Category: Photography

All My People / All Mankind
by Oriana Spadaro

Covid has completely changed my life from one day to another. I found myself stuck in my hometown, could not go back to the city where I live and work. No job, no friends, no going out for almost 70 days. The life I knew before doesn’t exist anymore. But I decided to take this period of time as a personal challenge; I wanted to make the most out of it. So I filled my days with the things I like: photography above all. I have been studying and shooting everything I could within my poor means.

All My People / All Mankind is a series of portraits of friends in Italy and abroad, that I have been taking via webcam during quarantine. I have titled this project after a song by Liam Gallagher because it has a double interpretation. ‘All my people’ are the people of my life, whoever has been there during this difficult time, everybody in their own way. They are the people who have always sent a message to ask how I was or just to make me laugh. I have never felt so much empathy for people before like in this surreal and difficult time.

These photos are my tribute to them. This pandemic will be a distant memory one day, but I want to remember how they were. Each person has been photographed in his/her favourite corner of the house or while dedicated to his/her hobby or passion. The link between me and many of these people is music. My intention was to catch the empathic connection between me and them despite the distance and the devices (our webcams and my camera) dividing us.

‘All mankind’ is the second interpretation. Each person has their own story and the Covid emergency has had consequences on everybody’s life. Some of those people in the photos have been isolated for three months trying to protect their elderly parents, have struggled against the virus living in complete isolation without even going out to buy food, have lost their jobs, had planned to get married and could not, could not visit their families in other regions for months, had to work from home while taking care of a child.

These are universal stories in which everybody can recognise themselves. They teach us that mankind has a great power to adapt. Some people have started teaching online, have started home radio stations, have recorded music, have made drawings out of my photos, have volunteered. Together we have done photo shoots, guitar and yoga lessons, birthday parties. We have not given up, because life always prevails.

All words and photos © Oriana Spadaro

You can view Oriana’s previous In Focus feature here

3rd June 2020

By Caoimhe Clements

Life has changed dramatically.  We have given up our freedom in a sense to save lives. It is time to be more grateful if you and your loved woke up this morning still breathing – be happy, because thousands of people today didn’t get to breathe again. Together, we can get through this. We can protect each other. Please stay home and stay safe.

My name is Caoimhe Clements and I am a photographer from Ireland. Growing up in the Irish countryside inspired my landscape photography. Moving to Belfast inspired my continuous growing visual language, which is giving people a voice to speak through imagery.

I speak passionately about mental health, epilepsy and climate change through my photographic work. It’s time to talk. Let’s support each other.

Within the past two years, I have exhibited in Ireland and Scotland in group and solo exhibitions, become a photographer for the Woodland Trust, started two long term photographic projects and taught a fashion photography workshop in collaboration with Belfast Design Week 2019.

In June 2019, I began my project From the Inside Out; I exhibited the collection in November 2019. This project takes the viewer on a journey of emotions and how an individual lives with epilepsy, a subject matter very close to my heart.

From showcasing this work, I met a Professor from Trinity College Dublin who studies the brain and epilepsy. Professor Mark Cummingham expressed an interest in an image during launch night of the exhibition. In February 2020 I was invited to Trinity College Dublin to present the photograph to Mark. I am continuing to further and deepen the narrative of this project, through more in-depth research and development of imagery.

A fact about me… I currently attend university, studying my undergraduate in Photography with Video. I’m going into my final year in September 2020, I will embark on my masters after this.

During my second year of my degree I began my project A Global Crisis – an investigation into how people feel and think about climate change, the idea of starting a conversation, giving an individual a voice to speak.

I began to photograph individuals in the studio, inspired by Rembrandt’s painting style – I used the technique known as Rembrandt lightening or the Rembrandt effect.

The idea was to capture their raw emotions in a sad emotional statement, to reflect on how damaging climate change is, the sad reality that human activity is causing a dangerous increase in the change in climate – from extreme environmental changes such as raising sea levels to extreme weather events.

By mid March, Covid-19 had reached the UK and Ireland. Lockdown was introduced. This put a stop to my project; I was in state of feeling depressed, not known what was going to happen. Everything that I and other creative people where working towards had been affected. We had to find new ways to adapt and keep our creative mindsets alive.

But I am staying positive and finding new ways to communicate my concept to the viewer. I feel what is important now is supporting each other and reminding people that we can get through this phase. Stay home.

