Newcastle Life - 1880

Just seen the photographs on the centre spread of the Guardian (Friday 20th March 2012). Of working class people they are stunning in their clarity and in the story that they tell. The main image of the Cloth Market is full of detail and remarkable clarity. When one thinks of the equipment that was available at that time obviously whoever the photographer was he/she was a master of the art.

Television and Photography

Have been watching the series by John Sergeant - Britain's First Photo Album in which he tried to capture the essence of the work of Francis Frith. The Frith photographs, which were taken by a team of photographers under the leadership of Frith, are outstanding allowing for the difficulties faced by the photographers in the late 19th Century. There is something quite magical about them seemingly capturing the atmosphere which takes the photographs out of the ordinary. In part it is the attraction of seeing places that you know as they were over 100 years ago but also the skill of the photographer in the way that the image is composed and presented. Such ability can be learnt but one wonders how long it is before the necessary thought processes become second nature.

The disappointment, for me, was the attempts by Sergeant. He decided, sometimes for good reason, not to take the 'same' image but tried to capture the same spirit. In nearly all cases he failed and his work suffered from the immediate comparison with his forebears. In some cases his work were little more than snapshots and poorly composed although he seemed pleased with them. This may be because, as common with all photographers, he remembered the emotions he felt at the time of taking the image rather than assessing the result in the cold light of day.

For me the attraction of the series was the work of Frith.

I also watched the David Suchet programme "People I have Shot". Here Suchet was following in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather Jarche. He was a press photographer who covered most aspects of that particular discipline and the majority of his work would now be seen as part of the genre 'Social Documentary' although that is to pigeon hole work that crossed several artificial boundaries. I am not good with people and find social documentary photography difficult so seeing the work of someone who appeared totally at home in this type of work was a valuable opportunity.

Suchet also followed in his grandfather's footsteps indeed using a camera given to him by his grandfather. For me Suchet's work in many respects matched that of his more illustrious relative and clearly he has a talent for putting people at ease and getting the best shots. Maybe this has something to do with his own fame as a well known actor and he gained access that perhaps would have been denied to others. Whatever the reason he provided an excellent programme that provided an insight into the work of his grandfather and his own talent.

I thought that this was a very good programme from which I gained a great deal. I may still be unprepared to undertake social documentary work but at least now I know awhat can be achieved.

Project 23 - Soft Light

Back to active photography. Spent a day in the Peak District in the Matlock/Bakewell area that I have known for many years both as a child and an adult. The advantage of knowing an area is that you can make a fairly good guess where the conditions that you want can be found. In this case round the village of Stanton in the Peak.

The weather was pretty good with the wintry sun being shrouded by wispy clouds so that the overall contrast in the image was low but at the same time there was an interesting sky that added to the final results. All images were taken with the sunlight coming over my shoulder which allowed for the depth of blue in the sky. Worked the images in Lightroom 4 beta version so as to get the best result possible which I assumed was the purpose of the project. Had the sky been covered completely in cloud then I would have taken the image to reduce the amount of sky in the image but worked on the remainder to again get the best result.

The attraction of this image was the farm cottages together with gardens in the left foreground with the gap in between those and the trees on the right leading the eye into the picture towards the distant hills. The cloud formation adds further interest.

The pattern of the stone walls was the part of the image that caught my eye. The copse of trees on top of the hill balance the farmstead right centre of the image. It was a deliberate choice to include the barbed wire fence at the bottom of the picture to provide the viewer with a sense of scale whilst at the same time to make the viewer aware that the land is private and man-made.

Here I have used the two stone pillars that presumably supported a gate at some time to encourage the viewer to again look into the image both to the mid-horizon where the trees offer a sense of distance between them and the distant hills. I tried the image both as it is shown but also bringing the base of the wall to the bottom of the picture. I chose the former because the rutted track is in contrast to the apparent smoothness of the fields beyond. Although no human being can be seen in the image the presence of man is strongly indicated by the ruts made by a tractor and the structure of the stone wall.

I enjoyed this project although I was fortunate to have some variation in light  as different cloud covered the sun. Had this not been the case I feel that the structures either man-made or natural that gave pattern and interest to the images would have been sufficiently strong to still get satisfactory results.