Making An Exhibition Of Oneself

Yes, it's Wednesday again and so that only means one thing; the Headbanger Challenge.

Stewart has dreamt up this week's theme of "a photograph that you'd like to see in an exhibition." Stewart's thought of this theme, as he will be staging one himself in a few weeks in his hometown of Grantham.

Now I like taking all kinds of photos, but I especially like street, or social photography and models; or glamour as it used to be called.

I think social photography is important, as it records the general public going about their daily lives, or can highlight important issues like homelessness or poverty. It's also very hard to do. I have a couple of friends, curiously both called Steve who are very good at it, and seem to be able to spot things before they happen.

Incidentally, today marks the birthday of probably the best photo-journalist that there's been so far and that's Henri Cartier-Bresson. What he managed to capture with his Leica is amazing. Other well known snappers include Bill Brandt, Robert Capa and Vivian Maier; who has only just become well known, some three years after her death.

As much as I enjoy hunting the streets of Nottingham for photos, I find it very difficult and often miss shots due to being too slow or too nervous. Sometimes I do bag a good one, such as the one in my header, which shows a couple of possible homeless guys juxtaposed with people enjoying their lunches in the sunshine outside the Playhouse.

Do pop over and see how the rest of the gang, including our newest member Richard (welcome Richard) have interpreted the theme, and do enjoy this short documentary about Vivian Maier.

As I mentioned previously, I also enjoy taking photos of female models, and Gail and I have done a few short courses together about how to do it. It's been a very interesting education and like to think that I have taken some reasonable pictures, like this one of a local model called Oona, who I had the pleasure of shooting a few weeks ago here in Beeston. There is obviously so much more to learn. Not just about getting the model to pose well, but thinking about the poses and how to light the scene. We have booked a Groupon course that will hopefully show us how to do this.