Category: nite life

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“MY NEON NOIR NIGHTS – Print series (#MNNN10)

And this is the final gallery of photographs in this series which all fall under the banner of random moments in time drenched in a neon noir hue. I hope you have enjoyed looking at these glimpses into the nocturnal worlds I have witnessed. It has been a surreal experience working on this project over last few months as it revolved around nitelife activities at a time when there was none. They are now from a world before this one and hopefully it will also be the world after this one..

And even though, with vaccines on the way, it feels possible again, it’s still going to be a long time before these sort of experiences return. Before we can all be together again, bouncing to the same beat, basking in the same glow, breathing in the same air without having to be kept apart, afraid of what might happen if we don’t.

Divided and isolated is clearly not good for anyone and so we must hang on until we can congregate once more. It has been tough, tougher than even you could have imagined because being together is how we are meant to be. We are mammals. Emotionally connected warm blooded highly social beings who thrive on unity and contact. And so we must do everything we can to be that way again because this version of existence clearly doesn’t work. Not for anyone. It’s just a sadly necessary step on the way back to where we came from which is both our past and our future.

And If you still want to get a print please get in touch via email info@babycakesromero.com – and for the final time…these limited edition signed prints are £100 each, £30 of which will go to the Felix project which will feed 183 people who need it. This offer will end December 15th so please get your orders before then. And just wanted to thank everyone who have ordered prints so far. Looking forward to being on your walls soon!

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“MY NEON NOIR NIGHTS – Print series (#MNNN9)

Red:

Nitelife smoulders. Sensuality is its lifeblood and under the cover of darkness, illuminated by a crimson hue, an air of excitement and erotic energy, wholly missing from daylife emerges. This gallery is dedicated to the charged atmosphere of clandestine nocturnal venues. These places are bathed in a deep red submerging you into their sinful world. As if you had been enveloped by one of Poison Ivy’s love potions. For me there is no colour more evocative than red. I gravitate towards it like a moth around a umm red lightbulb. Can you be obsessed by a colour? I am starting to think so. I have become deeply entranced by its spell and I am not sure I can or want to be released from it.

All shots available as limited edition signed A3 prints for £100 each as part of this charity print series where I am donating £30 from each sale to the Felix Project who will convert it into 183 meals for those that need them. The latest report is that over 700,000 people have been plunged into poverty in the U.K since Covid struck and through no fault of their own . If we are all in this together their plight is our plight.

https://thefelixproject.org/

To order a print please email info@babycakesromero.com

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“MY NEON NOIR NIGHTS – Print series (#MNNN7)

OnDaMic:

This gallery in the MNNN series is dedicated to those who live under the brightness of the lights, bathed in the spotlight, alone in the beam except for their conduit companion, the microphone. They stand alone yet are connected to their band and to the audience through the tech that projects their voice. The mic stand supports them both physically and metaphorically. Together they become one, a fusion of (wo)man and machine. A living breathing cyborg illuminated by artificial light projecting the pain and pleasure of being human. We gaze upon them for guidance and to speak the words we can’t.

The featured vocalists are as follows:

1 & 2. Charlotte Adigery

3. Law Holt

4 . Kayus Bankole (Young Fathers)

5. Alloysious Massaquoi (Young Fathers)

6. Horace Andy

7. Valentina (performing with Joe Goddard)

8. Alison Goldfrapp

9. Grace Jones

10. Aluna George (My toys Like Me)

And here comes the deal in case you don’t know already…each signed A3 print (420x297mm approx) in the ‘My Neon Noir Nights’ series is £100 (50% off normal price) and is in a limited edition of 10. And £30 from each sale will go to https://thefelixproject.org/ who are sourcing food that would go to waste and delivering it to those who desperately need it – and there are those who do desperately need our help. With each 30 quid The Felix project will generate a whopping 183 meals which will feed a huge amount of people that wouldn’t otherwise have been fed. Or if you don’t want a print (not trying to talk you out of it obvs) but you could just make a donation…

To order a print or for any more info please email info@babycakesromero.com

To see the full gallery from ‘My Neon Noir Nights’ series please click on link here:

(offer ends 15th Dec)

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“MY NEON NOIR NIGHTS – Print series (#MNNN6)

This gallery which kicks off phase two of this neon noirish print series features the illuminating wonder of neon itself. There is something so compelling about neon. It stimulates such an immediate visceral response, you can’t help but gravitate towards it. This is possibly why it is used for clandestine venues to lure prospective clients in. It’s like it flicks on a switch in your head and you become like a moth, ensnared by its glow. Neon, for me, symbolises the world of nitelife, which is an infinitely more evocative & stimulating version of its daytime counterpart. Nighttime is when you find excitement, when you release your inhibitions, when you can explore under the cover of darkness, with just a few neon strips to guide you towards your innermost desires.

