David Mark Williams – Papaya Fantasia

My good friend, the poet David Mark Williams, has a new book – Papaya Fantasia - which he is launching in Castle Douglas this Saturday (December 1st).

Regular readers of this blog with long memories might recall I created a few short videos of him performing his poetry, which I put up back in November 2015 (follow this link if you missed it https://kimayres.blogspot.com/2015/11/), to tie in with the launch of his first book, The Lost Sock Exchange

An idea we had but didn't have time to pursue back then was one of playing with the perception of time, so we decided we'd give it a shot to coincide with the release of Papaya Fantasia.

Using Mark's poem "Death Numbers" we recorded him speaking it, then slowed it to ¼ speed and downloaded it onto his phone.

We then went out onto the streets of Castle Douglas and, using headphones attached to his phone, Mark spoke the poem in time with the slowed down version of the poem while I filmed him.

We did this in several locations around the town and got a few strange looks, but no one stopped to ask what we were up to.

Back at my computer I then sped up the footage I had by 4 times and edited it together, overlaying the original recording and background noises from the street.

The result is an unsettling performance where everything around him is moving much faster while he delivers the poem.

It was a challenging and fun wee project. It's less than a minute long so take a look and feel free to scribble any thoughts or reactions in the comments.



Meanwhile, if you can make it along to the Papaya Fantasia book launch, it's at the Gordon Memorial Hall, St Ninians, Whitepark Road Castle Douglas, DG7 1EX (Doors open 1.45pm)

Alternatively he has another launch down in London on December 17th at the Poetry Society’s poetry Cafe in Covent Garden at 7.30pm

Both events are free and drinks and nibbles are available.

Peaky Blinders at Rosefield Mills

I was meeting up with Tracy for a hot chocolate to discuss the photo shoot she had won in the raffle, in which I'd offered a prize for a fundraiser for Rosefield Mills – an incredible old Victorian building on the River Nith in Dumfries, which has been falling into ruin for decades and was hoping to be bought by the Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust.

I've offered photo shoots in charity auctions before now, and what's great about them is the people are bidding for it because they genuinely want it. Raffles, on the other hand, can be a real hit-or-miss affair. Winners might not be that interested, not know what to do with it, or demand I photograph their pets.

Tracy was apologetic. She didn't really know what kind of photography to ask for and feared what she had won was maybe too big a prize – perhaps it should be given to someone else. I reassured her she had won the shoot fair and square, and said it was a chance to really have some fun. We didn't just have to do a portrait – we could do something spectacular. She could dress up, get friends and family involved, find a great location, and create something really memorable.

As the conversation developed, it transpired that she and her husband were Peaky Blinders fans – a 1920s period drama about gangsters in Birmingham. It's a fantastic series – beautifully shot and brilliantly acted (and very violent). It also turned out that a friend of theirs was having a Peaky Blinders themed birthday party the following month, so they were already getting outfits sorted out for it.

I'd just found out that the purchase of Rosefield Mills was successful, and in a conversation with Mark Zygadlo from the Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust, he said we could use it for the shoot if we wanted, and attached to the main building was an old, empty warehouse.



It all seemed like a wonderful opportunity to create something cinematic. Soon we were discussing friends she could rope in, and the fact she had a horse too (horses feature strongly in Peaky Blinders), while I was thinking about creative lighting and possibly smoke bombs to add atmosphere.

In the end it was one of most fun shoots I've ever done. 10 enthusiastic people in costume, with a horse, and a couple of hours of time to play with lighting and posing. Here's a selection of my favourites, although for the full set, click here for the Facebook album:


The Guys


The Gals


The Fight


On horseback

Knowing I would really want a record of this, I managed to drag a couple of photographer friends - Allan Wright and Andy Jardine - along to shoot some behind-the-scenes video footage for me, which I edited together with the Peaky Blinders theme tune (see below - it's less than 2 minutes long).



I've been itching to show all this off for a few months now, but we've been holding back to tie it in with an appearance in the latest edition of Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine. Mark Zygadlo wrote an article about the shoot and the story behind getting the building, and I was delighted to see they'd used several of my images, including a full double-page spread of the big group shot.

Huge thanks to Mark for getting us the space to use, and being my smoke bomb operator, and to Tracy, Chris, Peter, Hannah, Katie, Andrew, Robbie, Linzi, Gail, Mhari and not forgetting Wallace the pony, for getting completely into their roles, which allowed for such epic shots.







Make sure you pick up your copy of the December/Christmas issue of Dumfries & Galloway Life - out in the shops now!