I've been playing on and off with another thought, this time from a photograph of men walking home for lunch from the Swindon GW Railway works. The image seems to have distinct graphic possibilities and I've worked on it for several days, on and off.
First, I turned the original to black and white, colourised it and set to to see what would happen.
Next, I selected and copied the building on the right, chosen for its architectural qualities.
Last of all, I selected and cut out the group of men in the centre of the initial photo,
Underpinning this exploration, there are many thoughts that I would like to bring out in a piece of work and there would still be more to do to this particular image if I chose to pursue it.
I'm particularly struck by how times have changed from the life represented here which would be unimaginable to us today. The men are walking, presumably home for lunch and not cycling, riding a motor bike or driving a car. They are all wearing suits and bowler hats or cloth caps. There are very clear social class demarcations, with those on the shop floor in cloth caps and the managers and professionals in bowlers. Last, but certainly not least, in the stream of people going home from work there are no women at all.
Next, for this piece, thoughts would turn to what to do with the image, for instance, how much to reference the social class and gender differences identified in the photograph?
First, I turned the original to black and white, colourised it and set to to see what would happen.
Next, I selected and copied the building on the right, chosen for its architectural qualities.
Then I copied the image again and flipped the new copy, lining it up with its opposite number to give balance and a full width spread.
Last of all, I selected and cut out the group of men in the centre of the initial photo,
and added them to the double spread of the building to give a full image.
Underpinning this exploration, there are many thoughts that I would like to bring out in a piece of work and there would still be more to do to this particular image if I chose to pursue it.
I'm particularly struck by how times have changed from the life represented here which would be unimaginable to us today. The men are walking, presumably home for lunch and not cycling, riding a motor bike or driving a car. They are all wearing suits and bowler hats or cloth caps. There are very clear social class demarcations, with those on the shop floor in cloth caps and the managers and professionals in bowlers. Last, but certainly not least, in the stream of people going home from work there are no women at all.
Next, for this piece, thoughts would turn to what to do with the image, for instance, how much to reference the social class and gender differences identified in the photograph?
Fascinating to follow your process - what a great image that last one is. xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Liz. Many of my images need more manipulation than this one. The initial photo in the museum’s archive did so much of the work for me, but the principle is the same. One or two more tweaks and I’ll be able to start stitching - which will be interesting!
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