One of the intents of this blog when I first started it was to provide a place to share not only my own creative output, but that of my friends, from people I have known for ages to the people I have had the pleasure of meeting along the way, both near and afar. With the rise of the intertubes comes the wonderful opportunity to meet those that normally one would not have had otherwise. Back in the day when I started my very first music ‘zine at the tender age of 12, I discovered how powerful it is to connect with others who are like minded, though the tools were rough then. I remember taking an ad out in a teeny bop magazine for a few bucks, and ending up with over 200 subscribers, mostly girls of roughly the same age with the same interests. We formed our own little community and I was thrilled to have that many new pen pals to boot.

Now here we are in the age of the computer, and I find myself doing the exact same thing, except now on a larger scope. Via a graphic design forum, and also through other social media outlets, I have over the past few years made acquaintances with people all over the world, some who have evolved into what I can say in all sincerity great friends. Many of them have sprung from the group I mentioned here before that I started on Facebook in support of Mick Jones’ Rock ‘n Roll Public Library. With that group of friends I share in common an intense love for the Clash and all related projects that translates into a very distinct world view and philosophy, and it is a very generous, sharing community, one I’m glad to have become a part of. The ability to network via social media can be an amazing and powerful thing indeed.

So, back to the idea of sharing the creative endeavors of others, one such person that I have met via the Mick Jones’ group is an amazingly talented photographer named Haydn “Wheelz” Wheeler, and I want to share some of his work here because I really feel it deserves to be seen by more people. So continuing with what I like to call my Friends of Tulip Tree series, I introduce to you the work of Wheelz Wheeler.

A little about him, Haydn is a long time Clash loving soul, a bass player from Bournemouth. He is a gardener in Poole, England as profession, but his real passion is street photography. He also frequently attends live concerts and photographs them. In the DIY spirit he photographs as an independent and in an incredibly generous spirit then shares the spoils of his craft via his Flickr page for all to enjoy. Speaking of social media, as of late he has been photo-documenting and attending the NOBonus4RBS campaign rallies conducted by Billy Bragg (more on that in a future post, but for now you can follow the link to learn more), a group that has a very large presence and following on Facebook, with over 33,000 members as of this writing.

So, without further adieu, here are a few images I have selected to share here, the rest resides on his Flickr Gallery, which holds a staggering number of gallery sets including The Good The Bad and The Queen (that’s the name of the album, the band has no name as Paul Simonon will tell you), The Sex Pistols, Los Mondo Bongos, Tinariwen, The Heavy, Thomas Dolby, Martha Wainwright, several sets of the Mick Jones’ Library, Billy Bragg and Jail Guitar Doors to name a tiny fraction of what is there. Enjoy and respect, and if you take a saunter into his gallery, please leave a comment or two to thank him!