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My wife and I had an eye-opening night out yesterday thoroughly enjoying the photographs on display all around Liverpool.
I was particularly struck by the intensity of the social observation and conscience of so many prolific photographers who had so much to say through their pictures. The 'call to action' made to everyone viewing the pictures made me think that I definitely need a project like the ones I saw to add depth to what I can do through my images, but very early days! We had time to visit two galleries, The Bluecoat and the Walker.
The Bluecoat were showing images in an exhibition entitled 'Confined'. We were particularly challenged by some wonderfully large pictures of the detainee camp at Guantanamo. In a series of images called 'home' the photographer, Edmund Clark, had taken close up pictures of one detainee's actual home and between them placed an image of a 'force-feeding chair'. The starkness of the later image compared to the very ordinary should challenge us to think about the consequences of such imprisonment, especially as it is now coming to light that many prisoners had no real evidence against them.
In the Walker Gallery we enjoyed the poignant black and white images taken by Paul Trevor of Liverpool back in 1975, and his return to search for the grownups that he had photographed as children. It was an emotional journey to realise what had happened to the people who as children had lived with such environmental and social deprivation, and how they, and Liverpool had changed. This was working on many levels for me, from the personal stories, through to the way a whole city has made progress and how people's lives are, in many cases, better. There were of course sad cases to hear about, and to be reminded there are still places to be improved, and issues to be dealt with.
Paul also makes that point that today's photographers could not take images of children as freely as he did. He felt his was the last generation of photographers who were able to photograph children in that way. This is very significant, and begs the question that perhaps even though environments and the material quality of life may have improved for so many, is there is still a poverty in other areas of people's lives that no amount of money can improve?
Back in January I photographed this demonstration in Liverpool against cuts in local services as the result of the financial crisis. Very much a family affair with many children attending.
An increasingly common site in our countryside and at sea are these wind turbines. Very impressive up close they do somewhat jar with the moorland emptiness and the whirling blades can be disconcerting up close. Is there any choice?
Choir boy on a mobile during a religious festival. Can the Church remain consistent to dogma and meet the needs of people in the 21st Century?
All the best in your thinking and imaging.
I was particularly struck by the intensity of the social observation and conscience of so many prolific photographers who had so much to say through their pictures. The 'call to action' made to everyone viewing the pictures made me think that I definitely need a project like the ones I saw to add depth to what I can do through my images, but very early days! We had time to visit two galleries, The Bluecoat and the Walker.
The Bluecoat were showing images in an exhibition entitled 'Confined'. We were particularly challenged by some wonderfully large pictures of the detainee camp at Guantanamo. In a series of images called 'home' the photographer, Edmund Clark, had taken close up pictures of one detainee's actual home and between them placed an image of a 'force-feeding chair'. The starkness of the later image compared to the very ordinary should challenge us to think about the consequences of such imprisonment, especially as it is now coming to light that many prisoners had no real evidence against them.
In the Walker Gallery we enjoyed the poignant black and white images taken by Paul Trevor of Liverpool back in 1975, and his return to search for the grownups that he had photographed as children. It was an emotional journey to realise what had happened to the people who as children had lived with such environmental and social deprivation, and how they, and Liverpool had changed. This was working on many levels for me, from the personal stories, through to the way a whole city has made progress and how people's lives are, in many cases, better. There were of course sad cases to hear about, and to be reminded there are still places to be improved, and issues to be dealt with.
Paul also makes that point that today's photographers could not take images of children as freely as he did. He felt his was the last generation of photographers who were able to photograph children in that way. This is very significant, and begs the question that perhaps even though environments and the material quality of life may have improved for so many, is there is still a poverty in other areas of people's lives that no amount of money can improve?
An increasingly common site in our countryside and at sea are these wind turbines. Very impressive up close they do somewhat jar with the moorland emptiness and the whirling blades can be disconcerting up close. Is there any choice?
All the best in your thinking and imaging.
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