Stroud Day Out

 On the 16th March, I visited Stroud. First of all I visited the indoor market. Then, wandering around the market, my eyes were alert to the business and colour of the stalls and people who were visiting them.

Carol Frances hosts a show on GFM. Carol is something of a champion in her community. She works as a Community Development Officer, a Magistrate and with her husband Derrick, runs the radio station. GFM is a station dedicated to music of black origin. 

I work at GFM as a volunteer news presenter reading the Caribbean News. I am inspired by all that Carol and Derrick have achieved with the team at GFM.

Stroudwater Walk

 Yesterday, I took a walk along the Stroudwater Canal.

I have visited this section of the canal before and walked along it before work changed the appearance of The Ocean; a section of the canal that was broader than it is now.

On the canal banks, I saw evidence of the diversity of nature with a few different species of flowering plants and bird life. 

I wonder how the canal will change when it is open to boats. I hope this diversity can be maintained alongside of the new leisure life. 

Mr Hodgson is in his 90's. He was my art teacher back in the early 80's. It was great to see Mr Hodsgon again when I visited him in 2018.

At school, Mr Hodgson made an impression on me with his quirky character. Sometimes he would play banjo in the classroom and I remember him creating a sculpture out of old chair legs using an arc welder, while we did our best to look away.

Lansdown Open Studios 2023

January 2022

New Hair prepared in 2021 for January 2022

Pete Garrard and his work "New Hair" at the end of 2021 and facing 2022

Pete Garrard met us for coffee late in 2021. I had seen "New Hair" and also noticed Pete's own hair on his social media and I was interested in how I might photograph him with his sculpture. 

Pete explained that his work has been impacted by the stress associated with lock down and that the sharp lines of "New Hair", a portrait of a black male rendered in sea blue, teal, kingfisher green, white and flesh pink are a response the challenges of living through this time. In the botanical space at Pete's house, together our heads face 2022 as 2021 and all that it brought are considered.

When we are confined to living inside,  perhaps we create a space that brings to us the things we are missing. Perhaps the freedom to be elsewhere encourages us to create that world in our own space.

Monica and the Portrait

Monica and I became friends in 1988. This photograph was taken in Winton one weekday during one of our conversations about the art of photography.

I seem to remember wanting to be able to approach a customer about taking his picture. At that time, I was cautious about how others might react too being asked and how they might feel about seeing the resulting pictures. 

My mother would say she hated every picture of herself she had ever seen. Her feelings about her own photograph made me want to create pictures that the people in them liked. 

A photograph made by someone else is perhaps never what we see ourself. The mirror gives us a mirror image and without the influence and persuasion of a photographer, the sitter will feel more content with the mirror or the 'selfie'.