“Hey Karen! What’s with the disappearing photo?” 

I’m glad you asked!  

Well, I’m going in to hibernation, I’m knuckling down, and entering a period of solitudinal(yes, I made that word up) busyness. For the next month or so, I’m throwing all my efforts into the 4am Project.  So, in order to do this I really need to concentrate my efforts. I’m cutting down on going out. The social Karen is going to have to take a bit of a back seat & chill out whilst the focused creative Karen goes into overdrive. I’ve explained to some friends that they may not see me as much over the coming weeks, and they have been very understanding. I love getting invites to events/parties/tweetups/etc, (and keep the invites coming!)  but please don’t be offended if I have to decline sometimes. 

So! The 4am Project! Well, it’s soon going to have it’s first birthday – Yay! If you haven’t heard, the next global 4am date is the 4th April. Please put the date in your diary and set your alarm clock and take part in the global photographic project! You can even grab a bit of code and put the 4am Project countdown clock on your blog or website. If you blog about the 4am Project, give me a shout and you can follow the project on twitter too. 

As you can probably tell, I’ve got lots to do for the 4am Project. One of those things is organising an event for Birmingham! I’m liaising with a few venues at the moment and waiting for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If you have any suggestions about the venue in Brum for this year, let me know. Or if you are a venue and would like to host the 4am Project event, please get in touch and we can have a chat! 

A big boost for the 4am Project was provided last week on a Crossover Lab 3 day course. From the Crossover website: 

Screen West Midlands, in collaboration with Crossover, is delighted to invite archivists, archive rights holders and producers with experience in film or television, social media, web design, games,mobile and location based services to participate in an intensive 3 day ‘creative lab’, with a specific focus on developing innovative digital archive projects. 

I was invited to apply for a place on the course, and I’m so glad I attended! It was held in the gorgeous Coombe Abbey. 

Taken with my iPhone

Taken with my iPhone

It was an inspiring, intense and invaluable! I spent three days with other creatives and met some great mentors too.  Tons of fresh ideas were generated (perhaps too many haha), and I would certainly recommend it. 

What else….? Oh yes. I know I’m waaaaay behind on photo blogging, and I’ve still got tons of photo shoots from last year to blog about. I *promise* I’ll be addressing this soon and catching up!  

AND, I’ve started a new blog! Wake Green Park Blog. I quite fancied having a try at hyper local blogging after being inspired by Nicky Getgood from Digbeth Is Good and Talk About Local. It’s still in it’s infancy, but I hope you enjoy it! 

Also, last year I went on a press trip with Nicky Getgood to Belfast that was sponsored by bmibaby and the Belfast Tourist Board. I blogged all about it here. Well, I shall be heading to Nice this year with bmibaby! I haven’t set a date yet, but it will be sometime in April or May most proabably. This time I am taking my Mother. I can’t wait to have a break and an adventure with my Mum, and share it all with you. 

Oh, and as if I haven’t got enough to occupy my mind, I’ve got a notion to spend a month in NYC. Now, this isn’t more than a notion at the moment. Well, more of an growing obsession really. I spent a few days in NYC a few years ago. It wasn’t enough. I felt so at home there. I love the city and the people. The last time I went there I didn’t use the world wide web for anything other than sending a few emails and looking up stuff. I didn’t use it to connect with people, I certainly didn’t have a blog, and social media hadn’t even registered on my radar. 

Things are different now. I practically live my life on the net! I have connected and made friends with so many people since getting all social media’d up.  I can’t imagine things any other way now. I feel like I’m using the net for what it was designed for. 

I’ve started following some NYC blogs: Brooklyn Heights Blog, Brownstoner, Curbed NY, Dumbo NYC, McBrooklyn, NewYorkology, NYC Menu Girl, Queens Crap, Brooklyn Paper, and Gothamist. If you have any NYC blog recommendations, let me know! I really want to start getting re-acquainted with the place and be ready to throw myself into the city when (if!) I get there. 

Apart from having a trip of a lifetime, I’d like to use my time there as a way to document the city. This will take the form of photographs, videos, interviews and of course blogging. I want to delve into the life of New York City and experience everything it has to offer and share it. The sights, the sounds, the food, the streets, the people, the culture - all of it! I’d like to document the experience, perhaps take up a few challenges along the way, and I’d love to hold a 4am Project event there too of course. 

I just have to figure out a way of doing it! Suggestions on a postcard, PLEASE!  

In the meantime I’ve put together a little creative wish list over on Amazon,and included some things that will be useful for NYC. If you would like to surprise me, that would be great and I would really appreciate it, but please don’t feel obliged  

So, I *think* I have enough to keep me busy for a little while yet! 

Let’s connect! @karenstrunks, Facebook,Flickr, youtube,  hello@karenstrunks.com

One of my Dad’s old school friends wrote  some words for the priest to read at out the funeral. He told the story of when my Dad was taking one of his English exams. At the end of the exam paper my Dad wrote. “PS The Rest Is Silence”. This is a quote from Hamlet.