Since March, I have continued to add depth to my research and develop my project further. I have found interests in the fields of study in Psychology and Social Sciences. I began to read articles and essays into how psychology and climate change is linked and I became very interested in human behaviour and how this impacts the environment. I feel this is the way forward.

I hope you have enjoyed this article, and hope you and your loved ones are safe.

Caoimhe

All words and photos © Caoimhe Clements

You can read Caoimhe’s previous In Focus feature here

27th May 2020

The Enduring Power Of Film
by Geoff Maxted

I once sold a car and almost immediately, as it disappeared up the road, I regretted the decision to sell it. Many people instantly rue the day they disposed of this or that item, be it a camera or just a ball of twine because they forgot the golden rule: One day there might be a use for it.

Back in the days before the digital revolution swept over us in a tsunami of technology, I owned several film cameras from Nikon and Contax. To this day I regret being suckered into buying digital cameras: ‘It’s just so much more convenient’, I told myself, ‘no more chemical fumes’. Gone were the camera bodies and assorted lenses; the dark room enlarger and the trays and the changing bags and the dev tanks; yet curiously somehow two Nikon AF-D lenses survived the carnage. I found myself still in possession of a 28mm and a 50mm prime, both in mint condition. They must have been in a drawer somewhere, hiding, because they didn’t reveal themselves until some considerable time had passed.

The Camera Doesn’t Matter

Surprisingly, they still had a value but rather than move them on to a new home, I decided instead to buy a budget film camera. My Nikon F55 is made of plastic, is in almost new condition and cost £35 plus P&P from a trusted used retailer. The first roll of Kodak 400 lasted a year but just lately I have set aside the Sony and the posh Nikon digital models and instead stocked up on Kodak ColorPlus. I haven’t looked back since and there is a good reason why: Others have said this in other ways but the quote I’m using is from the legend that is Sir Don McCullin; “…digital doesn’t transform the atmosphere like film”. Never a truer word.

The camera is irrelevant. The brilliant and rather garrulous American street photographer, John Free, is still going strong aged almost 80 years and still uses a Nikon F3 HP with black and white film that he processes himself. It’s just him, a camera and a single lens yet he continues to produce great work.

They Just Look Right

Sir Don McCullin is not wrong. I recently had on a wall a pin board festooned with small prints and although the content may not be of prize-winning quality, the ‘look’ of the images is always what struck the casual viewer and it is hard to describe. The pictures just look ‘right’. Digital images have been described as being cold and I think that might be it. It isn’t just about grain; that can be added by software. There’s a pleasing warmth to the film images that simply cannot be replicated, despite the plethora of presets that make that claim, rather like my favoured fake film Kodachrome 64 and of course the photographer has to get it right first time in camera; no chimping, no machine-gunning, no second chances, as with the image of the tourists on a boat trip who prefer their phones to an actual view.

One Day My Prints Will Come

There’s an enduring power to film and that power is once again being manifested by the rise of a new generation of film fanatics, be it returners like me or the bright young things in the Lomography crowd. There’s no need to bother with colour or B&W home processing either, there’s plenty of C41 establishments who will develop, print and/or scan those lovely rich negatives. There are also some very interesting new emulsions on the market. It has to be said that it is thanks to the internet and digital science that having decent quality scans and prints made is both fast and reasonably cheap, so there’s no excuse for not shooting the odd roll and then waiting with bated breath for your prints to come.

The lesson here is that if you have some old film camera gear knocking about in the loft, then clean it and treasure it because one day you are going to need it. Even if the cost of a roll of 35mm is temporarily beyond you then hang on to the kit, because one day you will be able to treat yourself to some old-school snapping. Then you’ll be hooked.

All words and photos © Geoff Maxted

26th May 2020

The Lakeland Photo Blogs / 2015-2019
By Derek Rickman

I’ve made numerous visits to the Lake District with my brothers over the last few years and, with the lockdown still in place and no prospect of any further hikes there, it felt like a good time to compile these blogs which I’ve been posting on my Instagram account. I’ve edited and expanded the text and sourced additional images for the purpose of the article. I’ve used iPhone 7 Plus and Canon SX for the photography.

