11.11.11.

An evening with April Ashley...Who?

Who may well ask...I wont go into the whole long amazing story now (its best to google her or go to the film section at www.philipbrooker.com) But Im filming this event for my movie 'Au Revoir Monsieur Bonjour Mademoiselle'
So it's off to Liverpool (home of the fab four, only now, alas, the fab two) April is giving a talk about her life, and what a life it has been. Yes I know this poster looks very similar to the movie poster (below) but I'm a busy man.
Four days of shooting will probably be 5 minutes of footage I can actually use...Why am I doing this again? Painting was so much easier....then again.

April Ashley...the movie

As most of you may know by now I'm making a very big movie about the life of April Ashley. I've know April for 30 years or so (I'm drinking a very large martini as I write this so the dates may vary...bare with me..or is it bear with me) Its going to be a pretty good movie, in fact its going to be a wonderful film. This wednesday I'll be going to England to shoot some more footage on April. If you have ever made a film before you will know that it involves not sleeping for two years. I don't quite know how I found myself in this position but here I am. I'm hoping this film will be finished this time next year. With very little sleep and spending every penny I have , I might just be able to do it...Did I mention the other film Im making at the same time.......Whew!!!!!

P.S. I hope you like the poster, it was so much easier to do than the movie.

the poster that never was...

I painted this poster of the beautiful river-beach swimming pool in Boran, France for one good reason, A poster was never made. Lots of photographs and newsreels were taken of the inauguration in 1933, but no poster was ever produced. I thought this quite unusual for that time and a wonderful opportunity to see what I could do. After a lot of research into other posters of that period. I set to work. As many of you already know , I have shot a lengthy photo essay on the pool as well as a one hour film..I suppose this is my latest obsession at the moment. The film will be out next year under the French title 'les eaux muettes' For more information about the film and the photo essay go to www.philipbrooker.com
Yes! this poster will be available later this year (maybe early january) and hopefully details are being worked out for an exhibition of the photos as well as a book about the project... Stay tuned.

If you are still awake, here is a brief history....
On May 2nd 1933 The Magnificent 'Plage du Lys-Chantilly' situated on the river Oise bank just north of Paris, opened its doors to the public and over the next seventy years would attracted thousands and thousands of people for miles around. Hailed as the most beautiful river beach in France. It instantly became a hit. This was not to last.
What's left today are the sturdy remains of a once majestic pool. A place steeped in a sad romantic atmosphere.The structure is still sound but nature seems to be winning the battle. The sand of the beach has an uneven blanket of grass and weeds. The 190 cabins have no doors and most of the original mirrors are broken.The faded plage rules still hang in every cabin as a reminder.Alongside are the original clothes hangers that look very naked, except for draping cobwebs. No longer is there music coming from the huge speaker. The chequered dance floor boasts only of weeds and grime. The reflections of the once grand river beach complex lay dormant. Sad majestic ghosts hang in the air.

my latest illustration

I did this illustration for a magazine called mortgage monthly. I know what you are thinking 'boring' (the name of the magazine and hopefully not the illustration) but you would be wrong.
Visually this magazine has some of the best illustrators around gracing its pages. I suppose this really isn't the
right time to be saying the 'M' word what with the economy the way it is....ooooops!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Dont forget to click on the illustration for a better view of the detail. Merci

postcard from paris #1

(For better quality, go to you-tube and type in postcard from paris #1 and click on 'watch in high quality)

Q. What are postcards from paris?

A. Postcards from paris are just little videos taken with my small but wonderful nikon coolpix p4 camera (a still camera but with the ability to shoot video). They are not supposed to be great works of art or even beautifully shot films. They are just glimpses, little moments. Each film will be under 2 minutes and with very little or no editing. What you might call raw.
Postcard from paris #1 was shot at pere lachaise cemetery on a very cold wet dark day. Perfect !!!!!! Sometimes postcards from paris will just be a photo with my usual witty commentary (well, as witty as I can be that is)...

A brief history (or, all you will need to know, to impress people at a cocktail party)

The cemetery takes its name from Père François de la Chaise (1624-1709), confessor to Louis XIV, who lived in the Jesuit house rebuilt in 1682 on the site of the chapel. was bought by the city in 1804, laid out by Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart.
The cemetery was established by Napoleon I in 1804. Cemeteries had been banned inside Paris in 1786, after the closure of the Cimetière des Innocents on the fringe of Les Halles food market, on the grounds that it presented a health hazard. (This same health hazard also led to the creation of the famous Parisian catacombs in the south of the city.)
At the time of its opening, the cemetery was considered to be situated too far from the city and attracted few funerals. Consequently, the administrators devised a marketing strategy and with great fanfare organised the transfer of the remains of La Fontaine and Molière, in 1804. Then, in another great spectacle in 1817, the purported remains of Pierre Abélard and Héloïse were also transferred to the cemetery with their monument's canopy made from fragments of the abbey of Nogent-sur-Seine (by tradition, lovers or lovelorn singles leave letters at the crypt in tribute to the couple or in hope of finding true love)
This strategy achieved its desired effect when people began clamouring to be buried among the famous citizens. Records show that, within a few years, Père Lachaise went from containing a few dozen permanent residents to more than 33,000. Today there are over 300,000 bodies buried there, and many more in the columbarium, which holds the remains of those who had requested cremation.

A good website for all your up to the date graves...
www.findagrave.com

congratulations america