Stephen Shore

STEPHEN SHORE

I am very, very slowly but surely making my way through Jack Kerouac's infamous and iconic novel On The Road. Just to give you an idea about how long it's taking me, I began it at the end of June and still haven't finished yet. In June I got to chapter three and then for some reason decided I'd put it down and save it for another day, which I proceeded to do so in September, just before I moved to uni. Now again, as you can imagine, I didn't get very far because starting uni is a pretty full on experience, however I did eventually make it to good ol' chapter three, but then whatdyaknow, I put it down again. And now it's January, and my because my flatmate just ordered the same book and has avidly read through most of it in the space of a week, I've picked it up again and am proud to say I've finally made it to chapter four. Things are looking up guys. Now the relevance of this book to this post, all about the American photographer Stephen Shore, is that the cover of my version of On The Road is beautifully adorned with Stephen's photographs. And if I'm being completely honest, Stephen's photography is 100% the reason why I even picked up the book (I only seem to notice books that have pretty covers), and 50% the reason why I ended up buying it (the other 50% was the rather enticing blurb). Stephen has such a unique and keen artistic eye, and I adore how he finds the aesthetic beauty in everyday scenes that we're normally so oblivious to, as we rush about our daily lives, and presents it to you in such a compelling and delightful format. 

In case you didn't know, On The Road is a semi-autobiographical novel partly based on Jack Kerouac's own experiences. It's set between 1947-1950 and follows the young Sal Paradise as he zigzags across America with the notorious Dean Moriarty and friends. And linking it back to Stephen Shore, the amazing/ peculiar thing is that Stephen's incredible photography almost perfectly captures exactly what On The Road is all about. My favourite photographs of Stephen's, and the ones used on my book, are those taken during his own travels across America in the 70's, just like Jack Kerouac did thirty years before him. They capture quirky, joyful, everyday American scenes, full of character and nostalgia, in vibrant, lucid colour, and flicking through them one after another makes you long to hop on the nearest plane to America, find a car and just travel across the states for all eternity. Follow that with a couple of chapters of Jack Kerouac's On The Road, and you just might find yourself being restrained by airport security for trying to impulsively fly on that USA-bound plane and do that life changing road trip for yourself. It's a photography-literature match made in heaven, with both Stephen and Jack's work making you want to seize life, adventure and your dreams with both hands, and just get out there live. So now with that, I would love to share some of my favourite Stephen Shore photography with you, and urge you to read On The Road (and make it past chapter 4,), in the hopes that both inspire you to go out into the world, explore it, and live your life freely, beautifully and wildly.

http://stephenshore.net/

(all photos taken from the link above & belong to Stephen Shore)

  

   

Dayyuuummm right.

An Afternoon At The Museum

AN AFTERNOON AT THE MUSEUM

A couple of weeks ago, I was enjoying one of those lazy Saturdays where you don't really do an awful lot. I'd been for a morning run near where I live, which involved me huffing and panting down the Curry Mile looking like a human tomato, and got back to find my flatmates all chilling in the kitchen. I proceeded to join them, and we subsequently spent a good five hours just sat around the kitchen table, chattering away and admiring the naff weather outside. It was whilst doing this that a little seed of inspiration began to bloom inside my mind. I'd been thinking about potential blog posts, when I suddenly thought back to the day after I moved in, and my flatmate and I decided to visit the Manchester Museum of all places. The museum is part of my university (sounds nerdy but I think that that is just insaaaanely awesome) and I can honestly say it's one of the best museums I've ever been to, which is a lot coming from someone who doesn't normally get the point of museums and so wanders around aimlessly without taking a single thing in. It isn't a massive museum, but it's full of some really amazing, beautiful and interesting exhibits, which are presented so artistically and aesthetically that the museum essentially becomes an incredible source of artistic inspiration. 

And that is mainly why on that rainy, lazy Saturday, I decided at four in the afternoon that I would dress inappropriately for the weather (ballet pumps and no umbrella in rainy Manchester= not my best idea), and head off on the bus, armed with my camera, to go visit the museum. I hadn't been back since the time I went with my flatmate, and recalling how good I'd found it the last time, and knowing how awesome any photos from the museum would look on my blog, it seemed like a really logical idea. And even though I got incredibly drenched, it was wonderful escaping the gloom outside and exploring the wonderful museum all over again, and now a couple of weeks later, I'm ready to show off my photographs to the world. I hope you like what you see, and if you ever find yourself in Manchester I'd highly recommend you pay the museum a visit (even if you don't normally like museums), cos you will laaaav it.

http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/