Breakfast at Rydal   26/09/19

We’d just completed the The Coffin Route and reached Rydal Water where we were looking forward to a late breakfast. We were in good spirits because we’d just heard that England had beaten New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup. My brothers have unparalleled expertise in finding the best spot for setting up a camping stove (I’m usually just crashing about in the background with my camera). The light rain that had followed us from Grasmere was still falling as we unpacked everything but the trees provided excellent shelter. We usually have croissants or cereal bars with our hot drinks though I think we had rock cakes at Rydal, they were pretty good! We sipped our coffee becalmed by the tranquility of our surroundings, the gentle lapping of the water and the flurry of a distant swan the only sounds breaking the chill air. The clouds were still lingering on the fells as we departed but the light seemed sharper as we traversed the breadth of the lake and we were treated to a pageant of autumnal hues reflected in the lake below Silver How.

Scafell Pike   28/04/19

This was our reward for the long arduous trek up Scafell Pike last week. We were incredibly fortunate to experience these views as we had arrived at Wasdale Head the previous day in pouring rain, and the forecast for our ascent wasn’t favourable. Luckily the cloud base had lifted as we approached the rock strewn summit which is England’s highest (978m). We could see the whole range of peaks from Eskdale in the west to Blencathra in the east.

In the first photo the clouds are just clearing the jagged teeth of Crinkle Crags with Lake Windermere a thin silver ribbon emerging on the left. There were breathtaking views of Bowfell cradled in the clouds and the remote and mysterious Styhead Tarn which sits at the foot of Green Gable like a frozen teardrop in the encompassing wilderness.

Easedale and Helm Crag   30/08/18

I really enjoyed this climb up to Helm Crag through the pastures and woodland of Easedale. I understand now why this part of Lakeland inspired so much of Wordsworth’s poetry. We passed the house at Lancrigg where he wrote much of his famous work The Prelude. It’s in a beautiful setting and overlooks some of the finest scenery in Lakeland. I can only imagine how it would look in early spring. It requires little effort to reach Helm Crag but despite its low elevation the views are exhilarating, and there are plenty of jagged rocks to scramble over to satisfy the more adventurous among us. We had coffee in a sheltered crag below the summit and watched the sunlight piercing the clouds above Grasmere’s glimmering Lake. As we descended I felt the spirits of many contented souls lingering on the fells who, like me, passed through this glorious landscape rewarded and enriched.

The Bowder Stone   23/04/17

Weighing 2000 tonnes and standing 9 metres high, the Bowder Stone is an andesite lava boulder which can be found in secluded woodland below Bowder Crag in the jaws of Borrowdale. Either a glacial erratic or the result of a cataclysmic rockfall, this geological behemoth is a favourite with amateur rock climbers as it has a low level under-hang. There were guys with climbing ropes and a mattress placed underneath when we were there. However there is a ladder available for anyone without crampons who wants to stand on the top. There’s just enough space for two people standing upright.

Above Buttermere   28/09/18

If you’re a photographer hiking in Lakeland there will be countless viewpoints and perspectives to consider on any ascent, but it’s important to maintain a balance between enjoying the experience of the hike and weighing up photo opportunities. On this occasion I rapidly discarded my trekking pole and ran 30 metres up a slope leaving a trail of dust (much to my brothers’ consternation) to capture this view of Buttermere and the distant sentinels. Despite the heavy cloud and diminishing light, I really like the textures and hues set against the blue water, and the lone wayfaring tree breaks the outline of the lake.

Great Rigg   22/04/17

The Fairfield Horseshoe is a classic Lakeland route and encompasses many outstanding viewpoints, Great Rigg being one of them. It’s the third highest peak (766m) out of a total of 8 on the round. It sounds like a tough day’s hiking but once you’ve made the initial climb from Ambleside or Rydal, negotiating each of the peaks doesn’t seem like such hard work. This was one of Wainwright’s favourite ridge walks. The distance is around 16k and takes about 4 to 5 hours to complete. There are boggy areas but generally the paths are well defined. I would recommend it to anyone who is reasonably fit and is contemplating their first hiking adventure in the Lakes.