And as nitelife is largely absent from our lives it feels we need to be reminded that daylight is only half the story. There is an entire nighttime world waiting to return. Waiting to bring relief to the stresses and strains of the day and to bring fun back into our lives. And so we wait…patiently for our neon lit activities to resume.

And here comes the deal: each signed A3 print (420x297mm approx) in the ‘My Neon Noir Nights’ series is £100 (50% off normal price) and is in a limited edition of 10. And £30 from each sale will go to https://thefelixproject.org/ who are sourcing food that would go to waste and delivering it to those who desperately need it – and there are those who do desperately need our help. With each 30 quid The Felix project will generate a whopping 183 meals which will feed a huge amount of people that wouldn’t otherwise have been fed. Or if you don’t want a print (not trying to talk you out of it obvs) but you could just make a donation…

To order a print or for any more info please email info@babycakesromero.com

(offer ends 15th Dec)

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MY NEON NOIR NIGHTS – Print series (#MNNN3)

Despacio:

This gallery in the MNNN print series is dedicated to Despacio, which I have been documenting since its inception in 2013. In my opinion and each and every one of its legions of fans I have met on its dance floor over the years, it is the greatest sound system and the greatest disco dance party in the world. It is also an extraordinary sensory experience like no other.

The jaw dropping sound being projected from the decks upon which its creators James Murphy & 2manydjs deliver their joy generating vinyl selections, which is then pumped through no less than 40 Mcintosh powerhouse amps, is accompanied by an ecstasy inducing light show channeled through one of the biggest and baddass disco balls you will ever see as its centre point of gravity. It kinda makes you feel like you are being sucked up in a tractor beam into a vortex of wonder and then propelled straight into a celestial spaceship fuelled by pure happiness which is then launched into the stratosphere of bliss and beyond…I might have got a bit carried away there but that’s how it feels..well to me at any rate.

To order a print or for any more info please email info@babycakesromero.com

(offer ends 15th Dec so there is time to get it to you b4 Xmas)

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MY NEON NOIR NIGHTS – Print series (#MNNN2)

Clubbin’ innit

This gallery in the MNNN print series is dedicated to the joys of clubbing which is currently and sadly very absent from our lives. Will we ever feel the intensity of a packed dancefloor again? Swirling together amidst the lights, squeezed into a sweat box, hugging your mates like your life depended on it, punching the air as you go apeshit to your favourite track…is there anything quite like it? Well, if its removal from our lives has proved one thing, no, there isn’t and we desperately need it back. In the meantime we can gaze at a dance dominated life that once was and will be again.

This print series consists of 10 galleries, 10 prints in each gallery, 10 copies of each print = 100 shots at £100 a pop  for each limited edition A3 print (420x297mm approx) which is not only 50% off the normal price but also £30 of each sale will go to https://thefelixproject.org/ who are sourcing food that would go to waste and delivering it to those who desperately need it – each 30 quid will generate a whopping 183 meals. So you get a print, 183 people get fed and I make a sale, that’s a win,win,win in my books. Or you could just make a donation…

To order a print or for any more info please email info@babycakesromero.com or DM me on Insta.

(offer ends 15th Dec so there is time to get it to you b4 Xmas)

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MY NEON NOIR NIGHTS – Print series (#MNNN1)

For the next 10 posts I will be showcasing a new print series entitled “My Neon Noir Nights” (I know I normally take out the vowels but it wouldn’t have made any sense ;) These are all shots that I have taken whilst engaged in and documenting music based fun fuelled nocturnal activities.

