david wala newcastle photographer

Reflecting on the Past and Keeping On Moving Forward

 

 

For the past 18 months I have had the framed prints from my Instamatic fro the People project in my studio

The other day I was looking at them and reflecting that since I started the project 2 and a half years ago that some of the bands have split up , other bands and musicians are on the verge of greater things ( also many of the people I did not know when I first photographed themand have since become my  friends).It is also interesting to see the way some of the locations and people’s styles have changed. So I have decided to put al the images from 2010 onwards on my David Wala Photography Facebook page

Anyhow the links to all the photographs are:

Instamatic for the People 2012-2011

Instamatic for the People 2011-2012

Back in September I was going to do a blog post titled The Things I Did Last Summer – but I will be changing that to The Things I Did Last Summer and Autumn.

I have been busty doing other things apart from Instamatic for the People

Thanks

D

New Analogue Portrait Project

Over the past months I have worked on a project using my Mamiya RZ67 medium format camera. It is a series of portraits taken using an old-fashioned shutter release cable.

It lets the subjects press the shutter to make a self-portrait. It seems to make people more relaxed as they have some control as to when the picture is taken, which leads to some interesting shots.

This is the first in an ongoing project which so far features Symphonic Pictures, Off!, Howler, and Sound of Guns.

I am enjoying the challenge of shooting with film and have to pay particular attention to exposure levels and composition. Unlike in digital the images cannot be reviewed instantly. I am showing the full frame images ( uncropped) with minimal editing. I am still pondering about a name for the project, in the meantime I am going to keep on taking photographs

I must thank the bands for their time and getting involved with the project.

Please click on the image below to visit the gallery ( more images will be added soon ):

Howler band Portraits

My contact sheet from the shoot with Howler

Instamatic for the People 2012 Gallery

I have just made a gallery to show the first bach of images from the Instamatic for the People project. They feature Howler, Collectors Club, The Neat and Sound of Guns. Click on the picture below to visit it:

Instamatic for the People Gallery

Instamatic for the People Gallery

Instamatic for the People 2012 – Pictures Can Speak Louder Than Words

After taking a year way from my ongoing Instamatic for the People project I decided to restart it this week by photographing Howler.I have changed this project to include bands from outside of the North East of England –  I want to make it inclusive as possible. Local writer Linsey Teggart summed up my project in her article for Narc magazine  her article for Narc magazine – this sums up the article. Other information can be found mainly in my 2010 and 2011 posts in this blog.

On Friday while waiting for Howler who were delayed due to mechanical problems – I was wondering if they would have time to do some photographs ( I needn’t have worried they were super cool and very helpful even though they had been on torturous journey on the M1.). To pass some time I flicked through my book from the exhibition and reflected on how much has changed in our local music scene. It is interesting to see how fashions, and locations have changed as well as the people

This picture of Brent below shows rest of Howler engrossed in the book I think sums up their enthusiasm.  As their album America Give Up has been the soundtrack of my year I think it is fitting that they are the first band to be photographed for the relaunch of the project. This has given me a real boost.Brent Mayes of Howler Stockton 6 July 2012

Brent from Howler, and the rest of the band looking at the Instamatic fro the People book

I would also love to photograph all the people from the original book next year as part of this ongoing project.

 

The book is still available to buy from Blurb books click on the image below – all profits go to Teenage Cancer Trust. It is also available for  iPad  and iPhone as a download

 

I would once again like to thank everyone that has taken part  and to Howler for being the first people of 2012. I am looking forward to see where this project take us – hopefully to another charity opening and gig.

David

x

PS I will be putting up an online gallery soon of all the images as I take them – I have more to add from some amazing people which will be added soon

A New Analog Project and Resuming Another Project

Nearly every day I use my digital camera. So I am excited about starting a new film based project  – I have already started this and I can’t wait to put some of the images online ( this should be next week) .

I am also firing up my Instax camera to do some more images from my Instamatic for the People project – more details will also follow for this.

This is a personal project and I am looking forward to new adventures ahead

Can’t wait to use this film

That’s Close Enough Off! at Newcastle Academy

I love to be close to the action – you can just see the Vans of a stage diver as he returns to the crowd.

