Onward we Stride…
If you wasnt excited you will be after reading this
Well the process was almost complete after nearly 6 months. I was drawing in for the kill the final selection of images. This project has taken me on a journey to many places In North Wales and Cheshire. The ideas of the start are still in place but have along the way changed drastically. Back to the original vision I had in St Peters Square in Rome of these space hold something dear to me, It’s now refined to doors and lack of people. There has been some interesting choices to make?
The first major one for me was to go Black & White, I feel this added power to the images. I also felt the colour was distracting from the message of the tranquillity in the scene. After cutting the work down from 60 images at my mid-term review to the 15. All the portrait images and outdoor shots were removed as myself thought that this broke the natural flow of the images I planned to work with. There was something still missing. There was two images that didn’t fit for me.
The image of the school and the image of B&B. I’m a strong believer if it’s not happening no matter how much you love an image bin it. I see flow as much more important than content. If that makes sense. While I really like the two images above they just didn’t fit in. The school image has also been used in the book I produced. I think I have more than enough quality in other areas to sacrifice this shot. So I was now down to 13 images plus the shot of the B&B room I had all ready printed. I still felt I was missing something to cap it off. To really draw the body of work to a close, personally for me. I had completely forgotten the 3 rolls 120 E6 I had shot in Manchester. So I packaged them up and sent them off to Peak image in Sheffield. The week-long wait was then on. Did this have the image to dot the eyes and cross the t’s.
The package arrived, in the digital age I always feel a slight twinge with my process in using film. Have I pulled the right switches and pressed the right buttons? Slowly I opened the little packet that I had received from Peak. Quickly looked at the black and white 35mm they where all good. The 120 sprang into life with the shafts of out-door sunlight coming into my room. Vivid colours well composed all outdoors which wasn’t using! Then towards the end of the film. There its was the belly of the shark, the light at the end of the tunnel. It was the over pass at Manchester Deans gate station. I just knew this was the image I had to use to knot and fold all the loose ends.
So I now had 14 images that I feel speak for them self (plus the one already printed). The original Image I had done looks good but was low on contrast . so I was mindful of this by putting it through the raw converter. In the end I used the light room program to make the image more punchy. I felt this gave them a more true black. The main thing is the photos all feature a natural light source. This strangely for me gives it a rather biblical feel. At first I was a little unnerved by this but this whole thing did start in St Peters square in Rome. So I see it as coming full circle maybe even completing the journey (for Know)?
My exhibition runs from 15/5/11 until 30/5/11 in Collinge Antiques in Llandudno Junction
ALAN WHITFIELD 
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