Last month we embarked on our first Strong Island photo shoot for our new Summer tee shirt colourway, red. Now, I say photo shoot, it was more like just going out and having a laugh with mates. No pro set ups. Just a 35mm camera, a little point & shoot, 2 willing participants in Alanna Smith and Pete Miles, lovely weather and some unique locations. The new tee is simply a reverse of the Winter tee with the logo on the back and the anchor logo on the front. This seasons must have, obviously….
First up is the disused Greyhound Stadium in Tipner on Target Road. A very well known location, even if you don’t know how to get there and have only seen it from the M275. Now in complete disarray the track offers some amazing photographic opportunities and is full of character behind all the smashed glass and burned out rooms.
Click on the cover images below to see both Tristan and Pauls lookbooks, then make sure to head over to the newly opened shop and buy a tee HERE.
Last month we embarked on our first Strong Island photo shoot for our new Summer tee shirt colourway, red. Now, I say photo shoot, it was more like just going out and having a laugh with mates. No pro set ups. Just a 35mm camera, a little point & shoot, 2 willing participants in Alanna Smith and Pete Miles, lovely weather and some unique locations. The new tee is simply a reverse of the Winter tee with the logo on the back and the anchor logo on the front. This seasons must have, obviously….
After visiting the Greyhound Stadium we headed to The Bridge Tavern for a few beers whilst we waited for Ben Mills to come and pick us up and take our small crew out in to The Solent. I’ve always wanted to go and get up close to the forts and buoys and the fact that both Alanna and Pete were up for a bit of ‘off boat’ photography made for a great shoot.
Click on the cover images below to see both Tristan and Pauls lookbooks, then make sure to head over to the newly opened shop and buy a tee HERE.
Sikes recently set up a new Facebook group dedicated to Southsea cyclists. It’s quite simply a place to talk about up coming rides, show cycle routes, help each other out with parts and tools, post photos, see who’s up for a ride and general Southsea cycling goodness.
Sikes has set the group up so you can chat like you do with friends and see which group members are online. This way you can ask questions or even see if you can encourage someone out for a cruise. Get involved with the Southsea Cycle Club over at Facebook HERE. Nice one.
Bike photos by Tristan & Sikes Photo from his Facebook.
Local Photographer and owner of Wallspace on Albert Road Matt Sills recently worked on a project with a Jack Challoner (World Champion Trials Rider) creating some cool stills and shooting a video in the Nike 6.0 Tunnel. Working alongside Carwell Casswell productions and local photographers Matt Saxey, Giles Babbidge and Steve Stringer they captured some amazing photography and very unique footage of Jack riding his trials bike in an environment totally different from anything he’s done before or usually does in competitions. Skills all round.
“The shoot was over two long days and we had a crew and cast of about 13 people. There were a few challenges along the way such as no mains power and the remote location. To supply power we had two generators running. This combined with Jacks bike running and a severe lack of ventilation made the working conditions a bit tricky at times but regular trips outside to Steve’s BBQ made it bearable.”
Recently Matt was also interviewed by Photo Professional magazine about hiring specialist kit for jobs. He told them how it is impossible for a working photographer to own all of the kit they need so hiring offers a good solution when you need something special for a job. Click the magazine spead for a closer look at Matts Case Study.
From 1984 to 1986 people, in particular school children, all got involved in collecting information on their local area to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the Doomsday Book by creating a new, updated, electronic version. The collected information became The Doomsday Project which was a collection of laserdiscs and special BBC computers. The country was broken down in to ‘D’ blocks with the data collection done mostly by schools, the information included text on local geography, history, legends and also more contemporary personal things such as favourite music, games, etc. As well as the text each block could also contain up to 3 photos. Many schools bought the discs and computers as a learning resource (the World Wide Web as a concept was still some years away).
A few days ago the BBC launched a new website where all of this previously difficult to access information (only a handful of working systems still exist) is now online and searchable. It’s an amazing glimpse in to Portsmouth and Southsea life in the early to mid 80s and there are some great images. The new website also allows you to upload new information and photos too.
If you are 38+ you may well have memories of being involved in the project in collecting and writing information. Personally I remember the day my group went out to a tiny village in Essex in the hot summer but instead of writing things we played near the river and weir. Oh well. Does anyone have any memories of taking part in the project? If so please add a comment, would love to hear people’s memories.
You can find out more about the original project on HERE and the BBC article and access the online version below:
www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday
I’ve been holding on to this for a while now as I wanted to make a feature of it and had to wait for the exhibition to finish to give it pride of place on the front page. If like myself you’re always looking around at our local architecture you will have noticed many of the buildings within the book Thomas Ellis Owen Shaper of Portsmouth, ‘Father of Southsea’. Some could even be right on your doorstep but you have never noticed, or peeked over that high wall. Thomas Ellis Owen’s work is all over the city and you’d be forgiven for walking past as a lot of it is hidden or down those streets you may not stroll down too often. Other buildings however are right in your face. Ever noticed the huge block of flats at the entrance to Waitrose, the detailing on the building at Dover Court opposite the old Havana bar?
