For those that don’t know the phrase “Shipshape and Bristol Fashion” the definition by my understanding is this: clean, neat, and tidy, organised and in good condition. It’s one of those distinctly British sayings, harking back to when Bristol was a major port and their ships were said to be always maintained in good order. It sprang to my mind as this well dressed guy marched past, now he was dapper, definitely shipshape. Also I’m stood outside of Primark in Bristol, purveyors of cheap fashion. As I wrote that I could feel the huge legal department of Primark springing to action as it considers a defamation action, so I’ll change”cheap” to “inexpensive”. Anyhow, I’m feeling shipshape, finally a chance to get into Bristol for a couple of hours.
As I sit here writing this post YouTube is playing in the background, it’s an eclectic mix. Pink Floyd have just finished, up next is a Bristol band, Massive Attack with “Unfinished Sympathy”. Not that you need to know any of that or how we were ‘enjoying’ a typical mix of British weather for the time of year, sunshine and showers in Bristol. Warm and pleasant one minute, chilly with rain the next, the light and fashion followed a rather eclectic mix too. I needed to keep a close eye on my exposure settings as I watched people in t-shirts and shorts, others wrapped up in winter coats and one guy in a full length dressing gown. I was worried about his “exposure settings” too! I thought about taking a shot of him, decided against it as he was clearly vulnerable, drugged up to the eyeballs, shouting his head off. I imagine he has enough going on without me pointing a camera at him and somehow capitalising on another humans problems doesn’t sit well with me. Besides, we need to keep safe and find our bearings on the streets after the long lockdown. Instead I snapped this lady who wasn’t likely to pull a knife, although judging by her look in the second image easily capable of far more than our friend with the drug problem :
Best to play it safe, photographically speaking too. I followed a familiar path around Bristol, same locations, I needed to feel settled. It’s interesting, how unfamiliar I had become simply being in the streets with my camera, I wasn’t particularly uncomfortable, then neither was I totally relaxed. I’m guessing there will be many people, not street photographers I hasten to add, who may need time to adjust after this long period of confinement. Even though I’d been to Bath for some quick sessions over the lockdown Bristol is a totally different proposition. I’m not saying Bristol isn’t safe, of course it is, I’m just a little more conscious of the fact that I’m walking around with a camera snapping strangers. Actually they’re possibly more concerned about me. It’s not a tourist city, they get a few, but it’s not on the same level as say Bath where it’s easier to blend in. What it does have is vibrancy. It has characters. It has pathos. It has life. It’s a “Bitter Sweet Symphony”…hold on, I need to switch off YouTube, it’s leaking into my writing! Here’s some people ‘just walking along’. We’ve spoken about this before, I don’t really think of it as street photography.
The guy and blue theme caught my eye with the second photograph. It’s fascinating how these things come together, it isn’t an extraordinary photo I know, not even ordinary come to that. As I said, not particularly good, however here’s another example as I walked up Gloucester Road. I saw the lady with pink hair across the road out of the corner of my eye, the pink of building behind her and held the camera up. I spotted this girl on an electric scooter coming along, pink again and clicked. A pink theme. Crap photo, but this stuff interests me.
I was late releasing the shutter on that one or too early perhaps. Now of course I could write a quick blog post and insert three or four photos. I usually post more because, well, I think other photographers will feel better when they see that it’s not always a success. The thing is that at least there’s a feeling that I’m beginning to see a little better. You definitely loose the instinct to spot an opportunity if you’re not out on the streets regularly. I still needed to click at safe and easy targets, whilst training my eye again. You know the kind of thing, people walking past an interesting background, in this case “The Mild Mild West” by Bristol artist Banksy:
or around the underpasses (look out that man has a plastic fork!) or just in the street:
I struggled to see many layers. It seemed that people were constantly on the move and that leaves you with no alternative. Ideally for layers we need a group of people, someone up close or a couple of them standing still so as to anchor the shot to wait and build around them. However we’re still in COVID land and therefore no groups, awkward to get too close as well. Having said that I can definitely see a little more calm in the faces, over 40% of the adult population are fully vaccinated and 70% have received at least one jab. It is still with us, but both deaths from COVID and hospitalisations are declining rapidly. The vaccine rollout has been a monumental achievement. I had my second jab yesterday and only have one small negative observation. For some inexplicable reason someone in power decided that it was necessary to give everyone a sticker, which has written upon it “I’ve had my COVID Vaccination”. Good grief, we’re not children. How much do 120 million stickers cost I wonder? I’d rather have had a “wollypop”! I read in the U.S. that some areas are offering a free beer, that’s much more like it. Anyway, the weather wasn’t lending itself to anyone feeling a desire to stand about, you can see in those previous two photos I was beginning to have problems with the light. The light at the end of the tunnel as regards COVID can begin to be seen and this time it isn’t an oncoming train. The rain started again and I stood near some trees and chatted to a couple of guys with skateboards. As it turns out they’re both into photography, hey, who isn’t. I decided to call it a day. The sun returned briefly, a quick grabbed shot as I passed a cafe:
and finally a Banksy background again before heading home:
I really did feel shipshape after this outing, I’d walked around 4 miles according to the iPhone and as always enjoyed every second. It’s great to be sitting here looking through Street photos once again. I still want some more layers in my images, it’s not as though I haven’t been practicing. Here’s some of Amélie at the park with her friends:
On my return from Bristol, just to make my day even better I had a notification from LFI (Leica Fotografie International) that one of my shots had been selected to be “Picture of the Week”. I know that curation is subjective, but it’s still good to have our work recognised and of course an honour to be picked by by LFI, one of the worlds oldest established photography magazines, in print since 1949. Here’s that photograph:
As always my sincere thanks go to anyone taking the time to read this blog.
All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails and are taken using a Leica M with Summicron 28mm Lens fitted.
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I’m getting in the habit of producing a quick slide show every 30 days. The latest one on YouTube is below: