Just before Christmas I saw a post on Facebook urging people who may not have signed the petition against the proposed bypass to come down to the Valley Walk (one of the areas which will be affected by construction) and put their name to it so I decided to take a wander down there and see if I could take any photographs which would be good for the reworking of my assignment.
When I arrived there were 3 people standing around a wallpaper pasting table with clipboards and their petition, they were approaching and chatting to the Sunday morning dog walkers and cyclists who were coming along the valley path. They were slightly suspicious of me with my camera to begin with but after asking a few questions and chatting to me about my motives they were happy for me to photograph what they were doing.
What struck me whilst I was talking to them was the difference in their approach to the issue in comparison to that of our local MP. They were warm, friendly and informative and were going out of their way to put their message across. If people weren’t interested in stopping then they were not pushy and when they came across people who were pro-bypass they listened politely to their views and discussed the issue rationally. Their personal approach is in almost direct contrast to that of the local MP who send out a standard letter to all Sudbury residents – on expensive House of Commons stationery – but has not been seen out and about answering questions. In fact, even in newspaper articles which he is quoted in, he does not seem to see the debate from both sides.
Unfortunately my usual camera was out of battery so I took my smaller and older Canon with me – I am a little out of practice at how to get the best out of it in manual mode and its auto mode has faults (generally that it wants to use the pop up flash but this doesn’t always work – besides, I am not keen on flash in photographs and I would rather use a higher ISO and keep the natural light quality). The autofocus was also playing up a little so I used manual focus – not always remembering this before I released the shutter! I did managed to take a few images I was happy with though and one in particular that I would like to use in my assignment rework.
Although I like the composition of this image I do not feel it has enough clarity to be used for my assignment. I have lightened the shadows on the image but daren’t take them up any further as then the photograph starts to lose quality. Also, in terms of the assignment, it doesn’t really tell its own story – it could just be a group of people stood around in the countryside if it were not for the table.
I like this pair of images too, the clipboard in the campaigner’s hands and her stance, particularly in the first image, implies that she is trying to inform the man she’s speaking to of something.
I really like this pair of images, they show the campaigner and what she is about – through the badge on her jacket and the clipboard and pen in her hands – whilst still giving her anonymity. I like the composition of the first image best although you can’t see the whole badge. In the second image the badge is completely visible and is a bright pop of colour against the dark coat. I may well make a composite image using these two in order to use the composition I like and the badge in its entirety.
The first of these two images has very poor colour tone due to shadows being cast over the petition and the information which the campaigners were showing to the public. A slight change of angle though and bright sunlight shines over the table giving a much nicer image. Though this image would undoubtably have looked better shot in landscape showing all 3 clipboards, I wanted to preserve the privacy of those who had signed the petition already feeling that it was not prudent to show their names and email addresses without their permission.
This image is very natural looking and I like the lens flare but without showing who the lady is talking to and with her badge being out of focus I don’t feel that it puts across anything about the debate.
Context & Narrative 