Exercise:- Symbols.

"The idea of this project is to find symbols for a number of concepts.  Complete it by listing more than one symbol for each of the following subjects and add short notes saying how you might use them in a photograph.  You do not need to take photographs for this, although by all means do if you feel enthusiastic about one of your ideas.  The subjects are growth, excess, crime, silence and poverty".

At first I misread what was required for this exercise,  assuming symbols to be signs etc.  After looking at the course notes a second time, I believe I have a better understanding of what is meant by a symbol.

The above montage is made up of seven images all are of pawnbrokers, all were photographed in Hanley, a part of Stoke-on -Trent, all are within a hundred yards of each other.  I know a shop is not a symbol however so many pawnbrokers, so close together on one road must be symbolic of our time, as a whole they fit all of the criteria of this exercise.  Growth, they are taking over our high streets.  Excess, same as growth.  There abundance could give criminals an incentive, to commit a crime!  Poverty, they are cashing in because so many people are hard-up, finally on the day I took the photographs they were closed, it was Sunday, there was silence on the street they had taken over.

Exercise:- Juxtaposition.

"For this exercise choose either the still-life approach or a larger scale shot, which involves choosing viewpoint and lens focal length.  If the latter, photograph someone with a possession, or the result of their work or hobby".

I've abbreviated the guidance notes for this exercise because I already had images on file which had been taken with juxtaposition in mind.  This style of picture taking, if it is a style, is something I have been doing for some time without realising that it had a name.  Looking back through the course book I have been making images with elements of juxtaposition in them from the first assignment, "Contrasts".

The photograph I have chosen for this exercise is my favourite, it is I hope subtle enough so as not to be  obvious.  This scene is well documented by the tourists, hundreds of times a day probably.  I have myself photographed it on numerous occasions, always trying to get something a bit different.  Very often this 'beggar' has been sat in this same spot.  Even when given some loose change he doesn't want his picture taken so I decided to take it from behind.  I noticed how people moved to one side, trying to avoid both eye contact with him and then not have to give him money.

Exercise:- Evidence of action.

"Produce one photograph in which it can be seen that something has happened.  As a suggestion, include in the photograph something that has been either broken or emptied".

I have used a photograph of my wife's Auntie Win for this exercise.  On the day the picture was taken she was leaving her house to go into a care home.  For her own good!!  I wonder.  The picture I believe shows how she feels about it.  The exercise title "Evidence of action" requires the image to show that something has happened.  This photograph is about something that is going to happen, but I feel it conveys the impression of something that has already taken place, the consequence of which is the loss of her independence.  Aunt Win hadn't been looking after herself very well, she was in her 91st year after all.  After a couple of months in the care home she is much better health-wise but sadly she is very unhappy and longs to be back in her own home.  It begs the question is it better to live longer being unhappy or to have a shorter life but be happy?

Exercise:- Rain.

"Imagine a magazine cover on one subject; rain.  You have the entire cover space to work in and you should produce a single, strong, attractive photograph that leaves no one in any doubt about the subject.  This is first an exercise in imagination, here are some guidelines:-

• Think of all the effects of rain that you have ever seen.
• Keep it simple.
• Be interesting; don't settle for an ordinary middle-distance shot of a street in the rain.
• With some picture ideas you need no wait for a rainy day.
• If you can't be completely original, at least make  the photograph attractive.
• Even if your idea is original, still make the photograph attractive".                                              

The photograph chosen for this exercise was taken at New Brighton a favourite place of mine and somewhere I've taken many of the images for this course.  It is also a dog walker, one of a group of people that have been subjects for my photographs previously.  I can identify with the picture, being a dog owner myself, I have on many occasions had to go out in conditions like this.

Exercise:- A Narrative Picture Essay.

"This project requires you to set yourself an assignment and then photograph it.  Based on what you have learnt so far, tell a story of any kind, in a set of pictures numbering between 5 and 15".

"The way in which you lay out the final selection of photographs is very important.  In dealing with a number of photographs, it is not simply a matter of deciding on the shape and size of a single image.  The whole reason for shooting a variety of images is so that when seen together, they work as a set.  Presentation can help this enormously.  Some pictures, for example, need to be big to be appreciated; others can work well if small.  Write a short caption under each picture, describing what it shows".

Having read through the course book earlier last year, the final part "Narrative" caught my attention.  This section of the course I thought would be a lot more interesting to do.  I had taken photographs with a theme in the past also telling a story in pictures had always interested me.  Unfortunately my images were sometimes disjointed and no more than a collection of record shots.

Like most people I have a mobile phone and can see how useful they are, to some people however I feel they have become an obsession.  Much to the annoyance of my family at my rants when someone is on the phone when they should be concentrating on something else.  Talking on the phone when going through the checkout at Sainsbury's for example, not to mention driving a car or riding a bike.  Thinking it would make a good project, I began last summer, just before the start of the Olympics, to photograph people using their mobile phones.  I soon realised how unaware they were of what was happening around them when on the phone.  I was able to photograph them up close with a wide angle lens without them even noticing, if this was the case then how could they possibly drive a car and talk on the phone at the same time.

It had been my intention to use the "Phone" for the final assignment.  Having looked at them as a whole I'm not convinced they tell a story, they might be nothing more than a collection of record shots.

  

It is my intention to continue photographing people and their mobile phones, until I find something else that irritates me of course.  I hope the few images shown here convey my feelings about this obsessive device.