Off! Newcastle Academy 22 June 2012

The Greeting Committee and Positive Mental Attitude

After weeks of preparation and days and nights of shooting I was so proud and relieved to have finished my third music video for the Greeting Committee’s new single Show Me the Lights of Home released on End of the Trail Records

It was great to see our ideas which we discussed in their practice room, actually evolve into this music video. I am especially happy to include cakes and cricket in this video

I am a big fan of Jesse Malin and love his take on P.M.A., we really needed positive thinking to complete the location shoots for the video. We had to endure heavy rain on both days which scuppered our original plans for many of the scenes, but the band and everyone involved  had a totally positive attitude and will to get things done – even if it meant filming into the early hours of the morning.

It was great to work with such talented people from whom I can learn  – Dan Horn was especially helpful as he has experience in filming, and had a load of helpful suggestions.

A big thank you also to the actors,Dan Horn, Olwyn Currie, Rebecca Currie , Chris Hardy, as well as the extras that came along in the rain and mud to help make this happen.

Also a big thank you to Paul Burgess for helping out in so many ways – he is also the genius behind the single artwork and many other things – you can find his work here. It was above and beyond that Karen and Alex Burgess also came down to the shoot, and even supplied the scary doll on Steve’s turntable

The Greeting Committee Show Me The Lights of Home Artwork by Paul Burgess Graphic Design.

 

This was to me an ambitious project, but I am pleased we did not play it safe and here are the results. I hope you like it:

 

 

 

Natasha Haws EP Launch and Stepping Stone Video

Today – I am really excited about seeing and photographing the super talented Natasha Haws  EP launch at Sunderland Minster – which is a sell out. It will be a wonderful night.

Also I am so proud that the video I made ( with the help if some great people) for Natasha’s lead song on the EP Stepping Stone has over 2,000 views at the time of writing

See you there !

Live Acoustic Fantasy Rainbow Location Video

A few weeks ago we filmed a live acoustic session with Fantasy Rainbow live by the seaside.

We really hit lucky with the weather, and the performance by Ollie and Sam was sublime.

There was a lot of ambient noise planes, jet skis, and motorbikes. We shot at sunset so we were chasing the last of the daylight so we only done two takes of each song. The performances were so good all the footage selected is from the first take of each song – a testament to the ability of these guys. If anyone knows how to get rid of the sound from that damn jet ski please get in touch.

I will never tire of hearing these songs.

 

These songs can be found on the Tiny Light’s record label bandcamp page .

This will always remind me summer to the North Sea coast in March 2012

 

 

 

Natasha Haws Stepping Stone Video

I was very pleased to get an opportunity to shoot the debut video of the local musical wunderkind*  Natasha Haws, and only my second promo  music video.
We discussed possible locations and style for the performance footage. Initially I was thinking of doing it in my studio where we could have complete control of the lighting and it would have been warm.The only place I was sure I did not want to film was on stepping stones. Eventually, we decided on shooting at the top of a fire  escape in the center of Newcastle, on a cold and cloudy February day – it would have been great to have some sunshine but  we are not in California. We filmed all afternoon, Natasha was super patient and we managed to get all the footage we needed. One of the highlights of the day was the  improvisational skills used making a substitute guitar strap from some plastic fishing wire which was used on a previous photo shoot to tie balloons

The dancing was Natasha’s idea I had not filmed anything like that before. I did some research, and we done a some run throughs on the day of the shoot so we could all warm up.  It took all day to get the footage we needed. On a separate note the video was filmed opposite ( on the other side of the river)  the Music Box studios where the music was recorded – a nice piece of symmetry. The time and effort spent rehearsing was evident on the day – the dancers done a phenomenal job, and were an absolute pleasure to work with. The choreography and thought in matching the dance to the song works incredibly well.
The editing took hours and hours,  special thanks to Natasha and Scott who came to my studio and helped out by  selecting the dance footage ( without ever complaining about my coffee making skills).
Making a video is all about teamwork, I also must thank  Daniel Robson, and Martin Emery for help on the shoot – they are always enthusiastic about getting the right results without ever complaining – thank you !
I know I made mistakes ( we all do), I am real fan of reflective writing and have made notes about everything that I done right and wrong – overall I am happy with the result, although I have to say I felt nervous about other people’s opinion. So far people have been very kind and positive about the video. Overall I hope we done this beautiful song justice – thank you Natasha.
The video is here:
We have also done a live session in my studio – here is Constant Fairytale
* I hope I am not being pretentious – I just seen an episode of Mad Men where Peggy Olsen is described the same way