Boring Photographs

Old Caravan @ Chertsey
Originally uploaded by Gary Shield

As well as highlighting some of what I consider the best of photography, every so often I think it's good to have a look at some of the worst. I have no axe to grind with Gary Shield - by the looks of things, he's a regular tourist snapper who takes shots to remind himself of where he's been - which is all absolutely fine.

But I do have to wonder, what the hell is this a shot of? It's a broken caravan, half hidden out of shot by a tree. Why is this photo even taken? Who wants to look at it? Who would want to be reminded of this, except for an insurance claim for a holiday gone badly wrong?

Ironically, the image has around 270 views, numerous favourites and several comments - more than any single image of mine that I've ever taken (apart from one where some AFC Wimbledon fans started debating over which of their number was wearing a wedding dress in the crowd). It is also one of the first images that appears when you type "Chertsey" into the Flickr search.

Sour grapes? You bet!

Penton Hook Lock

Penton Hook Lock
Originally uploaded by Photo Plod

Despite the chilly conditions, I spent this morning wandering over Penton Hook Lock, an island on the edge of the river Thames at its western end.

Photo opportunities were quite limited, but I tried to make the most of the scenery. This was my favourite shot of the day - I quite like the way that the river winds round and leads the eye into the boat moored in the centre. It's a bit of a postcard shot, but not everything has to be arty, does it?

I dithered this week over buying a second-hand Nikon D3 - but then went against it. I can't afford it at the moment, with a wedding to pay for. This morning, though, it was an absolute pleasure to just grab my trusty D80, go out & play. Not everything needs expensive kit!

Brian Duffy

Brian Duffy was one of the major photographers of the 1960's and 1970's, and is the subject of discussion - briefly - in this week's Amateur Photographer magazine. Duffy famously burnt most of his negatives in 1979 during a breakdown, destroying some of the most famous fashion and biography images ever taken. However, much of his work has been restored and some of his most famous images are on display until 19th November at the Lucy Bell Gallery in St Leonard's On Sea, near Hastings in East Sussex.

Aspiring fashion or personality photographers should take note of Duffy's work; he was at the forefront of his craft at the height of the swinging sixties. In many ways, Duffy shaped the work of "celebrity" photographers for the years to come. His style is very clean - plain white backgrounds, simple objects - and relaxed poses, often with the sitter caught mid-way through doing or saying something.

Duffy passed away this year, and this is the first major exhibition of his work since his death. Admission is free.

James Stone Photography

James Stone, a contact from Talk Photography, has just been awarded his Associateship of the British Institute of Professional Photography - a distinguished achievement indeed. I had never visited his website before - at http://www.jamesstonephotography.co.uk/ - but having done so, I can honestly say that he is one of the most refreshing documentary photographers I have seen in a long time.

I particularly admire the clarity and boldness of his images, and his use of colour - even in gritty "urban" shots. One to watch, I feel.

Put Him a Good Slap in the Balls

Chertsey Town FC vs Bookham FC
Originally uploaded by Photo Plod

The title of this post reflects Google translate's rather poor attempt at converting a simple French comment on this very image over on my Flickr stream. I'm not sure that the poster really meant to say this!

I'm all for the power of the internet to reach a global audience, but why has nobody invented a simple translation program that actually works? Surely, if a search engine can be designed that can process billions of queries, predict entries and rate webpages according to relevance, someone somewhere should have invented some language software that does the job.

Twitterati

Everywhere I go, everything I read, the world seems to have gone Twitter mad. So far, I've resisted any urge to join them. How many people could really be interested in @Photoplod? Do people really want to know what I'm up to every minute of every day? I don't think so.

However, this morning, I actually saw Twitter being of some use. I travelled in to work during the middle of a general Tube strike - which, as anyone familiar with London knows, causes chaos everywhere. The BBC ran a very helpful "Live Strike News" feed, with people Twittering all manner of live travel updates, mainly coming from people on the ground with their phones.

I can imagine if I had an iPhone, it could be quite fun to post up random images of my daily life (nothing secret and work related, of course) - but with Facebook and Blogs, is Twitter just another virtual obsession pandering to a self-created need?

Bizarre Visitors

Yesterday, I uploaded around 136 images from last weekend's Chertsey Town vs Dorking football match. As is often the case, I received a spike in the number of visitors to my photo stream, but I also received dozens of "Favourite" notifications. Had I been discovered by some photo agency, earmarking my images for future attention?

No. Bizarrely, I'd been invaded by a Sock Fetishist. I had a look at his collection of "favourites" on Flickr - expecting to find sports & football images - but instead found numerous pictures of men...in socks.

Weird.