PORTRAITS

There is an old cliché about writers being painters in words, yes, I know hoary and hackneyed, but I want to use this metaphor to introduce the work of Joel , whom you have encountered as the talented editor of the long running Tripwire (http://www.tripwire-magazine.com/). You may know that Joel Meadows deals in words, he is a respected journalist and has two exciting projects bubbling away as I write, one is an intriguing policer and the other is none other than Dee For Detective, which Corvus will be publishing in the near future.

However, what I am trumpeting today is his work as a photographer (just how talented can one man be). Joel has not one, but two new collections of his photographs out, both show how skilled he is at composition, the use of black and white as a photographic medium and are well worth a look.

I suspect like me you will get lost amongst the faces that stare back at you from every page of Portraits Joel’s pictures of famous authors. I shall let Mike Carey sum up the appeal of this book: “Time and again Joel Meadows uses his portraits not just to present his subjects but to explore and interrogate them. A beautiful and thought provoking book.” I especially found the photos of Alan Moore, taken over a number of years to be very powerful. He uses this time lapse photography to great effect with his studies of Michael Moorcock and Christopher Fowler as well. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.

Joel has also produced Spooked, A London Gothic. This volume really highlights Joel’s skill at capturing the spirit of a place. As you look into the photographs you will realise that Old London has never gone away and that the city you know is built on something far older and more beautiful. That’s all I’m going to say, as I want to go and loose myself in that gothic London which is never very far away.

You can order both of these book and more from Joel’s blog (http://joelm1-joelmead.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/joel-meadows-photography-at-last-my.html ). Don’t delay, they are that good.