2024-02-16 14:04
Last year I made a book. As often happens with a creative undertaking, it has taken some time and distance to work out how I feel about it, especially as it is formed from very personal expe… Read More
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Marc Provins Blog
marcprovins.blogspot.co.uk
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A photography blog written by Marc Provins, a photographer based in Manchester, England.
2021-10-30 12:23
One of the creative highlights for me this year was collaborating with The Long Shot Exp. on a lookbook for their hat drop back in March. Such a forward thinking brand, with meticulously cra… Read More
2021-10-30 12:23
If you'd like to access my cyanotype video workshops, they are still live on The Walker Art Gallery website:Cyanotype prints for beginnersAdvanced cyanotype prints Read More
2021-10-30 12:22
I've gathered this project together here, although it really just started as instagram posts and me keeping myself entertained/ creative through the early weeks of the pandemic. On reflectio… Read More
2019-07-25 19:55
News:For the last ten months or so I've been collaborating with two other photographers; Michael McGinley and Mike Stephens, exploring how our work overlaps and works together. We are n… Read More
2019-07-25 19:52
Admittedly this is a little after the event but I use my blog as an archive of my creative work, so I'm adding a little update of a collaborative exhibition early this year with printmaker A… Read More
2019-01-18 16:27
Walking east from Manchester city centre, passing through the remarkable, unstoppable march of regeneration. Roaming through Ancoats, New Islington, Bradford, Beswick. Street names with hist… Read More
2019-01-18 16:23
I've a German friend who calls the light in Manchester 'greyshine'. It's our most common look, soft diffused light bouncing back off a ceiling of velvety grey cloud. There's no point doing a… Read More
2018-11-01 21:19
L1 City CentreL2 City CentreL3 City Centre, Everton, VauxhallL4 Anfield, Kirkdale, WaltonL5 Anfield, Everton, Kirkdale, VauxhallL6 Anfield, City Centre, Everton, Fairfield, Kensington, Tuebr… Read More
2018-10-24 19:42
I glide in and out of cities every day, travelling by train between Manchester and Liverpool and back again. Warrington is bang in the middle. I realised this week that my periphery series i… Read More
2018-10-11 16:01
When the Trafford Centre opened 20 years ago I despised it. It's cheap, fake architecture, borrowing from every period in human history seemed the height of bad taste. Built by the uber corp… Read More
2018-09-06 15:08
eentweedrieA triptych of images made as part of my ongoing Periphery series, this time from Antwerp, Belgium. My starting point is the edge of towns and cities where I investigate the relati… Read More
2018-05-27 18:58
Two leaves from the fatsia japonica in my front garden. One leaf is fresh growth, the other at least a year old, and looking the worse for wear after riding out our seven month winter and th… Read More
2018-05-20 21:01
2018-04-28 20:01
It's been a long, strange winter and this apparently delicate beauty has survived it, Beast from the East and all. It's one of several hellebores in my garden, a gift a few years ago from de… Read More
2018-04-28 19:49
I've been moving this amaryllis around the house for a couple of weeks, hanging on to it so that I could make a still life. However my life has been anything but still and I've just not had… Read More
2018-02-16 21:25
I've been moving this amaryllis around the house for a couple of weeks, hanging on to it so that I could make a still life. However my life has been anything but still and I've just not had… Read More
2017-12-31 16:20
Today is the last day for Hull to be UK City of Culture, but only just the beginning of the reinvention of the city. I've visited twice during the year (and once a few years ago) and have be… Read More
2017-10-22 16:24
I had a curious thought recently; you might call it a moment of clarity, and something that makes me read my memories slightly differently. Growing, gardening, tending the land for me is a f… Read More
2017-10-14 20:26
I've been meaning to photography these delicate Japanese anemone for weeks, but life got busy and they shed their petals. They've reached nearly a metre tall in my front garden, putting on a… Read More
2017-09-12 21:28
This is the second in a new series of pictures made on the periphery of towns and cities. I made this one on my recent visit to Arles in southern France. As always I'm interested in the… Read More
2017-09-04 19:21
As the twists and turns of world events get evermore bewildering and alarming I retreat to the beauty and rhythm of nature. These eryngiums weren't grown by me but a gift from friends. I've… Read More
2017-08-30 18:57
2017-08-10 15:14
2017-08-07 20:10
2017-07-30 22:05
Delicate strength. Read More
2017-07-16 19:21
Some things are shared by everyone on Earth. 30 words for shade:hijegerizpeадценнеhladсянкаombrahladodst&iac&hell…Read More
2017-07-05 21:16
This acanthus is growing in my front garden. I like that I inherited it from the previous owner of my home, or maybe the one before that. Several neighbours told me in my first spring here w… Read More
2017-06-29 09:07
These pictures were made using the natural light coming into my improvised studio, late in the evening just after the summer solstice. The leaves are from the gunnera in my front garden, whi… Read More
2017-06-25 09:00
2017-06-18 08:37
Making a home comes from the the core of me, I've always done it, I’m absorbed by the domestic. This is the place that I'm lucky enough to have that feels safe and secure. I like to ar… Read More
2017-06-12 20:10
I've always found the periphery of the city an interesting space to explore. It can feel like a secret concrete garden, forgotten and ignored. In the case of Manchester and Salford who sit o… Read More
2017-06-11 17:06
Jugaad - a colloquial Hindi and Punjabi word, which roughly translates as an innovative fix or a simple work-around, a solution that bends the rules. It is also often used to signify creativ… Read More
2017-06-10 20:28
2017-06-10 19:24
2017-06-05 17:19
It's been raining all day and these beauties aren't built to survive in such a downpour. So I retrieved and photographed them before they become compost. There's something poetic about such… Read More
2017-06-02 13:36
Although I love growing and colour I wouldn't have chosen roses for my garden. I inherited these from the last owner of my home, and despite some tentative pruning and tying in they've been… Read More
2017-03-13 21:18
2017-02-18 14:31
One of the advantages of taking the train to work is extra reading time, and by extension extra thinking time. I'm ploughing through books at the moment and my world is expanding thanks to m… Read More
2017-02-10 16:06
I’m new to commuting and it’s been quite an eyeopener getting the tram to Manchester Victoria each morning and then a train to Liverpool. The trams are full to capa… Read More
2017-02-05 18:53
2017-02-03 17:19
2016-12-12 20:09
akin ally amalgamate associate cement coalesce combine commingle consolidate couple fuse incorporate integrate interface intermix join link meld merge mingle synthes… Read More
2016-12-04 17:20
I'm increasingly nostalgic for a time before mobile phones Read More
2016-12-02 07:38
London is a very big city You could lose yourself in LondonYou could find yourself in London Read More
2016-10-16 17:04
My blog is usually a fairly positive, upbeat place but today I want to share a concern that I've been dwelling on recently, wondering how I can do something about it. Over the last year… Read More
2016-09-12 19:03
2016-09-05 20:38
Apparently psychological studies have shown that single people tend to see happy couples everywhere, whereas people in a relationship tend to see happy single people.Part one of this post ca… Read More
2016-09-05 20:36
Apparently psychological studies have shown that single people tend to see happy couples everywhere, whereas people in a relationship tend to see happy single people.Part 2 of this post is t… Read More
2016-08-22 08:48
The car radio was on in the background during a short journey the other day, when I heard the line 'that place between above & below'. From that point on I was transfixed by the programm… Read More
2016-08-19 14:42
I've often found the book I'm reading permeates into the pictures I make. I suppose that's what most creative undertakings are, a meeting of ones internal world and the world happening… Read More
2016-08-17 16:20
I'm quietly pleased and rather surprised that I've managed to maintain this blog for so long, it has become my visual diary, a constant in my life and an archive of my picture making over th… Read More
2016-08-09 19:25
2016-08-01 08:45
I love the summer, when I have time to walk slowly and really see the world around me. Read More
2016-07-26 14:33
2016-07-20 08:29
I have a love/hate relationship with gallery spaces Read More
2016-07-19 07:29
Seeing, feeling, observing, responding, experiencing, living Read More
2016-06-13 19:16
You have to live in the moment if you like growing plants. Read More
2016-06-03 17:32
The light in St Ives is special and looking out towards the edge of our planet has always excited and confused me in equal measure, the primal and the intellectual struggling for control. Th… Read More
2016-05-09 06:54
2016-04-08 19:30
I've been walking slowly. I want to notice the texture of the city, the history in it's surface. It becomes a meditation on material construction, bringing the background slowly into focus… Read More
2016-03-31 18:00
Where next? Don't be scared, just follow your nose Read More
2016-03-31 18:00
Where next? Don't be scared, just follow your nose Read More
2016-03-29 17:19
AbigailBarneyClodaghDesmondEvaFrankGertrudeHenry Imogen Jake Katie Read More
2016-03-28 10:42
Like hydrangeas, camellias remind me of grandmothers and the past. I think of them as typically British, a staple English garden flower, but just like the hydrangea they originate in Asia. W… Read More
2016-03-18 21:29
Lack of sleep, dreams lingering into real life, real life flowing into dreams. The city seems to be a beautiful, clumsy series of shapes and colours. Read More
2016-02-24 09:52
I've been asked to contribute some of my Horizon work to a group exhibition opening this week at PS Mirabel. The images were made between 2010 and 2012 and having to look back and select som… Read More
2016-02-21 17:59
The periodical arrives unsolicited through my letterbox and the light arrives unpredictably through my window, brought together on the floor of my home.Styling, colour and my home… Read More
2016-02-18 18:00
I've been toying with some new ideas over the last couple of months but had no time to explore them. So today I started. Magazines keep coming through my letterbox for someone who lived… Read More
2016-02-14 17:37
I woke up twice last night, the first time I was having a dream about Spaghetti Hoops which I've not eaten or thought about since childhood, but now I'm craving them. The second time I was d… Read More
2015-12-21 13:47
Once a year we take the photography first year students on a residential to London for three days. It's both exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure for all concerned. The sta… Read More
