This weekend of the 24th of July was the annual War and Peace Show in Beltring, Kent, England.

The show is an annual mega fest for militaria, living history, and re-enactment groups. There are a wide range of groups from First World War groups to Vietnam and modern groups. The turn out here is massive and it is the worlds largest event of its kind with people coming from many different countries each year.

It has had some bad press in the past from Hack Journalists but the level of detail and dedication which the re-enactors display is amazing and there is a definite feeling of having wandered into another dimension or possibly another time. Very hot and dusty though.

Working at a well presented scientific establishment I always expect everyone to be very normal, very professional and very well behaved, unlike myself it seems. So I was most pleased to discover that a colleague occupies some of his spare time in a local HardCore Punk band named 13 Gauge. This was hardcore Punk with a liberal sloshing of Metal stirred in but I enjoyed watching them play at a small venue in Oxford. I was told I could have a free reign with my camera and once again got valuable experience through a great invitation. It was a small gig but the people there were enjoying themselves and the atmosphere felt good.

Lighting was grim so it was High ISO tastic but Hardcore Punk is high ISO music (i.e. LOTS of grain and distortion and anger) so you can happily throw out all the rules and do what the hell you like.

Just got back and am very sadly back to work. Following a 3 year break from the Whitby Goth festival I went with Marina and stayed with friends and had great fun.

Whitby is a famous place historically. It features prominently in Bram Stokers Dracula, saw a synod in 664 AD and is the place where Captain Cook’s ship the Bark Endeavour was launched. Picturesque with an awesome ruined abbey it makes a great place for a subculture riven with vanity.

Below are some photos… If you happen to be anyone in them and are not happy, email me and I will remove them.

I could blather on about fashion trends for ever and it is always fun looking at the latest styles and comparing them to the past. A few years ago at Whitby, the whole Cybergoth thing kicked off and loads of people sported plastic dreads and an endless array of over the top goggles which provided less protection that a £2 pair of glasses from a petrol station but looked like something the Terminator would be intimidated by. Now Cyber has settled down to become part of the general background goth radiation. In its place has sprung the Steampunk. Steampunk is a parody on the word cyberpunk and most importantly, both were pioneered by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (I’m certain others are in there too but i’m just not esoteric enough to know, so sorry). Think of a Victorian world which developed Babbage’s Analytical Difference Engine and brought about information processing a century (thereabouts) early. However everything is mechanical with cogs, gears and punched cards in place of transistors and silicon. Steampunk embraces this style and is basically Victorian with extra brass nobs. The Anime film Steamboy offers a nice insight into this type of world for those wanting an easy explanation.

Whitby 2009 saw Steampunk as the next cybergoth fad. Huge groups of people all had the same goggles covered in brass cogs, remontoires and fiddly bits. They looked great and someone is making a fortune. Once again though, it is fun to stare at the victims of the trend (even though I quite fancied a pair myself).

A few days after I brought my D80 a band named the Last Dance played at my freinds club night in Oxford. Despite knowing nothing whatsoever, he asked if would take some photos.

As stated in the heading I had a nice camera with a good all rounder lens (an 18 – 135 Telephoto for DX sensors).

That was however all I had and all I really knew about was how to turn it on and press the release button. Still, with visions of artistically grainy shots of dingy locations that somehow captured the snooty goth cheese and most cool alternative aesthetic which I was so keen to get my hands on I set off …

The results were not really good and I felt a total fraud, especially as my friend had said I was the ‘official photographer’. This was not aided by the many non official photographers also there with better kit, flashes, much more experience and noses to stare down. That was several months ago now and I am only just getting files processed and working through the back log.

I found a few shots which I don’t mind to much.

This guy (Glen E. Friedman) is the standard to judge against in live band photography of the dark and grainy variety.