PHIL TRAGEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Blog has now moved!

2011-04-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

The new address for this blog is http://philtragen.com/blog/.

Thanks for checking in - I hope you continue to.

Phil

I love local news

2011-04-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

Job for the Advertiser at an animal sanctuary - 'pics of kids with cute animals' is more or less the brief. This is Adam Morris, 10, getting clawed by a stray kitten.

Just in the Neighbourhood..

2011-03-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ben Davies, managing director of agency The Neighbourhood - a burgeoning design house in Manchester's Northern Quarter.

Boyband, girlband

2011-03-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

Firstly 'The Mend', which are Take That's founder Nigel Martin Smith's new boyband, photographed outside the Urbis in Manchester city centre. Secondly girlband 'Wonderland', formed by Louis Walsh and Westlife band-member Kian Egan, pictured in the back of a lorry parked in the MEN Arena backstage area. I had literally thirty seconds and three frames of Wonderland as they were late going on stage, but the girls promised me they'd come back after their performance. Their tour manager ixnayed that, claiming 'they'd be too sweaty'. Oh no!

Climate control

2011-03-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Weatherman Graham Butler, who is charged with dealing with extreme weather in the North West. Pictured gazing skywards, naturally.

Morocco!

2011-03-20T07:43:00.001-07:00

Selected pictures from my week long trip, taking in Marrakech, the Sahara, and Essaouira. There's also one of me there, dressed as a Touareg.

Oliver

2011-03-19T03:18:00.001-07:00

Oliver Bedford-Gay, 3 years old with parents Chris and Helen. Oliver suffers from fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, a rare genetic disease that causes damaged tissues to ossify, instead of healing normally. Though he plays like a normal 3 year old, his parents have covered every sharp surface in the house with rubber, and watch his every step. 'If he broke his arm, it wouldn't heal - it'd just stop working,' remarked Chris glumly.

Retiring from active duty..

2011-02-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

Two police horses, Warwick and Dickens, today finished 4 and 15 years of service for the Greater Manchester Police. Sgt Claire Harvey from the Tactical Mounted Unit pictured. Before the shoot Warwick became 'relaxed' as one officer put it, and now I understand one horse-related phrase in a more rounded way.

Sherie and Shay

2011-02-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

Sherie, a mother of four from Timperley, has four kids - the youngest of whom, Shay, 6, is autistic. Sherie is organising an event to raise money for the Autistic society. Before I left, Shay wandered towards me with his arms outstretched saying 'Bite Bite Bite!' and Mum raced over and seized him. 'It just means he likes you' she said.

Iconic film moments, recast..

2011-01-30T11:02:00.000-08:00

For their engagement, close friends Matt and Emma wanted to recreate famous romantic scenes from films for their invitations. A Trafford Park railing stood in for Titanic, a Longford Park swingset for Spiderman, and my living room for Lady and the Tramp..

Portraits of Mark Slammer

2011-01-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

An up and coming hardcore singer songwriter, you'll most likely hear Mark's vocals on tracks running in excess of 170 beats per minute. Check out his material at http://www.markslammer.com.

Edith's ordeal on her own doorstep

2011-01-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

In a story that appeared in yesterday's MEN, 92 year old Edith Brickwell was assaulted right outside her front door in Moston, and robbed of an insignificant £30 by her assailant. She lives in an area where the frail and elderley are often made targets of by yobs.

Man wakes from 3 week coma

2011-01-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

Phil Smith fell into a coma while suffering from swine flu, but has now recovered and is reunited with his loved ones. As well as learning to walk again, Phil also had to learn how to taste - he had, temporarily, lost the ability to tell one food from another.

Mosaic artist turned landlord

2011-01-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

Manchester artist Mark Kennedy has taken on Gulliver's Pub on Oldham Street, in a feature for the MEN.

Hardev's stolen memories

2010-12-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

Hardev, a Stretford resident, was the victim of a break-in during which a safe was stolen containing some valuables. Most valuable among them were the birth certificate and other important memories of her late son Vijay, who died fourteen years prior.

Near darkness in Port Sunlight

2010-12-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

Port Sunlight on the Wirral this year kicked off its Christmas fair with a lantern parade and some old fashioned yuletide chorus. Appropriate seasonal headwear all round, though my favourite is, as usual, the Peruvian.

Heads...

2010-11-23T14:09:00.001-08:00

Headshots of clerks and barristers from a London-based firm of legal practitioners. The brief was 'make them all look the same, but different'.

Pictures of Jude..

2010-11-18T13:09:00.001-08:00

A stab at the famous baby portrait. Jude is Dean and Jenny's young son - both good friends of mine, and wanted to capture his image before he'd learned to open cupboards, stand in front of the TV, and handle kitchen knives. As it turns out, Jude already has very sharp teeth, and Dean will be fishing around in nappies for his thumb in the next 8 hours.

