Week 71: Interested?

I've been having some trouble thinking about what I should do for my exhibition. I've been hit with a major dilemma. People tell me to stick to what I'm good at and do something I'm interested in. What happens if I'm not interested in what I'm good at or if I'm not good at what I'm interested in? I also don't know if I should risk doing my new idea, as I have no idea whether I would be good at it. I'm pretty sure most people who are reading this blog ran relate to me, as you are likely to have a creative mind. If you're good at everything and interested in everything then you probably don't exist.

Dan.



This is an image from one of the Junction shoots. A photograph of the third friend "The Italian" and he had a pretty sad story behind him that I feel would be exploitative to post in this blog and I may save for something else. We hung out for a good hour or so, he seemed really down to earth. However I shall leave you to make your own assumptions about him.

Song listening to right now: Whole lotta Rosie - AC/DC

Week 70: The last step II.

So this year is my last step to improve my skills to a pinnacle that will please both myself and the demographic I'm working for. These images over the past three weeks are something I may move away from for a while because I will need to use a combination of my creative mind and my practical skills to actually make it to that peak. The most recent photographs are much more photo journalistic than they first appear. They are part of a story I am creating through documenting certain individuals. People that give me ambition. Inspiration and aspiration.

Dan.



This is also part of the Leanne narrative. I have some more negatives to scan (120s) these have all mean 35mm. I have managed to acquire a darkroom again now. However, this is probably the last of the Leanne series I will show on my blog. This year will be intense darkroom work as I am looking into the science of Photography. The physical and the chemical so expect some pretty interesting projects.

Song listening to right now: Dynamo Hum - Frank Zappa

Week 69: The last step.

This weeks post is a little late as I have moved and need to settle in before I could think logically. The last post is obviously now a completely incorrect statement. It's no longer the next step it was the last step, and the next post is concerning that. This is another picture from something very similar as I am still pondering on what to do next. Something will tick soon guys, just bear with me on this.

Daniel.



From the same shoot, just following Leanne around the town.

Song listening to right now: Silky Silky Love Song - Windy City.

Week 68: The next step.

By the end of this week I will be returning to normal life for a while. So I've spent the past week preparing ideas and concepts for the year ahead of me. I feel this will be a pretty important year for promoting my ideas to the audience so a head start is a pretty good idea. I have started to think about identity and how society has it's own little ways to place you in the order of things. This has spawned from the past few weeks where I have been talking about priorities and order.

Thanks,
Dan.



This is a 35mm from my new project, there's not much to say about it right now as I'm still thinking of ways to progress the concept. There is a link here between photographer and model that makes it seem quite androgynous and curious. This is a little obvious to people who know me. However, for first time viewers it is extremely subtle. I like to play with familiarity whenever I get the chance. Make up artist was Juhi Choudhury.

The next few weeks I will be evolving this project, the posts will contain 35mm and 120 photographs from the past couple of shoots, I will attach ideas and improvements that have been whizzing around my mind recently.

Song listening to right now: Highwayman - The Highwaymen.

Week 67: Discover III.

When thinking about priorities and how to order them, I must first place myself in that order. Once I am sorted I can then sort out everything that is linked to me. These things include, money, career, friends, family and responsibilities. However, I am frequently searching for something that will set my priorities in stone. At the moment they are whizzing around in my mind like a whirlwind. This is where the improvisation that I spoke of recently comes into play.

Daniel.



Searching and improvising each day are the talents that these guys bear. The interviews with Mark, Chewie and the Italian were some of the greatest conversations I've had in years and forced me to discover how to interact with my subject matter in a way that I could only perceive as conventional.

Song listening to right now: Two Tickets to Paradise - Eddie Money

Week 66: Discover II.

My thoughts have changed this week due to certain events. However, I will carry on expressing the same views and opinions (on photography) I started with last week.

Dan.



This man was a friend of Mark's (see below). He seemed highly intoxicated with some Mozambique marijuana, which came in a branded plastic bag, labelled much like a crisp packet. He didn't say much and his friends couldn't understand him when he did so they named him Chewbacca. Now Chewie was friendly in the way that he danced at on coming traffic when coming out of his trance, but every now and again he would slap the air as though someone was attacking him. Quite frightening really.

Song listening to right now: What's this? - Danny Elfman

Week 65: Discover.

This post is all about my photographic priorities and how I think when out on location. You can discover some fantastic moments to capture if you wait all day for that decisive moment (Cartier-Bresson), or if you plan these moments from scratch (Crewsdon). However, sometimes when you are planning or setting up for that beautiful shot, you can accidentally stumble across something that has much more beauty. It takes perseverance to pull away from the original thing you obssessed over.

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."
- Andre Guide

Please read on.
Dan.



This is Old Man Cemetery (Mark). This is not the photograph that was intended for this post. This week I was determined to go to a certain location to capture a photograph that I had noticed a few months back. Everyday I kept saying to myself, let's go there and just take it. The photograph had to be taken between six and seven o'clock (golden hour). This was how I had imagined the light to fall and I like to plan ahead. The photograph I originally intended to take was actually an architectural image that links back to Brutalism. However, my reactions took the better of me when I arrived on location. As a photographer you have to think economically, and judge your outcome by both your surroundings and subject matter.

I got to the location and set up the Hasselblad. It just so happened to turn out that I had timed my walk wrong and arrived just as golden hour was ending so I literally only had about 10 minutes to set up, meter and shoot. That's when something caught my eye. Even though I only had a short time before the sun went down behind the buildings of Reading town centre, I had to check this out. It was all a little bit of a blur. At first I noticed an old man dancing to cars as they went past, at least I think it was dancing, I can't quite remember now. Just around the corner from him were two other men sitting on a wall singing and wailing. I had never seen such a diverse group of friends.

I had to make a quick decision, was I going to ignore them and carry on with this photograph I had been planning for months? Hell no. Spontaneity, quick thinking and perseverance are also traits that come with being a photographer. To be completely honest, I had the perfect preconceived image on the ground glass viewfinder but it didn't seem quite as perfect as this group of homeless friends. I had to prioritise my subject matter in a very short amount of time. I though to myself, next time there is a pristine gold sunset the building will still be there. So I walked over to them and handed them a bit of shrapnel in exchange for a few photographs. They told me if I bought them a pack of cigarettes they'd let me hangout with them all evening. So I did.

Song listening to right now: Wicked World - Black Sabbath