Orange British Academy Film Awards

This is the closest I could get to the festivities this evening at the Natural History Museum for the “Orange British Academy Film Awards”. I stood on the rooftop of my flat in South Kensington and shot this image :-) Well, I keep my fingers crossed for Judi Dench. She is nominated for actress in a leading role for her part in “Notes on a Scandal”. For best film, I am undecided between “Babel” and “Little Miss Sunshine”, both would deserve to win in my view.

On a more serious note, I went to the “Photographers’ Gallery” today to have a first look at this year’s entries to the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. To be honest, I only understood two of the entries, Philippe Chancel and Anders Petersen. The other two entries (Fiona Tan and The Atlas Group) I just did not get. I’ll be returning to this exhibition a few more times. Maybe my view will change and I might also write a bit more but for now I am impressed by Anders Petersen’s images. He became famous in the sixties for his book on a pub in Hamburg (Café Lehmitz), which was frequented by prostitutes, pimps, and more generally people on the fringe of society. His images for the Deutsche Börse Prize have been taken in Gap and St. Etienne in France. And, boy, he found quite some characters there. His visual language is traditional (black and white and photojournalistic style) but nevertheless quite refreshing. My clear favourite for winning the prize.

He also said on photography:"It is more like a life, you see, not really a profession." A statement I can genuinely relate to.