jonnybaker

proper pop-up paper purple people

yes it's a mouth full! but it's from one of harry baker's new poems - here he is reciting it in hebron! go listen...

congrats joel!

joel is in his final year of graphic design and one piece of work this year was entering the D&AD annual student awards which are in a number of categories. he chose typography for which the brief was to create a series of typographic posters for the ministry of sound nightclub...

anyway congrats to joel for being nominated as best of year for his typeface and posters. the writing is envisaged to be made in neon - i can't help thinking some of these would look amazing made large in a church space. anyone out there ready to commission them?!

harry hairy head

jen's latest knitted odd bod - harry hairy head!

what time is it?

walter brueggemann suggests that prophets know what time it is. at christmas jen's parents invited all the family to make a decoration/bauble for the tree. this was mine - i was still obsessed with and in many ways still am captivated by the phrase from occupy - another world is possible.

i thought it was entirely appropriate for advent and had visions of a whole tree decorated like this - maybe next year?! but i definitely managed to confuse my mother in law and at least half the family even after an explanation of advent and what it might be about (to be fair i got half way through my explanation before a few people glazed over and i gave up).

right next year back to fluff and tinsel!

the gower

just back from a few days away in bath and then the gower in wales which we had not been to before. it has some of the most beautiful beaches i think i have ever been to. a set of photos is here...

then and now

steve collins has a photo of jen, me, joel and harry at greenbelt in 98 and one of joel and harry this year - then and now!

and some photos of the installation you are what you eat at greenbelt that no one got to see as it was sadly trashed by kids...

edinburgh fringe

because harry had a show in the edinburgh festival free fringe i decided to take a few days off work, head up and surprise him by showing up and enjoy some of the festival while there. his show was wonderful - delivered with a lot of confidence and a lot of laughs and an hour whizzed by. it's weird to think that a year ago he only really had two proper poems. i remember when he said he was going to do a gap year focused on poetry wondering how that was going to work but it's been an amazing year and brilliant to watch… if you are in edinburgh next week his show is back on from mon to thurs.

if you've not been to edinburgh festival there is an astonishing amount on in all sorts of arts. there's the official festival, the fringe festival (paid gigs but relatively cheap), the edinburgh art festival (more about in another post), and the free fringe. when you arrive there are so many programmes to pick up it's really quite overwhelming the amount of choice at any one time. and events run in virtually any available space. lots of the free fringe events are in small rooms in basements or the back of pubs like the one harry is in here which seats around 30 people.

[update: since i wrote this entry harry has retained his title in the edinburgh fringe poetry slam winnng for the second year in a row - congrats! and how about this for a wonderful five star review of his show by what's on stage]

portrait of me by angelika - beloved son

this photo was taken by angelika. she gave me permission to use it. i am part of a photography group in ealing. we had a recent challenge whereby we were paired up with someone in the group to take photos of each other. the results are here. we added the photographer and the person being photographed's favourite to the page though many more were taken. this was my selection (i'll add some of my photos of angelika in another post).

this photograph was a surprise. in terms of thinking about how to photograph one another, we spoke about who we are and i discussed the importance of faith in christ to me, but how i was keen to express that in a way that related to culture rather than withdrew from it or created a parallel subculture. anyway part of the result of that conversation was angelika wanting to photograph me in a church space which i felt very ambivalent about. this shot was simply me leaning against the wall in the baptistery. when i sat there neither i nor angelika had noticed that i was directly under the stained glass window of christ's baptism.

this is what moved me: it's as though christ's baptism could be flowing right down onto my head. i also didn't notice the caption which you'll need to look at a larger size photo to see - this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased, the words heard from heaven as jesus was baptised. i sense those words are a gift to me too through this photograph - to believe i am god's child through christ and as such loved. it's a harder thing to say that god is pleased with me. but i do believe that at the heart of who god is is love and grace and one of the hardest things in life for pretty much everyone is to believe and know that we are loved. so thanks angelika! perhaps this is in its own way not so dissimilar from what's at the heart of tracy emin's sculpture at liverpool cathedral?

the original photo was much duller - i have edited it to light up the face. somehow i think this lifts it and gives it hopefully in a good way a religious almost more iconic look and feel though i don't know if that's in danger of making it a bit more clichéd?!

it felt slightly strange and vulnerable to talk about this photo with the photo group and the sense of how i was moved by it because it captures something close to the heart of who i am and my sense of calling and vocation to follow in the way of christ.