“Thomas Ellis Owen is probably the best known of Portsmouth’s nineteenth century architects, his construction of villas and substantial terraces in Southsea being responsible for the emergence of the district as a middle class locality. His work was recognised by Pevsner and Lloyd in their magisterial Buildings of England: Hampshire, and later by a rather more detailed architectural enquiry by two students, Preedy and Stewart. My own research was principally concerned with dating Owen’s properties and analysing their inhabitants. What Sue Pike has done is to cast the net very much wider, not only by providing great detail about Owen’s family, but also by demonstrating the impressive breadth of his activities outside architecture. Indeed, his interests were so wide that there must have been few aspects of Portsmouth’s development in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s in which he was not involved. Infrastructural fields such as gas supply, the Portsea Canal, railways, the Camber Docks and hospitals lay within his purview, while he assisted in the purchase of land for one of Portsmouth’s defining features, the Palmerstonian forts. His tithe map has proved of inestimable value to local historians. Meanwhile Owen was an important local politician. All these facets of Owen’s life have been fully laid bare in this thoroughly well researched book by Sue Pike, who is to be congratulated on her labours.” Professor Ray Riley
Thomas Ellis Owen Shaper of Portsmouth, ‘Father of Southsea’ is a really interesting read and contains stunning colour photos of many Owen properties in Southsea and Alverstoke by Gosport photographer, Tim Martin. There is no real target audience and hopefully it will appeal to old and young alike. The detailed captions may be helpful to first year architecture students but it showcases Southsea well and may well appeal equally to academics, photographers, interested newcomers and people who just want a really nice book to put on their coffee table. I’m a huge fan of both history and architecture so this book is a real winner for me, and I have no doubt that if that’s not really your bag you will still appreciate what Thomas Ellis Owen Shaper of Portsmouth, ‘Father of Southsea’ has to offer.
You can purchase a hardback copy for £25 via the publishers www.tricornbooks.co.uk and www.whsmith.co.uk and read up on the book and the author Sue Pike over at www.thomasellisowen.co.uk
All is finally revealed and we have some rather exciting news for you today. It’s our announcement of the 1st Strong Island local creatives exhibition at The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth. The Round Tower and surrounding buildings are currently being turned into a contemporary creative quarter and for the past two years extensive work has been done to clear out the interiors, fix leaks and identify usage.
The Round Tower is now soon to be opened as a continuing gallery space and Strong Island are proud to be involved in the very first exhibition. Over 30 local creatives have been invited to participate and we will soon be revealing the names. You can follow the progress of the gallery space and each individual creative over at www.theroundtower.co.uk. Paul Gonella is currently making a documentary of the progress leading up the exhibition and this will be available to view on the website in due course.
We will be making a pretty huge thing of this in the coming weeks and really hope that you can all make it down to have a look and say hello. Remember it’s you the readers, contributors, creatives and locals that make Strong Island what it is and this exhibition is a direct result of this. We appreciate everything that people have done for us to reach this point. Having the first exhibition at The Round Tower is a huge honour for us, and we must say a incredible thank you to Claire Sambrook who has arranged and helped organise the whole thing.
Dates of the exhibition: Launch Night – Friday 15th April from 6pm. Open to the public 16th April – 1st May 10-3pm.
Posters and Logo have been designed by Tristan Savage and the website by Paul Gonella. Thanks to Stephan, Paul and Jack from Badger Press for helping with the screen-printed posters.
Thursday night saw the opening of the PRINT THIS Photography Exhibition at Wallspace Gallery in Albert Road. The show is an exhibition of photos submitted to the PRINT HERE photography competition put on at the end of last year with Bored, Blueprint Skateboards and Quiet Corners to mark the launch of the Blueprint X Quiet Corners series of decks. The opening was also supported by Carhartt and London’s Meantime brewery and had an amazing turnout, despite the bad weather Southsea was heavily represented plus people made it over from Gosport, Chichester and all the way from London.
The exhibition is now open today and next Saturday (plus some week days to be decided) so feel free to pop by between 10am and 5pm. A selection of Quiet Corners prints and other bits and pieces will also be on sale too.
A HUGE thank you to Tom, Gary, Hussey, Matt Sills, Dan and Paul at Blueprint, Meantime and everyone that contributed to the show and a big thank you to everyone who made it out for the opening too.
Photos and video by Claire Samborook. If you have any photos from the event please email them over.
More photos and video HERE.
Together Gemma Austin & Philippa Parkes make up the photographic duo that is Cotton Candy Wedding Photography. Specialising in artistic and modern styles with a very vintage and creative feel, they have really created an interesting and individual way to make your day that bit more unique.
Taking a twist on the more traditional style of wedding photography, it feels like a little step back in time. Utilising what looks like digital photography with a few post production tweaks the photos look fantastic. A lot of emphasis seems to go on letting the wedding take place naturally. A much more organic way of really capturing the moments throughout the day.
Get in touch with the girls over at www.cottoncandyweddings.co.uk and check out their blog where they indulge themselves in other photographic projects and a little about their world over at their Blog. Why not follow them on Facebook as well.
Somewhere in sunny Southsea is a wonderful place called Ye Olde Bike Shoppe. It’s run by Stuart Trett and is just an amazing space and a bike lovers haven.
It has only been open for 6 weeks and Stuart is keen to service and provide loving care to your bike. Known for a while in the cycling circles of Portsmouth they have started by word of mouth and reputation means a lot enabling them to grow even more. All types of bikes are catered for and they will even give it some bling and customise it exactly to your own individual needs. They have a workshop, garden and the toilet is a joy to use as it’s filled with ‘bike love’ statements written with a sharpie on the walls. There are big future plans but that’s all hush hush at the moment.
Click the video image below for a taste of the place and for further details contact Stuart Trett on 07887 973 014 or email : stutrett@yahoo.com
They also have a Facebook page and make sure to check out the Flickr set for more pics as well.
Stu also donated bikes to the Strong Island Raffle on September 30th at Belle Isle. What a nice guy.
Follow Us