“One of the reasons that I was flattered when invited to get involved with this fine group of people was because I knew I had a lot to learn as a photographer. There were many disciplines that I had never tried – and approaching strangers on the street was RIGHT outside of my comfort zone.

So when Fab Faces, our first day out, forced me to try my hand at this, I was terrified and excited in equal measure. My results were mixed but I was thrilled with this shot: it ticked most of the boxes and it made me feel as though I had made a real connection with my subject – even though my comfort zone was way over yonder.” – Alan Cookson

“I have many fave images from Fab 2009. All of them for different reasons. I’ve got some great images of Fab people in the Ship. I’ve got some great images from our days out to Lark Lane and Southport. And I got some great portraits using the whiteboard background at St Luke’s – an exercise that I really really enjoyed doing.

But in the end its this one. Big City Mist was Zak’s subject for his exhibited photo. At the opening evening they turned up to see the shot and you could tell they were well pleased with it. And to be a part of the ‘Up to something’ exhibition. I asked them to stand by their pic so I could rattle off a few shots. They were more than pleased to do so, although they wouldn’t stand still and they wouldn’t concentrate. They were too busy looking at the pic to pay any attention to me. Of all the shots I took, I don’t think I’ve got one where they are all looking at the camera. In hindsight, that’s fine and this one works.

The Daily Post were so cool at publicising the exhibition before it opened and then they also published this shot the following week, so kudos to them for that too.

Oh, and Big City Mist are a top band.” – Peter Goodbody

“I can hardly believe it was only last May. It feels like years ago. This sticks in my mind because it was taken at the first Fab project we did – the first day I ever asked somebody I didn’t know if I could take their photograph. I was totally terrified at the start but Terry and Zak gave me loads of confidence.” – Graham Lloyd

“It’s not my best Fab shot of the year, that would probably be this whiteboard portrait. However I chose this one because the Fab Faces day was such a turning point for me. I gained a lot of confidence and had a lot of fun due to the support of all my fab friends and this chap in particular (thanks Mark), my mentor and owner of the widest grin in Liverpool, which I haven’t really done justice to in this shot. We were both a bit nervous at the start but as you can see here, we soon became a lot more comfortable about asking strangers if we could take their photos!” – Sam Bytheway

“This was a tough one because the only proper Fab event I’ve really taken part in was the disposable camera day and that didn’t result in many amazing shots due to the nature of the beast. One thing that did strike me when wandering around the streets of Liverpool city centre was how damn fashionable kids are these days. I saw so many teenagers, some as young as 13 or 14, who had obviously taken real care in putting together an ensemble that created a unique style. The other thing that impressed me was that they wore these clothes with such confidence, strutting down the street as though it was their own personal catwalk. That’s why I’ve chosen this image of a young black guy who is dressed like the reincarnation of Joey Ramone and caught me taking the shot out of the corner of his eye.” – Ade McManus

“This is one of my faves as it was a strange day and I think this sums it up, still brings a smile to my face now, the cocktails that followed were fab too ” – Jan Rogerson

Southport day out – Pete Carr

Southport day out – Graham Morgan

‘Up to something’ exhibition launch – Andy O’Hare

Chris – Jen Allanson

Whiteboard portrait – Terry Hindle

Whiteboard portrait – Tom Fairclough

Fab Faces – Mark Lea

‘Up to something’ exhibition launch – Marion Pope

Southport day out – Jane Macneil

Fab Faces – Mark Maloney

San – Hollie Edwards

Chris, whiteboard portrait – Simon Barrow

Southport day out – Will Lee

Southport day out – Iain Francis

In October 2009 the Fab Collective left the familiar confines of Liverpool and hit the streets (and beach and ever-so-long pier) of Southport. We hoped to capture a slice of this seaside town on a typical autumn Sunday.

Some particularly keen members of the Collective got there first thing in the morning, while others arrived in time for fish and chips by the carousel at lunch. Throughout the day we met an interesting bunch of people, including fishermen, ice-cream vendors, bikers, fairground ride attendants and a lady with a large bible.

Most of us were armed with digital cameras to document the day but a few people only used film. Have a look at the highlights of our trip in the Southport Fun Day gallery.

