William Egglestone guide.

A while back I was looking at the photography section of the Foyles web site. When I came across a new copy of William Eggleston guide. I had to check to make sure that I was not wearing trick glasses. As far as I was concerned it could only be obtained second hand. So I did the right thing and purchased a copy and waited to see what came through the post.

It was reprinted in 2011 and first published in 1976 by the museum of modern art New York. It had been produced in conjunction with the début  exhibition of William Eggleston. The critics slammed the exhibition as boring and banal, by doing this they had completely miss read Eggleston's pictures.  Yes it was jejune and mundane, all in wonderful bright colour but that was the whole point. The common place in society was no longer the preserve of black and white. It was suddenly hip to make this type of picture using colour film.

The quirky nature of Eggleston's pictures is what appeals to me, the sense that there is more going on outside the frame makes me linger just that bit longer in case all is revealed! I know it is the 'picture of a moment in time' that appealed to Eggleston's eye; and  his view of the world, the way he puts it across that intrigues me.

I like his attitude - see the picture, take it and move on. He is not one to exhaust the view from every angle and at three different settings types. He knows his own mind and is prepared to take a risk, if it does not work he has not then wasted a whole film. In this respect I'm with Eggleston. 

The book is an unusual size being 9 ½ inches square (240 mm). A modern take I feel. I'm not sure that the first edition was this size. The cover has a simulated leather embossed feel to it with the picture inset. The pictures appear on one side of a double page spread. William Eggleston does not go in for giving his pictures titles but reveals the place where it was taken. Could a place name be a kind of title? The pictures do not always stand central on each page giving the book a rhythm of it's own.

I'm pleased this book is part of my collection after all these years.

Public art?

To be honest I have not really been that interested in graffiti until the Tate modern had that extraordinary exhibition on the outside of the building. At well over a hundred feet high you couldn't really miss them. Before that, like most people, I was blind to it to a certain extent as I walked the streets of towns and cities across the country. What I did notice after viewing these wonderful drawings is the proliferation of tagging which in my view is a blight on the built up environment. If you are going to do it make it interesting otherwise save the paint.

The other day I had my arm gently twisted to purchase a copy of Wall and Piece by Banksy forcing my interest in graffiti to another level. His book is more a picture book than a read. One of the things I picked up from the photo's in the book apart from his sense of humour, is that we still walk around with our eyes wide shut even though picture taking is at epidemic proportions. On a subsequent visit to another book shop I checked out the art section to see if there were any other books on graffiti and there are quite a few. Leafing through some of them they also depict some wonderful public art. I know! a lot of people think it degrades the neighbourhood, but done well I think it lifts it, maybe it is time to make spaces where it is legal for anybody to post.

What's this got to do with photography? Quite a lot. It is about keeping your eyes open to picture opportunity even if you walk the same streets every day. It has happened to me on a number of occasions where a set of circumstances falls into place, opening my eyes to a composition that I have been blind to in the past. It is a strange sensation to think I have walked this way over the years and this is the first time I have really seen this view. I suspect this happens to all of us from time to time.

Graffiti what are your thoughts?

Light meter.

The weather has been great this past week and not one to pass up such a rare opportunity I have moved my office to the end of the garden where it is shaded  by some silver birch trees. If it was not for the shade I would not be able to see the computer screen.

As you know from previous posts I have become quite smitten with my Zero 6x9 deluxe camera. It's lack of through the lens metering! Your right no lens, I have had to revert to using a hand held one. NO! I'm not going to take another camera with TTL with me. Why load myself down, believe it or not even with a tripod it is lighter than my standard kit. Besides I don't need the light readings to be that spot on especially when needing to account for reciprocity.

While writing this I'm joined by a baby starling. It looks like the one I saved from the jaws of the cat the other day. The bird seems happy for me to be here as he/she walks up to and around the chair I'm sitting in looking for local delicacies. It appears I'm the last thing it needs to worry about.

Two types of hand held light meter

I have two types of meter to choose from they are tried and trusted run of the mill units. The oldest one uses a selenium cell which is a type of photovoltaic / solar cell. When the front of the meter is exposed to the light it produces a small current which moves a needle that indicates how much light there is. This type of meter is batteryless but one of the down sides is in low light situation it requires a certain light level to read accurately.

The other light meter is a CdS unit or Cadmium Sulfide cell that has a greater low light sensitivity. This light meter works by regulating the energy in the battery rather than producing a current as in the former. With this type of meter it can suffer from drifting this is where the meter has been shown a bright light temporarily making it blind. The cell has a memory and can fool you into thinking the level of light has not changed. It is a good idea to let the meter read the scene for several seconds to make sure it has read it properly.

Note the starling casting a
critical eye over the
photographs.

Todays meters do not suffer from this they use silicon blue or gallium arsenide photocell coupled to a memory chip  so are unlikely to have a time lag in changing light conditions.

My light meters are general purpose, they read reflective light from a fairly large area of the subject which is about 30 degrees. They round this reading to an average of 18% ( a mid grey) no matter how dark or bright the scene is. This is where the zone system ( See Ansel Adams The Negative for more info) comes into its own or a system of your own to allow for it. I have my own method that works well with a little bit of intuition thrown in. Well! Most of the time.

Since writing this my CdS light meter has passed away. It will be missed.