The case of the missing mojo

Like most creative people, my productivity and work ethic has its peaks and troughs. Right now, we have, ladies and gentlemen, a trough. A rather big one.

First of all the excuses:

1. There is a recession and we're all gonna die.
2. I have been suffering from an extended, erratic bout of cluster headaches that are supposed to have buggered off.
3. Its a bad time of year for business.
4. I am in love with RedBubble. It distracts me horribly.
   
5. I can no longer advertise for free on Gumtree.
6. I am desperate to work with people. I work alone and have no one to feed off, to banter with, to discusss ideas with, to compete with.
7. I no longer feel creative when I'm designing a logo/flier/ad/ I feel like I'm trying to save it from destruction by the client. Who usually wins.
8. I want to take photographs. That is what I love.
   
9. I am tired, tired, tired.
10. I feel like a cheap whore, appreciated not so much for the pleasure as the price. (Yeah, yeah, I am my own creation etc.)
    

I have in the past spent a good deal of energy trying to encourage small businesses to be positive and to seize the moment etc. Now is the time we should be claiming market share hand over fist as the big businesses turn to smaller, more agile and cost-efficient businesses to deliver goods and services. But there is just so much GLOOM!

This whole recession is not so much as a result of the banks being utterly bloody useless, (they are D'oh!) but the media hyping things up. Good people of the m, yes that's you Mr Bloody Peston, the stock market is fueled by SENTIMENT! If you upset a trader he will cause stocks to plummet. If you upset a herd of traders, you get a fecking landslide. Stop doing it! Stop making us think we should not have bothered to get out of bed.

No one has their eye on the ball. Not me, not the government. More energy has gone into trying to strip some ex bank MD of his pension than in trying to get the banks to buy in to the latest central bank interest cuts. Mr Government (that's you, Darling), pull your finger out and start instructing the banks that you part-own on what action you want them to take. Make them lend. And kill this bonus culture while you're about it, if it bothers you that much. You're the boss! Put a Cap on bonuses for 3 years - nothing above 100k for the most senior execs. (Don't worry, Darling, they won't all leave banking suddenly - no one else will have them!)

Such malaise!

I have some work on... just a little and its like wading through treacle. A constant stream of severe headaches serves only to interrupt my pointless procrastination and ineffectual fluttering of my hands as I wonder what to do, how to save myself, how to save my business, how to save the world.

Such negativity! From Moi? I am astounded. Not.

Here's what I will do to turn this situation on its head:

1. Every day I will commit a deliberate, gratuitous and wanton act of kindness. I think this is necessary because I forget to be kind and I forget how fortunate I am, even though I feel unfortunate myself sometimes.
2. I am going to do this blog daily and list my achievements
3. I will create at least one "keeper" photograph every day either from my existing stocks or from shooting something new
4. I will do client work before ANY of my own work each day.
5. I will phone at least one client every day and will grow a more mature attitude to telephones in general, which I detest)
6. I will start being less dismissive of my work. I will no longer let a client ruin my work for the sake of expedience. The customer is often wrong.
   
7. I WILL find a way of getting a new camera so that I can start seriously shooting High Res. stock images.
   
8. I will take a walk of at least one hour a day. With camera, regardless of weather.
9. I will eat properly and sensibly.
10. I will stop dwelling on things that I cannot change.
11. I will treat my only member of staff with the love and respect she deserves.
12. I will work hard for the future that I won't be able to enjoy if I don't.
    

Plundering the archives...

I've recently been adding photographs to my RedBubble gallery as well as completely rearranging my catalogues of images - everything shot since 2003.

I now use Adobe's exceptional Lightroom as my main tool for organising my images and am slowly converting the chaos that moving my iPhoto library caused, into some semblance of order. I am still scratching my head a bit as to where vast tracts of my archives lie, but I'm sure I'll eventually find them. I hope.

Anyway, what I wanted to do today was simply show you a few of the images I made since 2003 in the hope that you'll be impressed.

Here goes:

Wet Cobbles (2008)

Click to enlarge. Copyright 2009 Paul Davey Creative

I shot this image in the cobbled surface at the entrance to The Tower of London at Tower Bridge. It had been raining and I’d been photographing reflections – one of those days when I was right in the groove!

Prints of this image in various shapes and sizes are for sale here.

Datchet Dawn (2003)

Click to enlarge. Copyright 2009 Paul Davey Creative

This photograph was taken from the bridge over the River Thames at Datchet, about half a mile from Windsor Castle. England was suffering from a heatwave and I got up very early to try and get some shots before the temperatures rose too high. (I come from Africa where it can get very hot but I have never been as uncomfortable as I was in the 38c temperatures later that weekend!)

I particularly remember gorgeous cool stillness of that morning as I wandered around the area looking for photographic opportunities.

