I am a European – a very short film by Jez Coulson Music by Zaki Mamdoo Made in collaboration with many amazing citizens of the EU This very little movie is aimed at assisting individual Brits to actively identify as and celebrate being a European. It is an uplifting artistic statement, a political and […]
This week I have been aware of a curious combination of different approaches to the realities of violence. The week opened with visceral horror at vile acts of ‘pointless terrorist violence’ in Brussels by the Jihadist’s of Islamic State. Radovan Karadzic the war time leader of the Bosnian Serbs was imprisoned for genocide on Friday and yet […]
The ‘Stop The War’ coalition organized protest against British Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal to act militarily in solidarity with France. Cameron was proposing airstrikes in Syria following François Hollande the French President’s request to Britain to help them in attacking the terror group responsible for the recent mass slaughter in Paris. The same terror […]
David Beckham was up there in a state of undress selling his own brand of underwear at one point ……. and numerous women models in a similar condition of undress selling whatever they were selling ……. now a fully clothed Pope Francis selling whatever it is the Pope sells :-))))). The city seems pretty excited […]
To mark the release of Harper Lee’s new book…… out today….. a reportage from her home town. To Kill a Red Velvet Cake – ‘The Sweet Tooth Bakery and Restaurant’ in Harper Lee’s Hometown Monroeville Alabama By Jez Coulson I am here because this is the home of Harper Lee, the legendary writer of “To […]
So moving to hear the President speak about the horrible killings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church a church in South Carolina. He spoke in a way that is completely fitting in a traditional African American Church, only this President of all the previous American Presidents could have given this address. It was a state […]
Well, they certainly get drastic weather here in Denver ……. Throughout today and yesterday my phone has been buzzing away with extreme weather warnings coming out of some app or other ……. “Golf ball sized hail”….. “tornado has touched down” ……. blah blah …….. And the car radio has been making that slightly distressing electronic […]
Me and Matt have been working in NYC this week :-))) Last night we decided to call in on our mighty Insight-Visual colleague Greg Morris who was shooting the official photographs for this amazing, prestigious and worthy educational charity at their gala event. Matt and I had come straight from another ever so slightly less […]
Its always great when your friend brings a gift of Champagne…… and chocolate eggs……. oh and the first copy I have seen ……. of my front cover picture featuring extreme close-up of the Prime Minister on The Sunday Times Magazine ………. hehehehehe :-))))))) XXXXX Cheers Jez XXXXX PS…. Thats todays magazine cover …. pop out […]
Some people in the Philippines like to take Easter celebrations very literally. I was chatting with a phone banking person the other day when I found out she was helping me with my account from the Philippines …….. Yeah I was laughing with her that the Philippines was a little too hardcore for me when […]
I read this today on the AP news wire : – “NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s storied yellow cabs are outnumbered by limos and black cars. Uber cars, often black sedans that are summoned with smartphone apps, now outnumber the yellow taxis that city riders have hailed in the street for generations. It […]
Matt takes part in the traditional celebratory fly-by …… us having just finished the CEO portrait :-)) hehehehehe………. Cheers Jez XXXXXXX www.jezblog.com [ 19 ] comments I see the behavior on your shoots has become a little more grown up and refined 🙂 KathyR @ February 21, 2015, 12:06 pm mostly photography as a way […]
It looks wonderful and bright with perfect sunlight here in Manhattan …….. which in a way is right ….. but the overwhelming sensation about today …… is that it was completely and utterly freezing ….. I was wearing two massive coats, two hats, two pairs of gloves mega boots bla bla …… but my hands […]
I met up with an old mate of mine Marco here in Detroit ….. he is an emergency response expert …. medical and technical in terms of buildings things like action to repair hurricane damage …… in fact I met him while we were both working in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrrina…… we talked […]
Detroit …… you need to have been here ……… to have any kind of understanding of this place …….. This city really is the poster child of the terrible issues of urban blight and economic collapse …… a blight that devastates neighborhoods ……… traditional neighborhood homes here are literally collapsing with the destruction of the […]
