jonnybaker

trickster remakes the world exhibition in ealing in september

i am taking part in a photography exhibition in ealing as part of BEAT - the wonderful ealing art trail. it's called trickster remakes this world. the local photography group i am part of is putting it on. it is inspired by the book trickster makes this world by lewis hyde. those of you who have followed the blog may remember this being something i have talked about before at the inspiration of nic hughes and kester brewin back in the day. i presented on trickster's ruses at greenbelt a long time back, so it's fun to make that connection again, this time in relation to photography. the details are that it is at 

the rickyard, walpole park

sat sept 10th and sun 11th 12-6pm
mon sept 12th to fri 16th 1-6pm
sat sept 17th 12-6pm
sun sept 18th 12-5pm

as well as photography there will be a few other interventions in and around the park.

if you've not come across trickster, he or she is a character like coyote (see earlier post!) in myths and stories of various cultures. trickster is a difficult character in sone ways - breaking rules, living in inbetween spaces, messing with what's sacred and so forth. but trickster also tends to be revered because they are seen to be critical to cultures changing when they gets stuck. during lockdown so many people said we can't go back to the way things were and yet where is the imagination for a different way or a new world? so it felt timely to open up an engagement with trickster and trickster's ruses. hyde's book explores the way some art and artists plays the role of trickster. each photographer got randomly assigned a ruse of trickster and the photographs will be their responses. hyde\'s book is not actually organised in ruses - they are simply phrases or ideas that i lifted from the book - i hope hyde would warm to the aproach. the spinning wheeel of ruses is here if you fancy having a go yourself!

 

more jellyfish...

entertaining a three year old was an excuse for a boat ride into westminster from kew and a trip to the london aquarium, both of which i have not done for over twenty years! it was also an excuse to photograph a few more jellyfish which are amazing creatures. it is not as satisfying as seeing them from a paddleboard in the wild but wonderful nonetheless. more photos here

islay musings - photos

i have finally added an album of photos from islay and jura. the irony is that this photo which was the first i took is neither. it was sat down the coast from kennacraig waiting to get the ferry by which time the weather turned.

coming to ealing soon...

greenbelt 49 here we come!

i can't wait for greenbelt. the line up looks great. i actually don't even know why i am saying that because invariably i spend the weekend catching up with people! if you are there hope to see you. if not it's not too late to book. there are a few things related to cms and pioneering - here's greenbelt's page on that and here's cms page on that. but a short summary is below

Gather – Pioneer Dreaming Sessions

Sat 10am at Hope and Anchor: Getting started

Mon 10am at Hope and Anchor: Navigating the Powers that Be

 

Spirituality For The Activist with Ash and Anj Barker

Sat 4:30pm at Prayer Tipi (meet at Shelter)

 

Rewilding the Soul with Johnny Sertin

Sat 5pm at The Grove

 

Reception

Sun 7.30pm at Partner Lounge

and i hope i will be seeing harry baker, kae tempest, andrew jones, nick hayes, brian eno, magic numbers to name a few things that have caught my eye.

next year greenbelt will be 50!

unashamed - harry baker back at edinburgh fringe

harry baker has a show at the edinburgh festival doing a two week run that starts tomorrow (16 august) for two weeks. it's in the fringe which means it is unticketed so turn up in good time to get in. jenny and i are headed up from mon-weds next week and can't wait to cheer him on. if you are in edinburgh and fancy a coffee, beer or whisky give me a shout. he has a new book and autumn tour lined up too - see here for the live show info. the poems he wrote in lockdown are incredible - unashamed and impossible are two that spring to mind. unashamed is on the tour page if you scroll down

islay musings - middle class

i always like to read a few books on holiday. this year i clearly didn't feel up to much initially as i began with two picture books/graphic novels.

the first in by will mcphail is delightful - it's reviewed here better than i can do it justice. it's the story of an illustrator, a man who struggles to connect with his feelings and be present and he is waking up to the world through friendship, grief, creating...

the second is putin's russia by darryl cunnigham. i am the sort of person who is interested in someone like putin's story but never motivated enough to read a big fat biography. so darryl cunningham is perfect for me. i am a big fan of his having read supercrash and billionaires. don't be deceived - just because they are graphic novel style does not mean they are pithy in any way. they are brilliantly researched. it was a scary but important read. 

then i finally got onto a novel - middle class by kester brewin. kester is a teacher and this novel really gets inside the classroom. it's set in london and the middle class is neither the top or bottom class but the middle one. i don't know a lot about education at the moment so i can't comment on that. my hunch is it really captures the experience of teaching well but i think teachers had better be the judge of that. but it is a very moving story. both jenny and i were in tears at the end as it really builds pace and develops the lead teacher character so well. it made me feel real empathy for teachers who are at the frontline of so many things as so many other community provisions have fallen away in our culture. i have to say it also put me off teaching - that probably wasn't the point! but i am full of admiration for teachers who are there for young people, can be treated terribly at times, but really give so much. thank you teachers! but back to the point - it's a great read. i went to the book launch which was fun to catch up with kester who has self published this book, wanting to get it out quickly as it deals with the environment around covid and so forth. go get yourself a copy.

and the next book i will write about in another blog...

i realise this musing has very little to do with islay other than that i read the books there!

pioneering has surely hit the mainstream now!

i have blogged on the cms pioneer blog about pioneering featuring on the archers in july - yes you read that right!

