Category Archives: Online

Matt Jones

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Published on Don’t Panic on 3rd May 2010:

Matt Jones

International celebrity and fashion photographer Matt Jones opened his first solo UK show with a private viewing at London’s Oblong Gallery on the 1st of May. I went to speak to i-D magazine’s New York editor about his work in photography

On taking shelter from the imposing sense of rain outside the bijou gallery space of Oblong, I was immediately confronted by walls of prints. The little exhibition showcases some of Matt Jones’s favourite images from over a decade in the industry. However, as you explore the photographs around the room, it becomes difficult not to be overwhelmed by their number and range of subject. To say it’s an eclectic mix would be an understatement. The selection ranges from portraits to landscapes, from nudes to, well whatever the opposite is. There are some very recognisable faces on the wall staring back but there are equally many average Joes vying for their time to tell their story.

Jones’ first ever solo-show took place in the summer of 2009 in the gallery space of Paris’ hipster fashion boutique Colette and featured many of the works on display at Oblong.

“It was really refreshing for me to go back and look at some of these pictures because a lot of these pictures were from many years ago”, the photographer explains. “The first portrait I ever shot, of Damien Hirst, is back there and the most recent would probably have been taken only a couple of weeks ago. So it really is a group of pictures taken over the last 12 years.”

So just how did he choose these photos then?

“Some portraits I have an emotional attachment to and for whatever reason it might have been an interesting or memorable day. Others were just portraits that I thought were strong for a historical reason. For example, there’s that McQueen portrait which has become almost untimely. I almost didn’t put that one in but I decided to because it was one of my earliest portraits and I felt very connected to it.”

Asked if he had a favourite, Jones laughs and points to a prominent photo on the left wall with a nude woman and old man.

“We use to take care of him. He was an amazing painter, with an amazing personal story. I was trying to encourage him to start painting again and wanted to introduce him to this model who I had photographed before, her name was Crystal. I was photographing her at his house and the idea was that he was going to paint her. Unfortunately, he passed away quite soon after that portrait. The portraits that I respond most to are people that I meet.”

In another photograph, an old lady in a wedding dress holds a portrait of a startlingly beautiful young woman wearing the same dress.

“I met her in Texas. I was actually photographing an actress at her house and I asked to do a portrait of her. The woman in the frame is her on her wedding day. I saw the picture on her wall, asked her if she still had the wedding dress and convinced her to put it on for the portrait. I guess for me when you stumble upon someone and it’s unexpected, those are my favourites. Another was a hitchhiker I picked up in Woodstock, that’s where we live. We got talking and turns out he was in a couple of Warhol movies and a couple of Bertolucci movies. He ended up coming back to my house and we did a couple of portraits together.”

It’s obvious from the photos that these are people that Jones’ has had a real connection with. They hold a special place in a chapter of his life. In particular, it’s people with stories, with histories, that Jones most enjoys photographing. Looking at some of the photos, it was impossible not to wonder what other stories he had extracted from his subjects while taking their portraits. Suddenly, the gallery seemed more alive. I wondered how his photography was influenced by working at i-D.

“I was around a lot of i-D photographers, so from a very young age I was aware of great portrait photographers like Wolfgang. There was Matthew Lewis who has recently passed away. He did a lot of work for i-D at the time and was a really strong portrait photographer. But now what’s really nice is to look back at early issues of i-D. I think there’s a simplicity to portraits and now I think it’s rarer to find that simplicity because of digital photography.”

Matt Jones’s exhibition is open until May 30 at Oblong Gallery, Islington.

The Back Page – The Olympics

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Published on Society of Editor’s website on 16th November 2009:

How we can work together

Chaired by: Jim White, Columnist, Daily Telegraph
Jonathan Edwards, LOCOG
Andrew Moger, Director, News Media Coalition

A leading media executive today argued that journalists should stand up together and fight against the increasing amount of restrictions imposed by professional sports clubs.

Andrew Moger, executive director of News Media Coalition, claimed the media was being continuously prevented from doing its job.

He told the Society of Editors conference: “Stand up together to fight for the reporting rights you deserve.

