You may have noticed that my blog page hasn’t been up to much in recent days (years!). Just in case you stumble across it and assume George Torode has perished tragically then sweat not. I’m still knocking around on-line just sharing work on more conventional platforms. You can find these by following the link CLICK HERE!
You never know I may start blogging again but until then I’ll leave you with a parting gift of a conceptual piece I shot on film 15 years ago. It’s called Out of Water no.1 for obvious reasons and was the 1st image I had on my business cards back in the day. The water tank (just of Ladbroke Grove) is a nice touch. Think they’ve turned it to posh flats nows no fooling!
Out of Water no. 1. 2003. 35mm colour neg.
October 31, 2015 – 2:31 pm
A locust that has grown too big for my lizard to eat (and has subsequently bridged the void from prey to pet) and the re-flowering of an orchid thought to be dead. These are the survivors in my home. Against the odds their abrasive beauty has bloomed.
October 3, 2015 – 11:57 am
See my previous post HERE for my motivation for subverting how we are trained to perceive reality. This style of photography which combines filter, shallow depths of field and the strong sunlight is done in camera (mostly!).
The image below I dismissed at fist for being way too surreal – then I released that was why I liked it. Its a photograph through a very thick red filter of the afternoon sun above some steps up a cliff face in Normandy. The metal handrails catching the light which seem to direct you to the source of all being.
September 16, 2015 – 8:25 pm
According to the rules of quantum mechanics, the boundary between the ‘world out there’ and our own subjective consciousness are blurred. When physicists look at atoms or particles of light, what they see depends on how they have set up their experiment. This concept comforted me recently when I was crammed into a train at rush hour, as I found solace in questioning my perception. This concept also motivated this image I recently took. Whilst not being a traditionally perceived version of reality – it is a version of reality all the same. Its unconventional (yet relevant) aesthetic perhaps highlighting these lofty scientific theories?
But where does this leave us then? What’s the point of anything if we real by human measure? John Lennon wrote “Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream, it is not dying, it is not dying”. That’ll do for me.
I just filmed Pedro Reyes’ conversations at Station to Station at the Barbican for The Lisson Gallery. South American artist, Reyes contucted a series of investigative conversations with a range of different spiritual leaders from Rastas to Shamans, over the course of a weekend and called it Spiritual Speed-date. This is Reyes with a Suffi Muslim and a Catholic Priest.
Pedro Reyes with a Suffi Muslim and a Catholic Priest
Whilst there I wandered into Marcus Coates’ workshop area and took this portrait of him. I’ve enjoyed his artwork since I went to see his classic film…. CLICK HERE!
Marcus Coates portrait
And some of the others
By George
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Also posted in beauty, body art, documentary, festival, performance, Photography, portrait, portraiture, production photography, reportage, theatre
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Spring is close now
From darkness emerges the light
We dance the dance again
Something new that I’ve been working on this week. I’ve been studying Matisse and thinking about the springtime and how we mark seasonal and astral transitions with dance. I’m aware that there’s a solar eclipse and a supermoon coinciding with the Spring equinox on Friday. How will that effect the way we dance?
(Thank you Laura – who is the fantastically accomplished dancer in my picture).
March 11, 2015 – 12:40 pm
Molly McQueen and Jackie Jibbles portraits
I was asked to shoot portraits and document the performers at Cirque de la Quirk last Friday night. It’s the latest project from the delectable Molly McQueen, formally of noughties band The Faders. Her vision is to create a cabaret party brand that can traverse the festival circuit. There was definitely something of the festival atmosphere as the heady crowd (elaborately dressed in steam punk and burlesque couture) were bedazzled by magicians, dance-offs, hoop-girls and (yes of course) live DJ sets.
Wolfgang Guy Geuth portrait
Rob Voodoo portrait
Party girls portrait
This fine event took place at the strangely named club/bar “The Stillery” in Camden Town. The word “stillery” is a fictional one and a bizarre name for a club space although arguably not quite at silly as its former name of “WKDs” which, in all fairness, really was a bit of a dive. (Remember being forced to go there due to the limited late night options for one last whiskey and coke?) What makes the name even more questionable is the fact that it suggests a distillation process has taken place on the premises at some point in its history. Given that it’s part of the monstrous Sainsbury’s development that opened in 1988 I can safely say that any notion that it was once a distillery is a self-perpetuated myth. Incidentally, the man responsible for this architectural blotch on the Camden landscape is Nicholas Grimshaw (the architect not the smug faced DJ) who I happen to know resides in the area. I hope he weeps each time he pops out for bread and milk…. *fade out rant, fade in thumping techno*
By George
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Also posted in architecture, beauty, body art, documentary, exhibition, fashion, music, performance, Photography, portrait, portraiture, production photography, reportage, theatre
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February 3, 2015 – 5:32 pm
Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. Its subsequent rapid decline has been hypothesised to be due to natural disasters such as disease (Bubonic Plague), earthquakes, inundations and drastic climate changes.
Angkor fell further into disrepair under the Khmer Rouge and for some years afterward organised thieves stole hundreds of priceless sculptures and carvings. Through use of antiquated techniques, filters and digital processing, I produced this series as an interpretation of that period of degradation while expressing wider insinuations to the effects of the Khmer Rouge regime as a whole.
This series has also been published on flickr HERE along with a selection of my other travel photography.
December 16, 2014 – 5:38 pm
I took this portrait of Oliver Harris recently. Oli is halfway through writing a series of detective novels. The first two which are available from Vintage are set mostly around London. The novels hinge around the experiences of the self-destructive genius Detective Nick Belsey of Hampstead CID. Read more about him and his work HERE
I wanted to capture Oli in an urban London setting – the elevation was important to denote his over-riding perspective and the living room setting highlights the mental journey of the author (or indeed the reader) as imagination kicks in.
George Torode Art
George Torode Photographer