O, I die, Horatio;

The potent poison quite o’er-crows my spirit;

I cannot live to hear the news from England,

But I do prophesy the election lights

On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;

So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,

Which have solicited. The rest is silence.

This story and those words have stayed with me and I had the idea of typing them out and putting them in a frame. I particularly wanted the font to be in a Shakespearean style.  Although I thought I knew what I wanted, I couldn’t really get it any further than the idea stage as much as I pondered upon it.

I got in touch, via twitter, with my friend Katie Parry from Supercool Design in Birmingham. She asked me to drop her an email and I gave her my vague idea. Soon after, this beautiful design arrived by email!

By Katie at Supercool Design, Birmingham

I must admit to shedding a tear or two when I saw it. It was PERFECT. Just how I imagined it, but couldn’t quite put into words. From the font, to the background colour, the vignetting and the important words ‘The rest is silence’, it was exactly what I had hoped for.

Thank you Katie for your instinctive, wonderful design skills, and for this beautiful memento that means so much to me now and will mean so much in years to come.

From Julian’s website: Julian’s themes are born from a childhood consumed by sci-fi, comic books, cartoons, graffiti and boredom. Often conceived in varying combinations of aerosol, acrylics paint, ink, graphite and/or emulsion on various surfaces including canvas, wood, walls and board his images combine abstract portraiture and hints of pattern, implying a measure of illustrative prose.

I like to think that all the characters in his paintings inhabit a strange, slightly darker world than ours.

When Julian asked for my address I was naturally curious. The postman delivered a long cardboard tube, which I opened excitedly. I was blown away to see that Julian had sent me a limited edition print! WOW!

I LOVE IT! It’s being framed at the moment and will soon be hung on my living room wall and admired every day.

Not only am I the owner of a print from one of my favourite artists, it’s my first limited edition piece of art too! I feel all grown up now.

Pop over to Julian’s website and have a browse of his original and limited edition prints, and you can follow him on twitter.

So, it’s just left for me to say a huge Thank You Julian! I will treasure my picture.

Tis the season to be jolly! Whoops, I mean romantic!

I thought I would capture one of the iconic images of Valentine’s Day; the red rose.  Can you believe I had to buy these myself?! No, I can’t either!

The beauty of the blossom was definitely worth of a close up. I love the little windows of light reflected in the water droplets.

With our online, digital media, twittering world it’s even easier to send the object of your affection a little love message anonymously. I am reminded of a lovely little website call Tweelove by my friends Bostin Bloke and 383 Project, where you can send anonymous twitter greetings. Perfect for this time of year! Go on, be brave, make someone’s day!  btw, I’m @karenstrunks on twitter

I hope you have enjoyed my little tribute to Valentine’s Day and that you have a very romantic weekend!

I’ll be blogging about the 4am Project next, which is about to take over my life any minute……………..now!

I had been in Belfast for the previous 11 days visiting him and staying in a nearby hotel.  I brought my camera over with me, but I lost all interest in taking photographs. I tried a little aimless walk around Belfast city with my camera but I couldn’t ’see’ anything except that I would be capturing memories of a sad time. It seemed futile. However, I ventured to take my camera into the hospital the day before my Dad passed away. What did I think I was going to be able to capture? I don’t know…..

I walked to the hospital that day. 12 minutes. I guess I timed it in case I needed to get there in a hurry, but all other times I caught a bus or taxi. I took photos along my walk, of the hospital, of the hospital church (where I spent a lot of time much to my surprise), of the note I left in the prayer book….

I knew my Dad would never want a picture of him in the state he was in. He didn’t even want me to see him like that…all the tubes…he was a very proud man. Thankfully that day he had been moved from the intensive care ward into his own room, which was one of his wishes. Throughout the 11 days all I could do was hold his hand. I couldn’t hug him because of all the wires and a fear of disturbing them. Prior to him going into hospital I hadn’t held my Dad’s hand since I was a little girl. It seemed significant. And I took a photo. The last photo I would have with my Dad. About 7 hours later he would be gone.

It’s been three weeks since I went over to Belfast. So much has happened. So many new experiences for me. I’ve started a blog called The Old Songs Are The Best. I couldn’t really blog in Belfast; no time, internet connection amongst other things. I made notes and I will be turning those notes into blog posts. Please be warned that it isn’t the jolliest blog. I am telling it like it is. I have hesitated about blogging about it all, but something inside me wants to. I am not sure whether my Dad would approve or not, but I hope he understands.

For now I’ll leave you with one of my Dad’s favourite pieces of prose.   

 Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Please excuse my absence from the blogsphere.

It hasn’t been the best start to 2010, least of all for my Dad who is critically ill in hospital. I’ve been with him for the last 10 days and will stay here with him in Belfast.

