My student years and a few
beyond were spent living in Brighton around the North Laine area of the town; a
brightly coloured quarter, housing mostly independent shops giving the whole
area a feeling of individuality. Many of the storefronts are adorned with
graffiti art, giving the area a distinct look.
In order to get down to the
roots of Brighton, I felt that I needed to photograph the people who live there,
which is difficult in an area so full of tourists. My tutor had also said that I lacked confidence photographing people from in front so I felt a need to show ability in this area. I decided to enlist the help
of some of the shopkeepers of the North Laines.
I sent an email to around
twenty shops and got a couple of positive responses, inviting me to visit their
stores with my camera. After a few days though, these two responses were all I
had. An evening phoning stores gave me another four willing candidates which I
felt would be enough to complete my set. I had arranged my visit for February
which was a long way off the summer tourist season and I feel that this made
store owners more accommodating to my request.
The shops that agreed to be
photographed were:
Gunns Florist: flower shop
with a graffiti art storefront
To Be Worn Again: vintage
and retro wear
Little Bird: café serving
delicious cakes
Jump the Gun: Mod clothing
and memorabilia
Across the Tracks: record
shop selling mainly vinyl
Curiouser & Curiouser:
bespoke jewellery
Bonsai KO: bonsai trees,
advice and services
Oddballs: skating and
juggling equipment
Punktured: body piercing studio
and shop
My journey to Brighton and
then to the Laines brought an unexpected level of nerves. I left my first
morning feeling quite pleased with myself, only noticing errors on return to my
accommodation. I had left my ISO on 2000 from a fashion show the previous week
which was way too high for outdoor photography, even on such a drizzly day.
This has left a needlessly high level of grain with which I am quite
disappointed.
On my second day, I set my
camera correctly before setting off and had a clear plan of the shots I wanted
to get from the two remaining shops. In Oddballs, I asked the shop assistant if
he would mind juggling for the shoot to which he obliged readily. I played with
varying shutter speeds in order to create a feeling of motion in the balls and
left the shop, pleased that having a clear plan had worked better for me. I
knew exactly what shot I needed for Punktured and asked my model to pose in
front of the shot. In a bid to get the shot quickly before she had to open the
store, I accidentally left the shutter speed at 1/30, leaving some of the
images not quite as sharp as I would have liked.
This assignment has taken
me on quite a journey. Apart from depending on the kindness of total strangers
to help me with my work, I found that the fast pace of the shoots had my nerves
in tatters. For a normal photo shoot, I would be with the client for at least
an hour, giving everyone, including me time to settle into the shoot and relax
around the camera. In this case, each shoot took about two to three minutes,
consisting of a quick introduction and around ten shots before I left, letting
staff get back to work without disturbing them for too long. All but one of the
shops had specifically requested this on agreeing to take part. For this
reason, the nerves felt at the beginning of a shoot continued and repeated
again and again.
I know that I have made
several technical errors during this project but the experience has really
pushed my boundaries and I hope the lessons learned will stay with me.
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