Eggs, Boats & Mashers, Oh My!

Today I've been working on product photography, pack-shots of 'a to m' in the form of kitchen utensils, here's a couple of examples :

Lights, Camera, Artwork!

The view from the corner of College Street and Regent Street.

The newest pieces of public sculpture in Swindon town centre since the fountain have been installed over the last few months and both are now illuminated.

Here's a quick impromptu picture of the College Street Gateway sculpture in all it's glory this evening, along with the pavement lighting which has recently been switched on.

Art often has to be bold and big to make an impact. Most people see the pieces during the day, but they come into their own during the evening when darkness falls.

"You're a big man, but you're in bad shape. With me it's a full time job. Now behave yourself."

The roof of the Debenhams carpark would have to do, rather than one in Gateshead (no-one was thrown off of it though!).

For the Advertising Unit we're currently working on, one of the ideas for the campaign was 'spotlight flash' for subjects.

Philip-Lorca diCorcia photographed with a similar technique on the streets of New York in his 'Streetwork' series. Using a remote flashgun, with a piece of A3 paper from a sketchbook sellotaped into a cone shape and tied on with a rubber band and a sensor fitted to the camera and flash, it seemed to work! 

The camera was on a tripod, I scraped a mark on the floor with a stone, Ed checked the composition was right, then with a timer he'd dash from the camera to the 3 foot wall immediately to the right of the frame, jump up and direct the flash down onto me. We spent about 15 minutes getting the exposure right, as it was overcast and dusk at the time we shot.

I can't help thinking of Get Carter when I see these pictures (not that I look or sound anything like Michael Caine!), but this lighting could make anyone or anything look threatening.

Most of the 1971 Get Carter film takes place in streets at night using available lighting, giving long shadows and unflattering lighting.

What do you think?

The Ghosts of Wichelstowe

The shop-window of Swindon's Wichelstowe development, the canal-side houses in East Wichel.

Living in what, during the eighties and nineties, was the 'fastest growing town in Europe', it's sometimes easy to become use to new housing estates becoming part of the scenery. One development in Swindon is different enough to stand out and makes for fascinating photographs.

The lights on the unopened Southern Relief Road blaze through the night, giving an unsettling, eerie feeling.

Wichelstowe sits between the southern parts of Swindon (Old Town and Croft) and immediately north of the M4 between Junction 16 and 15. Known as the Front Garden and officially as the Southern Development Area, it's a collection of three areas, East Wichel, Middle Wichel and West Wichel. High quality housing design elements compliment the many green spaces and the extensive new canal network.

Work at Wichelstowe has slowed with the recession and recovery, but the road and canal infrastructure has either been completed or they are far advanced. As a consequence, the roads serving Middle and West Wichel run through farmer's fields, complete with traffic lights, pavements, road markings, bus lanes and signs to estates that do not exist yet! Some street furniture has been fitted, but remains in it's wrapping!

Having missed photographing the North Swindon development over the last phase of town expansion I'm going to make every effort to capture Wichelstowe.

For more pictures from this project, click the link on the right to be taken to Flickr, or click here.

Links

Wichelstowe Development Site http://www.wichelstowe.co.uk/template01.asp?pageid=32