The first roll of film came back a few days ago. The scans are perfect and my doubts about the lack of lighting in the practice room of the Lyceum were fully put to rest. Of the twenty or so images there are seven that I am very pleased with. Composition wise, I knew I was limited due to the lack of space. However, of the seven that I will definitely take forward there is some variety. The colours are not like that of a cheap film but don’t fall between ektar and portra either. I think I will stick with ultra max until the end of the project as it is fairly cheap and versatile. The scans were too big to edit in darktable, so I am now editing them in an online suite called pixlr. It is fairly rudimentary, but other than getting rid of some green cast and a few exposure adjustments, I don’t want or need to change much more. I have arranged with Ralph to return this coming Thursday and hopefully get some more staged shots. I asked if I could arrive toward the end of the practice in hope that as people are leaving, I can move things around and not cause as much fuss. I am sure some of the members will be reluctant to have head on photographs, so I am anticipating a few return visits until I manage to get every person. I am starting to imagine different sets of images that could make up a full book. The first being candid of the band practicing. The second, composed full length or waist crop group shots in the same room. And the third, a professional setting performance in full uniform with the final image being a classic landscape of the entire band looking to camera. I’m not sure if I will ever even take it to that point, but at the moment I think it’s best to presume I am capable of that big a project and overtime it will evolve into it.
As well as the Brass Band, several other people I reached out to at the start of the month have followed up on my messages. A man named Michael Smethurst had been passed on one of my emails, as he is the organizer for the Port Sunlight Village and Works Bowling club. He seems very keen on meeting me and has already told me some of his involvement in the history as well as his family’s connections to the club. He has asked that I meet the chairman, secretary and himself at the Lyceum building to discuss a potential project next Tuesday. However, I am slightly concerned that they simply wish for me to join the bowling club as a player, due to lack of interest.
On the same day I received the message from Michael Smethurst, the Port Sunlight Wheelers responded with a quick message to say that the idea of me photographing them would be brought up at their next meeting. Martin said he believed the cyclocross events may be of most interest to me to photograph. I shall look up what this particular race entails.
I have a quiet anxiety about that number of possible projects I have undertaken, but to combat this I am convincing myself that the more opportunities I undertake, the more photographs I will have to create a worthwhile portfolio or book. The only way I can begin to make a body of work is by asking people to take their photograph and as that becomes more normal to me, I will have a wider reach of skills and contacts to use. I have to find the subjects; they won’t ever come to me by their own accord.
A J Carlton 