Inspiration needed

[Mart_in_MCR]

Good afternoon all,

Firstly let me introduce myself. I am a 26 year old keen amateur photographer living in South Manchester. I got my first DSLR (Nikon D5100) in April this year and haven't looked back since.

I am currently doing an A-Level in Photography at my local college and for my first assignment I need to produce 5 to 10 images around the very broad theme of England or being English. We have to stick to one style be it Portrait, Landscape, Still Life or Street Photography.

My current ideas include a still life set based around English real ale bottles, urban landscapes around Salford Quays and the loss of industry, a study of the canals or a set of red post boxes.

I am struggling to get really enthusiastic about anything at the moment however, perhaps because the subject is so broad it is hard to pin down one aspect to focus on.

Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance.

Best regards

Martyn

 

[Martyn D]

I would have thought street photography would be a good one, not sure what's required but you get a very diverse view if people are to be included, even in Salford you go for the bit upmarket shopping in the quays to bargain hunting in Salford market, even doing urban landscapes again there's a very diverse scene to be photographed, though after living in Salford for a few years I'd be a bit wary walking round there with camera gear

Edit....Martyn's with a Y are a rare breed

 

[Rockman]

Have a look at other photographers' work who have approached the same subject. Simon Roberts, Tony Ray Jones, Don McCullin, John Davies etc

You may get your own take on the ideas they worked with or you could get your own sense of identity shown visually. Are you English? What makes you English? What are the characteristic things (good or bad) about England or Englishness?

Get a big piece of paper and start to mind map ideas that you can then refine.

Mike

 

[Mart_in_MCR]

I would have thought street photography would be a good one, not sure what's required but you get a very diverse view if people are to be included, even in Salford you go for the bit upmarket shopping in the quays to bargain hunting in Salford market, even doing urban landscapes again there's a very diverse scene to be photographed, though after living in Salford for a few years I'd be a bit wary walking round there with camera gear

Edit....Martyn's with a Y are a rare breed

Martyn D - thank you for the response! Yeah I was thinking along similar lines regarding Salford, don't want to be walking along with a load of expensive stuff standing out like a sore thumb!

Haha yes Martyn's with a Y are very rare!

Have a look at other photographers' work who have approached the same subject. Simon Roberts, Tony Ray Jones, Don McCullin, John Davies etc

You may get your own take on the ideas they worked with or you could get your own sense of identity shown visually. Are you English? What makes you English? What are the characteristic things (good or bad) about England or Englishness?

Get a big piece of paper and start to mind map ideas that you can then refine.

Mike

Mike - really appreciate your response to my post and I will research the photographers you mentioned. I have started a mind map which has given me a few ideas to get started on and see how they develop.

Martyn

 

[Nguss]

Also this is probably a daft suggestion, but what do you like to photograph? If you dont like landscapes etc, then that may help narrow down what you should be photographing.

 

[~Sam~]

Maybe you could combine the Real Ale bottles with portraits - find some 'real' pubs and take photographs of people drinking English ale?

 

[Krisstiffer]

Get a big piece of paper and start to mind map ideas that you can then refine.

Mike

This is a great principle to get you started - take a day or two when you forget about photography completely - write down what "English" means to you. Once you have that you can then start thinking about the images you can use to convey those feelings.

Don't fall into the trap of shooting lots of "stuff" first with the hope that you can make things fit afterwards.

Go out with a good understanding of the things you want to shoot is a great way to pull a portfolio together.

 

[Mart_in_MCR]

Also this is probably a daft suggestion, but what do you like to photograph? If you dont like landscapes etc, then that may help narrow down what you should be photographing.

My favourite thing to photograph really is urban landscapes however our tutor wants us to challenge ourselves by leaving our comfort zones. I would say my weakest 'style' would be street photography or portraits.

Maybe you could combine the Real Ale bottles with portraits - find some 'real' pubs and take photographs of people drinking English ale?

Hi Sam, I was thinking along these lines. Do you know if I would need model release forms for taking portraits in the pubs?

Cheers

Martyn

 

[Mart_in_MCR]

This is a great principle to get you started - take a day or two when you forget about photography completely - write down what "English" means to you. Once you have that you can then start thinking about the images you can use to convey those feelings.

Don't fall into the trap of shooting lots of "stuff" first with the hope that you can make things fit afterwards.

Go out with a good understanding of the things you want to shoot is a great way to pull a portfolio together.

Thanks Krisstiffer for the suggestion. I have started a mind map online and am finding it helpful. I do have several ideas now but with the exception of the still life work I cannot progress with any ideas at the moment due to the incessant rain we are having. I suppose this is a good time to reflect and truly think what 'England' means to me!

 

[Rockman]

Isn't the incessant rain part of England & Englishness? Time for street photos of people under umbrellas, dodging puddles and sheltering in unlikely places.

This project is challenging because of its breadth. You need to try to embrace that.

Mike

 

[Mart_in_MCR]

Isn't the incessant rain part of England & Englishness? Time for street photos of people under umbrellas, dodging puddles and sheltering in unlikely places.

This project is challenging because of its breadth. You need to try to embrace that.

Mike

Hi Mike and happy new year!

Yes I think you make a good point about the rain, it's forecast for rain again tomorrow here so might take my camera to work with me and catch the commuters and see what happens!