Mad Frankie Fraser’ has died ……. an enforcer for the legendary underworld gang’s of 1960’s East London …….. he was associated with both The Richardson’s and also the even more iconic crime gang bosses ‘The Kray Twins’ ……… ‘Mad Frankie’ was also sometimes called ‘The Dentist’ because he was in the habit of pulling out […]
So tragic that Mike Brown an unarmed young man was shot dead in the street by a policeman. It seems counter to justice not to bring all the evidence concerning that shooting into the public sphere by having an open public trial of the officer responsible. Cheers Jez XXXXXXX www.jezblog.com [ 4 ] comments Too […]
I see its Martin Scorsese’s 72 birthday and Brian Finmore of Movie Post has Taxi Driver as his 3rd best movie………. so……. thats reason enough…. right? …… To run a classic speeding taxi shot :-)))))))) hehehehe…… well it is on this blog hehehehehe……… Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXX www.jezblog.com [ 15 ] comments Aaaah the blurry taxi..fantastic..but […]
Well, it is the festival of ‘Día de Muertos’ …… ‘The Day of the Dead’ …… “a Mexican holiday observed throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died .But manifests itself by apparently […]
I was having lunch with Rosalind Nashashib an artist sometimes associated with Insight ……… she started to speak about her experiences having recently returned from Gaza ……… She said things I expected of the difficulty of life there ……. of poverty …… and of social and cultural complications …… and she said things I did […]
I was at Morehouse College in Atlanta this week, a place synonymous with transformative educational experiences for African American men. It really is a mightily impressive place but also friendly and welcoming. I heard the President of the college speaking about his experience of Morehouse as a student, he was in class with the film […]
A vision of sheer beauty ………. with Jez Coulson leaning on it :-)))))))))))))))) Here it is my selfie with Car 51 a classic ‘Beast Car’ …… ‘Yellow Cab’ ……. a ‘Queen Vic’ ………. DaDaDa……Daaaaa!!!!!! Fanfare …… Que crowd noise….. : “The first NYC taxi I ever drove !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” ….. Que crazed crowd noise :-)))))))))))) hehehehe……… […]
Ferguson Missouri …….. Just flying out now…… well out of St Louis international …… I’m in the air now …….. Surprisingly all the terrible drama of the shooting ………all the resulting protest and anger is all taking place just a few minutes drive from the international airport …….. So I rolled round there one last […]
I spent most of the night out on the streets of Ferguson Missouri ……… The local community is protesting against the killing of Mike Brown a young African American man by the police of this city …………… the good news is although there were some incidents it was nothing like the level of conflict and […]
Here is the opening spread of a feature story I have in todays Sunday Times Magazine about migrants illegally crossing from Mexico into the USA. I was recently down on the border with the writer Alex Hannaford. It was very moving for us to be with the so called ‘migrants’, to talk with the people […]
Today I dropped in on some friends of ours High Point Graphics helping to make ‘GooCon’ a fantastic success as ever ………… GooCon is the famed special effects conference for film & TV industry folks in ‘props make up and costume’ ……… its an annual gig put together by the crew at ‘The Engineer Guy’ […]
I am flying …….. long haul ……… in that kind of dream world of memory and loss ……….. the constant low level white noise rumble of the aircraft ………… the vagueness of direction and of time ……. the artificially forced purpose and specific mission …… combined with complete vagueness of present merged into a remembered […]
Even in paradise …….. there are issues? hehehehe……. :-))))))))))))) XXXXXX Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXX www.jezblog.com [ 6 ] comments I think you should risk it 🙂 Honolulu Hank @ June 19, 2014, 8:21 pm Yeah the sign ever so slightly changes the context but it sure looks tempting …. Hehehehe…. Jezblog Honolulu :-))) XX @ June […]
This is like being in a Sci-Fi movie… Last night I flew through incredible storms .. Slept through incredible storms .. Woke up to incredible storms… Flew under them in a jet… Then landed.. Then flew round them same small jet. Then took another small plane under incredible storms… Now I have been driving for […]
You gotta love the archetypal amazing spectacle of all American sports, and baseball is no exception. You think you know these games from all the movies you have ever watched, and yet actually if you are a Brit like me, I am still finding half the rules of American football and baseball remain pretty murky, […]
Im holed up in a little motel in Mississippi right now :-)) ……… While driving earlier today through Alabama ….. I was listening to ‘NPR Now’ on satellite radio ……… they had a program about Tucson Arizona in their ‘State of the Reunion’ slot ………. Tucson ……. Yeah, it really is a surprising place ……… […]
I see today the Military has announced it is spending millions of dollars through DARPA to develop a brain chip to help address and even cure? PTSD ( Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)……… Clearly it would be great if PTSD the mood swings, depression and anxiety that accompanies it could be a thing of the past. […]
I seem to have given up shooting the photographs displayed here on Jezblog……. from now on only pictures by my friends :-))) hehehehe …….. here is a selfie shot by Alex Hannaford on his iPhone ……… featuring me and him as the intrepid desert reporting team down here in Arizona ………. this track we were […]
Sometimes simple things ……. the most straight forward pictures ……. just appeal ………. :-))))))))))))) Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX www.jezblog.com [ 9 ] comments Too true Buddy…Thats what attracted Bernie to me, I was filling in for the Village Idiot at the time….Stay Safe Bro xx PaulS @ May 12, 2014, 3:34 pm The simple things often […]
Tonight, Gerry Adams has been arrested, he is the leader of Sinn Fein the main Irish Republican political party in Northern Ireland (the bit of the island of Ireland that is in the UK). Sinn Fein was traditionally always the political wing of the IRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army) , Gerry Adams was often accused […]
Well, Easter in The Philippines may not be to everyones taste ……….. There has been a fair bit of self mutilation in acts on penitence ……… some resulting in splatters of blood being liberally distributed over on lookers and nearby photographers ……….. Nearby photographers are getting through bucket loads of sanitizing gel because the whole […]
I went with Marc to the “War Remnants Museum‘ today here in Saigon. The whole thing is very sad and moving. As soon as you arrive the mighty instruments of destruction stand rotting in the courtyard entrance, helicopters, jets, tanks, artillery, giant bombs ………. all the more grim as they are standing and deteriorating in […]
I love these neon lit deities…… we saw the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy …… Quan Am ……. sometimes called Guanyin …….. all light up with yellow neon………. then we saw The Virgin Mary lit up in blue neon ……… I guess they are kind of equivalent immortal figures feminine and purveyors of mercy and forgiveness […]
Today is the 20th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide ……… I made this picture on the border of Rwanda during that time of the slaughter ……….. The genocide and it’s resulting mass migrations is probably still one of the most terrible things I ever covered as a photojournalist ……….. Certainly not something […]
Tony Benn, the famed British politician of ‘the Left’ has died today at the age of 88. In many ways I admired him, especially as I was getting interested in politics as a youth. He appeared conviction driven and idealistic. He really was a fantastic old school orator and as the current Labour Leader Ed […]
I see its snowing yet again in New York City …….. I was wobbling on zapping back up there or not …….. luckily I remained in sunny Georgia hehehehehehe…….. :-)))))))))))))) XXXXXXXXXX Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXX www.jezblog.com [ 10 ] comments Cab # 7J72 hopefully didn’t run over the bloke, but I know many a driver who […]
Its ‘Snowmaggedon out there !!!!!!!!!!!!!’ Snow in 50 States ……. Only Florida has no snow ……….. All the others including Hawaii have snow ……….. How crazy is that ?????????????? ‘Global warming’ as we used to call it …….. Seems way colder than I was expecting …….. ???? I shot this at 6AM in New York […]
I see Tommy Robinson the founder of the EDL has been attacked and beaten up today in prison. He fears the authorities are doing nothing to protect him. Even deliberately leaving him vulnerable to attack by Muslim prisoners. I expect thats true. I did a story about the EDL for the Sunday Times Magazine and […]
Corporate photography can sometimes do your brains in ……… it can be a bit of a stress ……….. hehehehe……… Roy here is obviously relieved its all over :-)))))))))) hehehehe ………. We did the group shot with all the leading executives of this mega worldwide corporation at their HQ …….. Roy works with the national and […]
Last night …… I went to see Feurzabruta at the Roundhouse in London ……… it was amazing…….. an amazing spectacle……… theatre for people that don’t really like theatre……….. Really it felt like a mixture of clubbing, circus and street theatre …….. the sheer excitement of tribal drumming and club music, incredible lighting and special effects […]
Happy New Year :-)) Here it is the dawn of a new year over the river Tene in Ludlow (well almost) :-)))))))))) XXXXX ………. its gonna be the best ever :-))))))))))))))) hehehehehe ………… I hope it really is for everyone reading this :-)))))))))))) Yeah………… Have a fantastic 2014 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-))))))))))))))) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXXX This […]
!50 years today since President Abraham Lincoln’s famous ‘Gettysburg Address’. It was made at the consecration of a new cemetery opened at the battlefield in honor of the Union Armies dead. In all 50,000 men were killed during the engagement, it was The American Civil War’s bloodiest battle……… “Four score and seven years ago our […]
Here is a picture of me shooting a kids soccer game in an after hours school program ……… picture shot by Matt :-)) Over the years I have made a pile of pictures of schools. At one stage we Insight London blokes used to shoot between us all the front covers for The Times Education Supplements in the UK […]
I went to see the opening of my old mate Simon Robert’s exhibition tonight in Brooklyn his exhibit is called ‘Pierdom’ about the piers that protrude into the sea from the coast line of Britain……… it’s a great show and a great book :-)) I saw Aidan and one or two other Brits there too …….. the whole show and […]
Well, I have been hanging out with the EDL in the UK for the Sunday Times Magazine. The English Defence League is regarded by most as the inheritor of the mantle of the NF, National Front and The BNP, British National Party. Basically they are high street fascists. They are an intimidating lot, no doubt very […]
I was so sad to hear about the killing of Bijan Ebrahimi by his neighbors……… his only crime making some photographs out of his window …….. this in the minds of his neighbors constituted pedophilia …………. in Britain many people assume photography is abuse……… these neighbors incredibly felt justified in calling this innocent man a […]
From the Guardian Obit by Eve Garrard : “Norman Geras – professor emeritus of government at Manchester University, philosopher, cricket fan, country music lover, Marxist, liberal socialist, democrat, political blogger behind the influential Normblog – has died of cancer aged 70. His interests were rich and varied, but his thought and writings form an integrated whole. […]
Its true some members of the EDL (English Defence League) don’t like having their photographs taken they are after all associated with a group often called racist and fascist, some of its supporters undeniably are people who have supported other far right groups responsible for racist attacks. The EDL is blamed by some for […]
Image description: I read today that folks in South Dakota are mad because not only is the carved Mount Rushmore Presidents monument and its visitor center closed because of the Federal Government shut down but for some reason even the pull off stops at the side of the road are also closed which seems […]
Image description: Castro Moves Into the Havana Hilton BY SANDRA M. CASTILLO Camera Obscura The afternoon lightening his shadow, Fidel descends from the mountains, the clean-shaven lawyer turned guerilla, his eyes focused on infinity, El Jefe Máximo con sus Barbudos, rebels with rosary beads on their 600-mile procession across the island with campesinos on horseback, […]
Image description: The Labour Party Leader Ed Milliband is fuming at The Daily Mail and its editor Paul Dacre. The Mail has claimed Ed’s public intellectual and ‘Marxist father hated Britain‘. It has been a pretty controversial claim. Even numerous Conservative politicians seem to think the Mail should lay off the Labour leader’s long dead father. On […]
Image description: Angela Merkel vowed that she would deliver more “successful years for Germany” as exit polls indicated a commanding lead for her party over the main opposition……….. I shot this image above at City Airport the other day …….. I was coming back from Luxembourg but the time before that when I flew to […]
Image description: Yes……. it’s safe for Mr King to go back to the Shining as he announced today ……. and its safe to go back to Jezblog ……….. Hehehehehe…….. no kidding Stephen King announced today he has written a sequel to the Shining …………. and of equal cultural import Matt tells me Jezblog is entirely safe for swimming […]
Image description: Its five years today from the start of the financial crisis proper. The sudden collapse of Lehman Brothers Bank in NYC sent financial contagion around the world. Today I heard a European Parliament discussion on the radio about the number of jobs created in Spain last month……….. Just 31 ……. Not 310 […]
Image description: Well, British Prime Minister David Cameron appears to have misjudged the UK internal politics of launching a military attack on the regime of President Bashar Hafez al-Assad of Syria. Since the flagrant crossing of the Obama ‘red line’ with Assad’s forces apparently launching a horrific chemical weapon attack in Damascus, Cameron has […]
Image description: 50 years to the day since Martin Luther King made his famous I have a dream Speech to 250,000 marchers for ‘Freedom and Jobs’ ………. some of his dream has been realized……… President Obama the first African American man to be President of The United States of America will address crowds at […]
Image description: I took the L train to Brooklyn today. I went to see Philip Riley of Skink Ink………. What a fine bloke …….. What a mighty set up that is ……… personal, fast and efficient ……… really high quality work and reasonably priced ………. Amazing all round……… highly highly recommend if you are seeking […]
Image description: This month is apparently the 10 year anniversary of the giant blackout in New York City …….. Weirdly, I remember that erie sensation as the city absolutely closed down into complete darkness ….. like it was only yesterday :-)) ……… well not quite …….. but a whole decade? Wow … amazing how […]
Image description: Hey did you know it was World Photography Day ???? …… er ? ….. neither did I until 10 mins ago ???? …… but Hey …. Happy World Photography Day !!!!!! Another thing I knew nothing about until earlier this morning ….. when I was strolling back here with my Starbucks …….. is that the Whitney Museum […]
Image description: The Clintons have to have been today a little stung in a seemingly unlikely attack …….. from The New York Times ……… A paper often regarded as possibly Clinton supporting and certainly pretty Liberal …….. The paper makes allegations about conflicts of interest and cronyism at The Clinton Foundation …….. it sounds rather like the stuff […]
Image description: Well tonight it’s being announced that ‘The Washington Post’ is being sold after 80 years in single family ownership. ‘Newsweek’ and ‘The Boston Globe’ have also been sold in the last week. ‘The Boston Globe’s’ loss against its buying price was a massive 93% for ‘The New York Times Company’…….. something like a […]
Image description: Its JE’s birthday today ……… So we got the band back together here in NYC ……. he flew into JFK earlier bringing his new girlfriend :))) …….. so we ….. against all the odds ……. had a surprisingly civilized evening …………. hehehehe ……… One or two people told crazed stories of JE’s legendary […]
Image description: It would be great if some good news came out of the Middle East………. The death of over 70 people protesting against the new military government over the weekend in Egypt ……. bombings in Libya, Iraq and Syria in the last few days ……. assassinations of opposition leaders in Tunisia ……. all make […]
Image description: Well, Detroit is bankrupt……. Or is it? Its out of cash certainly …….. But some dispute arose over whether it should be allowed to file for bankruptcy and become the biggest American City to go officially into bankruptcy protection ………… it’s a tragic situation for the City and for all those that depend […]
Image description: “Eye Witness News…. NEW YORK (WABC) Two cabs collided in Midtown, sending one of them onto the sidewalk and into a pedestrian on Monday afternoon. The accident happened just before 4:00 p.m. on Monday at 52nd Street and 7th Avenue. According to investigators, a cab struck another cab traveling south on 7th Avenue. […]
Image description: The whole business of the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer ……….. it just seems wrong………. really very wrong…….. Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXX www.jezblog [ 4 ] comments It IS wrong…but the politics and media that led to this are as wrong as ever too…which is why I report through my own #KONYH media now […]
Image description: Well, its seriously hot and sticky here in New York City……….. 97 degrees 49% humidity ………… well over 100 on the heat index…….. blah blah…………. although I see from Facebook my old mate Steve F is suffering from humidity in Penang Malaysia …….. and another old friend Marc J who lives in Vietnam […]
