"Photograph your home town"


Newham, a borough to the East of London is twinned or has exchanges with Alingsas, Sweden; Kaiserslautern, Germany; and the Oktyabrsky District in Moscow, U.S.S.R. I have lived in Nemo for over 15 years and over a period of time I have built up a collection of photographs taken in the area. I know that many photographers document their Newham, and familiarality with a subject should produce really great results. My view is that if one can not take great pictures within a mile of ones home, one cannot take great pictures at all. Several years ago my pictures of local tower blocks and endless traffic had inspired the judges of Europhot organisation to award me the "Council of Europe" prize for my efforts, I continued taking pictures close to home but I never the considered the pictures showing my home town would meet with the same type of appreciation again.

Samozas sum up Newham's cultural diversity

Recently I was asked to produce a set of prints showing an aspect of the U.K, for exhibition in the Soviet Union. My collection of photographs taken locally seemed to fit the brief, and the process of choosing which pictures to print became a difficult task. It is important to consider that personal favourites may not be interesting to a wide audience.

Photographs that are for the public at large, and not other photographers who may be concerned with the appreciation of high quality and perfect technique. The key issue is a question of communication, so dark and moody photographs as well as the really obscure subjects are out of the question. I often visit photography exhibitions, and am I usually impressed by the clearest of photographs, irrespective of the subject matter. The photographs that seem to be a few highlights creeping out of the shadows, excite me the least. There may be some desire to create an "impact" picture using large amounts of shadow area but there is little information offered by this effect. In many exhibitions of black/white photographs there are sometimes a large number of prints with a very limited range of tones, rather than photographs that display a full range of greys. Photographs taken on fine grain film on medium or large format cameras, showing the full range of of tones available seem to have become the exception today. I reflect to consider if pictures of my home town reduced to a few tones and large grey areas of black shadow would be of general interest. Imagine going to see an exhibition of photographs taken in the U.S.A and visiting a collection of dark prints that are difficult to interpret?

Being concerned about high standards, and producing a set of pictures for exhibition, is a matter that is easy to talk about, but much harder to achieve. Taking pictures in a short space of time is the hardest task of all. The weather is often unsuitable for location photography at the time when it may be important to produce a set of prints for exhibition at short notice. The alternative approach is to have a body of work ready for printing. The example of documenting ones home town could be a project that could span several years, with locations photographed in ideal conditions. Eventually a unique collection of photographs would be available for exhibition or publication. I know that one may easily suggest that if everybody did it it would not be unique or worthwhile. The point that I wish to make is that the individual photographs will be similar to other photographs that may have been taken by many amateur or professional photographers, but very few photographers will have the "full hand". It is holding the "full hand" that is the most significant aspect of providing pictures of a specific subject or area.


A family on Parade


My own pictures are taken on various types of equipment. The pictures I the square format are taken on a modern reflex system camera, and the pictures in the 6x12 and 6x9 formats are roll film backs in various 5x4 cameras, using lenses from 65mm to 720mm. The 5x4 monorail is the camera that I prefer to use with a roll film back. I think it is worth the effort to use the most suitable camera available, so the monorail for architecture and city scenes is the best camera for the job. I shoot on transparency film, but there is no reason why similar high quality results could not be achieved on medium or large format print film. Unfortunately most users of photography are used to seeing transparencies so photographers shooting negatives would need to provide the transparencies or prints to be viewed. Transparencies from negatives are still an expensive option, and the more reasonable cost involved in producing a set of prints from negatives does not compare to the cost of producing original transparencies. There are moves to use more colour negative materials in areas of publishing that have traditionally used transparencies. Whilst it is possible to achieve the same results technically from negatives and transparencies, storing negatives requires requires a positive print or transparency as a guide. Until economical ways or storing a large volume scanned negatives is available, transparency films will remain as the standard material for photographs used for publication. It is not my intention to suggest that transparency film use is old fashioned, but to point out that photographers using negative film will in the future be able to store and catalogue their picture collections as efficiently as those photographers using transparencies. For any photographer embarking on a long term project, examining future trends is a valid exercise. I selected pictures showing different aspects of life in Newham, a family outside their house, a pattern of old street cobbles, distinctive architecture, and the boundary with the river Thames including the Thames barrier.


Familar Barrier

The Thames barrier is probably the most famous landmark in Newham and any photographer taking pictures in their own area should consider that there may be one landmark that should be well documented. Once a set of picture suitable for exhibition are available, there may be many organisations willing to consider offering a space for the display. The only matter that the photographer has to decide is who is going to be pay for the prints. Prints that are 10x8 or smaller are not too expensive, but 12x15 and larger sizes could be outside the scope of any budget where there are no fees payable. In some cases, a laboratory may be willing to produce a set of prints as a promotional effort. The laboratory would be in a position to sell reprints and would not have to pay for the exhibition area. The local authority may be interested and there may be a need for pictures to satisfy the demands the local history department of the library service.

The local newspaper may be the first avenue to explore in promoting a collection of photographs of the area. Do not assume that just because the local paper is producing pictures constantly, that they would be the best source of local photographs for exhibitions. Most of the material may be in black/white and there may not be a comprehensive catalogue of pictures taken. The subjects taken for a weekly newspaper, would be quite different to a long term photographic study of an area, so there would be not be any conflict of interest. The newspaper would be pleased to have some extra pictures to accompany a news item, and would probably print one or two pictures. In my own experience, the local newspaper was more interested in a photograph of me holding a camera, when I offered them prizewinning pictures of the local area in the for of 35mm slides. A few 10x8 black/white prints with a suitable note may have been used more readily. If the newspaper is published in colour, as a few local papers are today, telephone them to ask them what they prefer, colour prints, or slides, and the format of print or slide could be useful. The golden rule is to make the use of your pictures as easy as possible. There is no urgency for this type of feature so they may wish to hold it for a few months. Armed with a few press cuttings about the exhibition pictures, and a few sample prints, a letter to the office of the twin town, may draw a favourable response.

Local picture framers who often sell art prints could be approached to display one framed print with a set of small prints to show the range of prints that could be ordered. For pictures to be displayed for a considerable length of time, the Cibachrome print is the least likely to fade, but they are more expensive than normal prints produced from negatives or transparencies.

The options for promoting an exhibition are endless, but do not loose sight of the primary objective, that is to communicate. To frustrate the viewer with obscure images, plucked from impossible negatives, may be suitable for the very specialist photography gallery. However, the average visitor to an exhibition will be impressed with the clarity of first class technique, illuminating the area for the viewer who is familiar with the subject, and interesting for any visitor whose first impressions will be made by a display of your work.

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