“We need access terms for journalists, including being able to report content live, being able to publish outside of output windows and being able to design web pages as you like them.”

Mr Moger said that sports organisations such as football clubs are increasingly reluctant to allow freedom to the media for fear of upsetting sponsors and curtailing their own revenue streams.

He revealed that one sports club had told him that the reason the media could often not use specific pictures because their use was “based on news worthiness and not sponsor richness”.

Meanwhile, former Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards told the Conference today that the London 2012 Olympic Games will create a legacy.

Edwards, a member of London Organising Committee of Olympic and Paralympic Games, presented the overview of progress on the building of the Olympic facilities and outlined the social, sporting and economic benefits of the games.

He said: “We never bid to host the games in 2012 just to put on a great show; it was to create a legacy.”

He spoke extensively about the social benefits the games will have on the “nation and regions.”

These included the Get Set Education Programme, which aims to provide young people in schools across the nation with the opportunity to be involved and benefit from the Olympics.

An example of this is the Lloyds TSB National Sports week, which took place early this year and enabled young people to take part in new sporting activities.

Edwards said: “London’s vision is to meet young people from all over the world.”

 

State of the media

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Published on Society of Editor’s website on 16th November 2009:

How is the media surviving the recession and massive structural change? What does the future hold? Who are the winners and losers?

Chaired by: Torin Douglas, Media Correspondent, BBC News

Jim Chisholm, Joint Principal, iMedia Advisory Services

Claire Enders, Founder and Chief Executive, Enders Analysis

 

One of the world’s foremost media commentators today claimed that newspapers have a long way to go before they become unviable.

In an upbeat speech about the state of the media in the UK, Jim Chisholm argued that there was plenty of room for optimism about the commercial revenues generated by the press.

Chisholm, the Joint Principal of iMedia, a leading global newspaper consultancy practice, told the Society of Editors: “There is no profit problem, only debt problem. Newspapers can decline a long, long way before they become unviable.

“Cutting more staff is not necessarily going to produce more profit.”

Mr Chisholm claimed that current declines are in line with cyclical and structural trends and that profit margins for newspapers could rise from an average of around 10.5 per cent to as much as 27.5 per cent by 2014.

He cautioned that there is little loyalty from readers online and they will flip between different providers so newspapers must learn to work together to increase commercial revenues.

He said: “We all need to examine the value of news in our society.” He added: “I might consider paying for news if I can have access to all the papers.”

Mr Chisholm’s view was contrary to that of Claire Enders, a media analyst for Ender Analysis, who opened the debate with a bleak prediction of the future of the media.

She said: “A double-dip recession in 2010 cannot be ruled out for the UK.

“UK consumption will remain very weak due to the leveraged state of household balance sheets.”

Ms Enders predicted that there will be more “victims of change” resulting from the accelerated decline of newspaper circulation since 2002, arguing that 21,000 media jobs will have been “destroyed” by the time the crisis has bottomed out.

She presented figures that showed average advertising spend has reached a plateau, despite the fact that nominal GDP has been steadily increasing.

The ad revenue problem stems from the growing trend of online media competing with traditional forms of print, even though the average time spent reading a newspaper is 30 minutes a day, while the average online consumption of news is as little as 11 minutes per month.

Ms Enders concluded that pay walls are a feeble attempt to regain revenue and that online revenue will never replace those lost from print.

Dominic Grieve MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice

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Published on Society of Editor’s website on 16th November 2009:

Conservative Government on Free Speech

The Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve today claimed that the crisis in British justice is so stark that it teeters on the brink of collapse.

Mr Grieve said urgent change is required to the justice system in order for there to be greater transparency in both the courts and in government.

Speaking to the Society of Editors’ conference, he warned: “I don’t want to sound apocalyptic but we are in fact facing a serious crisis in the administration of justice which is teetering on the brink between passable efficiency and collapse.”

In laying out his blueprint for rejuvenating British justice, the Shadow Justice Secretary revealed that a Conservative government would advocate a third party body to report court cases in greater detail and that it is “interested” in the idea of press accreditation for certain family courts.

He also outlined plans to bring in more money to sustain the justice system by a Contingency Legal Aid Fund or private insurance cover for legal costs and expenses.

