The Marks of Man

That silent, invisible, porcelain monument, Glossy and sculpted and made in our curious form. Shaped to fit its one particular function. Closeted away behind its own door, it exists on a social divide, on its own turf unlike anything else in the world. From across the room, it is furniture, necessary and ungainly. But from upon, the dynamic changes. Its awkward and humorous surface is broken, its urgent service availed, and what is revealed!? Welcome to the blog of Sitters . The project is a study through portraiture of the most unifying of all themes human, the toilet. This project is all about revealing the hidden. There could scarcely be a ritual so ancient or emblem of civilisation so indelible, that is less acknowledged. Its function is the function of the human body, an age old marriage. Yet it is difficult to visualise. We can hardly recall the where and when of our life's visitations let alone the events that surround them (except for the unspeakably ext

Vintage 80s: Life on the streets Comments Time passes and society and places change, yet we often don't notice or overlook the visual clues we see everyday. But, by always carrying a camera and recording those daily encounters, Johnny Stiletto managed to capture a very personal view of life on the streets of London in the 1980s. Those of you who follow this blog may remember a post on Johnny Stiletto's book, Shots from the Hip back in 2009; well now there's a new collection of his work, a book entitled Vintage 80s which brings together about 160 street shots. Johnny Stiletto: "Little boy and a Rolls Royce. On the corner of Berkeley Square and Bruton Street at Jack Barclay's they sell velvet collar dreams." As before though, the photographs are interspersed with his comments and thoughts on the moment, or the wider situation. His work links together the news events of the time with the personal. To me they seem like frames from black an

Shots from the hip Phil Coomes | 09:25 UK time, Friday, 31 July 2009 In the early '90s, I picked up a book called Shots from the Hip by Johnny Stiletto. The title and technique appealed. Frames grabbed by holding the camera with a wide-angle lens down low and hoping for the best. Today, everyone holds their camera at arm's length, weird angles and anything goes. But this was a time of film, and virtually everyone using a 35mm camera looked through the viewfinder. Away from the usual tourist zones, it was rare to see a camera on the streets; today there's one in every pocket. A couple of weeks ago, an e-mail popped into my inbox from Johnny, with a link to his website and the words "A website for people who like photography". It rang a bell; I clicked and, sure enough, there were the pictures I remembered from nearly 20 years ago. I still have the book, and I dug it out again for another look. Johnny Stiletto was - indeed, is - an alias w