Papped!

Out for a walk recently, my route took me alongside the playing fields around a local public (ie: private!) school. Tucked away right round the back, on quite a secluded pitch, I noticed a football practice session underway - and then I realised it was our local league team, Bradford City, in action. I surreptitiously took a couple of photos, not wanting to get shouted at, though with hindsight I wish I'd been a little bolder and made more effort. They were a long way away so I would probably have been able to get a little closer. As it is, this was with my lens on its longest setting and the photo is heavily cropped so it's a bit fuzzy. I'll never make it as a paparazzo!

I don't think Bradford City will make it either this season. They've slid down to League Two and so far (as I write this) have won five out of eleven matches this season. So they look as though they need the practice, though it all looked a bit desultory.

Street London in colour

Even though classic street photography tends to be presented in black and white, as a lover of colour and with all the colour of the Brick Lane area, it seemed a waste not to enjoy the vibrancy. These are some of my favourite images of the day.

I call the one above 'The Eyes to the Right'.

A group of young men were enjoying trying on hats in Spitalfields market:

Lost in his mobile world.. I think he may have been a food delivery cyclist waiting for his next call.

A lady in a hurry...

and an intimate moment on the dumplings stall in the food market.

I enjoyed my day out and I'm happy that I learned a lot and got a few images that are meaningful to me. I'm still not sure about the genre of street photography and its ethics, so it's not something I'll ever do a lot of.

London graffiti art

Near to Brick Lane, a railway embankment formed a blank canvas for the graffiti artists' expressions. It appeared to be a known and accepted venue where you can watch them at work. There seemed to be some kind of loose arrangement of divvying up the walls between different artists, and some of them were encouraging passers-by to add to the work with a spray can.

I wouldn't normally dare to photograph anyone painting graffiti (mainly for fear of the spray can being turned on me!)
Here, they seemed to welcome being watched and photographed. I enjoyed the verve and energy of the guy who was working barefoot

'Low on paint, high on life' says the artwork below. 

Street London, candid mono

The street photography genre is usually shown as contrasty black and white photos, so I have chosen a few of mine and given them this treatment. You also need to find 'a moment' that lifts the photo a little out of the ordinary. Not easy!

The image above seemed to me to be 'made' by the pigeon strutting along. Those below were careful captures of 'the moment': when the man was just at the right spot with the graffitied 'angel wings' behind, and an intimate moment between lovers. I was smiling at where he has his hand!

I came across a pro photographer taking a model shoot, with the stylist watching. It seemed a good opportunity to catch a shot and I liked the triangle the three figures make.

I didn't quite get the focus right on the one below, but I like the 'meeting and yet not meeting' within it.

Street London

The London skyline, quite recognisable I think... I went there for the day recently, to meet with members of the online photo group that I belong to. Some of them I know, some of them I've only met 'virtually' before, so it was very good to put faces to names. Our aim was to try some 'street photography'. That is well outside my comfort zone and not a genre that I have any expertise in but I had a very enjoyable day and was a little braver by the end of it!

We chose the area around Brick Lane in East London, as it is lively, 'alternative' and multi-cultural. It is a well-known area for street photography so a bunch of people with cameras wasn't unusual and seemed to be very well-accepted. There's lots of graffiti - of the genuinely artistic kind, not just rubbishy scrawls - so that makes for some interesting photos too.

It was tempting to start browsing the shops and the many markets but that wasn't my objective and I did manage to resist! Just the general juxtapositions of old and new, lots of colour, buildings and graffiti, were interesting to my eye, so I took some shots like that in between trying for people pictures, if only to bring my stress levels back to normal!

I also enjoyed taking some window reflection shots, like this one into an indoor street food market.

Candid camera

April's assignment in my online photo group was to 'take a photo of someone you don't know, either posed or candid'. That's a real challenge for me. Partly because I'm so deaf, I find it hard to engage with people I don't know - and I feel voyeuristic taking photos candidly. I had to have a go though...  

First, I took the photo of Alex at the mining museum. Though I would have liked a less cluttered background, I wasn't entirely comfortable about 'posing' him, so it was a bit rushed. Then I decided to have a go at taking some 'street shots', trying to catch people unawares. My new camera makes street photography slightly easier as it has a tilting backscreen, so I can compose surreptitiously and avoid lifting the camera to my eye. Still a challenge though. Somehow, photos with cluttered backgrounds taken by Martin Parr look OK; photos with cluttered backgrounds taken by me look... cluttered. At least the top shot doesn't have a cluttered background. 

The lady and the two boys were enjoying a picnic. I've blurred the boys' faces a bit as I'm never very happy showing identifiable pics of children on a public blog. I've a friend who is mother to adopted children and, as she points out, it can actually be dangerous to show identifiable children in identifiable locations. Some children's lives are very precarious and you just never know.  

In St. Peter's Square in Manchester there was a small group of 'Remainers' (Manchester for Europe) trying to convince people that staying in the EU is essential. They didn't have to work too hard to convince me... but others perhaps were less open to their message.

I spotted two older ladies just sitting watching the world go by (as the saying goes). It reminded me of my childhood, sitting with my parents on a bench somewhere. I think I asked what we were doing and mum said: 'Watching the world go by'.  After a while my sister asked: 'When is it coming?'

Some friends were having a warm chat over coffee:

and a little girl was running through the water jets, without her shoes but still in her (very wet) tights.

Bored?

All dressed up in their overalls; not sure if the blackened faces were earned or just for show! The kids looked a bit bored though... Perhaps, if dad is a fanatic, they have to spend a lot of weekends at steam fairs...

Far from the Madding Crowd

.... though some people managed to get away from it all.  (The power of a Kindle!)

Boy sitting

 (Photo taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ18)

I spent ages waiting, trying to isolate one of these seven figures - part of a Jaume Plensa installation 'Heart of Trees' (2007) at YSP - from the many visitors milling around.  Just as I was about to press the shutter, a couple of young boys ran into shot.  Isn't it frustrating when that happens?  But then when one of them suddenly sat down beside the figure, I had the picture I had been waiting for all along without knowing it!

I have posted more photos of the Jaume Plensa installations on my other blog.