Ryan Callanan Preview

On Thursday (always a Thursday) Nick and I drove down to Brighton to go to the preview of "The Symbols Won't Save Us" at Ink'd Gallery.

Scratchcards for the show... Not telling what's underneath! 

Amazing chair

Spotted a lovely Philippe Starck chair

Grid of smaller works... I loved the heart at the centre (most expenisve... of course)

Support weird indeed....

Ryan and David

A print which was bought for me by the lovely Claire!

Took some snaps and pondered the art, I think RYCA is going in a much better direction with the glass and metal creations in the style of pub signs, which is his background! They really need to be seen up close to appreciate the quality, and it's so surreal to see giant symbols in such high quality materials. I must say I love the new watermelon print too, a lot more refined and in keeping with his style. I even pimped my phone with one of the stickers! Made an effort with my nails too in honour of the show, blue pink and orange! (apologies for the iPhone photo...)

Mishka Autumn/Winter (Behind the Scenes)

On Tuesday I conducted some exciting interviews for Mixmag, shadowing a Mishka shoot for the Autumn/Winter lookbook. It was shot by Steve Glashier (brilliant video director and photog) with a tiny team led by Laurence, with me shooting behind-the-scenes images. Very exciting to find out he directed Kila Kela "Built Like An Amplifier" (one of my faves) and Juliette and the Licks "Hot Kiss". Also got some very good advice from him!

Fatboy Slim - Champion Sound - Dir Steve Glashier 2007 from Steve Glashier on Vimeo.

Amazing video for Fatboy Slim...

and his showreel:

Steve Glashier - Showreel - 2010 from Steve Glashier on Vimeo.

Who is this Jimmy Fingers?! Sort of like a UK Har Mar Superstar?! Amazing.

Anyway, during the course of the day I was lucky enough to speak to Redlight (DJ Clipz), Peigh, Alix Perez, Subscape and Rod Azlan, who I chatted to in depth about Chatham, the people in it and how his vision of it is -"it's like Brick Lane but with no money"! He is actually from the Medway area himself, so it was interesting to talk to someone so successful doing what he loves about the town and what it holds for us creative types!

I have transcribed the interviews (I did this on the tube while laughing to myself about how I had to record Redlight's again in high speed voices because we didn't press record first time and Rod talking about chips!) but I won't put them up yet until they're all sorted and finalised with Mixmag, as there are two more to come!

Here is one of the images, only sharing it so early just because they used the amazing David Walker's artwork as the background for the shot of Subscape and Rod Azlan! I sincerely hope they use that for the lookbook, would be great coverage. I'll post links to the Mixmag site when all the stuff is up!

If you go down to London Bridge today...

Had a very interesting week staying with the boyfriend, as his birthday came up and he's done basically EVERYTHING in his twenty eight years... so I booked The London Bridge Experience in the morning last minute... (Some interviews I had planned for Mixmag were cancelled the evening before...)


Now, the initial tour with the history of London Bridge is really good with great actors that really set the scene, and kinda freak you out as they're so into it. They're also really funny, kinda Bill bailey style... Nick and I couldn't stop laughing. Our team leader was a twelve year old in a fleece (!) that wasn't scared of ANYTHING. I was a bit annoyed at this because I was so freaked out it was unreal, screaming at everything. However, he has ruined his own fun because what was the point of him being there?! Along with quite a few people who answered the actors with "er... I don't speak English..."


Then they take you to The London Tombs... which you shouldn't do if you have a heart condition or asthma, but Nick decided to forgo his asthmatic condition to join in (as his isn't very serious anyway...) Apparently the tour works wonders for bringing on labour if you're pregnant and overdue... but bear in mind your kid will be born into evil!


This is honestly the scariest thing I've ever done in my life, I don't cope well with being scared (I will easily not sleep for days) with my worst film being "The Ring". I don't really want to spoil it for anyone but if you are anything like me, and could really do without placing yourself in that actual situation... you will love it! Because the adrenaline is amazing, saving me time and money on expensive/dangerous thrill seeking activities like sky diving... seriously, you have to go! Book the early/late bird deal on Ticketmaster and pay 11 quid each. Lovely. Although you walk out onto the streets of London at 12pm and feel like you're in 28 Days Later... every carton dropped by a delivery man made me jump out of my skin, so much so that I had to go sit by the river to chill out. No images sadly, as they are forbidden! But ultimately this is good because you need to go experience the sights, sounds and smells...

My work in the Oxo Tower & street art

Last week I visited the Oxo Tower on the Southbank to see an exhibition of Fashion Promotion third years' work... I did some photography for Blane Chapman's final portfolio, and also his final project which was a publication called Alt.

Also spotted some work by the very talented Laura Crouch which I shot months ago... excuse the plastic glare! Plastic + lights + camera = chaos!

Also exciting this week, I was given a print by the amazing David Walker, his work is a must-see. Beautiful portraits of women in constructed with spray paint, no brushes! I helped out with the artwork capture for David's release of new prints through Squarity, which have been created into some of the best digital artwork prints I've seen. (I don't recommend flattening one out with sunbed cream, candles and water bottles, though!)

Very proud of my 1/50 edition! It's going straight up on the wall as soon as I can get a frame.

Also, if you're around Brighton then check out this show...

Ryan Callanan (AKA RYCA)

17 JUNE 2011 — 10 JULY 2011

At the Ink_d gallery Brighton

A major solo show, focusing on his new work under his full name. I think it shows the more serious side of his work! Very excited for the private view! Check out his website here.