Cloudburst at Coppermines   02/10/17

A day of contrasts and fluctuating emotions. It had been some months since our Mother had passed away and knowing how happy it made her to see the three of us hiking together added a touch of poignancy to this outing. We left the outskirts of Coniston climbing through dark swathes of cloud, a silent procession in a ceaseless downpour. Church Beck thundered in our ears and the boulder strewn paths gushed beneath our feet. The whole fabric of the landscape seemed to be reverberating with the force of the deluge. I imagined water coursing through fissures in the mountain and filling hidden chambers in the bedrock. The heavily laden trees shuddered in the rasping wind, showering our faces with icy droplets and twig debris, but a steely resolve had set in and we marched on grimly. We crossed Miner’s Bridge and paused, the rain still unfolding in silver veils across the heather. I smeared the beads from my device and watched the clouds drift over the ruined walls and spoil heaps of a derelict past. Yet the mountain had begun to quell the storm, dark shapes dissolved into flickering waves of sunlight on the shoulder of the mountain. As we approached the Tarn, the wild beauty of our surroundings began to reveal itself. The cobalt surface rippled in the breeze and shards of light danced between half sunken rocks. Far on the other side through the coiling mist a thin ribbon of water fell into an impenetrable gully. By the time we reached the summit of The Old Man there were groups of fellow hikers chatting noisily amongst themselves, relieved like us that they had conquered the elements. We sat beneath the cairn drying out and warming our hands on our coffee cups. A solitary bird soared over the deep blue of the tarn as the clouds parted and we felt the spreading warmth of the sun. It seemed as if a weight we’d been carrying had suddenly lifted. I looked at my brothers, both silently staring into the distance. Through half closed eyes I softly recited the words to a Wolf Alice song..

‘Go Heavenward
Like all earth angels should’

For Mum

Helvellyn   15/05/16

When I look back at all the hikes we’ve done, this was the toughest but also the most rewarding. I suffer with mild vertigo so negotiating a crowded Striding Edge and scaling The Chimney were big personal achievements. Helvellyn is the most popular route in Lakeland but there’s no doubt it strikes fear into some hikers. (There were 13 deaths there the year we climbed it). As we were tackling the first part of Striding Edge a guy gave up the ghost and promptly slid down to the Tarn butt first and later another hiker got crag-fast on The Chimney and had to be cajoled off the rock face. We all felt like we’d been walking a tightrope by the time we scrambled up to Helvellyn summit (950m) so there was much relief and celebration as we enjoyed the views. But we still had Swirral Edge to contend with before we could relax. Although it’s a shorter ridge compared to SE, it needs to be treated with respect and I was soon scrambling on my hands and knees as we descended for a well earned coffee break. After the thrills and spills of the mountain it was good to cool our boots and watch the silent drift of the clouds above Red Tarn. It was pretty much plain sailing all the way back to Glenridding and we had time for a brief stop at the tree fringed Lanty’s Tarn where for a few precious moments I sat in the dappled shade by the water’s edge in a state of zen like calm.

To Future Days

A slight air of melancholy descends on me when a day’s hiking is nearly over but it is always tempered by a sense of fulfilment and wellbeing. Those feelings are magnified by Cumbrian Ale and a lively retelling of the experience just gained. In many ways a walk in the fells is self perpetuating, diverging paths and peaks tempt the eye, new perspectives spring up and vie for your attention imploring you to explore further. In spring I stood on Scafell gazing across a fractured landscape to a distant tarn sparkling in the sunlight. Beyond it lay a deep corridor of verdant slopes caressed by fleeting cloud shadows. How I longed to feel the wildness of that place and look into that mirrored pool. Moments like these sink deep into the soul and provide a rich visual harvest to be replayed on long artless days when there is nothing but work and idle chatter. So perhaps those feelings of melancholy are misplaced, for it is not an ending, merely another beginning.

For Martin and Trevor

All words and photos © Derek Rickman

You can follow Derek’s photography journey on Instagram and read his previous In Focus feature here

14th May 2020

We’re delighted to introduce Geoff Maxted, a freelance writer and photographer. Here, he imparts some practical reflections and ideas on how to get the best out of shooting in your local area – especially when that’s the only place you can go…

Lockdown Breakout!
Photographing The Very Familiar

No, I’m definitely not encouraging people to burst out of their coronavirus bubble, but it is a fact that we can get outside and take daily exercise. That’s the ideal time for a bit of breakout photography to find something new in that which we see every day.

That’s the catch; our daily lives are filled with the familiar. We go about our day to day work and play at similar times and on similar routes. That’s how it has to be. High days and holidays define the different but mostly we remain in the mundane. This routine has been magnified during the 2020 virus crisis and more than ever before our location variety is restricted.