The book, which contains all of the photographs from the exhibition, comes in three different formats:

• Softcover £16.95 (plus postage and packing)
• Hardcover with dust jacket £22.95 (plus postage and packing)
• Hardcover with image wrap £24.95 (plus postage and packing)

Each copy is specially printed to order, so please allow a couple of weeks for delivery.

For your viewing pleasure is a video of the hugely successful launch party at St Lukes. Our exhibition launch was amazing and we were so pleased you hung around in the rain for it to clear so you could enjoy the exhibition.

The photos from our day can be seen in the gallery.

“What is the world coming to? Local artists and local photographers doing work in Liverpool! It’s just beyond me… brilliant.” – Simon O’Brien talking about the Fab Faces day on City Talk radio.

Some words from the Fab Collective about their experiences on the day.

“Four months ago there was an invite from the Liverpool Flickr group for anyone interested in joining in on working on an exhibition to display the beautiful images of Liverpool that were in the group page.

Over those four months a group of about 35 photographers have been working on this exhibition, which will be taking place in St Lukes Church in August, and yesterday we did an event to promote the group.

We spent the day walking around Liverpool and asking people if we could take pictures of them to put on the website www.fabcollective.com and those who had their picture taken were given a card so they could download their image.

It’s been a lot of work but it’s been lovely to meet such a lovely, creative and wonderful group of photographers.

A grand day was had by all and the weather was wonderful, as my sunburn will testify.”

- Brian Roberts

“Well being out of my comfort zone I embarked on the inaugural Fab Collective exercise Fab Faces. I’m no stranger to pounding the streets of Liverpool looking for an interesting face to ‘pop’ out of the huddled masses so I can snap them from a candid perspective, they move on, unaware and oblivious to my attention.

I always wonder what their stories might be, what they do and where they are going, the majority of the time these questions go unanswered however yesterday was an entirely different story.

Going up to random strangers in the street and asking them for a moment of their time so you can take their photo is an experience in itself, actually taking a photo of them that does the subject matter justice is an entirely different story. I met a multitude of people from different backgrounds races and religions however what I was most surprised at was the amount of people I met from different parts of the world, Steven from South Africa, Rosa from Italy, Torsten from Norway and Amir from Algeria to name just a few.

After hearing the soundbite Liverpool, Capital of Culture 2008 you can’t help but be cynical and think it is just a ploy by the council to sell the city to tourists but after today I realise how culturally diverse Liverpool actually is. It isn’t just a city obsessed with football neither is it only famous for the Fab Four but rather it is a city that accepts people from all parts of the world and the world is reflected in Liverpool.”

- Zaki Grant

“At lunchtime on Saturday 2 May while most of the fab collective were gathering outside the Philharmonic ready to find some fab faces on the streets of Liverpool, one of their members was freaking out quietly inside. I had never attempted any kind of street photography before and the very idea of it terrified me. I don’t even own a ‘proper’ SLR camera and had borrowed one for the day in the hope that looking like a real photographer would give me the confidence to act like one.

I was lucky to be paired up with Mark for the day, as I’m a big fan of his street photography. It was comforting to know that he was also trying something new, as he usually shoots candids rather than asking people for portraits. He approached the first people we saw and got some great shots. Then he held back to allow me to approach people. At first I just couldn’t do it, so a few potential subjects passed us by unphotographed.

Eventually I plucked up the courage to ask somebody, then someone else, then another person and before I realised it I discovered I was actually quite enjoying myself. The response I had from people was really positive and I was even taking some half decent photos, a few of which I’m quite proud of.

At the end of a long day when some weary photographers collapsed into the comfy seats back at the Phil I was buzzing with excitement and confidence. My throat felt like I’d gargled razor blades after talking so much but a large part of me just wanted to get out there and do it all again.

I now consider myself to be a fearless street photographer thanks to the support and encouragement of my fab friends in the collective. It was therefore a bit of a shock to see the group photo outside the Phil, which I missed because I dashed inside in a panic, as I’d genuinely forgotten how scared I’d been beforehand. It was only then that it hit home what a journey I’d been on that day and just how much I’d achieved.”

- Sam Bytheway

1pm. St Lukes steps
2pm. Museums
3pm. Williamson Sq
4pm. Mathew St
5pm. Albert Dock entrance
6pm. Church / Lord St
7pm. Bold St
8pm. St Lukes.