50

50 - no that's not my age - i've got a few years yet! congrats to jen's parents ian and mary, my in laws on 50 years of marriage. we had a celebration at the weekend which went really well at which i was asked to take photos. i doubt it's of interest to most of you but there's a set of photos here - ian and mary golden wedding celebration which i am making into a blurb book. i tried to photograph everyone at the do - older peoples faces look amazing in photographs i think! the photo above is jen and her sisters and mum which seemed to capture them and i notice harry must like this photo of him as it's now his facebook photo - aaaargh!

i'm always in two minds whether to blog about family things like this but in terms of photography, capturing family moments is perhaps one of the most widespread practices - pretty much everyone at the celebraton was taking photos! and 50 years marriage is quite something...

llangollen canal

just back from a family holiday boating up and down the llangollen canal which runs through wales, shropshire and cheshire. it was a wonderfully chilled week with amazing weather. i have added a set of photos to flickr - llangollen canal. i pretty much ignored e-mails, blogs and all that so plenty to catch up on. this photo is taken in chirk tunnel (i think it was that one).

table and being human

being human is a new anthology of contemporary poetry. i don't claim to know a lot about poetry but an anthology is perfect in that respect. and with being human for a title it can hardly go too far wrong! it's around 500 pages so packed with poems. it will take me a while to read through but i am leaving it on the table and read one or two at breakfast.

one of the favourites so far is table from the turkish of edip cansever. it goes like this...

A man filled with the gladness of living
Put his keys on the table,
Put flowers in a copper bowl there.
He put his eggs and milk on the table.
He put there the light that came in through the window,
Sounds of a bicycle, sound of a spinning wheel.
The softness of bread and weather he put there.
On the table the man put
Things that happened in his mind.
What he wanted to do in life,
He put that there.
Those he loved, those he didn't love,
The man put them on the table too.
Three times three make nine:
The man put nine on the table.
He was next to the window next to the sky;
He reached out and placed on the table endlessness.
So many days he had wanted to drink a beer!
He put on the table the pouring of that beer.
He placed there his sleep and his wakefulness;
His hunger and his fullness he placed there.
Now that's what I call a table!
It didn't complain at all about the load.
It wobbled once or twice, then stood firm.
The man kept piling things on.

it's a great thought - so much of life happens round the table and it should be a space where anything can be brought and discussed and piled on. we have read it a couple of times at meals and then discussed what we'd like to put on the table... in fact i think i'll make it a worship trick to do just that - no 7 series 4

harry is back from his US travels...

speaking of fringe expressions

when i heard andrew mention fringe expressions at first i thought he was talking about opening a hair salon and was going to suggest joel as one of his projects. it must be nearly time for joel's annual cut?!!!

congratulations harry - champion d'europe du slam!

following his trip to france before christmas for the european poetry slam, there was an online competition of all the finalists which has been running a few weeks now. and harry has won - the peoples vote or something like - amazing! from the site...

Congratulations ! Harry Baker is the European slam champion with his performance “The Sunshine Kid”. He was one of the 12 finalists of the 1st European slam competition in Reims in December 2010.

if you're in london harry is headlining on feb 3 at bang said the gun - we'll be going along.

the sunshine kid

harry's latest poem the sunshine kid is here - it's him performing in the european slam final. there's an online vote now for your favourite - go and vote for him of course!

the best of...

i had a read through my blog for 2010 yesterday - i find it helps me remember much like a diary some of the things i have done. it was actually a quite wonderful year! in the spirit of last year's looking back here's looking back over 2010.

new experience - jumping out of a plane

film - the illusionist

album - heligoland

book - urban interventions and cave refectory road

exhibition - brighton biennial

grace - do be and landskapes

television - luther

gig - massive attack at hammersmith

theatre - jesus hopped the a train

sport - chelsea regain premiership

travel - first visit to italy

inspiring new person - martin parr (i didn't meet him in person but heard him speak at the brighton biennial)

work moment - beginning the pioneer leadership training

harry moment - the big chill moment (and of course his amazing poetry achievements)

joel moment - launching own club night in london pipedown (and breaking a collar bone)

jen moment - drinking a belgian ale together in brussels in mort subite

change - no longer having any children at school

web tool - posterous groups

photo - the look

magazine - generate

change - joined the new cms community

surprise - was an international artist

writing - curating worship

photography commission - cambridge college prospectus

hello 2011...

happy new year!