Robbie Williams cameos at the Palace Theatre

2010-11-17T06:27:00.000-08:00

'Panto's On Strike' is a uniquely foul-mouthed show currently on at the Palace Theatre and stars Jonathan Wilkes (constantly referred to in the show as 'you know, Robbie Williams's best friend') and Max & Paddy's Paddy McGuiness. Press night featured a surprise cameo by Ricky Hatton, and fortunately for Jonathan, Robbie Williams appeared during the singalong, where he sang the chorus of 'Angels' to a basically overwhelmed crowd. MEN cutting kindly forwarded by MEN.

Remembrance Sunday in Trafford

2010-11-14T10:53:00.001-08:00

A service from North Trafford in Urmston, and South Trafford at the Hale War Memorial, with new content commemorating the fallen in the newer war theatres Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the old. The service in Hale contained a Christian, Muslim and Jewish element - but neither service attended today catered for the atheist or agnostic soldier! How old fashioned..

Vieira visits Man City training ground

2010-10-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

Senegalese footballer Patrick Vieira visited the Manchester City football training ground at Platt Lane yesterday. At 34, still in very good shape, though following a brief Q & A with the young men training there it emerged that he's a little upset to be on the bench so much these days.

Karl Jenkins & Kazakhs at Abbey Road Studios

2010-10-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Hirsute welsh composer Karl Jenkins was down in Abbey Road Studios this week, recording a composition based on the works of a Kazakh musician and poet named Shakarim. Present on the day were three Kazakh folk singers, and former child prodigy violinist from Kazakhstan named Marat.

Also posted is me, entirely obscured by the back end of my camera, photographing the composer during an interview.

Two royal visits in one day

2010-10-11T09:40:00.001-07:00

Gruff Scot Duncan Bannatyne visited Wellacre Technology College in Flixton today, seeming as socially adept as he does on Dragon's Den, and HRH Princess Anne was at Altrincham School for Girls to unveil a plaque while 1200 shivering schoolgirls looked on, rapt.

Cheri & Jamie in Priory Gardens

2010-10-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

A young couple who live in Cardiff came to Manchester, to have pictures taken that illustrate their affection for each other. (Ahh). The first location was a small woodland area in Sale, but my fondness for industrial grunge later took us to a large yellow gate in Trafford Park.

United States of Wythenshawe

2010-09-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

Greg Davis pictured, former bodybuilder and a respected local man, who runs the titular organisation which includes a dance studio, a gym and sound recording studio - all with a view to giving the young something to do, and building up community ties with it. Being a physically large man with strong views, photographing him with the unexpected gorilla statue in the lobby of the gym seemed to make sense.

Graduate Simon snags job selling Robotics

2010-09-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

In an supplement for graduate careers, another graduate moving into HR or accounting isn't very interesting. However Simon Rose works for RTS Sciences in Irlam doing a job he's enthusiastic about - he sells robotics tech.

Magneto visits Bolton School for Boys

2010-09-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that old fellow from X Men: The Last Stand! Classically trained Shakespearean actor Sir Ian McKellen returned to the school he studied at today to talk to drama students about his profession. He concluded the session by reciting a line from Sir Thomas More, a play written in part by Shakespeare but, amazingly, only saw its first performance in 1964. As it happened, McKellen was playing the part of More in this production, and thus was probably the last actor to ever deliver virgin Shakespearean prose to an audience.

Saul & Leanne tie the knot at Princes Rd

2010-08-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

A synagogue I actually grew up going to, it was odd photographing a wedding in Princes Rd - but appropriately it was the wedding of someone I knew from that same time. Saul now serves as a warden there, maintaining the Princes Road traditions, and has the sort of full-throttle intellect that only his zen bride Leanne can operate the handbrake on.
I'd like to mention at this stage that if someone could get under seat 263 with a pair of long pincers and dislodge the red Lamborghini Countach micro machine that I lost under there in 1989, I'd be much obliged.

Altrincham Beer Festival

2010-08-31T04:23:00.001-07:00

Pictured here are Beverley and Jon Gobbett, who were managing the real ale at the Beer Festival in Altrincham taking place over Bank Holiday Weekend. The ale supplies lasted until 7pm on Sunday, at which point local residents had drank the place dry.

Stefanie makes her first birthday..

2010-08-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Surviving a very premature birth at around 26 weeks, Stefanie from Stretford is now approaching the big 1. Stefanie has two older sisters - with three daughters, it seems dad Stefan can't miss.

Buses bad for babies

2010-08-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Lauren McKenna from Beswick with her 5 week old son D'Marion, who were kicked off a Stagecoach bus after the driver objected to her breastfeeding - denying D'Marion the strong teeth, bolstered IQ and weapons-grade immune system of which he is capable.

