I’ve always been fond of the photographic eye of the inimitable David Bilbrough.

David popped into the studio last week to capture the print production process. Along with Unit 44, he’s kindly allowed me to share some of his observations with you here…

If you’d like me to make prints for you, please feel free to contact me.

My latest list of services and prices can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here.

Three years ago, I wrote a short post on printing a series of Arabian Horses for Tariq Dajani.

I mentioned at the time how special that felt, not least because many of the prints I made for Tariq over the years are now with the Jordanian Royal Family, some members of the ruling families of the UAE and with various other influential people in the Middle East.

So, perhaps you can imagine my eyes lighting up when Tariq mentioned that some more images were on their way to me. Falcons would feature this time for a show in Dubai.

Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) 2011 © Tariq Dajani 2011

I love Tariq’s approach to photography, using very modern methods to realise photographs with a very traditional feel.

Tariq describes:

“The falcon series was shot over a period of two years from 2011 to 2012. The Peregrine, Gyr and Sakr falcons are all female birds, more aggressive and are bigger than the males.

“They are all prized and valuable hunting birds owned by some very important people, whom I’m not at liberty to mention.”

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 2011 © Tariq Dajani 2011

“While the precise origins of falconry are lost in time, the keeping of falcons in the Middle East is as ancient as the emergence of its civilizations and goes back at least 4000 years.

“As with my series on the Arabian horse, this series pays tribute to the traditions and heritage of our region.”

Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) 2011 © Tariq Dajani 2011

The prints I made were huge; most were around 130cm on their longest dimension.

Due to their size, each print more-or-less filled my entire print table, making them many times larger than life. On my way to the studio each morning, I had to remind myself what was waiting beyond the door so as not to get a shock each time!

The beautiful, trusty combination of HP Vivera Pigment Ink and Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm prevailed once more; I thought I’d leave you with some photographs I captured during the printmaking process…

Print Detail: HP Vivera Pigment Ink on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm

Print Detail: HP Vivera Pigment Ink on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm

Print Detail: HP Vivera Pigment Ink on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm

Print Detail: HP Vivera Pigment Ink on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm

Print Detail: HP Vivera Pigment Ink on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm

Print Detail: HP Vivera Pigment Ink on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm

UPDATE: Tariq tells me that the prints look beautiful in situ, which certainly looks to be the case from this photograph he sent me:

Tariq Dajani conducting one of many media interviews at his show in Dubai…

If you’d like me to make prints for you, please feel free to contact me.

My latest list of services and prices can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here.

Next Tuesday 12th February sees the opening of Looking at the View at Tate Britain.

This thematic display looks at continuities in the way artists have framed our vision of the landscape over the last 300 years. Comprised entirely from the Tate Collection, over seventy works by more than fifty artists will be included, with familiar names such as J.M.W. Turner and Tracey Emin making an appearance.

Among such luminaries will be a long-standing client of mine, Fiona Crisp. Tate will be showing a print I made for Fiona, ‘Norwegian Series #3 2007′…

Fiona Crisp, Norwegian Series #3 2007

As Fiona describes in an accompanying article for The Guardian:

Norwegian Series #3 2007 is from a cycle of four photographic works taken from a rural house high in the mountains of central Norway in the summer of 1999. The image holds no clue as to the time of day it was made but there is a quality to the light — or more accurately, to the differentiation of the interior and exterior light — that is hard to place. All the photographs in the series were taken at different points during the night when, in addition to a lack of darkness at this latitude, there are subtle shifts in colour cast that slightly nudge your perception off kilter.

‘Looking at the View’ also includes the work of Wolfgang Tillmans, Julian Opie, Tacita Dean, Carol Rhodes and Lisa Milroy.

The show runs until 2nd June with free entry.