2015-12-19 11:50
On the 19th December 2014 I started a new life. It was the end of a two decade relationship, it was the day our shared home was sold and I set out as a single person again, Olive the cat cam… Read More
2015-11-08 18:50
Ferns are one of my favourite plant species, I can remember running my hand across them walking in woods as a child, the feel of their gentle fronds has stayed with me. They look like aliens… Read More
2015-11-07 17:22
I've been cycling past this plant on the canal towpath every day on the way to work observing it blaze and flame with increased drama. I couldn't resist visiting today to make it's port… Read More
2015-11-01 17:05
There was no sight of this plant when I moved into my home last December. But gradually, steadily it grew to be about a foot taller than me in a season. It was grand and sculptural all summe… Read More
2015-10-29 17:45
The leaves are leaving Read More
2015-10-17 07:21
I've often come back to thresholds in my work, the transitional space between one place and another. It feels like we are on the cusp of change at this time of the year; plants in retreat, s… Read More
2015-10-11 17:14
It's always curious when you realise two separate trains of thought are actually joined up. I started the weekend thinking about how spring and autumn are like two bookends. Spring is about… Read More
2015-09-05 17:07
Navigating the twists and turns, straight lanes, roundabouts and circuits. Does anyone have a life map I could borrow for a bit? I seem to have mislaid mine. Read More
2015-08-18 18:14
I think about cities a lot. Substandard architecture and planning annoy me, especially when it's in my city and I have to live with it. I particularly like medium sized European cities… Read More
2015-08-16 19:21
I've been looking at Jackson Pollocks today. That's not rhyming slang, I accompanied a friend to Tate Liverpool to see Blind Spots, an exhibition of his work. It really made an impression on… Read More
2015-08-12 07:11
I visited Harrogate this weekend. The sun was out as were the bedding plants. Strangely it felt like I'd landed in a parallel northern universe of the town I grew up in, Cheltenham. The… Read More
2015-08-09 20:14
I was struggling with words this morning so I went for a walk. Whilst out I realised that for most of us, most of the time the world is quite ordinary. Photography is however able to provide… Read More
2015-08-08 07:38
Phew, the last of my seven blog entries in a week! If you missed any you can link to them here:Wake Up, LiveDreaming of CamillaStop Look ListenVincentTornLoud Read More
2015-08-07 06:31
Some shouty street shots Read More
2015-08-05 08:37
One of the surprise consequences of spending time in Arles with Mike, my travelling companion, was that I was forced to think more about how I interpret the world visually. He is what's comm… Read More
2015-08-04 14:41
Pause for thought, it's Tuesday Read More
2015-08-03 17:51
A couple of nights ago I was chatting with Camilla Parker Bowles in a dream. She seems really nice and looks much younger than she does on the telly. The next night I dreamt I was pulling li… Read More
2015-08-02 18:10
This blog has suffered over the last 12 months from life events getting in the way of my creativity. However I feel I might be back on track after an inspirational jolt in the form of a… Read More
2015-07-07 08:02
Listening to Radio 4 this morning has left me both dismayed at the horror humans can inflict on other humans and heartened by stories of selfless acts and heroic actions. All these things ha… Read More
2015-05-06 17:30
This is my mum, the woman who brought me into this world and who nurtured my brother and me, she is still looking after our well-being now. I think the vast majority of the useful things tha… Read More
2015-04-15 19:47
I've never really worked out why but my brain gets in a tangle and my tongue tied when I have some time off work. It only lasts for a week or so and then I return to normal. I've come to acc… Read More
2015-04-13 19:29
I managed to catch the excellent Format Festival in Derby last week, just before it closed. It has quietly become a major player over the years, representing the best British and internation… Read More
2015-03-26 20:46
I visited an old friend in Birmingham last weekend, by old I mean long standing, as she's younger than me and I don't consider myself old yet. We went to university together and shared… Read More
2015-03-15 18:39
Every so often I return to photographing people's backs. I like that we have to work a bit harder as viewers; fill in the blanks, imagine a face, an expression. You can't turn a photograph a… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
Following on from a post a few weeks ago about my use of colour, composition and possible influences, I've a couple more creatives who I think have exerted some sway over my own approach to… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
An extra little blog post to help see out the month of March and usher in April and hopefully spring.A few weeks ago I made some portraits of a young writer called Furquan Akhtar, it wa… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
I was pretty obsessed with Kate Bush as a child and then as a teenager. Wuthering Heights should have been the first single I bought when I was ten years old, but I'd spent my pocket money o… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
My provisional title for this work as it evolves and grows into a set is Box Room. The box room of our Edwardian terrace is my studio/ work-room/ atelier/ study/ office and it's where I… Read More
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