Me and my camera have a symbiotic relationship so it somehow manages to capture the essence of my own experience. The camera never lies apparently and these pictures are indeed an honest depiction of how it looked and felt at the time…which was mostly mashed and blurry with intense colours, a barrage of lights, rushes of joy inside an amorphous dancing blob monster…well that’s how I don’t remember it anyways ;) How is my camera able to do this? I have no idea. I’m just glad it can…

So here comes the math…10 galleries, 10 prints in each gallery, 10 copies of each print = 100 shots at £100 a pop  for each limited edition A3 print (420x297mm approx) which is not only 50% off the normal price (offer ends 15th dec) but also £30 of each sale will go to https://thefelixproject.org/ who are sourcing food that would go to waste and delivering it to those who desperately need it in London – each 30 quid will generate a whopping 183 meals. So you get a print, 183 people get fed and I make a sale, that’s a win,win,win in my books.

We are in the midst of an economically devastating pandemic for the financially fragile so if we can just help prop them up and sustain them during this difficult period they will hopefully be able to survive until a semblance of normality returns. But you could also cut out the middle man (that’s me) and just make a donation to them if you don’t want a print. Not that I’m trying to talk you out of a sale, just throwing it out there..

Crowd Surf

This first neon noir gallery is a selection of crowd shots all taken mid frenzy at gigs & festivals and show how a ton of individuals united by music can become one mass of positive energy with a thousand hands all reaching for the sky in jubilation…or ‘larging it up’ as it is also known.

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#MYLDN (1506)

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#MYIBZA 15 (B.C)

And so concludes our virtual trip to Ibiza circa 2019..when dancing was still a thing. A time when massive groups of people were not only allowed but extremely willing to be crammed together on the dancefloor, breathing each other’s breath, sweating each other’s sweat. These things might seem fairly undesirable right now but that was kind of the point. You were packed in so tightly together that all barriers between individuals were broken down. You were no longer separate entities. You became one gi-normous amorphous blob of rhythmic motion. And yes, that was considered a good thing.

The pandemic has proven categorically one thing..we need to interact with each other. It is imperative. We cannot properly function without human to human contact which is why having to keep away from each other is proving so friggin hard. We are mammals. We are designed to be close to one another. That is why we are so hot. (37 degrees on the inside to be precise) It’s so we can keep each other warm. Physically and metaphorically.

How do we cope with being apart from each other like this? In all honesty I don’t know but it is evident that we are failing to do so. Certainly not enough to stop the spread of the virus which is the whole point. We should be able to but clearly it is having a very detrimental effect on us all. And the longer it goes on the more it is going to grind us down. I have spoken to a lot of people this week and everyone seems incredibly despondent which is hardly a surprise as we are now six months in and it might as well be day 1 because we have made zero progress.

And as depressing as that is I urge you all to stay strong and keep your chins up. Let’s be honest, this ain’t going anywhere anytime soon so we are gonna have to settle in for the long haul which requires a deeper level of acceptance from all of us. We must endure this. And it will pass. The 2nd world war lasted 6 years and that was endured. This is like a war situation only difference is the enemy is invisible. I’m not saying its gonna last 6 years but we need to start thinking about it in those terms, for our own sanity.

We keep expecting this to end any day and it just won’t. And that sucks to high heaven but all we have to do is survive this. No more, no less. And that includes not losing our shit. We need to keep ourselves together for as long as this lasts and we’re gonna have to toughen the fuck up, just like previous generations did. We’ve had everything handed to us on a plate. No-one has ever said no to us. We have done what we wanted when we wanted. Well, now we can’t and we are just gonna have to pucker up and deal with it. No way round it I’m afraid.

I will be back on the streets of London as of Monday but it has been great to have got away from it for a few weeks, even if it was only virtually. And, now, as I walk past the masses in masks and wonder how the fuck this came to pass I will cast my mind to a time and a place when it hadn’t happened yet and pray for the day when it returns…

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#MYIBZA 14 (B.C)

We stayed at an apartment right on the playa del bossa and every evening we sat out on the balcony and watched as everyone decked out for a night out strolled down the sidewalk/catwalk, preened and poised for action. It was like Ibeefa Tv and extremely captivating as we saw the daylife disappear and the nitelife begin…

Getting dressed up is half the fun of going out and I have not really had much reason to do so since lockdown..my ‘going out’ clothes stare at me forlornly from within my wardrobe, wanting to know when they will be back in action…I have nothing to tell them other than what I tell myself..be patient, your time will come again. And much as I have been enjoying a more ‘casual’ approach to life (back in combats for the 1st time since the 90s ;) I really wanna get suited n booted again – if things don’t improve soon, I’m gonna wear my 3 piece down Tescos and rock out under the faulty fluorescent in Aisle 7. ..fuck it.

