http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk A collective portrait of the people of the second city Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:13:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My favourite thing about Artsfest is the range of activities to immerse yourself in. You can plan a very structured weekend of things to see and do or mooch around stalls and workshops popping in and out of events as the mood takes you. Our subject here ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=639 Mick and Mary Boylan are my mum and dad. They came down to the Photospace tent at Artsfest to show their support, like a lot of friends and family of the Photospace team, but definitely hadn't planned to have their portraits taken. Mum and Dad took a little persuading to ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=637 In planning Birmingham's People I wanted to create a convincing portrait of all aspects of Birmingham's culture and its social history. One popular image of the Midlands since the 70s has been its reputation as a centre of long haired heavy metal. As soon as I saw Martin I thought he ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=622 Among the roll call of people we'd like to thank from our weekend at Artsfest are the other Artsfest volunteers who helped us out.  Neil was working as a media officer over the weekend, sorting passes for photographers documenting the whole event and answering journalist queries.  I think his reassuring, ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=591 Neil had already had a busy weekend when he came to see us at Artsfest. He'd partied all Friday night at Brumtwestival - a brilliantly successful Birmingham twitter fundraising bash for Birmingham YMCA. You'd never guess from his portrait though. http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=589 Afribeanne (on the right in the portrait) is a resident of Brixton and was visiting Birmingham during the Artsfest weekend. An art student, she had some great insights into the unique nature of photography and the importance of it being part of the community as you can see in the video ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=614 One of the most important  aims of Birmingham Photospace is to create a spiritual home in the city for the vast number of dedicated photoenthusiasts  who prowl its streets. One of the most enthusiastic photographers that we know has the Flickr name TheWishy and is an evangelist of the more esoteric ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=595 One of the groups of people that have yet to be thanked by the Birmingham Photospace team are our families who have provided so much support for the cause. And so here's my mother-in-law, the fantastic Pat Flynn MBE, formerly head of Library Services in Leicester and lifelong Brummie. As well ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=581 One of the joys of the Artsfest weekend was the sheer variety of people who were happy to be photographed, reflecting the diversity of Birmingham as a whole. As a photographer it was a brilliant experience. Noel here and his wife (soon to feature) were a great couple of sitters, both ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=577 Our Friday Photo is the fabulous Karen Strunks, a very talented local photographer who came down on the Sunday to lend a hand. She was a great help, both in guiding members of the public through the whole process and in assisting me behind the camera, especially late in the day ... http://www.birminghamspeople.org.uk/?p=573