Lou Jones: The Style Kaleidoscope

(Article Hello-Birmingham magazine & profile piece for News & Feature writing)

Meet Lou Jones. At 31, her career has gone from strength to strength-she’s blossomed from a fashion journalism student to a live music photographer, and now runs a successful style blog that has generated over 20,000 views...

Lou’s blog, ‘The Style Kaleidoscope’ presents Birmingham’s multicultural melting pot of fashion, and is a ‘vibrant street style documentary of Birmingham, UK’.  The site is what Lou likes to call her ‘little contribution to the fashion world’. Aiming to capture street style in Birmingham’s City Centre, she is always on the hunt for people with an attitude, and those with their own individual look. ‘I look for trends, or anti-trends- it’s important for me to have a mixture of styles on the blog,’ Lou says.

The blog was created in October 2010 following a Fashion Journalism course at Central Saint Martins (College of Art and Design in London). This course is where Lou first picked up the fashion baton. ‘That was all the petrol I needed in my engine to form the blog, and I’ve been working on it since,’ she explains.

Speaking of her experience at Central Saint Martins, Lou says she was worked extremely hard and learnt how to write pieces quickly under pressure while keeping a structure and strong content to them. ‘When I first went there, I felt totally inspired and awakened because of who'd walked those corridors - Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Barbara Hulanicki... and I need to add a non-fashion name here - Billy Childish - I could finally feel some fashion-related energy around me, and I got a sense of direction from that.’

The creation of the blog has opened up doors for this budding fashion journalist. Lou says the reaction to the street style blog has been ‘incredible’, with many people in the creative industries taking an interest, contacting her about the pictures.

 One exciting opportunity that has emerged from this hobby comes in the form of a well-known and exciting event- Style Birmingham. They proposed a feature to Lou, which involved taking some street style shots and writing about them for their magazine. This is her third piece of work for them, which is a wonderful achievement. ‘It’s fantastic, and amazing to see it all in print. This is exactly why I started the blog in the first place,’ Lou smiles. ‘I just wanted to write about fashion and see it in a magazine.’ Looks like her efforts have paid off!

In the past, Lou has also had some experience in live music photography, snapping Ocean Colour Scene’s pictures for 5 years. She got involved with the English Britpop band after seeing them play a gig in Birmingham. She enthuses, ‘the idea of taking pictures of them wouldn’t leave my head, so I made it happen. There was just something about them on stage that I wanted to capture on film; I can’t describe it any better than that – their fans will know what I’m talking about.’ Yet being able to do this required a lot of work- Lou first had to purchase a camera! After agreeing with the band, she got hold of a camera and learnt what to do with it at the first few gigs, experimenting with the films.

Lou says this period was the most amazing time of her life: ‘It was an absolute blast. Taking Ocean Colour Scene’s pictures was completely different to what I do now though, as most of my shoots with them were at gigs.’ She then progresses on to colourfully describe these concerts- excitedly discussing how the whole band moved around on stage, how lights flashed everywhere in changing colours, the smoke in the air... The way she affectionately reminisces about these events makes it clear she has fond memories of photographing these shows.

There was a good few years between Ocean Colour Scene and the formation of the blog. Talking of the transition from live music photography to fashion photography, it’s clear these fields are two opposite ends of the spectrum. For the gigs, Lou had to use a camera with film, so it took days before she actually got to see the results. With the fashion blog however, Lou has more freedom: ‘I can pose people, and I have time to get the picture I want.’

Also, the gig photography experience has helped Lou grow thicker skin, which is necessary when working in this industry. The seemingly daunting task of approaching fashionable strangers to ask if they mind having their photo taken is quite simply a walk in the park for Lou, who in the past has had grief from Ocean Colour Scene fans. ‘When you’ve had girls spit on you at gigs because you’re the band’s photographer, approaching people on the street for a shot is child’s play- and a spit-free experience!’ she jokes. She adds she doesn’t get too many issues, and some people she sees around town are now familiar with the blog, so are more than happy to be featured on it.

The blog has been running for over a year now, but lots of hard work was required to evoke (and maintain) interest in it. Lou claims months of networking was initially involved- to the point where she was ‘unable to feel the ends of her fingers on the keyboard!’

