FEATURED ART: WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF 2012

For almost 50 years the Wildlife Photographer of the Year  awards has graced London’s Natural History Museum, showcasing an array of artistic talent whilst inspiring and encouraging us amateurs to pick up a camera. The first contest, in 1964, had just 3 categories and 600 entries. Today, however, there are 19 categories and entries come in their thousands from all over the world. The exhibition has grown so popular that it now tours Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

All entries at the exhibition this year were breathtaking, incredibly detailed and others so dangerous close to wildlife that you simply cannot believe your eyeballs. The photographer’s courage and dedication to their craft is so captivating and exhilarating that’s it’s a struggle to believe that non of the photographs are digitally manipulated.

The exhibition is one of the artistic highlights of the year and if you haven’t already been then relish the chance before it closes in March. The beauty here is how each image exhibits iconic, nature photography that’s exceptional to almost an unfathomable level. We’re totally enamoured by the craftsmanship here that we’d probably give our right arm to have one of this eye-grabbing images emblazoned on one of our modal t-shirts.

Here’s the list of categories and winners/commended photographs from this year’s exhibition:

* Nature In Black & WhiteSpecially Commended- Lookout for Lions by Charlie Hamilton James (UK) [above]

Wildlife Photojournalist of the YearWinner: The Tiger’s Tale by Steve Winter (USA) [below]

The Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered WildlifeWinner – Dog Days by Kim Wolhurter (South Africa) [below]

The World In Our Hands AwardWinner – Ice Matters by Anna Henly (UK) [below]

Behaviour: BirdsWinner – Frozen Moment by Paul Nicklen (Canada) [below]

Animal PortraitsCommended – Relaxation by Jasper Doest (Netherlands) [below]

Urban Wildlife
Specially Commended – Midnight Snack by Alexander Badyaev (Russia/USA) [below]

Animals in their Environment
Winner – Living On Thin Ice by Ole Jørgen Liodden (Norway)

Tickets prices 
Adult  £10, Concessions/Children £5, Free for members and children under 3.
The exhibition runs until 3^rd of March 2013 

CREATIVE THIRST: BRISTOL STREET ART

London is arguably one of the front-runners of innovative street art, but for a while now there has been a new UK city that has been evolving its creativity so much so that it may soon steal LDN’s crown.

What’s so enchanting about Bristol’s street art scene is its extremely diverse quality that’s at the helm of many talented street artists who are constantly curating images of wonder upon any available space. Search the web and you’ll be bombarded with a catalogue of past and present work in photograph form.

As the city’s collection of inspiring work continues to grow, a unique visualisation of Bristol street art emerges. Bristol’s street art is so prolific that they even have their own festival. For the past couple of years in the summer, the ‘Seen No Evil’ street art bonanza takes over the city.

Internationally renowned artists take charge of the walls on Nelson Street, and with permission of each building’s owners, drab areas of the city is transformed with several hundred licks of paint. Indeed, for a while now, this enchanting street artwork has been the city’s best-kept secret. Until now…

 

From next month there will be a series of Bristol Street Art Walking Tours taking place all over the city and you can get involved too! If you fancy being shown the incredible sites then simply check out the website to book tickets to their December events: http://www.wherethewall.com/bristol-street-art-walking-tours

Bristol Street Art Walking Tours:

Walk dates - 01/12/2012
Walk dates - 08/12/2012

LONDON HAPPENINGS

What? Tim Walker: Story TellerWhere? Somerset House, LondonWhen? Daily 10.00 – 18.00

Tim Walker is arguably one of the most visually striking and imaginative fashion photographers working and influencing the industry today. Extravagant in scale and ambition and instantly recognisable for eye-opening originality, Walker’s photographs dazzle with life, vibrancy, originality and humour. He has photographed the past four collections for Mulberry and you can’t flick through an edition of Vogue, Vanity Fair and W, among many others, without seeing evidence of his creativity.

Walker’s iconic photographs provide the focus of an exhibition at Somerset House. Everything in Walker’s pictures is specially constructed and his photo shoots consistently resemble a film set. They have sweetness to them; yet feel as though they have been teleported directly from a whimsical ideology.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of events that feature many of Tim Walker’s long-time collaborators and uncover the influences and stories behind his work. Also, as part of the exhibition there will be workshops offering visitors the opportunity to work with some of the set designers and prop builders who have worked with Tim Walker, as well as this there will also be talks and screenings of a series of films curated by Tim Walker.

Click here for more information 

What? Electric Minds with Jackmaster and Ben UFO (b2b all night)Where? Studio Spaces, East LondonWhen? 10^th November

Electric Minds welcomes Numbers’ Jackmaster & Hessle Audio’s Ben UFO for an all night B2B session this Saturday.

As well as being the co-founder of Numbers, Jackmaster is one hell of a DJ. He is a man who lives to play records for people and his eclectic sets skip through everything, embracing guilty pleasures and forgotten classics in the same breath as unreleased dubplate heaters.

Jackmaster will be joined by fellow Numbers’ member Ben UFO, whose commitment to dance music has advanced his reputation in the realms of forward-thinking music. Tonight at Studio Spaces will be a rare opportunity to see these DJ’s play together within such an intimate setting.

Click here to get tickets 

What? Red or Dead 30th anniversary exhibitionWhere? The Dray Walk Gallery, The Old Truman Brewery, Dray Walk, E1 6QLWhen? This weekend, 9-11  November

An exhibition celebrating Red or Dead’s 30th anniversary opens today at The Dray Walk Gallery at the Old Truman Brewary. The exhibition celebrates the anarchic brand and all of its attitude and creativity.

The label, started by Wayne Hemingway and his wife, Geraldine, began with one stall on Saturdays in Camden Market. Soon, there were sixteen stalls – and three Street Style Designer of the Year awards from the British Fashion Council alongside a coveted spot at London Fashion Week. Needless to say that their punk legacy is iconic. The exhibition showcases archive imagery of the playful variety, as well as exploring Red or Dead’s anarchic impact on British fashion during a time of Cool Britannia.

Red or Dead: 30 Years of Eclectic British Fashion runs from 9th-11th November at The Dray Walk Gallery, The Old Truman Brewery, Dray Walk, E1 6QL

What? No Man’s Land Project: Remembrance Sunday PerformancesWhere? London TubesWhen? 11th  November

Directly after the two-minute silence on Remembrance Sunday, specially commissioned music and poetry performances will begin at 10 London Underground stations.

The No Man’s Land project has been in development for seven months and explores how European societies of 1912 walked blindly into the Great War of 1914-18, taking much of the world with them.”

Performances will take place at Angel, Charing Cross, Embankment, Green Park, Knightsbridge, London Bridge, Piccadilly, St Paul’s and Waterloo and will last 53 minutes, till midday. The artists will then converge on Waterloo to join the sculptures and see what happens when they all get together.

View the sculptures at Waterloo between 10.30am-2pm. Witness the performances after the two-minute silence at 11.03 until noon. Find out more.

For more information please see the website