Last Thursday I found myself with time to kill in the small city wandering round the back streets of the city centre in the rain. One street I went down was interesting in the way it changed character along its length. Demolished industrial sites at one end, regenerated housing towards the middle with recession hit shops at the main street end. I started making pictures which began to cohere in format. Boring, flattened pictures. Just the sort I like.
I was getting into the swing of things when it all came to a crashing stop. I framed up the last picture above, checked the screen and decided I needed a step backwards to make it better. That was when tripped and I fell flat on my back. I always look behind when taking a backward step - but not this time. I managed to struggle to my feet, but the rain had got heavier, my specs were all but impossible to see through and my back was in spasm. I struggled back to my car and home.
After recuperating for a while I loaded my photos and had a look at them. Some were spoiled by rain on the lens (although I like the way it works on the Contract Parking picture), all were suffering from the 'chalky' look that small sensor cameras always seem to give me in dull light. The increased depth of field over a DSLR frame of same coverage is useful for some of these shots. The 4:3 ratio works well too. But that 'chalkiness' does my head in. On sunny days the colours are rich and vibrant.
The question is, do I go back and have a more concerted attempt using different gear or leave it and find another road to do something similar? I know that trying to retake photographs is going to create something different. The weather and light is going to be different for one thing. Trying to make preconceived pictures always leads to me becoming precious about them. I prefer a degree of spontaneity. Then again I might end up making completely different pictures because of the different equipment. If I was a hip young artist I'd just go to Google street view and 'appropriate' the pictures from there so I could make up some pretentious drivel to accompany them and justify my laziness.
No doubt by the time my back is fully recovered I'll have got distracted by some other idea and forgotten all about making another road trip...
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