Salford Royal's Special Delivery

2010-07-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

A 350 ton crane delivers a new 6 ton plant room to the roof of the new radiology department at this hospital just outside of central Manchester. Down in the bowels of the building, a construction worker stands in what will eventually be a radiotherapy room.

Ria & Bex's Civil Partnership

2010-07-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

About 18 months after Bex wrote a proposal to Ria in the sand while hung over on a beach one morning, their civil partnership ceremony took place at Shrigley Hall in Cheshire. They're now on holiday in the Maldives, where I expect there's a lot more sand to write in!

Schoolbags weigh how much?

2010-07-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

The same as twelve house bricks, apparently. A tough job for a schoolboy, since we could only load Abbas with seven before he began to struggle! More proof that academic study is bad for you.

Hannah Whelan, Champion Gymnast

2010-07-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

A young Olympic hopeful who won a gold medal in a national competition. Strong arms. Eyes peeled for London 2012.

The Clothes Show, Earl's Court

2010-06-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

A job for a beer company brought me unexpectedly to the Clothes Show, where grumpy models in strange clothes were interspersed with gym-buffed, lolloping performance numbers. I'm no tree hugger, but performing an energetic dance routine to Lily Allen's 'The Fear' ('I want loads of clothes and I want lots of diamonds') in this monument to consumerism must've been a lost irony on this crowd..

Land's End to John O' Groats via Trafford

2010-06-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

Don't care if silhouettes are cheating, they're pretty. These cyclists are on a long charity bike ride, stopping overnight at Red House Farm in Dunham Massey. Taken on a new 5d mk2, which is, so far as I can tell, a total stonker.

A Certain Ratio

2010-06-06T11:49:00.001-07:00

Manchester band 'A Certain Ratio' photographed for a music magazine in one of those brilliant old mills off the Mancunian Way. In no particular order, Martin Moscrop on guitar, Tony Quigley on sax/keyboard, Jeremy Kerr on vocals and bass, Liam Mullan on keyboard and Donald Johnson on percussion. ACR are playing the Platt Fields Park festival June 11th.

If you're not a pub type of person...

2010-06-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

... the Ivy Manchester Church in Didsbury is screening the upcoming England v. US football match on its own hallowed ground. Illustrating the story is pastoral staff member Kristian Tucker, showing just how hard it is to smile AND do keepy ups.

His Master's Voice...

2010-06-03T04:52:00.000-07:00

A picture from a recent PR job. Just goes to show the difference a nice prop - a vintage gramophone, in this case - can make. Beats a branded T shirt!

The Incredibly Diverse Kings Arms

2010-05-24T05:26:00.000-07:00

Salford institution The Kings Arms is a pub with a fairly extensive events list, owing in part to its unique attribute of a theatre space for 120 on its upper floor, which regularly hosts plays and live music. Elsewhere in the pub there's a knitting club (in a room featuring a knitted chandelier), a very popular Dylan Day, and on Thursdays a Klezmer music workshop. Featured here are landlady Livy Pickford and Jimmy Foster, who coordinates theatre events.

Poll Positions..

2010-05-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

Manchester Town Hall is being turned into a polling station for tomorrow's elections. At well over a century old, it has seen its fair share of Parliaments.

235 feet up on the Big One..

2010-04-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

.. these less-than-subtle shots were taken, to promote asparagus which is grown on Claremont Farm, on the Wirral, and consumed across the North West and beyond. The Pepsi Max Big One in Blackpool is the tallest rollercoaster in Europe, and I had to take the maintenance gangway to the top for this picture. At least I didn't have to ride the bloody thing to the bottom.

Jailbreak!

2010-04-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

In a bonkers charity stunt the Christie had invited various companies to charge their MDs with various offences (losing their phone, being a prog rock fan) and then locking them in a cell at the Manchester Police Museum on Newton Street. They wanted a fairly generic picture to illustrate their crime themes (a murder mystery is to follow) and these are what I came up with.

A Deadly Nine Year Old

2010-04-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Nine year old Mark Royles is surgical with a bowstaff - or just his feet - and is showing his abilities in front of judges Cowell et al in this week's Britain's Got Talent. Look at that war face - if they know what's healthy, they'll sit on their hands for the audition..

Cast of a Moss Side Gang Film

2010-04-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

In a story about 'Colour Candy', a new film about Moss Side gangs, the paper sent me to photograph its two most prominent cast members - Leah Hackett, a former Hollyoaker, and Keicha Greenidge, a Moss Side native whose brother died in a gang-related incident, and as such has a credible attachment to the project.

Manchester is fabulous for these grungy Victorian railway tracks and smoking alleys. This city centre street was an unholy alliance of industrial history, and startling graffiti art.

