Searching for a Scene

Until last year I had lived in Wales for five years. There were reasons for the move, and I genuinely enjoyed living there. However, I was too far from my grown-up kids to make visiting easy for either them or me.

In Wales there seemed to be a photograph around every corner, and there were plenty of scenes to find a new perspective on the place. The area that I enjoyed the most was "The Mumbles". It was the place that I could simply wander with a camera and just photograph whatever caught my eye. Some scenes I photographed in a variety of ways, using a Holga, a Mamiya C330 and my Chroma Camera Snapshot Instant Edition. This is one of them, captured using my Mamiya C330. I've never felt that I quite got this photograph right. The wind has disturbed the reflection in the water, and that's not quite how I imagined it when I pressed the shutter. Of all the frames I made of this view, though, this one comes closest.

And that's OK, I think. It's not perfect but it does act as a reminder of that Sunday afternoon out wandering along the seafront.

 

Thought for the day

When you are out and about with a camera, it's important to find subjects to photograph. It would seem that this goes without saying, but it is worth reiterating. The thing is, looking at the world through a viewfinder really isn't the best way to experience a place.

Being present, or in the moment as the tropes would have you believe, is really just another way of saying: simply be there.

Don't look through the viewfinder looking for something to photograph. Look at the world. When something catches your eye, use the viewfinder to decide what to leave in the picture and what to leave out. The viewfinder isn't for finding views, but for framing them. There is a real difference between the two.

Go out somewhere, be there, and let the photographs find you. When something catches your eye, the camera becomes a useful tool for capturing it.

Perhaps that's what photography is really about? 

Not searching for photographs, but being sufficiently present to notice them when they appear.

 

The Halcyon Days of Summer

Summer is a funny time for photography, largely because of the increased activity that comes with family during the school holidays, particularly when you have school-age children or, as in my case, grandchildren. It means you have to get out when you can and make the most of whatever time you have with a camera.

This photograph is remarkably, well, unremarkable. But it was taken after a busy day, both at work and with the grandchildren. I dragged the motorbike out from its slumber and headed out with a Holga 120 GN loaded with a roll of Kentmere Pan 100 film. The Holga is permanently fitted with a yellow filter, and I simply meandered through the country lanes near my home in Somerset.

I ended up at St Mary the Virgin Church in the little village of Shapwick. By this time it was eight o'clock in the evening, but being high summer, lack of light wasn't a problem. I set the Holga to the portrait zone, which is approximately one metre, and took this photograph.

The photograph itself isn't really remarkable, but that doesn't particularly matter. Every time I look at it, I remember the motorbike ride, pottering around the quiet country lanes and a pleasant summer evening spent wandering around that churchyard with the Holga.

Perhaps that's enough reason for a photograph to exist.

Double Vision

There are times when you shoot a roll of film and things don't quite go to plan.

Film itself is an imperfect medium. It's an emulsion adhered to a length of plastic film, and cameras can require quite a bit of concentration to use properly. Even then, you can end up with an out-of-focus picture, a finger in front of the lens or too much light getting to the film.

It's all a bit of a worry.

My beloved Holga 120 GN is about as basic a camera as you could want. One aperture, one shutter speed, zone focusing and the ability to choose either instant shutter (N) or bulb mode (B). Bulb mode simply keeps the shutter open for as long as the shutter button is held down.

There is another "feature", though, that can either trip you up or give you a little serendipity, depending on your point of view.

The shutter isn't locked to the film advance. Unless you remember to advance the film after taking a picture, you can end up with a double exposure.

And that's exactly what happened here.

I'm firmly on the Lomo side of the argument. Accept the flaws. Don't look for perfection. Sometimes the things that go wrong are the things that make the photograph interesting.

So, is this picture the result of my own ineptitude?

Or is it the universe adding a little bit of its own magic to the mix?

 

Lomography Without the Camera - Why the real Lomography is about how you see, not what you shoot with

Lomography is more interesting as a photographic attitude than as a brand or a particular type of camera.

The commercial side is almost a distraction from the idea of shoot first and ask questions later. Lomography itself frames the philosophy around “Don’t Think, Just Shoot” and its 10 Golden Rules, which encourage spontaneity, experimentation, getting close, shooting from unusual perspectives, accepting uncertainty and, ultimately, not worrying too much about rules.

You don't need a Lomography camera to photograph like a Lomographer. You could go and buy a camera and film from Lomography and call yourself a Lomographer, but then what? You still have to go out and shoot it. And that's the interesting bit, because you don't actually need to buy anything at all to embrace the idea.

Photography is largely a set of rules for making the correct exposure, producing the best print and using the equipment in a certain way. Photography culture can encourage us to evaluate photographs against technical and aesthetic standards rather than simply experience making them.

Lomography is there to liberate photographers, not create another club with another set of rules or a membership test.

What happens when we stop trying to take the “right” photograph? The important thing is not to replace one set of photographic rules with another.

Take a camera with you and just shoot ordinary life. Let your gut feeling guide your shutter finger. Accept mistakes. Photography can be part of life's participation and not just a way of documenting it.

The Lomography 10 golden rules are not a rigid prescription but rather a set of permission slips.

Lomography may be a company, but it is also an idea.

The interesting part isn't the camera. It's what happens when you stop treating photography as a technical examination you have to pass.

Shoot any camera, whether that is a phone, DSLR, mirrorless, disposable or old film camera, and begin to participate. Make photographs because something catches your eye, because you have a feeling about a moment, or simply because you are there.

If you make a photograph this way, share it on BlueSky. Tag it #lomo or #lomography.

Not because it was made with a particular camera. Not because it is technically perfect. But because it represents a particular way of seeing: spontaneous, curious, imperfect, immediate and alive.

Photography has accumulated a lot of rules. Lomography asks what happens when you forget them.

Life by the Water

What is it about water that draws us as people? We have always lived beside rivers and seas, established harbours, built floating docks, travelled from them and returned to them.

Swansea harbour is a lovely place simply to spend time. This Holga 120 GN photograph of the harbour-side walkway, with shops on one side and the water on the other, is typical of the way harbours have been transformed in recent years. Once places of industry, trade and departure, many have become spaces to pause, wander and enjoy the water—while still retaining something of their connection with movement, travel and the wider world.

 

Inside photography.

In contrast to my last blog post, where things didn't exactly go to plan, this photo was the one on the roll that did go to plan. I shot two images, one at the metered settings and this one with the aperture closed down by a whole f stop.

The writing is on one of the faces of the pulpit and the decorative table was arranged just so. This one I am happy with. It has the dark shadows and detail in the highlights. The subject is in focus and the depth of field is suitably short.