PLACES - The Landscape of Disappointment

This is me and my cousin Steven at aged 3 years with my Grandad in his back yard. The whole travelling back in time experience brings back images and memories that you have forgotten about and makes you see things in a different light. This was a really happy time. I love the light in the photograph, which is 47 years old! Bless you Grandad! x

PLACES - The Landscape of Disappointment

This is me on my tricycle at age 3 years of age in the front room at our house. In looking at the issues raised by the essay The Landscape of Disappointment, I thought it would be interesting to look back at my own life for inspiration. It is interesting how doing this jogs your memory and actually does inspire you to look at the unexpected.

David Chandler 'The Landscape of Disaoppointed

The essay jumped from past to present creating a sense of new, young and old, the start of the journey as David states it sounds a glum yet exciting time with lots of buzzing and news coverage. Their is emphasis on upward mobility of social class and how this did not work for his parents as it took them out of their comfort zone, a sense of not fitting in for mum as she feels feeble.

Their holds a great sense of reminiscence throughout the essay very strong memories of socialism and class, competing with the neighbours, a changing developing consumerist society.

David holds a great sense of pride in his dad and his dads old home there is a sense of expectation with slight snobbery held in a humorous context, his dad seems as though everything is a drama 'mountain out of a mole hole'. This goes on to be justified by describing the false hope a smoke screen created in the society failing dreams and aspirations in which they live, his dad accepts that it is false hope so becomes very black and white and opinionated, his parents hold a strong traditional marital relationship.

David falls back to memories that are better than the present a strong sense of disappointment is evident throughout the essay, and faded memories.

This can be related to my places brief as my garage holds my childhood memories such as the boat that i built when i was 12, my first brand new bike and my other bits and pieces that i can collected throughout my childhood, and adolescent journey into adult hood. Reading the essay brought a lot of childhood memories that i have not remembered for along time, for example, the street in which i lived, the grocery shop that we used to buy our food from, the local pub round the corner that i had to collect my dad from for Sunday dinner, the family structure on the street. I would love to be able to go back and photograph how it is now in order to compare past and present but this will be difficult due to distance and travelling.

EXHIBITIONS & SHOWS

FOCUS ON IMAGING exhibition and show at Birmingham NEC, March 2010.

I go to this industry show every year, but this year I was a bit disappointed as it didn't seem to have as many stands, and the Hassleblad people weren't there either. However, I took some shots as I went around, and overall found the day of some interest. Usually you get loads of freebies at these shows and photo paper, but not this year.....maybe its the recession kicking in!?

PLACES -A Familiar Place that is significant or important to you

This is the first bike I bought with my first wage packet, which cost me £21, 32 years ago!
I like the composition of this image as the blue line takes your eye to the BSA logo, and the wheels cut the page in the rule of thirds. This was a Tour de France special bike with the trademark racing yellow and blue paint. Taken with a Nikon D700 DSLR, using a studio tungsten bulb, with the overhead 200watt bulb which gives a double shadow. f1.4, 1/100th of a second, ISO 800 and 85mm focal length lens.

PLACES - A Familiar Place that is significant or important to you

Self Portrait

This image was taken using a Nikon D700 SLR, set on Tungsten in my garage. As you can see it is a self portrait in the mirror. I used a studio light to illuminate the scene. f3.5, 1/50th of a second, ISO 800, and an 85mm focal length lens.

PLACES - Using Lines to inform ideas

As part of my garage series of images of a familiar or significant place, this is a boat that I built as a boy. Throughout this brief I am using connecting lines to create images from a collection of other images. This leads the eye to different places within your image.