To fellow aspiring journalists, Lou suggests: ‘watch decent television and films, read books, including poetry, and listen to a lot of songs as well. Anything your mind recognises as a new word pattern or rhythm will stick in there.’ She also advises after writing your pieces, go back over them a few months later and pick out what you think could be improved. ‘You have to rip yourself apart to get better,’ she instructs. ‘And write constantly or you’ll never better yourself.’

The achievement Lou is most proud of so far in her career is, understandably, seeing her photos on Ocean Colour Scene singles on the shelves in HMV. ‘That was just surreal- I’m really proud to be a part of that, and to be featured in Style Birmingham magazine.’ It certainly is a fantastic achievement, and Lou is definitely inspirational- she is living proof that you can achieve your dreams with persistency, enthusiasm, and a burning desire to succeed.

So what does the future hold for Lou Jones and the Style Kaleidoscope? ‘I’ve got a few things happening at the moment but I’m keeping a lid on them until they’re ready to come out of the bag – it’s too easy for things not to happen sometimes. As for the future, never say never - you just don't know what's coming next!’

View Lou Jones’ style blog at: http://www.thestylekaleidoscope.com/

News Story: Victoria in Wonderland

Clothes Show Live returned to Birmingham with a bang this year for its 22^nd birthday, with exciting catwalk shows including the winning collection of young freelance fashion designer Victoria Bramwell.

 The show, which ended yesterday after hitting the NEC Birmingham from 3-8 December, extended its usual fan base this year by including attractions to also appeal to dance fans and budding designers.

The 21-year-old Victoria Bramwell graduated from Birmingham City University earlier this year after completing a Fashion Design degree, and won awards for both Haute Couture and Young Designer Of The Year at the 2010 Midlands Young Fashion Designer Awards. Showcasing her first fashion designs at Birmingham’s Clothes Show Live was one of her prizes.

The collection ‘Wonderland’ was inspired by the classic novel and film ‘Alice In Wonderland’, and followed a particularly wacky, colourful theme throughout. Pieces were reminiscent of classic characters including the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and of course Alice herself. The theme of the show was ‘A Night at The Movies,’ so Victoria’s collection fitted in well amongst the other designers, and one of her pieces to grace the catwalk was her red Cheshire cat bow, which appeared in the High School Musical scene.

Tara John, a 20-year-old hair and beauty student at Solihull College, visited the Clothes Show on Saturday December 4 and viewed the Wonderland collection, which went down a treat with admiring audiences. ‘The outfits were really nice- colourful, bright and eye-catching. The style was a bit too wild for me though- I personally wouldn’t wear any of the outfits,’ she said. ‘The collection was more suitable for a themed party or dressing up.’

Tara, who visits the Clothes Show every year, believes it gets better and better with each year that progresses. ‘I think the dance shows were spectacular. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year!’

Victoria’s Wonderland collection is available to buy through fashion websites, including on her own online boutique on the ‘Etsy’ website, which sells handmade/vintage items.

Whatever Tomorrow Brings: Production Event Article

Whatever Tomorrow Brings are a Birmingham based alternative rock band who have been signed to the record label Melomania for a month now. They have previously performed at the likes of the 02 Academy and the HMV Institute.

 The remarkably chilled out band members turn up to the interview forty minutes late in true rock ‘n’ roll style. Leading me on a twenty minute journey into Digbeth, drummer Andrew Swann (with girlfriend in tow) and bassist Jimmi Dann exude an extremely laid back attitude, travelling without any sense of navigation.

Twenty minutes later, we eventually reach our destination – the darkly lit corner pub, ‘The Moseley Arms', where indie rock music is blasting full volume, and a band are setting up in the corner. Here I meet lead singer Jamie Bradbury and guitarist Seamus Corrigan. We head outside into the beer garden, where Jamie and Seamus strike up a game of pool, and I join the other half of the band at the table to talk music and multiculturalism…

First, we cover the basics. When asked when the band first formed, the lads seem indecisive upon a precise date. This could be due to the fact the group have changed their format several times over the years. “We have juggled around with different members overtime but we now have a committed format,” Swann states. After many line-up changes, the band finally obtained a stable structure when Seamus joined in 2011.

In terms of who influences their music, the band confess they don’t fit in with what you’d normally describe as the classic White British band; describing their style as Americanised- ‘Foo Fighters meets Nickelback’.

