The story started on Pembroke beach when three people met on the open sea, surfing. Their friendship began there but their music would come much later. The creators of the band, Chris Stoodley and Kathryn Shanahan meet at school; they were to become the founders of Under the Driftwood Tree, a surf style folk band. They were only three at the beginning, both Chris (vocals, ukulele, guitar, accordion, didgeridoo, djembe) and Kath (vocals, percussion, accordion) were playing with the help of Dylan, who subsequently left. In 2009, they were joined by the friends they first met on the beach a few years earlier: Alex Perry (lead guitar) and Robbie Price (vocals, guitar, accordion). The quartet then started a quest: playing their original music to as many people as possible, spreading the influence across Cardiff where they live now. Later on that year, they entered The Surface Unsigned Festival where they won the first prize, shortlisted from 30000 applicants. As an award, they were asked to play in the IndigO2 at the O2 Arena in London. From then, the group have grown in confidence and strength. They carried on playing in open mic nights and gigs whenever the opportunity presented itself. In January 2010, Samuel Lloyds Griffiths (bass player) became the final member, providing the group with more depth and balance. Later on that same year, they then played beside Jack Johnson at the Eden Sessions in Cornwall. This year has been very prolific, their music went further. They played on radios such as BBC Radio Wales, Evening show, as well as playing live on Radio Cardiff on Monday nights and RTE Radio1 in Ireland. The latest was a live recording in the studios of Maida Vale Studios in London, for Fearne Cotton show, BBC Introducing.

Under the Driftwood Tree is now beginning a new year full of hopes and ambitions. This project is only the beginning as I will be following them with the ultimate intention of creating a multimedia piece for the final submission, which will include video and sound, along with the photographs already taken. The work is intended to promote and introduce the group to a wider public. The short documentary on the life of the group is created through the employment of photojournalistic methods using 35mm camera and ambient light. In contrast to earlier photographs of music bands, I have chosen not to use flash, which would detract from achieving the desired atmospheric effects. In future, the work will be exhibited in a gallery in the form of a DVD, shown on a retro TV set and accompanied by individual portraits of the five members. My influences stem from an exhibition seen in the Festival Les Rencontres D’Arles 2010, I am a Cliché, where I encountered a vast amount of diverse photographic work from different music groups and photographers.

When a nomad leaves their country of origin, they pack their essentials, but also tend to include a memorable item of sentimental value, which ensures a sense of home is always with them. This item has little monetary worth but it enables the owner to reflect nostalgically on the past. Florence Nightingale said “the object and color in the materials around us actually have a physical effect on us, on how we feel.” This project focuses on foreigners who come here to study or work. With various backgrounds, they decided to share with me their stories and their objects, which have also been transported around the world.

The central influence for this work is Julia Margaret Cameron. Viewing her photography granted me a deeper understanding of how to empower subjects, how to make them the centre of attention, powerful yet ethereal at the same time. After considering her use of light, it was my intention to produce images that would focus on two points: face and object of attention. The dark backdrop is used as a metaphor to emphasize the importance of the subjects present situation. What began as a simple portrait project has evolved into a study of the fortitude and fragility of the nomad.

Here are some of the photographs I have done today.

Il semblerait que plus la densité de la population augmente, plus la crainte du simple citoyen se fait ressentir et devient prétexte pour la création de nouvelles lois visant à augmenter le sentiment de sécurité.

Following the events of 9/11 and the London terrorist attack in July 2005, a level of fear seems to have been built up. Away from plain sight, laws have been put in place to create a form of protection for the british citizens. One of these laws put into place in order to help fight terrorism allows police officers to stop and search any photographer whether they be amateur or professional, in public areas (Section 43 of the terrorism Act).

It appears that as population density increases, so does the fear of other people. This becomes the pretense for creating new laws in order to increase the sense of security.

This book is a compilation of establishing shots of the various activities of the British population. I found astonishing that at the end of the day the social differences fade away, making room for a mixing of all sorts of individuals, thing that I have never noticed in France.

The scarceness of landscape stripped of human intervention really shocked me here. The density of the population in the UK is over double than that in  France (246 people per sq/km in the UK against 106 people per sq/km in France) which explains the omnipresent bushes and fences, or even during the night you will have to go very far to see a sky full of stars, where ever you look.

Consumerism has had a stronger impact on British culture than on French culture. The need to buy one’s happiness is more wide spread in the UK. The consequence of this mass consumption is the omnipresence of processed goods and creates a lot of surplus and waste, whether they be household waste or food waste. Considering the size of the country, the coexistence between humans and waste becomes evident.
In France, the situation is slightly different due to a more conservative gastronomical culture.

One of the things which sticked me when I arrived here, was the architecture of the people;s home. It was like an architect drawn one house and that all other design was discarded. A boom of Victorian house in the industrial age 1850′s wish is now a main feature of british urban landscape.

News from the book project should be available as soon as I have a more defined and some pictures to show you. As for the moment it will be a box set of 5 little books on different categories that I found were the most different between France and the UK.The title for each book are on working process.

To be continued…

All pictures are taken on my Iphone. I would like to answer a comment made by Maciej Dakowicz in a conversation with Sam Cornwell: “A photo taken with a Iphone is a wasted photo.”

http://www.flickr.com/groups/takenwithiphone/discuss/72157623614932630/

I think this process is reminiscent of the first uses of camera equipment for documenting and research. But one could think that, like the old camera, this could be the next documentary tool.

For this set I am looking at places where people gather socially.