Kirsten at The PlashMill in Scotland

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Originally posted 2017-08-18 01:10:52.

I photographed Kirsten as a part of the Gaia series, taken in 2009

The location was The PlashMill, in Friockheim, Scotland, where I then lived. It was August, and quite warm. I ended up standing in the lade — the stream you can see — in order to get better pictures.  This seemed to amuse everyone greatly. Kirsten brought a chaperone — something I encourage strongly — who photographed me at work.

If you’re photographing the nude, there are two things you should do. The first is to obtain a signed Model Release form. This is not a legal requirement in the UK but it is in the the US and you will have no end of problems trying to sell work to that territory without one.

The second is the chaperone. You will be working with a young woman who will be in a vulnerable position since, after all, nude photography usually takes place in private. The presence of the chaperone will set the model at ease, especially if she is not a professional model (Kirsten was a student.)

 

The chaperone performs another, crucial role, however. She protects the photographer against accusation of improper behaviour — accusations which in the current climate could have very serious consequences.  Also useful for making cups of tea and photographing the photographer!

These images were made using an MPP MK IV 5×4 technical camera with 150mm Schneider and a Bronica ETRS. Film stock was Ilford and Kodak.

If you enjoy these pictures, please feel free to download them for your personal projects. For Fine Art Print sales and commercial licences, please contact me using the form below

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Makati and Greenhills, Manila 2015

rod-fleming-makati-greenhills-manila-2015

Originally posted 2022-08-02 19:58:28.

Makati and Greenhills, Manila 2015. Makati is definitely one of the nicer areas of Manila, and it also happened to be where I had to go to do visa renewals back then. Both Makati and Greenhills are well known for ladyboys after dark, but during the day, not so much. Still a fair smattering of eye candy.  Greenhills is basically a posh mall with a plaza and landscaped gardens and is very pleasant.

 

 

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Wedding in Molinot July 2016

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Originally posted 2017-08-11 21:57:07.

Weddings are a rarity in the village now, but this was nice. It was the last wedding in Molinot we saw here.

 

 

french-onion-soup

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Malolos: Street photography and ladyboys

malolos

Originally posted 2017-08-10 23:36:59.

On the 25th of February 2017, my then girlfriend Sammi and I went to Malolos, the capital of Bulacan, to see a ladyboy parade; but it never appeared. Ladyboy levels of disorganisation are, of course, legendary, in addition to which, they were probably working on Filipino time, which makes ‘manana’ sound urgent. Still, a couple of nice cold Red Horses and some good pictures.

[kofi]

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Early Summer at John Muir Park, Dunbar, 1990

Originally posted 2013-04-22 16:27:29.

Early Summer at John Muir Country Park, Scotland
Early Summer at John Muir Country Park, Scotland

I began with this picture because it representated a departure for me, and a point when I began a long journey of investigation, which is ongoing. I had become fascinated by the effects of sunlight passing through foliage, and it gave me a completely new direction in terms of landscape photography. Instead of the broad, I began to focus on the intimate, and instead of the general, the particular.

I had walked past this scene many times and was waiting for the foliage to really wake up as it does in early summer, and before it becomes tired-looking. One day I realised that the moment had come and I went back to the car to get my gear. I used an MPP MkVIII folding 5×4 technical camera, which is a very similar beast to the German Linhof Teknica, but made by a company in London. These are really nice machines, and usually pretty cheap to acquire, much less than a Tek, anyway.


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Arbroath January 1972

Originally posted 2016-08-16 17:43:12.

Arbroath January 1972 . I was living in the house at 9 East Grimsby. My Dad had died the previous year and I was still struggling with it.  But I had a few things going for me: music, a camera and my books. It wasn’t a lot but it helped.

Russ Black, the art teacher at school encouraged me to use its darkroom. I had lost my own a couple of years before when we moved house. This is one of the earliest rolls I still have from then.

The camera was a Leica Model III fitted with a Ross Xtralux 50mm f2, an excellent lens. I used the name ‘Xtralux’ for a band some years later, in Exeter. Film was Ilford FP3.

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2001 Panoramas at Ethie Woods, Angus

Originally posted 2018-10-06 11:00:50.

I took most of these pictures at Ethie Woods near Arbroath in Angus Scotland in 2001. Some were taken in our home in Arbroath. The camera was a Russian ‘Horizont’. this was a panoramic camera that used a swinging 28mm lens on 35mm film. The images were interesting but not really sharp. This was partly because the 28mm lens was not that sharp anyway, but also because the film had to be held in a curve so that it registered with the focal plane of the rotating lens. This was somewhat beyond the Russian technology of the day and since the lens could not be stopped down to reduce the consequences of this, the images suffered.

I sold the camera after a short while, but looking back, the somewhat soft-focus effect was really attractive in its own right.

 

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Maryhill, Glasgow, May 1974

Originally posted 2018-09-18 07:57:20.

Maryhill, the poor part of Glasgow’s West End, in 1974, was a different world. Looking back on these pictures, forty-five years later, I am still moved.

When I came to the Philippines first, a kind but unaware French friend told me that I would see poverty such as I had never seen before. I had not the heart to tell him; I had seen worse — in Maryhill, Glasgow, for one.

[kofi]

maryhill glasgow
Maryhill, Glasgow in 1974

Yet on the other hand I have so many memories of Maryhill, Glasgow and most of them are good. I was never robbed, beaten up or threatened there. Nobody ever asked if I was a Catholic or a Protestant — a question I would get used to later. People were poor, yes, many had no shoes; but they had community and mutual respect. I see that today in the Philippines. We lost a great deal when we lost that.

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