What I wanted to know more about though, was why the band decided to shift genres- transferring from indie rock, which is where they initially started at the beginning, to the alternative rock style music they have since adopted. “It just wasn’t our scene…We realised our style had changed over time,” Swann says. “When Jimmi joined the band, it was during our pop punk stage, which was the worst stage we went through! Another reason we decided to move to rock was because this genre best suits Jamie’s voice.”

When asked about the genre of Brit pop in relation to multicultural music, the boys instantly show a division of opinion. Swann exhibits an instant passion for Oasis, a highly successful Brit pop band: “I love Brit pop as a music genre. Oasis are one of my favourite bands.” Jimmi also claimed to enjoy this genre- listening to artists like The Verve, Blur and Stereophonics.

The other half of the band however, demonstrate a strong dislike for Brit pop, preferring heavier rock. Seamus likes artists such as The Blackout, and Jamie listens to 100 Reasons, stating: “I’m much more into the rock genre.”

 In terms of listening to music from other cultures, Swann claims to enjoy a bit of reggae music. The members instantly refer to Seamus as ‘enjoying folk music’ to which he replies “but I actually do!” and they all laugh (all members are White British, but Seamus is Irish).

With such a diversity of opinions in terms of music genres, I start to wonder how Whatever Tomorrow Brings function as a band, and what sort of music they produce. So I checked out some of their music via a YouTube video uploaded recently- a sneak preview of the band’s upcoming debut EP, including tasters of the songs ‘Always’ and ‘In Your Eyes’.  I feel with its sultry, moody tones, ‘Always’ should be on the soundtrack of an American movie, containing deep and meaningful lyrics such as ‘You say that I’m in this heart forever, and if it’s meant to be then I’m sure that we’ll get back together’. The second track is equally as expressive, powerful and dramatic. To me, ‘In Your Eyes’ is an emotional, hard-hitting song with its direct lyrics and catchy chorus. Ultimately, both tracks are definitely reminiscent of American bands.

From top left: Jimmi Dann- Bassist, Andrew Swann- Drummer

Seamus Corrigan- Guitarist/Vocalist, Jamie Bradbury- Guitarist/Vocalist

PHOTO CREDITS: Chloe Jones

St. Patrick's Day Parade 2011: Production Event Article

This article was created for the Production Event module at university, centring on the theme of 'multiculturalism'. As I chose to undertake the role of a journalist, I wrote an article focusing on the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Birmingham for the event's online magazine.

On the day of the parade I went along early and established a position with the photographer I was in partnership with. I conducted an interview with a crowd member whose granddaughter was carrying a flag in the parade, and I worked with my photographer to get relevant images to anchor my article. There was an interesting array of pictures to choose from, yet I feel the images I selected really capture the essence of the day itself.


TOP OF THE MORNIN’ TO ALL!

Crowds of people line the street, the Guinness is flowing, the sound of Irish music fills the air… It could only mean one thing- the St. Patrick’s Day parade has hit Birmingham!

The celebration of Irish culture was enjoyed by many on Sunday 13^th March at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in the multicultural city of Birmingham.
Outside The Dubliner pub, over a thousand green balloons were released for a fundraising balloon race, marking the beginning of the celebratory event.
 

The parade kicked off at noon at Camp Hill, proceeding along Digbeth High Street, past the Bullring, and then finished at Alcester Street at 1.30pm.

This religious holiday is internationally celebrated on 17^th March and has gradually become one of the largest celebrations in Europe. The Birmingham 2011 parade drew in over 80,000 people, many of which were there for the craic, going all out with green face paint, wigs, hats and flags.

These glorious festivities ran from 11^th-17^th March and the parade drew in a large, lively crowd of people from different communities. The spectacular display involved dozens of colourful floats, antique motorbikes and steam engines, and Heart FM, Capital FM and BRMB were all broadcasting live. The various walking groups included the Limerick Association, Small Heath Boxing Club and Macmillan Cancer Support, and there were nine pipe and drum bands.
Helen O’Connor, 63, Fermanagh, goes to the St. Patrick’s Day parade annually: “I really enjoy St. Patrick’s Day because of all the celebrations. It involves spending lots of time with the family. My granddaughter is carrying a flag in the parade.”
The streets were awash with enthusiastic culturally-diverse crowd members, all enjoying the themed entertainment and soaking up the atmosphere in the spring sunshine. Traditional instruments and music filled the air throughout, really capturing the full spirit of the Irish.





PHOTO CREDITS: Chloe Jones