I’ve never met the guy but I’m always expected him to jump out and flash-gun me in the face every time I’m in town. He captures the daily life of Birmingham with a kind of gritty glamour usually reserved for New York. You might find yourself.

AJ Saker’s flickrstream is full of really interesting faces, Here are a few of my favourites:

“Moseley Exchange is really proud to present the latest work of Birmingham photographer Harry Starling. Where he examines different parts of Birmingham’s cityscape, and presents some unexpected aspects of our familiar landmarks. Harry’s style incorporates elements of documentary, deadpan and fine art photography, and his preferred subjects are architecture, industry and urban landscapes.”

Harry is a familiar face in the arts markets in and around town, with regular spots selling his photography prints at the Moseley Arts Market, Kings Heath Arts & Crafts market, and several Christmas markets including the JQ and in Pigeon Park.

Harry set up the exhibition Preclusion in Stirchley (as blogged about on CiB) the year before last. It’s great to see he’s back with a solo show! I went along to the opening last night, I had never been to the Moseley Exchange before, so it was great to see the space, and to go on an adventure into Moseley on a chilly Tuesday evening.

The exhibition is on from 13th March – 10th April 2013, and opening hours are 9am–8pm Monday–Thursday, 9am– 6pm Friday. Enjoy!

Tonight (Thursday 7th Feb) is the exhibition preview and book launch of photographer Sonia Audhali‘s ‘Little Yemen’, a sensitive portrait of a West Midlands community in transition:

“As a British Yemeni born and raised in England, Sonia Audhali‘s photographs exhibit not only an image of one nation and its culture integrating with another, but also a trace of autobiography. Audhali’s identity as both British and Yemeni instinctively influences her approach to capturing a dual heritage of which there is little in the way of published evidence in the UK.

The photographs in this exhibition show life in the home, at work, during prayer and at leisure. They capture the importance of food, religion and the social gathering. And they provide a valuable record of the contemporary British Yemen at a point where generations converge; as the aging population of migrant Yemenis in the Midlands gets fewer, Audhali recognises that the opportunity to capture this particular perspective on the Yemeni experience lessens too. Little Yemen is motived by this; a compelling need to preserve the meetings of one nation’s heritage with another before they merge inseparably.”

The show is free, and is on for 9 weeks from Saturday 9th February in the arena gallery.

We’re going on a ‘CiB day trip’ to the mac on Saturday to take a look at this show, we urge you to do the same! 

Possibly a bit late to the party with this one, but I’ve recently been introduced to Ballet in Birmingham. “To mark the start of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s 2011-12 season, the Company has joined forces with a Birmingham-based photographer to create Ballet in Birmingham. The campaign celebrates this world-class ballet company in Birmingham, the city it has called its home for the last 21 years.

Photographer Richard Battye captured images of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s 13 Principal dancers, the Company’s Director David Bintley, Assistant Director Marion Tait and Chief Executive Christopher Barron in areas of Birmingham that mean something special to them, away from their work with the Company.”

Last week, Kassie and I accepted a kind invitation to attend Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Cinderella press night at the Birmingham Hippodrome, and the performance was magical. Several of the dancers that performed in last Wednesday’s Cinderella feature in Richard’s set, including Cinderella, Elisha Willis. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Cinderella is on at the Birmingham Hippodrome until the 9th December, and tickets are still available.

In related ballet news, the third instalment of Pointe Blank (Collections of original images inspired by the plots of major narrative works by BRB, and created by professional designers in and around the UK.) has been available to view online for a while now, and is worth checking out.

Type City UK launched last week, a website designed to archive photographs of found type.

Type City is a community platform showcasing typography in the built environment from around the UK. Submit your typography pictures via #typecity www.typecity.co.uk

The website is open for submissions across the UK, but if you’re specifically looking for found type in Birmingham, click ‘collections’ and select ‘Birmingham’.

If you like this, you’ll enjoy the Typographic Hub ‘Graphic DNA’ research project.

They are looking for a photograph that captures the very essence of the Jewellery Quarter and its heritage. Perhaps a photo of a typical jewellers or silversmiths workshop? Past or present photographs are welcome!

I spoke to the guys down at the Jewellery Quarter Heritage who gave me some background and also an idea of what they are looking for…

The Hockley Flyer magazine has been published by us for nearly a quarter of a century and we also published the first (and second) History & Guide to The Jewellery Quarter over 20 years ago, which is almost sold out. 

During that time we have accumulated over one thousand items on the history of the Quarter – far too much to publish as a ‘book’ so we decided to publish a quarterly magazine ‘Jewellery Quarter Heritage’ which will hopefully run for several years. 

What we are always short of is photographs, some that we do have cannot be reproduced good enough for a magazine cover. That is what the competition is about – to obtain pics of ‘existing workshops’ in their ‘real working state’.

To enter simply email the photograph(s) with your name and address or use the form available here. Please be sure to read the terms & conditions and note that entries not chosen may be used in future issues of the magazine. The competition winner will win a subscription to the first four issues of the magazine, and will hopefully be announced at the launch on 6th September at Vertu Bar.

Visit the website to find out any more information.

Crisis Skylight is the education scheme of the homelessness charity Crisis. Working in hostels & community spaces it engages with the homeless using arts classes & creative courses. The results of some of this work is currently being exhibited at St. Martin’s Church.

Running from the 4th to the 30th August the exhibition includes photography, sculpture, painting & drawing.

Breakin’ Out

Described as a “celebration of urban culture” Breakin’ Out is taking place at mac on Wednesdays throughout August. Using the hashtag #NextGen it’s trying to discover the “Next Generation of Bboys, Bgirls, Rappers, MCs, DJs, Street Artists + Film-makers”.

There’s a mixture of workshops for ages 13 to 19 (street art & graffiti, Streetdance/Breakin’, making music tracks or music videos), events (music & spoken word, Love to Jam) and pop-up performances. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook

Brindleyplace outdoor films

The programme for the first Brindleyplace film festival has been announced. For 2 weeks from Monday 13th of August there will be a daily free screening of some classic movies and family films starting at 6 on weekday evenings, with two films shown at 11 and 2 on Saturday and Sundays.

The full programme can be found at Brindleyplace films and includes Back to the Future, Mamma Mia!, Ghostbusters, Kung Fu Panda, Back to the Future Part II, Grease, Happy Feet, Ice Age, Shrek, and E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Sandwell Arts Festival

Between the 6th and 18th August the third Sandwell Arts Festival has a focus on participation. It takes place throughout Oldbury, Smethwick, Wednesbury and West Bromwich with a wide variety of activities across the borough. The climax of the festival will be a procession through West Bromwich high street on Saturday 18th August.

The festival organisers include Multistory, Black Country Touring, The Public, Sandwell Third Age Arts and Sandwell Primary Care Trust.

West Midlands based photographer and filmmaker Stephen Vernon Clarke, focuses on simple portraiture and landscape photography, with a polished finish.

Take a look at his portfolio on his shiny new website www.vernonclarke.com, the result of a re brand from Liberty Creative.

He’s also been awarded with an Honorable Mention at the International Photography Awards, in the Architecture: Buildings, Fine Art: Landscapes and Fine Art: Nudes categories.

Take a look at his portfolio and keep up with his work on tumblr.