If you want to purchase this photograph, its avilable in various styles/sizes here.

Bournemouth Pier (2007)

Click to enlarge. Copyright 2009 Paul Davey Creative

I captured this image when I was in Bournemouth to shoot my son’s band which had a show there that evening. There was a long wait between sound checks and when they were to go on stage, so I went AWOL…

England V Wales (2004)

Click to enlarge. Copyright 2009 Paul Davey Creative

On my way back from a commercial shoot I decided to try and find close access to the Severn Bridge carrying the M4 motorway into Wales. I eventually managed to find the road leading to the underside of the bridge and enjoyed an hour or two’s R’n’R and shooting before deciding to do the same with the other Severn crosssing.

Absence

Convergence
Available for sale as a greetings card, laminated print, mounted print, Canvas print or framed print from here.

I do apologise to the handful of you who read blog for my failure to post since January 2nd. There is a good reason: I was too lazy.

I have spent weeks procrastination about which online 'showcase I will sign up to so as to display and hopefully sell, some of my photographs. In the end, I decided to sign up with two, deviant art and redbubble.

Tower Bridge
Hopefully a more "gritty" image of this much photographed landmark.
Available for sale in various sizes and guises here.

Of the two, redbubble seems to offer the better finished product - and a generally more mature membership; its more serious. I have so far found deviant art to be rather "high school", but we'll have to see. I am only using its non-subscriber service until such time as (if) I feel its worth spending the money to sign up. Its all about costs and benefits.

I have so far sold (Thanks mate- you know who you are) one photograph through Redbubble (It will be slow to build up sales) and have made, wait for it, a profit of £7.20 - which is my 20% mark-up over cost price. So I will not be buying my Dutch barge any time soon :-)

Cutty Sark
This stylised image is of the hoarding that surrounds the dock where the Cutty Sark is being restored in Greenwich. It was one of those "white sky" days, so I gave it a subtle tweak in Photoshop!!
Available for sale here.

What I have little doubt tat I will be doing in the fullness of time is signing up to SmugMug's pro service. But I need cash and want to be selling only my very best 12-25 Megapixel Tiffs from there. Those photographs will be obscenely expensive and in very limited issue.

Work is a bit slow at the moment - typical of this time of year but I do have a few jobs that I'm churning through with a couple of other potential opportunities in the offing.

A tale of true courage

I have resolved to try and keep this blog as much as possible about my creative business as a designer and a photographer, but then along comes an out-of-topic story of such significance that I have to have my say. Please accept my apologies and understand that what you are about to read is deeply significant to all who admire the perseverance of those who struggle against adversity.

My attention was drawn via my Facebook page to an article showing the true grit, courage and determination of one of Zimbabwe's top policemen to stop the rampant spread of democracy in that country. His name, for those who are keen to remember such details of this 'hero' is Superintendent Makedenge. This is his brave story, as quoted from zimdaily.com.

ZIMBABWE - HARARE - Lawyers have been told that Superintendent Makedenge and his Harare central police station law and order department henchmen assaulted a two year-old baby using cruel torture techniques that were meant to induce a confession from the mother.

A two year old baby is among political detainees held in the filthy Chikurubi female remand prison.

Lawyers were allowed access to the female activists on Monday, ZimDaily can reveal, but were denied client-lawyer privileges.

The mother told a team of lawyers that went to Chikurubi that the two-year-old baby was assaulted by the goon squad and needed urgent medical attention which has been denied, even in prison.

No prison doctor has been availed to the opposition and rights activist that were sent back to Chikurubi after appearing in court yesterday...

The story continues, but I think the essence of Supt. Makedenge's brave and selfless act is captured in the above.

How will we honour this brave fighter who single-handedly, with just the help of his fellow officers managed to face down this deadly two year old?

Supt Makedenge, I want to meet you so that I can give you what you deserve. A thousand- times over.

If anyone shares my dream of meeting the brave Makedenge, form an orderly queue.

Light on

A cold, post Christmas Sunday had me itching to go out and take some photographs. I had been ogling lots of other photographers' websites and was inspired. I didn't have time to travel far, so I decided once again to walk from home and see what I could dig out. I thought I'd pay close attention to how the light works on objects and see what I could come up with...

Pavement: Into the Light
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative
Click to enlarge

A Wife-Beater Meets an Appropriate End
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative
Click to enlarge

Slow Dance
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative
Click to enlarge

Tracks
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative
Click to enlarge

West London Sunset
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative
Click to enlarge

Hot Cross
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative
Click to enlarge

Boxing Day Walk...