islay musings - what have you got in your hands?

this is actually a jura musing. islay is home to several famous whisky distilleries and it was really good fun to visit and sample their delights. we found that it was the hospitality and welcome that made as much of an impression on us as the whisky we tasted. but surprisingly the distillery that made the biggest impression on me was none of those. it was lussa gin distillery on jura. it's a small home grown enterprise set up by three women on jura. the population of jura is less than 200 people (and 6000 deer) although the island is by no means small. so if you live there i imagine it's a beautiful and challenging environment. and when it comes to enterprise what do you do? there's obviously jura whisky distillery, tourism, and local trade but not an easy question to answer. one of the phrases we have come back to with pioneers at cms is asking the question 'what have you got in your hands?' - in other words what is there right where you are in your context. maybe that's a good place to start imagining what is possible.

well the answer that the three founders of lussa worked out was that they had local plants or botanicals, and amazing water. so they came up with the idea of distilling gin. they experimented and had a community gathering where locals sampled three versions. the one that was voted favourite is what is now lussa gin. it's made with 15 botanicals - you can see about them in the field notes on the web site. they are a small producer - bottling and labelling everything there. but what a wonderful story of local enterprise. i got the impression (and wished i'd asked more about it) that there is a really connection to the local community in and through the distillery. 

i am not really a big gin person but i liked it and it seems to be well regarded and reviewed. it is beautifully presented and they have won an award for the design work. 

what have you got in your hands? 

islay musings - pay attention to what's there

my favourite photos from islay i think were sone shots of jellyfish taken from a paddleboard on lochindaal. the wildlife is incredible there. but my experience of it is that it is also quite elusive to the degree that if you go looking for it you don't seem to find it but when you have forgotten about it you stumble across something as a wonderful surprise. 

the previous day to these photos i was paddleboarding along the edge of the coast and it felt like it was the sort of place you might see otters. i have seen them once before on eilean mor. and sure enough i spotted one and kept my distance while he dived for his tea. a friend iain happened to be visiting islay the same week so we met up that day and he was on a paddleboard so i went back to get him and we found the otter again and were treated to an absolute delight watching him catch fish and then eat it on a rock - it was one of the most amazing wildlife experiences i have ever had. such a treat! 

the next day i thought i'd head back along the same bit of coastline with binoculars and a camera in case there was a repeat performance - i didn't have the camera with me on the previous paddle. well of course there wasn't a repeat - why should there be! the day before was pure gift and it feels kind of greedy going back now i retell it. but it's a very normal instinct too. we did the same with eagles. when jen and i were cycling along an eagle flew across the road directly overhead - it was incredible! it looked like a spot where eagles would hang out with lots of conifers and dead trees. so the same thing - i kept driving by, slowing down and looking for them again. we did see one in the distance in a tree one time but for the most part it was futile. the same thing - appreciate the gift and the surprise when it is given but don't think you can then bottle or repeat the experience! 

back to the paddle board - whilst i didn't see otters that day i did notice quite a few jellyfish in the water and they looked magical. i wasn't sure how they would come out but tried manoeuvering the board with camera in hand without dropping it into the water and managed to take a few photos. they are gorgeous - what beautiful and mysterious creatures. and i guess that's a second reflection i have had. sometimes we're so focused on something that is not there in that moment that it's easy to miss what is right there in front of us and the wonderful gift it is. so pay attention to what is there rather than what isn't.

i'm not sure which photo i prefer - the sharper one or the more painterly one a bit more in the depths. it's all gift.

35 years

i honestly don't know where the time has gone but jen and i have been married for 35 years. to celebrate on a warm summer evening in london we went for a paddle on the thames and sat on a bench drinking prosecco - fun times! 

islay musings - the ferry across

i love the journey out to scottish islands. i think i have visited a dozen now over my life (arran, orkney, mull, iona, north uist, berneray, harris, scalpay, skye, jura, islay, eilean mor on the maccormaig isles). this year for holiday jen and i spent two weeks on islay from where we made a couple of day trips to jura which is very close by. islay is one of the western isles or inner hebrides. it's famous for having 9 distilleries including the big hitters when it comes to peatiness. but is also so much more - a beautiful landscape with bountiful wildlife and beaches.

i love the journey for many reasons i think. it's the anticipation - you're nearly there but it's also unknown. the island begins in the distance and gradually gets closer. in the case of our journey it was a very grey sky, the island was shrouded in mist and cloud and sure enough it began raining. but somehow this is all atmospheric creating a mysterious and enticing appeal of the island.

then there's the wildlife - there are always gannets diving which i have loved ever since i was a kid, guillemots gallore and if you're lucky a porpoise. i love porpoises and dolphins. seeing one is always a thrill. i don't know the difference by the way! i was so delighted that one popped up half way across alongside the ferry. most people were inside avoiding the rain but i find i always want to be outside soaking the journey in not wanting to miss the moment. i was so happy to see the fin roll over in the water. and sure enough on the journey back i spotted two which again no one else seemed to notice. i wasn't quick enough to take a photo.

on the journey to islay you see jura first. port askaig where you land is in a strait between jura and islay. jura was completely hidden by cloud from a distance. i liked the sight of that land mass but none of it really visible. 

the colours of the sea and sky made for some interesting photos. i particularly like these more abstract ones taken by slowing the speed down and moving the camera. the white is the wake from the ferry. the colours remind me of the scottish flag.