monochrome | alan frost photography

Photographic Purpose?

I often find myself asking the following questions – Why do we take photographs? What is the purpose? I could even go as far to say – What is the point?

At one extreme a photographer who is a full time professional has to earn a living from his craft to pay the mortgage. He or she has no choice in the matter – they have to be making images to satisfy their paying clients or their audience. The only choice they have is to whether or not an alternative career might be more financially lucrative, even if that new role is not as rewarding. Fortunately I do not fall into this category.

At the other extreme everyone who has a smartphone will probably take an extraordinary number of images and post them on social media just because they can. Seemingly they want to share their every living moment with their family, friends, followers and the world at large. Fortunately I don’t fall into this category either.

London – Reflections of City Life

Although I was born and bred in London (many years ago now) I no longer live there and I rarely have a reason to go there these days either. Whilst I understand the appeal of living and being part of a big, vibrant, cosmopolitan city with all its inherent attractions, it no longer appeals to me. Yes, I enjoy the occasional visit but I have to say I breathe a sigh of relief when I am on the train returning home.

Inspired by J M W Turner – a Cathedral from the canal

The painting below is by J M W Turner. Alongside Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable he must be one of the finest and most loved landscape painters England has ever produced. Turner stayed at Petworth House in West Sussex and during his time there he painted Chichester Canal with the Cathedral in the background – circa 1829. It’s a familiar scene to me and I thought it would lend itself to my own impressionistic treatment using a camera instead of paints.

Owned by the Tate Gallery and on display in Petworth House in Sussex.

Cathedral impressions – a return to ICM

Back in April I experimented with the technique of ICM or intentional camera movement. Setting a slow shutter speed and then moving the camera in a random way to create the photograph. This technique produces a result which is arguably more akin to a piece of art than a photograph. That’s not to say that photography isn’t an art form. In my opinion it most definitely is, and the camera is simply the ‘paintbrush’, the creative tool to make an image which reflects your own personal vision or impression of the subject you wish to portray.

Camera Club Talks

In the past two weeks I have given a talk on black and white photography at a couple of camera clubs in my region. The presentation is called ‘Me and My Mono’. The first half is an eclectic mix of monochrome images from a variety of genres which have been taken over a number of years; from the time I switched from ‘colour’ to ‘black and white’ right up until the current day. The second half of the talk is about my approach to photographic projects both short and long term and the results and satisfaction that can be enjoyed by making bodies of work.