(I've been asked to add that Keicha is in fact from Longsight, not Moss Side - my apologies).

Waxing Stupid

2010-04-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

Turtle Wax make products that keep cars looking pretty, and as such have a fairly masculine consumer base. To try and widen its appeal to the fairer sex a photo shoot was organised in time for an April Fool's Day release, showing women engaging with the product in sometimes unexpected ways. Pitch was critical in these pictures - not too salesy, not too zany - and in the end we favoured a straightforward approach with a lick of 'Dear Deidre' aesthetic...

Sports Event in Gorton

2010-03-25T06:39:00.000-07:00

The job here was a spread of images from a sports day at Wright Robinson Sports Village in Gorton. Since it was hammering it down all day I kept myself and my kit inside, where plenty was going on. Besides table tennis, badminton and the like, were seven beefy lads from RAF Halton Physical Education Display Team. Who even knew the RAF had one?

The PM visits the new Christie Hospital

2010-03-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Christie, a world-reknowned cancer hospital in South Manchester, has built a new centre in Oldham. I'd been photographing tours by patients, local dignitaries and MPs all week, but then I was told to come in on this particular day to photograph a very high profile visitor, but I was not to know who until I was on site myself. I was relieved to learn it was Gordon Brown (and not JLS, for example).

My gatherings? Larger and stockier than you might expect, and is very affable in way that suggests affability does not come naturally to him. But who says leaders have to be likeable?

60 years in the making

2010-03-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

Jack and Joan Holding, who are shortly to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary. Joan has a fondness for cats and keeps a stuffed tortoiseshell on her kitchen countertop, which I at first mistook for a slipper. 'They don't do this any more', her friend remarked glumly- 'they just let poor cats starve to death instead'. Out of the frying pan, or what...

Mustelidae

2010-03-06T05:58:00.000-08:00

Ferrets seem to show great curiosity in everything, vibrate when you hold them, and as such are only marginally less enthusiastic than their owners. At this show in Timperley the ferrets were first judged, then raced against each other, in a typically bonkers pet show. Regrettably I couldn't photograph the race as I had another job to attend.

Walking to a crime scene at Salford Quays

2010-03-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

A body had been pulled out of the canal near the Imperial War Museum, and the paper wanted a GV of the patch of water with the Museum in the background. Pity for the man, but the sun still came out..

2010-02-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

Sir Joseph Pillings, the first appointed Identity Commissioner. Taking pictures during interview is a relief sometimes - you can experiment a little and the subject has no idea what you're doing.

Rappers battle in the Attic

2010-02-22T10:15:00.001-08:00

Must admit, I thought it'd be awful. I took on a job for a music magazine about an outfit travelling the country pitting MCs against each other in rap battles, pictured here in The Attic on Oxford Road. Normally when you see Brits doing things Americans do it's pretty embarassing, but all the competitors here were authentic, original and very, very British.

91 yr old goallie opens Old Trafford museum

2010-02-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

Jack Crompton was a goallie for Man Utd in 1948 and is, as such, very old indeed. I was sent to photograph him opening a new museum at Old Trafford, which celebrating 100 years of the club.

A very accommodating, softly spoken 91 year old, I put him on a wall with a century of Man Utd footballers' names on it. Since it was in the middle of a busy, newly opened thoroughfare, it took every bit of patience I had to keep the signature hunters at bay..

Student Protest

2010-02-18T16:39:00.000-08:00

An anti-Israel student protest outside Manchester Student's Union, remarkable if only for the fact that they weren't fighting for an extended Fresher's Week. Thinking it was all done and done I left the Union for my car, and encountered a horde of pro-Israelis coming the other way. Of course, things got rather agitated after that.

Playpark in gloomy Moss Side

2010-02-18T16:29:00.000-08:00

'Get something pretty' - a brief a photographer always likes to hear. A new play area opened up in Moss Side and the paper sent me over. Moss Side is a gloomy neighborhood and these shots certainly look sombre. I wonder if they wanted something more cheerful...

BMXing at the Velodrome

2010-02-17T16:42:00.001-08:00

Sent by the paper to get some shots to promote a new BMX track next to the Manchester Velodrome. Pro BMXer Shanaze was there with some local kids, who were very patient as 3 photographers made their way through them.

Imperial War Museum..

2010-02-17T16:06:00.000-08:00

Simple formula - kids plus exhibits at the Imperial War Museum. It's so dark in there you don't see anything you've not lit with a flash.

Since the exhibits are all historical pieces it's hard to get the kids interacting with them - the museum won't allow it. So you just do what you can to make it fun.. in one shot we've got a girl looking through the window of a Trabant, a Soviet classic, and then we've got this boy with an artillery peice that apparently fired the first shell of WW1.