To all those of you who would love to own a Don McCullin print but cannot afford to do so, and to those of you who just like owning great books on photography, Don has produced a massive tome!

It has within its covers, 1,300 pages of print and over 700 images, spread over three boxed volumes. Many images have never before been published.

For me, the really interesting aspect of the work is the remarkable quality and level of its printing. I have never (and I own hundreds of photographic books) seen such amazing production.

I return to how I started this piece… the print quality of the images in this book, will bring you closer to owning an original print than you will ever be able to achieve besides actually buying one.
Especially true of those images those that are bled to the edge of the page.

The downside is that there will be only 1000 of these printed. After that its all over.

Here is the link to the site where you can buy a copy: http://donmccullin.com/

A news story today is about a 35 year old Russian, requiring rescue off the stormy coast at the south end of Tiree. Which is way North in the Highlands.

This is interesting to us because the crew that had the “shout” to go onto these extremely dangerous waters and effect the rescue, were the same crew with whom Clive Booth has been working for this past year.

Clive has produced a book and exhibition on the people of Islay, with particular focus of the day to day lives of this RLNI crew.

Having shot the images, he was invited by Canon to re-trace his steps with a film crew in tow, and so have a documentary made of his journey.

Canon are the only camera manufacturer that produce cameras, lenses, printers, papers, inks and software that share technology, and that are designed to work together and so create a synergy not found elsewhere.

This film of Clive was made to promote this aspect of the Canon products, with a focus on the printing process.

Back to the Russian….. it seems he had stolen a yacht to effect an escape and had taken it into very harsh waters, in extremely bad conditions and as he was not a sailor, he had to call for help. Having been rescued, he is now in deeper waters, as he has been arrested and is facing charges under international law.

The brave men and women who risk their lives to attempt to save people in danger out at sea, do not question the back-story to who or why the situation in which they are involved has arisen; they just go out day or night, calm or rough and do it.

And here is a link to the whole Canon piece. There are three films featuring Clive taking pictures, processing them and printing them. For anyone out there keen to improve the final output of their photographic work, this is a must see series :

http://www.canon-europe.com/printers/inkjet/pro-photo-printers/imageprograf-pro-1000/

Here is a link to the news story :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35595289

It all started with a pair of Chelsea boots. Internationally renowned top male model, David Gandy liked his Chelsea boots so much that one thing lead to another and he ended up buying Daniel Preston, the London based shoe designer/manufacturer.  David and Rich have collaborated a lot in the past so it was natural that he should ask Rich to photograph him and his new products.

Life Books have produced a Special Commemorative Edition ‘Bookazine’ to celebrate the TV show Downton Abbey.

The edition features a large selection of images taken by Clive Booth from his work with the cast.

Life was an iconic magazine as far as its ability to edit and select interesting and relevant photography, and up until its demise (as a weekly magazine) in 1972, it never failed to deliver.

Although Life Magazine as it was, has not been published for many a year, these books are all put together with the same spirit and care for the sourcing of original, little seen images, relevant to the subject.

Check the one on Dylan or those on each of the Beatles…….

The motto of the first issue of Life was: “While there’s Life, there’s hope.”

And at the time when it took to publishing photography instead of illustration, its philosophy could well be taken up by publishers of today’s lack lustre media :

“”To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things — machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man’s work — his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women that men love and many children; to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed…”

Over time it featured the work of Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa, Cartier Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Andrea Feininger, Dorothea Lange, Lee Miller, Gordon Parks, Eugene Smith, Steichen and many, many more greats.

It was great collaborating with the team at Life Books in New York City. They were a breath of fresh air to work with.