Familiar Surroundings

As many keen photographers will have realised time and time again, the more familiar something is the less we see in it. There is no possibility of photographing the same place over and over again and still strive for originality we assume, but is that just looking at the big picture? Are there in fact new ways to document that which is familiar and be able to make a set of worthwhile images. Your toughest critic is yourself; if you like what you do, others may too. These are shots I made during the winter and into the situation we find ourselves now. We have to make the best of what we have access to.

A Respectful Distance

Those fortunate enough to live in rural areas perhaps have a little more leeway, but the majority live in suburban or urban areas surrounded by neighbours and strangers who might take exception to an inquisitive lens. In short, don’t push your luck in the quest for the different image; if in doubt ask and above all stay safe.

The Weather

If there’s one thing we are not short of in this country it is weather. We get plenty of it. We can experience snow, rain, sunshine and winds, sometimes on the same day. Now, in this climate-sensitive era the boundaries between the seasons may be blurred but they are still there.

If travel opportunities are limited, the local park holds many photographic secrets if inspected closely enough. It may have small areas of woodland, a lake or a broad expanse of open country and it changes all the time. The seasons are magnified by nature; there is winter’s cold hand and new life in spring. Then there are the people; the regulars, the dog walkers and the exercisers: People who are often happy to strike up a conversation and maybe even agree to a photo or two.

Parks demonstrate seasonal weather very well. Chilly frost and snow-covered ground devoid of life contrasts with rain-soaked vistas and baked earth festooned with sweltering bodies. Mud can cake boots and pollen invade noses and eyes. Expect snowdrops and crocuses early on, followed by the nodding heads of daffodils. Watch as the male swan chases off last year’s fledged offspring at nest-building time. Avian visitors arrive for summer or are perhaps just passing through for warmer climes. Ice cream vendors appear. Cafes open up (in the not too distant future, we hope), but in all too short a time the nights start drawing in and we begin the slow descent into winter once again.

Nature and human lifestyle offer boundless opportunities for photography, if you look beyond the obvious scenic views and sunny days. Explore more, delve, look, listen and ask.

The Personal Project

Try to move away from random shooting. Set targets and plan a series of images of a certain type or place, whatever the local environment. A set of themed images makes for a good creative whole. Winter gloom in evocative black and white or summer’s lease in glorious colour. Local hedgerows are a haven for wildlife as much as for festivals of litter. Does your area need cleaning up?

Would the series be of interest to the local press or community group? Is the topic about your community or garden or shopping precinct? Every picture tells a story, at least according to Rod Stewart, but a series delivers the whole album.

Down Our Street

There’s a tendency these days for newly built estates to be bland and featureless, but during the building there are plenty of images to explore as the landscape changes. Does the work despoil in any way sensitive areas and is this worth documenting and reporting? Progress often brings dissent among the locals. They might even protest. Be there with your camera. However, once the properties have bedded in they begin to take on the patina of other peoples’ lives. Gardens change for better or for worse and community activities increase, all of which goes to demonstrate how much an area can change and how much variety it can offer.

There is much to interest the enquiring eye in older, more established areas too. The sweep of a tree-lined boulevard or the faded elegance of a Victorian terrace; the open plan nature of a developer’s sixties’ dream settlement, possibly featuring ‘award-winning’ high rises and suspect pedestrian underpasses that have all seen better days. Neon-lit night-time cityscapes and colourful markets; reflections in a puddle after rain.

There is, in the local high street, mixed shopping, street vendors, a rising tide of charity shops and forlorn ‘To Let’ signs on boarded up premises. Small independent shops, especially good old-fashioned ironmongers or butchers’ shops are a disappearing breed, it’s time to document their passing, like the photographer who once shot so many old-fashioned Woolworth shop fronts before that famous name faded away.

So, a good long walk around your local area with eyes peeled, an idea in mind and a camera at the ready is a great way to occupy your permitted exercise time while working on your fitness. Work to see beyond the obvious and poke your nose around the back. Don’t venture alone into troubled areas and don’t be too blatant. Adopt the guise of the seasoned street photographer and study their methods.

Your street. Your district. Your town. Maybe it’s not all that familiar after all.

All words and photos © Geoff Maxted 2020

You can find and follow more of Geoff’s photography on Instagram 

11th May 2020