Image description: Happy 4th of July to Americans everywhere :))))))))))) Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXX PS……….. Sorry not much blogging in the last few days my computers have been rocking away doing massive backups of everything ………… each terabyte of pictures transfered on to new drives takes about 7 hours ……….. so its hard to process or […]
Image description: Gay Pride was riding high in New York City this weekend. Following the Supreme Court rulings in favor of Gay Marriage in the week ……. amongst other things the Supreme Court struck down the hated DOMA (Defence of Marriage Act) that defined marriage as between a man and a woman …….. Its removal […]
Image description: Today was the longest day……… here in Britain at least………… Druids were out celebrating the Summer Solstice up at Stonehenge this morning……… although apparently the Summer sun totally failed to materialize…… This kind of thing is always the problem for any kind of a sun worshiper in Britain ……… still I gather a […]
Image description: All the drama from Brazil………. I was thinking about all the lovely folks I met last time I was out there…….. if you are covering all the protests…….. keep your heads down guyz be safe ………. :))) XXXXXXXXXXX Weirdly this picture above has been sitting on my desktop since I was in Sao […]
Image description: Michael Gove the Education Minister here in the UK today controversially announced that high School examinations would all be changed …….. much to the annoyance of students currently sitting the high school GCSE’s…. what they fear will now become discredited qualifications when the new ones come on stream ……… This is the kind […]
Image description: This slightly peculiar image above needed something offthewall ……… Something you just don’t normally get on Jezblog ? ……….hmmmmm ……. What about this below from a slightly offthewall friend of mine in the bible belt ? ……… He sent this sent to me tonight on facebook as part of a discussion regarding ‘The […]
Image description: I was so sad to see of the deaths of veteran storm chasers in new tornados in Oklahoma. Tim Samaras, 55, founder of the tornado research project, called Twistex, based in Lakewood, Colo.; his son Paul, 24; and their chase partner, Carl Young, 45, all died after they were overtaken by a multiple-vortex tornado that […]
Image description: I went to the funeral of the father of a dear friend. A very sad occasion obviously. My friend’s father was very closely associated with The Salvation Army and the service was led by a friend of his in the Salvation Army and also attended by many others of his friends and family […]
Image description: Well, I have completed an approx 8000 mile circular trip round 26 States of the USA in the mighty Beast car …………. and hopefully made some worthwhile pictures :-)) I have met some really fantastic people on the way ……… seen some amazing natural landscapes and some surprising man made things…… and activities […]
Image description: I had a request for something from a friend on Facebook ……. Something recovery or uplifting from the horror of the destruction of the Moorse Tornado in Oklahoma ……… Sadly the truth is I did not see any uplifting rescues ……. Well at least I saw no people rescued alive from the wreckage […]
Image description: One of the things I immediately loved about America was the feeling that all sorts of stuff was more drastic than the UK ………. most of this was good …….. The most immediately noticeable was the constantly drastic weather ……….. when I first lived in New York I was shocked by how hot… […]
Image description: So Matt who is in charge of all things numbers and organization tells me I have done 6000 miles in the Beast Car since we left Atlanta. Yeah…. the Beast has rolled through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and now Colorado………. […]
Image description: I made this picture in a currently abandoned trading post for the people of the Navajo Nation on the road way into Monument Valley just beyond the little settlement of Mexican Hat ……… Inside this very rudimentary hut were these two chairs and this book ‘Steps To Christ’ ……… Call me crazy but […]
Image description: It’s an odd contradiction especially from a European perspective and yet it remains true……… some of the friendliest people in America have the most guns ………. These are only a few of the weapons that belong to a Pastor I met at a gun show in Casper Wyoming ……… yeah from a European […]
Image description: So I have been rolling……….. So much amazing landscape………. and small snippets of adventure,…….. and fantastically interesting people along the way………….. Most days as a professional photographer I have very specific missions to execute ……….. but right now this is traveling with a view to shooting something ………. but that something……….. is only […]
