As this year draws to its end I thought I would review the year and some of the captures I made, this year started like any other , I had few expectations as is my default position, however 2017 delivered a few very welcome photographic surprises !
The year started with the acquisition of a large blue mirror from a charity shop, this was the beginning of The Blue Frames project , this project was full of visual surprises and was great fun to shoot, sadly I failed to maintain it for the full 52 weeks that I intended , I am quite proud of this set of pictures especially as one from this new series was to be selected for exhibition in a leading UK photo festival before the year was out.
Blue Frame No 2.
I was delighted to have 3 of my Durham Miners Gala pictures included in the Reclaim Photography Exhibition ,which is a free event hosted in the West Midlands annually. This show is open to all photographers, I was fortunate enough to view the 2017 festival in the company of my friends Peter Barton and Stephen Curry, it was a memorable day.
The 2018 Reclaim Photography Festival Exhibition is open for entries now , the theme is "Reclaiming The Future" , the show welcomes entries in all styles including "Street " !
Durham Miners Gala, part of the 2017 Reclaim Exhibition.
As the year progressed I picked up a few shots for The State Of Britain project although I became aware that I had not really managed anything that gave me the "Buzz" that feeds my search for Street Photography. That was until June 19th when the elements aligned and conspired to confront me with a very unusual view of a young woman carrying a head under her arm, this image went on to become a finalist in the Lensculture Street Photography awards and was exhibited in San Francisco .
While All Around Are Losing Theirs, 2017
One of the Blue Frames series was selected for exhibition as part of the PhotoOxford festival open call . This selection process was done via Photo Crowd , which is the strangest photo community I have ever been part of , I won't go into how it works here, but will never forget or repeat the "experience" !
This Blue Frame made it to the Oxford photo festival..
My involvement in the Oxford festival earned me a invitation to Martin Parrs, Oxford opening night exhibition , sadly I was unable to attend due to other commitments, apologies to Mr Parr !
Looking back, this year has been very kind to me .I have already shot my set of images for the Reclaim Festival entitled, There Are No Launderettes In Outer Space , which could be the craziest set of pix I've ever made and have discovered a set of pix that I had created over time that appear to live well alongside each other , they were never intended to be a series (Tomorrow Was Created Yesterday).
The take away point of all this for me is that you never know when or where your best images are going to turn up or how these pictures will be received by others , the secret is to stay optimistic and have fun with your photography, create for yourself with few expectations, this creates a win win mentality and enhances your feelings of independence and creative freedom.
I hope you create loads of happy memories and great pictures during the next year , best wishes for the remainder of 2017 and the new year ahead..
Keep it real in 2018 !