I wanted to celebrate my Mum's 87th today by taking a portrait of her. The family all went out last night for a meal so she was exhausted and wanted to be at home on her big day. I used the opportunity to do a short planned portrait session of just 20 images, bearing in mind the things I have learned during the coursework . I find I am taking less, not more, photographs as the course progresses , preferring to take longer and plan more carefully each session. I travelled light with just my tripod, 50mm prime lens , and flash. This was her favourite taken that day, the beauty of shooting RAW is being able to make multiple versions of the same image and I processed both a mono and colour version , she prefers the colour version.
I bought this beautiful photography book for £20 tracing the origins and history of portraiture from a second hand book shop in Falmouth, this was a bargain I could not resist.
by Ben Maddow.
Old photographs and their place in history.
Browsing around an antique/junk shop in Falmouth I came across a box of old photographs, this intrigued me –why were they here? I have two suitcases of old photo’s that I could not bare to part with , they form part of my life, where I came from :some dating as far back as the late 1800’s . The shop owner explained they are often given away by families who have no idea who the subject’s are or what relationship they might have to them. How did this happen -- how sad to think a family’s social history could be so easily lost and disregarded.
How strange that later that day I read an article by Sarfraz Manzoor who discusses the importance of family photographs . His family images are extremely sparse with important occasions un-recorded. He believes “ photographs can help to give context and colour to the past: relatives who are long-dead or whom we view through a rigid parental prism, or through the fog of memory are revealed as fully fleshed human beings” pg. 2 Family Saturday Guardian 6/10/2012
(Read the whole article below) http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/06/sarfraz-manzoor-empty-family-albumSusanna Heron Shima : Island and Garden.
Visiting Godolphin House-- a National Trust property-- near Helston on a rainy morning I did not expect to find a truly inspiring photography exhibition. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/godolphin/The hand printed cibachrome images taken by Susanna Heron are simply beautiful , abstract and other -worldly. Taken over a period of 4 years within the confines of her mother’s garden in Penwith they record the inevitable change that takes place through the seasons. The exhibition inspired and intrigued me—landscapes but not of anywhere immediately recognizable. The muted shades and compositions are visually appealing , I want to keep looking at them hence I have ordered a copy of this book from Abe books. Below are two of my images taken on the beach at Marazion later that week inspired by Susanna’s work.
British Surrealists
An intriguing exhibition at Falmouth Art Gallery well worth a visit if you are in Falmouth.
Although not photography based simply looking at the work and how each artist choses to use colour and interpret their thoughts and ideas is fascinating.
I bought The Surrealists in Cornwall Published by Falmouth Art Galley (2010 edition) which contains a range of work by the artists who gathered at Lambe Creek , Cornwall , in the years before the 2nd World War.The catalogue includes captivating images taken by Lee Miller and Roland Penrose.
I was horrified when first viewing the images accompanying this article: the impulse to keep shooting being stronger than the repulsion of what was happening in front of them being enough to stop and intervene. However , even though its highly unlikely I will ever be in the sort of situation these photojournalists found themselves in, would I behave any different? Finding themselves in circumstances beyond their control and in potential personal danger their continued action enabled the rest of the world to be aware of the injustice and atrocities being committed however uncomfortable they are to view. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/interactive/2012/jul/28/bystanders-photographers-who-didnt-help 
Image Copyright Graeme Robertson
This is such a powerful image . The terror in the mans eyes which in turn are framed by the heavy black boots haunts me.
27th May 2012
I have hit the biggest creative brick wall in a long time. No matter what I do at the moment I am not happy with the outcome and have tried to get my head around why . I have been gathering ideas and started to take some photographs for Assignment 2 but have deleted most of them from my hard drive! I have emailed Russell my tutor to tell him rather than keep going round in circles and procrastinating I am going to start the next section of the course whilst I continue to get the second assignment completed. He is quite happy with my plan and I feel less pressured to complete an assignment I am struggling with. Why am I finding this one so difficult? I have tried to analyse my feelings and it is not to do with the technical practicalities required (shoot only in jpeg with no PP) but rather the lack of connection I have felt with the majority of what I started to shoot. I am starting to realise , that for me personally, I need to feel connected in some way to whatever I am shooting. I think this is one of the reasons I enjoy portraiture so much. Assignment 2 offers 8 high range situations of which I need to choose 4 , and I planned to include some landscape work . However although I enjoy taking landscapes on holiday I lack the time and passion to commit to this genre of photography . I am going to Cornwall soon so may (!!!!) be able to take some decent landscape shots but I really think I may avoid including any in my assignment.
It has not stopped raining for weeks now it seems, the self-portrait below reflects just how I feel --blue !!!
Taken indoors using day light I changed the WB to a Tungsten setting to create a blue tone to match my mood. I deliberately underexposed as I wanted a dark and moody image . I have been off work this week on annual leave and planned to do such a lot towards my next assignment but have felt totally unmotivated. However every cloud has a silver lining and expressing my antipathy photographically has helped me use my negative feelings in a more positive creative way .
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