Assignment Two: Single image narratives.

Assignment Two: Single image narratives.

With two exceptions the pictures I have produced for this assignment are very different in tone and message.  I am a great fan of Martin Parr and I hope four of the nine images reflect this.  I whittled my selection down to nine but could not decide which of these to delete.  

I have tried to capture images that contain a message beyond the obvious; a paradox or a sign that leads the viewer to look deeper.

The first two feature my grand children and were taken as part of a family photographs session I had with the family.  I used black and white with reduced tones to emphasise the action and not have the distractions of colour.  It was a decision I took at the time of taking the photographs but now wish I had used RAW colour and given myself the flexibility that would have been afforded. 

The first is grandson Thomas being fed by my daughter Mags.  At the time I didn’t notice the clothing tag and, unfortunately, it appears in every picture I took in the series.  

Unconditional Love.

The second is Thomas’s elder brother Oliver reading to his grandma.  This is a task he now enjoys.

Telling Tales.

The rest were taken on my travels.

This was taken at the Royal Marine Concert at Walmer.  I was looking for the out of the ordinary shot and saw the man in blue obviously distracted by something and looking in a different direction to the rest of the audience.  Camera up and click.  

One in a Crowd.

This is the ride that takes visitors around the grounds at Hampton Court.  I was experimenting with a very wide angle lens (14mm equivalent) that forced me to emulate Vivian Maier and get in very close to the subjects.   The nearest horse seems to be looking to the ostler for a command.

Awaiting Your Command.

Every year a travelling fair, with it’s mixture of rides and side shows, visits Walmer Green.  By blurring the motion and choosing the time of day I think I have captured the thrill of the ride.  The lack of people gives it an ethereal look.

Riding High.

To waste time before attending a wedding in Kings Lynn I went for a walk along the promenade  at Hunstanton.  I saw the elderly couple, him stripped off for the sun and her dressed for winter, on the other side of the road.  What made the picture was the presence, and reaction, of the street cleaner.  I just had time to snatch the shot before the opportunity past.  The snatched nature of the shot meant I was not able to obtain the best technical image but it was take or miss it.

Dressed For the Weather.

The Met. Office promise the UK a BBQ summer.  My son in law and I went to a beer festival at Hastings and the following image sums up the day.  The two flags were at the entry to the main beer tent.  There is no Photoshopping.  Other than close cropping it is as seen.

BBQ Summer.

I had my car serviced yesterday and rather than wait in the garage I went for a walk round a nearby estate.  At some time a small football/basketball court has been built for the use of the local youth.  I couldn’t include all the damage or litter but the picture below gives a good impression.

Olympic Legacy.

I work as a volunteer in a local community centre where, as part of work with children, we had a drumming class.  As expected it was very noisy, in fact too noisy for some of the participants.   I was taking pictures for our own publicity purposes but this one fits in nicely with the theme of this assignment.

Silence is Golden.

Conclussions.

Did I achieve what I set out to do?  Overall I think I did.  If I could turn the clock back I would use colour throughout but as I made the mistake of opting to record the first two images using the camera's black and white function I was stuck with the result.  They work well enough in that they are not just baby pictures but I will not make the same mistake again.  I removed the ability to work in RAW or change my mind and revert to colour.

As you can see the titles I have chosen are all well known expressions to which I have tried to give a new twist.