Division

St Katherine Dock, London
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative

Eems. She has stolen my heart. I want this little warship.
St Katherine Dock, London
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative

Tower Bridge
London
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative

Pigeon-proof
Tower Bridge Pier, London
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative

Tower Bridge
London
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative

Last Kiss
St Saviour's Dock, London
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative

Billow
Ice Wharf, London
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative

Evisceration
Ice Wharf, London
Copyright 2008 Paul Davey Creative

NO to FIFA World Cup in South Africa!

As thousands of Zimbabweans lie dying of cholera in various provinces around the country - and now in neighbouring countries too - the world is at last starting to take notice. Yes, the unfolding humanitarian disaster that has been happening for ten long years is finally being taken seriously.

How so? Well, Mr Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has said Mugabe is very naughty or something similar. Mr Obama has been quiet, but I expect some words post-inauguration. Mr Bush has said Mugabe is very naughty too, probably after Ms Condi Rice told him who Mugabe was and showed him this place called Africa, an island off the coast of Florida.

But yes, its been ten years of agonised cries for help by a population suffering terribly at the hands of one of the most evil people to ever walk the surface of the planet.

South Africa, the regional powerhouse has for the last ten years led the 'mediation' between Mugabe's ZanuPF and Tsvangirai's MDC. Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" has for ten years failed. For ten years we have all been pointing out the absolutely, totallly and irrefutably obvious, that "quiet diplomacy" is the very LAST thing needed to remove a recognised genocidal butcher from power.

In fact, I believe "quiet diplomacy" is the carefully and deliberately applied slow-death torture that Thabo Mbeki has enjoyed inflicting, together with his cohort Mugabe on Zimbabweans. They have acted in collusion. After ten years, that is obvious. Mbeki has reinforced Mugabe's position time and time again. He feels and the ANC feels, that they owe Mugabe a favour; that his loyalty to the ANC during the Apartheid era must now be repaid at all costs.

The truth is, Mugabe did not help the ANC. It was us, the people of Zimbabwe who all helped the ANC. The very same people who are now suffering at the inactive hands of the ANC. Mugabe put our country at the ANC's disposal. Our country, not his country.

And this is the basic fault with African politics. History has shown time and time again, right across Africa, that most of the leaders never seem to realise that they lead a people. They look at only themselves as important, and see only counterparts as important. And the reason is simple. They help each other to subvert freedoms, to keep democracy at arms length. Mugabe helped Mbeki; Mbeki's quiet diplomacy has helped Mugabe. Mugabe helped Mobuto Sese Seko of Zaire, then rapidly switched to helping his replacement, Laurent Kabila. He helped Marxist President Samora Machel bring Mozambique to its knees, fighting off the pesky concept of democracy. He mollycoddled the utterly useless President Kaunda of Zambia... there are more... the club of incompetents all wrecking Africa in a circle-jerk of self -importance, greed and corruption.

But it is South Africa where the spotlight falls. South Africa has the regional influence to dramatically change the course of history in any of its neighbouring countries. It should have used its influence in 2000, nipping in the bud what was a very nasty situation even then. Instead, it chose to side with the Mugabe rather than with Zimbabwe.

Now, when South Africa prepares to pose and preen on the world stage as World Cup hosts, its neighbour has to suffer the dreadful consequences of its inaction. Any firm action taken by South Africa now would be welcomed, but it will have been too late. Mugabe should have been dealt with in 2000. There is simply no excuse.

African leaders, very wrongly, enjoy a lot of leeway when it comes to their governance and moral conduct. They are forgiven a lot (just look at Mugabe's genocide which everyone swept under the carpet). And because they are forgiven for one thing, they carry on and do something worse until they are all behaving like... like... ummm well, African Leaders.

Time to stop it. South Africa must be made to utiliuse its influence. What possible harm can be done over and above that which is already being done by Mugabe? South Africa must act as it did years ago to bring the Rhodesian crisis to an end or if it would rather carry on supporting Mugabe and his (really quite small) band of thugs, then it must lose the right to host the World Cup. There are other more deserving, more democratically free countries, to host the tournament. Let voting South Africans suffer the consequences of their leaders' inaction, the consquences of electing to power a party that would rather support a dictator than his desperate people, and let it be an example to the rest of the swine that rule in Africa. This is no misdemeanour we're talking of. Its a crime against humanity. All 13 million of us Zimbabweans. South Africa could have, should have helped avert it.

****************

I have little doubt that many South Africans will feel I'm being rather unfair. Let me just offer a word of caution: I have seen Zimbabwe squander its freedom. Our voters allowed our leaders to ride roughshod, first over tiny freedoms, then later (when it was too late) anything they chose. Right Now South Africans need to get a grip of their freedom because I see the signs of it being wasted. You've set your standards too low. Expect better from your leaders, expect better from your ANC - and watch them like a hawk! They are way too powerful - just like ZanuPF.