Yeah, I know what people are saying:

“He’s always banging on about car boot sales”

But what of it – I am a fan!  We all know that!  I highly advocate other people selling their tat to me at knock down superstore prices.  In fact, that’s how I can afford to buy things, without boot sales and charity shops – I would be scuppered!

Anyway, in my previous posts: Brighton’s Sunday Market is moving! & Brighton Car Boot Sale / Sunday Market…The Facts I have shared various pieces of invaluable information about Brighton’s best market, but I thought it was about time for some more interesting images.

So here is a little photo story from a recent visit to the sale, which reflects some of the variety of brilliant items one can find.

Enjoy and go visit yourself (details of where, when and how here).

TECH INFO – All shot on Nikon FG-20 on Kodak Royal Supra 200 film.

Following on from my previous post about this “Can You Guess What It Is Yet?” I Have another for you.

In fact, as its quite a hard one (I think) – here are two clues.

Can You Guess What It Is Yet - Clue 1

Can You Guess What It Is Yet - Clue 2

Can you guess what it is?

THE CULTURAL MEMORY OF AN IMAGE

Hmmmm, not sure that title actually says anything of worth.  In fact, it sounds a bit like university art wank speak!  Although perhaps that would be more like:

Can we analyse the signifiers of an image to determine its relevance on the cultural and visual memory of the populace.

Oh yes – university wank speak lecturer…here I come.

The point of this post is a brief one.  Was looking at some images the other day, like this one to your right.  It reminded me of a topic I have looked into / thought about / tried to explore a fair bit in the past, which relates to how we remember things visually.

EDITING THE WORLD

In particular – how much is loaded in the ‘language’ of an image that gives us clues to its meaning or what it is.  Its like the fairly well known fact that when we first see an abstract image, we will often liken it to a face – as that is one of the most common visual references to us as a species.  Hence seeing faces in clouds or rocks…or perhaps seeing Jesus in a bagel!

The example image here is very easy, but the question is – what is this a picture of?  If we could zoom out and see more, what would we see?

Based on the fact there is not actually that much information in the photograph, if we can guess what it is an image of, what does that tell us about our integral understanding of visual clues – how they are processed and stored and referenced in society etc.  How do we learn these references and how are they then used by artists or anyone else in everyday life.

Think on!  I guess it interests me due to the process’s of editing that I have banged on about in the past.  Photography is the editing of the world but how minimal can one get in that editing whilst still letting another person know exactly what the image is of?

NARRATIVE OF AN IMAGE

One of the things that appeals to me about art in general; and photography more explicitly, is the story that an image can tell.

Everyone views our existence differently but the making of an image enables us to share this way of seeing with others. There is no right, there is no wrong – it just is.

For me, Photography perfectly encapsulates this ability and is primarily about editing the world. Showing it through my eyes – with my inspirations, selections and opinions.

EDITING THE WORLD

The editing comes in several stages – firstly by the subject matter I choose to photograph. Second, the actual scene I shoot and finally by the choice of images I select to display. This method allows the world to be cut down and segmented into manageable pieces, which I can at least attempt to understand on some level. In some cases – if I do my job correctly – it will also allow others to get a glimpse of this interpretation.

A whole host of things might draw me to make a photograph of a particular scene, event, person or place – but at the core of it, at that precise moment when the shutter is pressed down – I am editing an incredibly small portion of the world, with the mindset that it will have something greater to say.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons Photography can create such friction and debate – because this very process of selecting and editing the world is massively subjective. The old adage ‘the camera never lies’ is a lie in the purist sense. The camera ALWAYS lies – by omission.

CREATING A NARRATIVE

A good photograph (and therefore a good edit of the world) will often contain some form of narrative of story. At times, this story is obvious and created by the artists. They have set an image up, used models or created a documentary that has a very set and obviously contained sequence of events within it.

But sometimes, a narrative exists that is much more open to speculation and imagination. I love to look at the world in this way and therefore I am drawn to images that also allow me this small perversion.

MUDDY MARKINGS

The Photograph shown here is something I have seen numerous times and only just decided to photograph. It is of one side of a building in Preston Park that I walk past each day on my way to work.

The shot itself is not that interesting, but the narrative it contains is.  As an image, on initial glance, it’s a very standard composition of a wall with a building behind it.  Perhaps it contains some indications that it’s a park building – I guess it would depend on your knowledge of bowling chalets!  The photograph could easily be dismissed, until the eye is drawn to the markings on the white wall of the building.

To me, the markings have clearly been created by someone throwing a muddy ball against it.  Repeatedly. Perhaps by a dog owner, perhaps by someone sitting there thinking or bored.  The beauty is the suggestion made by an image leads the imagination to create a plethora of stories about what happened, why it happened and how it happened. Each person who sees the image will (hopefully) create their own interpretation of what the stains are and how they got there.

For me Photography is the perfect tool for capturing such moments and presenting them to others for consideration.  Maybe other people walk past the same scene everyday and have never really look at that bit of wall or consider the muddy stains upon it.  But by presenting a photograph of that scene, by editing the world down to this one simple image, it forces the viewer to question what they are seeing, to try and understand the photographer’s motivations.  Within that process, they are then led to create a narrative to explain the scene and perhaps see something in a different way than they have before.