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#MYIBZA 13 (B.C)

You think the hat is too much?

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#MYIBZA 12 (B.C)

This year’s billboard reads: “F*** me I’m out of a job!

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#MYIBZA (11)

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#MYIBZA 10 (B.C)

Can you even imagine being crammed in a room with this many people all dancing to the same groove? Currently I would have to say no. It already seems so alien, so impossible. This is another time, or even another time line. It feels like it an alternate reality because this version of reality will not accomodate it. But if not now, then when? How long will it be before mass music based gatherings can resume? How long will it be before fun comes back? It feels like it has been sucked out of our existence, replaced with restrictions and recriminations…and a shit load of tension. And the longer this goes on, the more it seems like it won’t return, or not in the same way at any rate. And maybe by the time that it does we won’t be the same…

The shots this week were taken on one night during the closing parties at the club Hi (formerly Spaced) and tbh I didn’t really enjoy it at all. For me, it personified everything that is wrong with the big clubs in Ibiza these days. The music sucked and the crowd were a bit argy bargy. All shoving, no hugging. All elbows, no smiles. All in all it was pretty lame (altho think I had a slightly better time than the gents below) and yet, all said and done, I would probably give my eye teeth to be back there right now. In the absence of any dancing whatsoever I am finding myself pining for even the most average of nights out.

I first went to Ibiza 10 years ago back in 2010 and one night I was there I was introduced to the guy who owned DC10 and I told him how great it was being on the island for the first time and he turned me and said very matter of factly “you’re five years too late”. I really can’t even imagine what he is saying today. Actually, I guess he is now just saying to people “you’re too late”.

I hope to fuck by the time this all blows away/over/up that it won’t be too late and dance culture will live and breathe again..as I need dancing like I need breathing. I feel like I just can’t exist without it. And I am not alone. The U.K government clearly does not see the dance industry and all of its players as a priority but for us who lived inside it, it is of paramount importance. It is the good bit. The bit we live for. The bit we need. The bit that makes all the other shit tolerable.

p.s I might post up some more Ibiza shots next week as well as am enjoying being in another place and space to here and now. As lockdown looms it feels like virtual travel is back on the menu…

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#MYIBZA 9 (B.C)

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#MYIBZA 8 (B.C)

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#MYIBZA 7 (B.C)

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#MYIBZA 6 (B.C)

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#MYIBZA 5 (B.C)

Somer moody shots this week to get you in the mood (see what i did there) for a series taken in Ibiza exactly this time last year during the closing week of the season. Why now? Well, firstly, I want to show a country that supports and champions clubbing and exists primarily because of it. It would appear not everywhere has so little regard for dance culture as they do here in Britain, where almost nothing is being done to protect the venues and the workers of the nightlife/events industry which is currently unable to function in any genuine capacity. Other countries in Europe (remember that place?) see it as a vital component of their society and their economy are doing everything they can to ensure it survives the ravages of the ongoing Covid freeze.

It is beyond painful to me to watch the U.K gov turn its back on the nitelife industry and everyone who works within it. The Tories do not see how essential it is. They do not consider culture important at all. They never have. And they know that most people who work in the creative industries do not vote for them so why should they help them? Never mind how much money it makes (66 billion a year), how many jobs (1.6 million) or how many people it attracts from all over the world…none of this seems to be a consideration. Forget about the amount of joy and pleasure it generates. No, fuck all that, let’s just let it die and all you leftie muso druggie layabouts can fuck off and try and get real jobs ‘cos we ain’t doin shit all to get you out of this mess…

And secondly, (no, I hadn’t forgotten) there is fuck all going on here at the moment so we might as well hang out in Ibiza (B.C) and party like its 2019…

p. s if you are in U.K and have ever been out and gone to any event whatsoever at any point in your life, please sign this petition for our Gov to give further financial support to the hospitality and events industry or you might never again…

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/329985

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#MYIBZA 4 (B.C)