The outlook isn’t bright unfortunately and it’s a tough time. I have my camera with me but hesitant to take photos for the first time ever. If I create photographs, I will be creating more memories of a sad time. Though perhaps in years to come I will be glad to have those extra memories. I don’t know.

I am still contactable and around on twitter. Thank you to my twitter friends who have been an incredible support during this time.  Apologies again to the clients I have had to re-schedule. Thank you for being so understanding.

Looking ahead I am going to have the 4am Project to keep me busy in the run up to the 4th April, so I am thankful for that.

For the time being I am just taking things day by day and seeing how things go for my Dad.

I still haven’t blogged a lot of my photos from this year, so must make it a resolution to catch up with that!

It’s been a wonderful year which has seen my photography business begin to bloom. I hope for it’s continued growth for 2010 and will be working hard to making that happen. I quite fancy doing a spot of pet photography and wedding photography. They are completely different genres and I will need to do a lot of research into those areas.

2010 will be the year of the 4am Project. It’s my global photography project which asks photographers to take a photograph of the view of their world at 4am. In order to make it grow and get the word out I shall be dedicating a lot of my time to that. It’s going to be a very exciting time!

I will be seeing in 2010 at Digbeth Coach Station. Nicky Getgood, Digbeth resident and blogger of Digbeth is good has had a crazy great idea of spending from 6pm to 6am at the newly re-opened station. Somehow she has persuaded me to join her! I am not as hardcore as Nicky though as will spend just a few hours before and after midnight at the station. We plan on documenting the life of the station and it’s travellers, so I will have my camera in hand. It’s even got some press attention with the Birmingham Mail writing about it. Wish me luck

I shall just take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy new year! I hope 2010 is good to you. I’ve met some wonderful people this year through blogging and twittering, and made many new friends who are very inspiring.

See you in 2010!

Thank you to everyone who took part! I’ve had lots of great feedback and I’m glad you enjoyed the event.

Lots of amazing photographs have been submitted to flickr!

I took the opportunity to ask some of the photographers how they heard about the 4am Project and if they enjoyed the event! Thank you everyone who took part in the video.

 And there is more! Being a world wide project, lots of other photographers from around the world set their alarms and headed out in the wee small hours with their cameras to capture their world at 4am. Take a look!

If you would like to take part in the next 4am Project event, put the 4thApril in your diary! Maybe get some friends together too! You can keep up to date with all the 4am Project news on the website, and you can follow the project on twitter too @4amproject

A big thank you to the sponsors of the Birmingham event. Hello Digital, Big Cat PR and of course the Bodies Revealed exhibition.

The 4am Project would like to invite you to a very special 4am photography event in Birmingham.  This event is going to be held at the Bodies Revealed Exhibition at the Custard Factory, and there are 100 FREE tickets for this event!

Please visit EventBrite to register for your free ticket(s).

“BODIES REVEALED the incredible exhibition about the amazing and complex machine we call the human body. Using real human specimens, painstakingly prepared and respectfully displayed, BODIES REVEALED lets visitors of all ages explore deep within the human body.”

What is the 4am Project? The 4am Project, a worldwide community experience, aims to capture a time of day that many people rarely see. Brainchild of UK photographer Karen Strunks, and building on the ever growing phenomenon of social media, the 4am Project is an exercise in global solidarity to encourage the sharing of visual imagery that reflects the world we live in.

Utilising Flickr, the web space for sharing images, photographers around the world will be leaving the cosy confines of their beds to create a shared online gallery that illustrates the strange and wonderful life that goes on while we sleep.

How to take part: You can get involved with the 4am Project by uploading your photos to the photo sharing Website Flickr. You can find help and instructions here. Remember to tag your photo(s) 4amproject.

Can’t make it to the Bodies Revealed exhibition? No problem. You can take part where ever you are! Get your friends and family involved and take a photo of your view of the world at 4am!

This event is sponsored by:

Terms and conditions:

You may select up to 10 of your best photographs of the Bodies Reaveled event to submit online.

You cannot use your photographs of the exhibition commercially.

Please treat the bodies respectfully and photograph them in an respectful manner.

If you cannot make the event, please get in touch with me so that I can re-allocate your ticket. mail@karenstrunks.com 07835 754 310

When you register for this event you will be emailed a ticket. Please print out the ticket and bring it with you to the event.

 Don’t forget your camera!

I love using streets and parks as a back drop for photographs. I love the variety they offer. Amy and her friend came from Worcester, so they saw parts of the city that they hadn’t been to before. It was a photo shoot combined with a tour!

Amy is a dancer, so I took some fun shots of her dancing moves!

We found a nice little park. Who can resist a leaf throwing fight?! Amy won

If you are starting to think about Christmas gift ideas for your friends and family, treat them (or yourself!) to a photo shoot. It’s something a little bit different, and a lot of fun!