On Friday, I was jammy enough to get to go along and listen to a talk by the awesome photographer, David LaChapelle. His work is hugely influential and this workshop was so inspiring. He was incredibly open and humble, and really giving with his time and his answers. He went through tons of his work, discussing where the ideas had come from, how he collaborated with everyone from Madonna to Kanye to Naomi, and how the shots were created.

I furiously jotted some nuggets down right after his talk:

“The more you plan the freer you can be, because you’re not as nervous.”

“Hirst’s skull freed us – the pendulum swung back to crafts, to hand-made things, to the artist.”

“No, I don’t think digital photography has diluted the medium – everyone has a pen and paper, right?”

“Do everything – paying the bills gives you freedom.”

Here’s a shot of him, being snapped  with one of the many fans that crowded around after the talk:

And here is the infamous Pieta, featuring Courtney Love:

His American Jesus exhibition is currently on show at the Sebastian Guinnnes Gallery (a really cool space, btw) and I’d really recommend checking it out.

Later that night, Eoghan and I met up with Gav, Michelle and a few other old Observer heads and started a night of chat and banter that ended with lots of drunken Wii gaming sometime around 6.30am. Hence, Saturday was sloooo-w. I spent a lot of time with these guys:

And The X Factor of course

Sunday was a day of spring (autumn?) cleaning and reading. I’m currently working my way through Joe McNally’s excellent Hot Shoe Diaries. Despite the fact that I’m  a Canon-using natural-light photographer and he is exclusively Nikkon-using and writing about flash photography, it is one of the best photography books I have ever read. A really professional, honest, and funny guide to using strobes – if you’re looking to get some more creative results out of your flash, this is the place to go.