I think of things to do. I have three photography projects in mind, I’ll write about two of them as I can mostly do those without a lot of external help, the third I need a fair bit of help from a couple of sources, so I’ll keep that one under wraps for the time being.
I used to live in St Neots in Cambridgeshire. Whilst there, I became involved in the Cambridge Community Archive Network (CCAN). It involved charting the community. No involvement for a number of years now, so I expect it has moved on a fair bit by now.
I know there is one chap in Gosport who is trying to do something similar, and I’d said I’d help, and I feel very guilty that I have done nothing about it. My baseline for the project was established in 2017, when I took a walk along Stokes Road here in Gosport, and photographed all the shop frontages (not houses or flats, but did include pubs). The idea is that having established the baseline, I would note if a shop changes role, or redecorates or even closes down and photograph that, this way you would build up a picture of the evolution of the road.
So, the next project, which I will probably be even worse at was conceived when I bought a book of life in 18th & early 19th century Dorset. Just as photography was becoming a practical medium. Pictures of shopkeepers with the hat typical face on pose, hand on hips. I’d quite like to recreate that here.
I had my first opportunity to do that this morning, the owner of a convenience store was stood in his doorway as I walked past at about 0615. It was too good an opportunity to miss, so I asked if I could take his photograph. So, the only question now is, do I try to recreate the atmosphere with a bit of sepia, some noise or just the normal. Colour? Just a bit of fun.
