Kage Collective

Kage Collective : The Wind Of Change

After an unintentional break this year, we have returned to the monthly magazine format at Kage Collective. I think by the end of last year and having produced each month to a deadline, we just wanted to go at it differently. But the last few months of not producing much has proved to us that deadlines work, like or loath them.

We've also had a change in lineup to. Flemming and Charlene have both moved on to do other things and we wish them both well on their global travels. But we are super happy to introduce our new member Ronas Rask. Jonas is not only an official Fujifilm X-Photographer, but he actually does all those amazing product shots for the brand. Kage will be an ideal place to show of his documentary side. So now we are 7. Patrick La Roque (Canada), Robert Catto (Australia), Bert Stephani (Belgium), Vincent Baldensberger (France), Kevin Mullins (UK), Jonas Rask (Denmark) and myself have new essays on our latest issue (13).

It took me a while to get back into that deadline mentality, but I finally decided to shoot the second part of my elements with a Lensbaby series. I shot this essay on the X-Pro2 with the Lensbaby Composer Pro and Edge 80 optic. The pictures and the text took a darker turn though when the news of the Manchester terrorist attack surfaced the morning of the shoot, which game me the title of The Gentle Breeze Of The Blast .

As it's the centennial of JFK's birth, I decided to write a review of My Kennedy Years - A Memoir by JFK's photographer Jacques Lowe. A terrific book if you're a fan of the long term documentary project, which this was the mother of them all.

Kage Collective Issue 9 & Mitchell Library

Our 9th monthly issue of Kage Collective is now up and is a little different this month. Each issue tends to have a theme picked from suggestions from the eight of us. This month we went with Patrick's (La Roque) slightly odd idea of 'The Silence'. It's odd for a couple of reasons. 1). There had to be no accompanying text with the pictures. 2). Pitrick is the biggest wordsmith in our collective.

The Quiet Room at Mitchell Library - You can hear a moth flap it's wing!

The Quiet Room at Mitchell Library - You can hear a moth flap it's wing!

I paid a visit the Michell Library in Glasgow. I sat at the back of the quiet room, a place people go to study and read in silence. I shot a few pictures there and around other parts of the library, but I wasn't getting what I wanted or needed. I spoke to a security guard to try to gain access behind the scenes and although he did open a couple of doors for me, he also said there was a chance to go behind closed doors if I came back the following day. Once a year for the past twenty seven years, Glasgow has an open door month long event, where the public can go behind the scenes of some famous buildings.

So I returned the following day and captured the pictures you see here, plus the ones found over at Kage Collective under the title of 'Books Speak Volumes'. Michel library used to be a reference only library up until ten years ago. Members of the public would search for titles and then fill out the paperwork required. A member of staff would then be dispatched to go into the many floors of books and find the one that had been requested. Only 10% of books at the Mitchell are on display to the public these days, so it was fantastic to be able to wander through the many floors and rows of bookshelves, taking in the amazing smell of extremely vintage and rare works.

The 53mm Interview

Five more members of The Kage Collective have taken over the 53mm website this month with a host of interviews on how we use our Fuji 35/1.4 and 35/2 lenses (53mm in full frame terms). Kevin Mullins had already completed the interview previously, but this month Patrick La Roque, Bert Stefani, Robert Catto, Vincent Baldensperger and myself have tackled Iain Palmer's list of questions and I hope you find our answers quite diverse.

So make yourself a coffee, stick on some background music and have a Kagefest on us at www.fiftythreemm.com.

Kage Collective :: A New Direction

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Today, Friday 15th of January 2016, we launch a new direction for The Kage Collective website. Although there's always a lot going on in the backgroung everyday between the eight members, uploading content has been a bit sporadic and we haven't always produced as much as we hoped. So as a way change all that and to give us a kick up the backside and give our followers more quality content, more often, we have decided to take the website in a new direction. Today we launch our new monthly online magazine style format that will be updated on the 15th of each month and have a number of new essays, an interview, a review and a favourite shot of the month from each of us. This is new to us and it's possible that we may introduce more things in the coming months too. But don't hang around here, go see all that's new at Kage Collective by clicking HERE.

p.s. Don't forget that we have a free ebook called Under A Vagrant Sun that you can download from the Kage website or by clicking HERE.

Get In The Loop With A New Ebook

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If you enjoy shooting music, or if you haven't tried it yet and don't know where to start, Flemming Bo Jensen has the answer. Flemming launches his new ebook available now called 'Get In The Loop - How To Make Great Music Images' and man is it worth the money! At 220 pages long and only $6.99 (USD) it's a no brainer. Flemming has done a first class job on the layout too, which makes it a really enjoyable read that's packed with information on how to do music photography.

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Get In The Loop is also under the banner of Kage Editions which is our Kage Collective publications side. I know that Flemming has slaved over this ebook for many months, with a lot of help in the editing department from Charlene Winfred (our Singaporian Kage member).

So as it's comming up for Christmas and you know you need something informative to read, why not download Get In The Loop. Then feed your brain and maybe start a personal project in 2016 on shooting music with what you learn? If you're still not convinced, try reading my post on the Kage Collective site titled The Value Of A Personal Project.

These Kings. These Subterraneans

My good friend and Kage Collective accomplice Patrick La Roque never ceases to amaze. Can there be no end to this man's talents? Just where he finds the time, I don't know. But on top of everything else, he's only gone and produced an outstanding multimedia extravaganza called 'These Kings. These Subterraneans.'. Not only is this Patrick's second e-book (1 eye Roaming is HERE), but he's also wrote, recorded and performed an album of music to go with it. This isn't just a bit of music that's been thrown together to go with some pretty pictures. The album stands up on it's own with content and production that would sit well on any music store.

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PLmixed_media700

But let's not forget, Patrick is a photographer and if you follow his work you will know he has a unique style and vision. He also has a gift when it comes to words. A modern day poet who starts where Jim Morrison left off with American Prayer, takes up the torch and runs. These Kings. These Subterraneans was born out of a difficult family situation that Patrick has been going through for a while and that's what makes this work so strong.

Click HERE to visit the dedicated page on Patrick's site where you can find out more and download the full multimedia content. Incidentally, this is the first project out under the new Kage Editions umbrella.

Kage Collective :: Now We Are 7

image The big announcement today is that we have gone from four to seven members over at The Kage Collective. Our three new members are fellow documentary photographers (in alphabetical order) Vincent Baldensperger fron Toulouse, France, Craig Litten from Palm Beach, USA and Fuji X photographer Bert Stephani from Steenokkerzeel, Belgium. All three of them are great photographers in their own right and we look forward to including their stories in the near future. But for now you can take a look at our updated Members Portfolio section on the Kage Collective site. All seven portfolios are newly updated...so check them all.

It's a privilege to be part of a collective with such a fantastic group of photographers. I would like to single out the hardest working member of the Kage Collective. Patrick (La Roque) created our Kage website and keeps it up to date and running smoothly. We all upload our own content, but everything else is Patrick. He is also the founder and both the magnet that brought us together and the glue that keeps us as a collective. A friend, a colleague and an absolute star.