The Guardian review 5 of my photos. I wasn’t meant to submit the one of myself in the mirror but it seems to have fallen in.  I’ll take their back handed compliment though.

‘Laura Ward’s portfolio of images show an amusing black and white take on the world. The first photograph of the man walking down the street in the snow is well captured, as is the image of her ‘Pops’. The photograph of the model in the toilets and the wing mirror in Paris are perhaps a little too obvious and do not offer as much depth to the viewer. The photograph of the bench in Brighton provides the perfect final image to this portfolio. It transports the viewer to the location it was shot, as they imagine standing on the beach with the frothy tide crashing over the pebbles on a wet day in Britain.’

View the post and pictures here.

I’ll never forget the first time I discovered who Charles Peterson was. It was 1996 and I was the Sub Pop shop in Seattle, falling wildly in love with a poster of Green River on stage. It was the kind of poster that made you feel like you were front row at that show. Mark Arm, all limbs and hair in a black and white blitz. I didn’t know at the time just how instrumental Peterson was in creating that gritty, underground, visual Sub Pop frenzy. That poster and subsequent images have managed to stay firmly in my head, accompanying the sounds of the bands he befriended and made look dirty and cool.

In the 90’s I dabbled with photography, but I was by far a bigger music lover. Peterson took photos of the bands I was crazy for. Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Hole, Green River, L7, Mother Love Bone, Melvins, Nirvana. I started going to shows in 1994 and dreamed of the day I’d see as many of those bands that were still together. Hole being one of the first shortly after Kurt’s death. Peterson took hundreds of iconic photos of Nirvana, particularly when they played to less than 100 people. Those pictures are a sweaty, frenetic mess and Kurt looks content in his underground fuzzy, grungey trio. Peterson was obviously trusted – no doubt a massive music fan and friend to these musicians.

There was one thing that made Peterson’s pictures stand out more than many other photographer at that time – he made me want to be behind the camera and understand how he created those gorgeous trails of light, and passionate fandom moments of people lost in the glory of it all.

In 2003, Peterson released a book called  ‘touch me i’m sick’. I’d wanted it since then, but waited and waited until my friend Julia bought it for my birthday this year. I think I screamed that she remembered, and I couldn’t think of the words to thank her. I know I could’ve bought the book at any time, but these photos were in my head and not going anywhere. The music was in my head. The many articles of bands I love from magazines with these photos next to them are still in my head. That photo of Eddie Vedder sat on the back seat of a bus will forever be in my head. Man, if only I’d taken that photo. Eddie Vedder introduces the book with two lines that make the book for me:

‘I love Charles Peterson…
I hate getting my picture taken’

I still have that Green River poster from Sub Pop with 13 year old blu-tac stuck to the back of it.

Soundgarden by Charles Peterson

I spent a beautiful October Sunday in Herne Hill with Co-Star.

I recently upgraded my phone, leaving behind my favourite phone cam. I will miss it, but I’m embracing new phone cam even though I don’t like it as much. I like camera phones for the spontaneity as much as the low-fi quality. These are all taken with old phone cam.

She’s just so easy to take photos of. I could snap away for hours and every picture would be great. Here are some of my favourite that I’ve taken of her.

The majority of my favourite photographers shoot mostly on film. I know I ought to do more on film, but many years of carting around suitcases of photographs from house to house means I’ve put it on hold until I’m living somewhere with plenty of storage space. That said, having everything digitally is a worry when you can’t rely on technology (mm.. I’ll never get an external hard drive again).

I do have a lot of love for my Canon 5d though. A lot of the time, I don’t need to do any post processing at all. I cropped some of the below photos into square but didn’t process any further.

If you want  some great film photography, check out my friends Stefan Vanthuyne, Nick Payne-Cook, Mike Heath and Matthew Morton. 

At Christmas I bought a Busbi for someone and I’ve been using it ever since (ha). It’s a great little video camera which is perfect for youtube quality viewing pleasures. Here is a little montage of footage taken over the course of this year. Busbi could be re-named Shake-Cam but you get what you pay for. The music is a cover of  The National’s ‘Mistaken for Strangers’, courtesy of my friend Ursa.

I can’t seem to embed vimeo on this blog, so you’ll have to go here to view.

I don’t think I’ve had enough time to really get to grips with my Lensbaby Muse (plastic optic) yet but here are a couple of images I’ve taken with it so far. Blury and light – just how I like it. All images taken on a Canon 5d body.

These two are taken with the Composer (glass optic). You can really notice the difference between plastic and glass.

In a bid to rid the streets of decay and support the local businesses, Jon Hughes, Seth Jacobson and I secured a former video shop for the month of June 2009. With crucial backing of the Herne Hill Traders Association and local Councils, the Apollo Video Store became home to a creative festival of art, film, music and performance provided by local talent and high profile artists.

Over the month I took some of the following pictures. Click to see larger and visit www.liveattheapollo.org for more information about the project.