2010 was my busiest year for some time mainly due to getting the pioneer leadership training up and running. but that was also probably the most significant thing too and there is a lot to do in the year ahead... but a new year is always time for a bit of reflection so i'll be thinking a bit about what's ahead and what i can do about it.

on the reverb10 web site i blogged about in december one question that caught my eye then was coming up with one word for the year passing and one word for the year to come. full-on (yes i know that's sort of two words) was my word for 2010 - busy but not necessarily negatively so. rhythm was the word i went for for the new year - wanting to get a better rhythm to life between work and play and many other things so intend to try and map out for myself a sort of rhythm of life - maybe with a weekly, monthly, yearly pattern trying to identify some things i want to value and include.

we had an eventful christmas at my younger brother's in devon - it is an amazing location especially in the snow - this was the view from the garden on christmas morning! gorgeous countryside and beaches and even icicles were hanging on the beach. it's also big enough to house all of my side of the family (i'm one of five now with families) so it was wonderful to have a gathering of everyone in the famly which is quite rare these days. i love this photo of my niece. snow on the hills meant tobogans and snowboards were out which was fun. jen and i were cooking christmas lunch while others were out on the slopes. sadly joel fell off the snowboard and broke a collar bone so is now in a sling waiting for possible surgery next week. so i spent christmas lunch watching top of the pops in a and e at the hospital! we headed back to london earlier than planned which has actually been quite a welcome bit of space.

i was given the first three series of madmen on dvd for christmas so amongst other things we have started and are really enjoying that - i hadn't watched a single episode before. jen and i also went to see somewhere at the cinema this week. it hasn't had great reviews but i really liked it - it's a slow measured critique of hollywood celebrity that has lingered with me for a few days now. it's somewhere between lost in translation and the wrestler in terms of mood and theme.

i am not big on new year's resolutions but i do have one this year - this year i am not going to send in a comment on anyone's book manuscript unless they are a very close personal friend! i seem to have become 'book comment man' - not sure how but i'm ducking out of it! and related to that i will only review books that i want to on the blog - i seem to get sent a ton of books that i haven't asked for (and admittedly don't review a load of them as i am so busy). and i guarantee only honest and robust reviews if i do (not much new there).

anyway hello 2011...!

harry is representing the uk in a european poetry slam!

harry is doing a gap year this year and trying to focus on poetry (as well as earning some money). he's been on a huge roll since winning the edinburgh festival poetry slam back in august and has now won 5 slams. one of these was part of a national contest so he is going on to the final of that this coming weekend. but he struck lucky because there is also a european final with 12 countries represented. but because it is too close to the uk final, the organisers decided the winner of the london slam should represent the uk. so harry is going to france next week for the reims slam d'europe - totally amazing!

if you want to see him in action there are a few bits and pieces online -

59 | sunshine kid | polar bears and current affairs | bumble bee

bang said the gun

bang said the gun is a poetry night in london with a growing reputation. we went along last night to watch harry who had a slot having won an open mic contest the week before. he did a fantastic job and tried out a new poem sunshine. the night was mad with shakers handed out and cheering and whistling - a riotous atmosphere. the amazing kate tempest was one of the featured acts. i have blogged about her before but she was astonishing as ever, especially her opener renegade.

i'm still alive!

skydive from jonny baker on Vimeo.

i did the skydive today - thanks so much to everyone who sponsored me! obviously i didn't take my camera with me so bought some photos of the landing which isn't exactly pretty but i've edited them together into a sequence.

the freefall part was totally exhilirating - like nothing i've ever done. but i didn't want to pay £100 to have it filmed! i've added some photos to facebook