Assignment 2: People & Activity - The plan:

A trip to London with some photography friends proved to be a valuable opportunity to collect images towards this and other projects. Not only did I have the benefit of a multitude of willing subjects, I also had the luxury of taking my time over my photography without that feeling of keeping friends and family waiting. 

As the visit coincided with the London Marathon, I knew that this would feature at some point in my coursework. We had originally planned to watch the race for about an hour but we enjoyed it so much, we stayed a good deal longer. At first, we all took the opportunity to practise panning, discussing the settings required for particular effects and focal lengths, we learned so much as a group.

Knowing that I would be attending a sporting event, I did some preparatory research on sports photographers such as Bill Frakes, Neil Leifer and Steve Bonini. I was struck by Frakes’ use of colour and his spot on ability to capture just the right moment, showing depth and character in his images.

As the marathon went on and I built up a collection of nice, sharp images, I started to think that this could possibly be an assignment piece, rather than just a practise exercise. With this in mind, I knew I needed to contemplate more deeply on what I wanted to show in my images, what ideas and feelings I aimed to project.

What surprised me the most about the race was the level of emotion it evoked. Spectating from the twenty-four mile mark on the Embankment, we really were seeing runners at their worst. Tired, pained and bleeding, they gave their all to raise funds for their respective charities, some which no doubt had helped them through painful life experiences. Racers in wheelchairs, missing limbs, blind runners with guides; so much effort put in by some truly remarkable people.

Throughout the day, spectators would spot loved ones they had come to support. At moments like these, the atmosphere was electric with high emotion coming from both watcher and runner. With this in mind, I decided to show the Marathon as a journey from the perspective of both the runners and the spectators.

Below are some of the images that I felt could go towards this assignment: