Signs of the Times ?

Here are some of my images which are beginning to form a small side photographic project for me, loosely based around a common theme of  "Signs in Public".

I'm looking for a common thread here in these photos. I can't see very much humour in them, at least in all, and not all contain spelling mistakes.

Some are informational messages, some are hand written, and not all are in the same language. A common thread could be a textured background ? 

Couldn't decide between these last two, so I'm including them both in here for now. This is one of these photographic projects which I can pick up and put down with ease and which will develop in its own way over time.

A Rainy Lunch Time

I usually like "good " light for my photography, but when I was in Saffron Walden last month for an RPS event, we were asked to take 6 images during the lunch time break, for projection later in that afternoon. Of course it was rainy .... but here's what I managed to capture - 

Don't think these images are going to make me give up looking for "good" light in which to photograph, but  perhaps it may I should carry a camera even when it rains ....

Final Project

The final project for the BTEC photography course is due tomorrow. This one was rather different to the previous assignments in that the theme and number of photographs to be produced was to be my own choice. A Statement of Intent was asked for and produced. It ran as follows –

 “The theme for the project will be the street performers, buskers and tourists along London's South Bank, roughly from the London Eye to London Bridge and additionally in Trafalgar Square, London

The final presentation will comprise a printed triptych. A triptych typically contains three elements, usually an image. Each of the three elements of the triptych itself will contain three images. This implies that a total of nine individual images are required. All nine images will have a connection in theme, content and mood. However the three images of each individual element will have a closer connection with each other, when compared to the other two elements”

So I took my walk down the South Bank, as per my statement of intent, but avoiding Trafalgar Square for now (another day?) taking photographs of what was going on.

Had them printed as 6x4 size from a one hour photo machine for group discussion in class – which has put me off using those machines again – the quality is so poor (I should have known previous experience).

The net result of the class group discussion was that I abandoned the original theme – think the word ‘contrived’ was used here – in favour of developing a theme of  ‘people and shadows’ began last year – see my previous post here.

Several of the images taken on my meander feature people – on their phones – and shadows.

Here is my selection

Not a triptych in sight. Pity. Don't think the triptych idea wasn't as contrived as was suggested to me - but I'm sure I'll get it done another day. And am happy with 5 pictures as selected.

Doune

Spent last week island hopping, while based in Doune, which is near to Skye in north west Scotland. I had never been to that part of Scotland before - I'd previously visited Edinburgh a couple of times (and enjoyed every minute) but not the west coast. It was good to get out of London for a while and get some very fresh air and even better - no traffic.
I haven't had a chance to inspect many of the photos I took in detail yet - I filled 6 cards, almost 20gb., mostly landscapes. I was with a bunch of other photographers who were more interested in the wildlife - dolphins, deer, minke whales .... and they took many more photos than I did.

We took a flight from Gatwick to Glasgow, and then the train from Glasgow to Mallaig - a long train journey in excess of 5 hours - with the consolation of spectacular views of the countryside.

Our return journey to Heathrow almost ruined the holiday - apart from having to "enjoy" the kerosene fumes, after all that freash air,  it took about 40 minutes for our baggage to come through in Terminal 5. Hmmmmmm.

Private - Public

My BTEC photography course is now in its last few weeks, it finishes mid July. The next to last assignment was to interpret the theme of  "Private - Public" -  on film. The selected images may be digitlly printed, but the original capture must be on film.

I used to take a lot of black & white photos in my pre-digital days. In those days I had access to a darkroom and spent many hours there printing. Alas those days are long gone, but as I kept some developing tanks (and my film camera, a Nikon N70) at least I could process the negatives. You don't actually need a darkroom for that. And I have a scanner - which can scan 35mm negatives - so any subsequent processing can be done in Photoshop and then printed digitally.

Picked up where I left off all those years ago with Black & White film - Ilford Delta 400, rated at 400 iso. The shoot was to be an odd experience for me - keeping to the one iso rating and only 36 shots per roll.

Suggested interpretations of the theme, earlier, were of people in a private moment in a public space. My take was rather different - private/public signs. I'd seen plenty while exploring central London on previous shoots, and this time was no exception. Private/Public signs ? Signs - with writing or graphics - aimed at the public indicating something private. The brief required seven images, so here are those I selected.

 

 

I processed the negatives in Kodak HC-110 for 9 minutes, and found the results more grainy (noisy ?) than I would have liked. Perhaps if I was processing negatives more frequently I'd get back into the optimum chemistry for my type of work; then again the the negatives have also been scanned and not printed digitally and not in a darkroom. Out of practice ?

Countdown

Next year - 2012 - the Olympic Games come to London again.  I'm sure the intervening time between now and then will provide many photographic opportunities. 

In Trafalgar Square, central London, an official clock was installed, which counts down the time to the Games start, froma starting point of 500 days.

Since the clock has been there, it has almost become a tourist attraction. People come and sit by it, pose by it, and have their photo taken by it.

The clock is just nearby the Fourth Plinth in northwest corner of Trafalgar Square, which was empty for many years but now shows artworks. Currently on show is "Nelson's Ship in a Bottle", and you can read my posting on it here. Other previous posts on the Fourth Plinth are here and here and here - one and other. The artwork is due to change in 2012 and again in 2013, so I plan to be back and photograph what goes up then.

In the meantime, I wonder what will happen the Olympic Clock next December 31st ? The Square usually attracts 50,000 revellers at midnight to welcome in the new year.

Street Photography in London

There is an excellent photographic exhibition on currently in the Museum of London near the Barbican, entitled "Street Photography London". The exhibitions has photographs taken over the years - 1860 to 2010. The pictures on show are good examples of the genre - Street Photography - in that there is a narrative, or story told in each, not just photographs taken in a street.

The older photographs tend to be smaller in size and in monochrome, getting larger and moving into colour as they get up to date, reflecting, the changing photographic technology. They are also very people oriented - rather than scenes of London - and the changing fashions of the residents are obvious, as are the changing cards and buses.

Think I preferred the selection of photographs in the sections labelled 1930 - 1945 and 1946 - 1979. Monchrome - which the photographs are in these sections - lends itself to the genre in mood and atmosphere, which, for all its other advantages, colour rarely does.

The exhibition runs until September 4th, 2011. Better yet it is free to get in. And it is well worth visiting.