Subject: Figurative

I went with some friends to the annual Strumpshaw Steam Rally and funfair. Here is Betty driving a car in the Dodgems attraction. She was reaching out to Grahams dog ‘Ruby’, who was standing on the steps of the arena. As usual I searched for something to place Betty in or against….as by luck and fate, I came across the photo that you see. They were outside table/benches stacked up perilously waiting to be collected. They belonged to a restaurant on St. Benedicts that had gone bust, (see picture titled ‘Striking 2, in the Urban category). This photo is one of many that I had taken. Betty accused me of portraying her as “a naughty girl who creates chaos” – which is true, and hence the title! I put the image through a couple of filters to give the picture some dynamism.

This picture started with an incidental photo of the spectators attending a Triathlon event at Whitlingham Broad in 2006 that I officially photographed. That was followed with the two separate images of the cyclists (2007 triathlon photoshoot) mounting their bikes to start the next phase of the competition. I of course cut them away from the original backgrounds. I was looking to tie the images together which took some time to research. Eventually I came across the concrete steps that lead up the hill to the Glastonbury Tor – perfect. I melded the image together, sized the cyclists proportionately, and created a satisfying composition and narrative. I left the white sky at the top as it was,  because it gave the picture a sense of balance. I applied a filter to give the image a painterly look, hence the .2 in the title. I have the original also.

Walking along the seafront at Yarmouth on the North Coast Path, there are some cafes that had closed for the end of the summer season. One of them was the Beach Terrace Tea Rooms. Like most of them, the business’s sell buckets and spades etc. I noticed by the Tea Rooms bins a discarded display frame looking quite sculptural. Made of thin white metal hoops and horizontal rods, it was a tiered frame for which (I thought) was designed  to stack beachballs, one on top of another, about 120cm tall. I wish I could show you the original photograph….but hope you get the idea, badly explained! I isolated the background and looked for something incongruous to place it against. I immediately came across a photo I took of some swans by the Rushcutters Pub, outside Norwich on the Yarmouth Rd.  I cropped the image and put the frame on top. I started distorting and squashing it (the frame). I duplicated the frame and distorted that too. I reduced the opacity and applied a couple of filters to the swan picture, which made it look like a watercolour.  The result was quite startling. I had no preconceived idea and surprised myself. It’s in the Figurative category because I couldn’t think where else to put it.

Very late one night, I put two photos together for no apparent reason; it looked very dramatic. The background is the south wing of Terminal 3 at Heathrow. As you can see, I have ‘swirled’ the image. The athletes in the foreground were participating in a Triathlon event in 2006. They were at Whitlingham Great Broad , looking at the swimming course set out on the water. I liked the way they were shielding their eyes, one guy is ‘cricking’ his neck! I put the picture through a couple of filters (as usual…zzz) to accentuate the vision. Why Deluded? …I don’t know, it was very late at night/early morning…..

This is Jon Page, who I have known for years, although I haven’t seen him for quite a while. Here he is mooring up his little boat at the Griffin Lane Marina at Thorpe St. Andrew. I took this photograph in 2007. As you can see it is a very basic motorboat, and we had great times. We used to go onto the River Yare for trips, usually to the riverside pubs or for a picnic. I was looking for something to marry this photo with (minus the background) and eventually settled for the extraordinary terrace ‘garden’. I saw this on Riverside Road in Gorleston and took the picture without thinking anymore about it. I think it presents an unusual image. I applied a couple of filters (hence the number 2) to distinguish the overall effect.

Sat in the pub one day, I noticed a couple who were sitting adjacent to me. They were remarkable and looked dramatic, because of the light cast on them from the large window behind. I asked if I could photograph them because they looked so Caravaggio-esque. ( I subsequently found out it was Mr. Paul Howard and his wife). After isolating them in the computer I experimented with background/situations. I came across a photo I had of my nephew Tom (giving me the finger!) standing on some rocks at a beach near Margaret River. He was silhouetted against the evening sky. I ‘moved’ him across to the left a bit, to give the composition some balance. I replaced the sky with a view from the Isle Of Skye. These three elements seemed to segue very easily and I was very happy with the result.

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I did this picture a few years ago and I thought it reflected the madness which possesses the mindset we are hellbent on pursuing. Well. ….this is a photo I took of a re-enactment group who were parading on Yarmouth South Quay, celebrating the town’s history in its fishing industry. The drummer was in a different photo, as was the officer with his back to the camera. It’s an annual event that encompasses all aspects of its heritage. The guns I have replaced for heads came from a collection of militaria at an air show in Suffolk (I think it was at Old Buckenham). In the background is a view looking south from the beach in Yarmouth, with the monument to Nelson.  The sulphurous sky has been accentuated, but the clouds were real. It pissed down.

I pretended to take a photo of Simon (the Chef), but he hid behind the book he was reading. Interestingly he presented the text pages, and not the front and back covers, as one might expect. I asked him to hold that pose, and rushed to get my camera for the real shot. He refused to recreate the pose, so I asked him to photograph me, assuming the same attitude. He can cook, but he can’t take a photo (ha ha). The result was blurred and out of focus. So… I got my mother to photograph me a couple of days later. I experimented with some scenarios, until I happily settled for a warehouse I photographed in Australia. I included a photo I had of some sparks (isolated) that were being given off by an industrial grinder. I thought that it gave the picture some magic and movement.

This is Pieter, who is a skilled carpenter and builder, and works at Wiveton Hall. As you might guess, he is Dutch because he wears handmade clogs and eats lots of cheese (ha ha). He was making a cupboard door for the newly refurbished gift shop. I was helping (?) him at the time. Pieter was outside and peering to see if the horizontal bracing plank was aligned. To me he looked as though he was surf boarding! The actual surf was a photo of the water taken looking down from Cromer Pier, and the planks of wood were here in Norwich at the new development at St.James Quay. I turned the water green to reflect the painted wood.