Subject: Graphic Art

Looking at my shoe rack one day, I noticed a couple of shoes were upturned. One was worn down very significantly, and sorting through all the other pairs, it became apparent that there was evidence of a personal signature, like a fingerprint. I photographed all of the shoes and realised it was of course, how I walked. Weight (the amount of wear exerted), Gait (what part of the shoe makes contact with the ground), and State Of Mind (whether I’m trudging along, or have a spring in my step). This picture was created in 2010, I remembered it recently so I re-visited and edited the original. The underside of John Wayne’s boots would be interesting to examine!!

There is a car park behind the Co-Op on the High St. in Cromer. One is faced with a big white plastered wall which is part of 18 Garden St. I liked the cracks and discolouration. I used a couple of shots to compose a picture which looked like Ordinance Survey maps…..and left it there. Later I took some photographs of the overhead electric power lines at Norwich train station. I also had some photos of the street lights along Marine Parade at Yarmouth. I combined the two elements as silhouettes and progressed by putting them with the first and unfinished ‘map’. It all came together very well and I was astonished at the result. The title comes from a line in a poem I wrote a very long time ago, and it strangely fits the picture.

These are members of a military band who were stationary, and playing at the Royal Norfolk Show. I was drawn to the bright red tunics and the brass instruments. This is a close-up shot I took, amongst many others I photographed of the group. I cropped the photo a bit more and made what I think is a striking image. I have erased the background and their black trousers (notice the red trouser stripe still there) and filled the spaces with the flat red surface. It’s the same device that I have used with my self portrait on the home page. I applied a filter to give the picture a painterly effect.

A window seat on my way to Australia. I couldn’t help taking a few photos of the wing, which I thought looked very sculptural and magnificent. I  wasn’t sure what to do with the image. Trying different scenarios, I had another picture that I was working on, but had come to a dead end. That picture became ‘Work In Progress’, which I finalised later. In the meantime I looked at the shadow photos I had. They were of a lattice stud-work frame of a house that my sister-in-law was having built. I liked the pattern cast on the concrete floor. The shadow contrasted with the angular wing. I filled the silhouette with clouds, and set it on a flat blue background. Perfect!