Mr Grieve explained: “It may be necessary to have a third party body of some kind to help disseminate greater information about procedure and proceedings, with the public interest in mind.

“And we are interested in the idea of press accreditation for certain family courts, so we can build up high levels of trust between the courts and the media.

“This is all sensitive terrain. But I hope it gives you a sense that we are inclined towards greater transparency where it will do no harm to children.

“My Shadow Justice team colleague Henry Bellingham has undertaken a review in this area, looking at the detailed implications of these principles.”

Mr Grieve criticised the shortcomings of the current legal system and its growing litigation culture, where lawyers are deliberately encouraged to take an economic stake in the success of their client’s case.

He said: “We will take the opportunity to look at the balance between rights such as freedom and personal privacy. Frivolous litigation that might deter legitimate media comment is always to be deplored.”

Mr Grieve voiced his strong support for freedom of speech as the bedrock of a free society, making reference to the furore caused by BNP leader Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time.

Referring to the programme, he said: “I believe that, unless someone is directly inciting violence or serious disorder, their voice must be heard and if the BBC has rules that allow parties to have air time based on representation, it is a bad precedent to skew those to exclude those whose views we may rightly dislike.”

The Shadow Justice Secretary also defended the right of journalists to expose information that’s a matter of public interest, provided it does not harm national security.

He criticised the Government for preventing a full account of the facts in some recent controversial cases such as the Iraq war, allegations of MI5 collusion in torture, the failures of the intelligence services and police in the lead up to 7/7 and the release of the Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi.

Mr Grieve said: “The approach of this government has been paranoid, vindictive and foolish.”

How to…Get Bullied

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Published on Don’t Panic on 1st June 2009:

Ah the British education system where open abuse and bullying are part of the curriculum. If you are fat, ugly or ginger, or a combination of those, you’re pretty much screwed. Don’t Panic has gathered a few simple steps on how to get bullied.

Get some braces

Think train tracks with lime green bands and food wedged in the cracks. This will contribute a great deal to your bad breath. This is a must, along with BO.

Facial appearance

A very good way of getting mean nick-names shouted at you. Eat some hormones, be pubescent, or maybe put some butter or fat of some sort on your face every night before going to bed and basically never wash. You will soon be called “Pizza-face” or “Pizza-face with extra pepperoni” or if you’ve got big lips then you’ll be “stuffed-crust” or something.

Get glasses

Getting really big glasses with gold frames which aren’t quite the right shape is a good way of being called things such as “specky” and “four-eyes.” Make sure you accessorise with spectacle chains and greasy smudges. Furthermore, using lenses which make your eyes look like the size of your head will send those bullies crazy for you.

Personal appearance

Leave your messy bed-head and definitely never spend hours achieving the I-just-got-up-look. Just get up. That means to never put on other clothes than the same ones you had on the day before and the day before that. Trousers and t-shirts should be too short and jackets should be too big. But don’t exaggerate too much; you don’t want the bullies to feel sorry for you.

Personality

Having too much of a personality can make you the funny one. Even if you’re a bit weird, funny is an effective deterrent to bullies. You’d be better off being the quiet one who only says absolutely weird and nonessential things, preferably when someone else is talking. Also, make up absurd things about yourself such as that you are living in a castle, your mum is Barack Obama and you have a relationship with Paris Hilton. As soon as you’re old enough to get a job, tell people that you are modelling or working in your spare time as a secret agent. Soon people will be talking to you just so that they can laugh straight up your face. Remember to always aim to fit in with whatever the coolest group is but never quite get it right.

Embarrass yourself

If, for some reason, you fail with at the above because you’re too cool for school or simply because you just look fabulous no matter what you do, there are still a few tricks in the book. Be clumsy; drop your food in the canteen. Make sure your face goes red no matter what you do. Also, eat beans, broccoli and brussel sprouts to make sure that you’re farting badly wherever you go, sitting and standing, running or walking. Try skipping on your way to the toilet, or just don’t use the loo at all and make sure you’re wetting and shitting yourself in public. Follow these simple steps and your school years will be long and immeasurably miserable.