Exercise 15: Public Space, Public Activity

For this exercise I was fortunate to be able to visit Sheffield Botanical gardens one Sunday afternoon at the beginning of September. My brother and his wife, Linda, were keen to show us the new greenhouses there which we had not see since their renovation. It was a beautiful day and ideal for photographing this exercise as the park was full of people relaxing and enjoying their weekend in the sun.

This is the view of the refurbished greenhouses that greets you as you walk through the main entrance. I thought that with the couple sitting on the grass it made an ideal introductory shot. For the second shot I thould that I would try a different angle on the scene.

Nearby were two children playing close to their abandoned trike. Parents were close by.

In the first of these two pictures a group of students relaxes in front of the greenhouses and looking in the opposite direction people were enjoying the sun whilst sitting on the park benches.

Here I have zoomed in on two couples on the benches. In th first one I chose to shoot across a flowerbed using it for the foreground.

In the first of these two pictures I photographed my brother in one of the greenhouses whist he was concentrationg on taking a picture himself. I was able to be unobtrusive as I was behind the Agave which frames the shot. The second picture of a man reading on the grass was taken at full zoom some distance away, partly to remain unobserved but also to show him in context.

Here another group of youing people are relaxing in a quiet area of the gardens whilst nearby a young family walks along the path.

A group of people here are huddled in discussion over some documents whils a mum adjusts her child in the pushchair. To ring the changes I took this shot against the light.

In some nearby greenhouses ladies in the first shot are selling plants whilst in the second people browse and are buying from the stall.

In the first two pictures above two individuals enjoy the sun the lady on the left looks to be dressed for an occasion - has she been somewhere or is she on her way I wonder. In the third picture some older people enjoy walking and looking at the plants.

For these two pictures I was looking for a different setting and a different way to frame the pictures. Whilst walking around I came across the fountain and decided to try some shots through the falling water.

Again couples enjoying the sun. I have a suspicion that I may have been spotted by the gentleman in the centre picture. In the third I deliberately used the beautiful flower beds as foreground.

I was fascinated by the couple above who were taking their ferrets for a walk on leads. They were only too pleased to show them off to me.

The Greenhoses in the Botanical Gardens are also used a s a venue for wedding ceremonies and I was just in time to catch the bride arriving for one such event. On the right and below are guests entering the green house for the ceremony whilst below right the waiters are pouring champagne.

In this final picture the roles appear to be reversed and the little girl stands hand on hip holding her pram whilst talking to her father.

Research for People Unaware.

Henri Cartier-Bresson is perhaps one of the most well known reportage photographers and he coined the phrase 'the decisive moment' to describe this key quality in a photograph. His ' Behind the Gare SSaint Lazare' 1932 is perhaps the most famous of his decisive moments shots.

Below left is another 'decisive moment ' taken by Cartier-Bresson but one that is also full of compassion for the boy. In the right hand image he has caught the cyclist at the perfect moment - just when he is in full view and the only point in the frame when it would be possible. The cyclist is also slightly blurred thus giving an impression of movement.

I love the work of Andre Kertesz and in July went to visit his exhibition 'On Reading' at The Photographers Gallery in London. Many of the images in this exhibition are beautiful shots of people unaware. I have included three below. He sometimes has the subject small in the frame as in the first image or larger as in the second two. The second two images were obviously taken in a park and I have used them for inspiration when shooting in the Sheffield Botanical Gardens for Exercise 15.

Other photographers that I have looked at for this part of the course include W. Eugene Smith, Robert Frank and William Eggleston.

W. Eugene Smith moved to New York in 1936 where he studied under Helene Sanders and the New York Institute of Photography. He began working professionally in 1937 eventually gaining a contract with Life Magazine and later worked for the Magnum agency. Here I have included pictures taken of Albert Schweitzer in 1949 and Charlie Chaplin during the filming of 'Limelight' in 1952.

Robert Frank was born into a wealthy Swiss Jewish family and eventually emigrated to America in 1947. He worked there as a fashion photographer before leaving to travel in South America and Europe returning in 1950. He met Edward Steichen and participated in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Later he began to see America as a bleak and lonely place and this became evident in his photography. In 1955 be began a two year journey around America photographing its society at all strata. He took 28 000 images of which he chose 82 for subsequent publication in hos book 'The Americans'. I include a selection of images here.

William Eggleston's early work was inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson's book 'The Decisive Moment' and the work of Swiss photographer Robert Frank. He began working in black and white but began experimenting with colour in 1965 and 1966. He taught at Harvard in 1973 and 1974 and at this time dicovered the 'dye-transfer' process which he subsequently used when having his work printed. I am not a fan of Eggleston despite his being such a reknowned photographer. I find his work too harsh and brash; he often seems to seek out the ugly in life. I have included some of his work below.

One other photographer whose work I admire and who I have looked at in relation to this part of the course is Don McCullin. I went to see his exhibition 'In England' at the National Media Museum in September and his photographs really inspired me.

I have also looked at the work of Martin Parr. I found the images from his Machu Picchu fascinating particularly as my daughter has recently completed a trek there as part of 7 months in South America. I'm not really envious.

I also found Paul Graham's work relevant to this topic especially his series 'Beyond Caring'.