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I
recently went on a photographic workshop at Duckspool in Somerset because
I was feeling blocked, particularly with respect to approaching and photographing
people. My involvement in London Independent Photography's Millennium Project
meant that I was often out and about in London looking to shoot street scenes.
But I was approaching people to ask their permission in such a defensive
and awkward fashion that I made them suspicious and was getting a lot of
refusals. Or I was hovering trying to be invisible and instead drawing attention
to myself and ruining any possibility of a "spontaneous" scene. |
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Watchet - Jennifer Hurstfield |
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So
I was losing my confidence, and in my experience that is a good time to
go on a workshop! I chose Homer Sykes' workshop because it was entitled
"People in a Landscape" and because he is someone who has recorded
the diversity of British life (including street life) with wit and subtlety
over a 30 year career. A member of Network Photographers, he has recently
produced a remarkable book of photographs capturing the mysterious landscapes
of Celtic Britain. (Homer Sykes, Celtic Britain, Weidenfeld & Nicolson,
1997) |
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Watchet - Jennifer Hurstfield |
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There
are many wonderful aspects to Duckspool. The number of participants is usually
small - although it deserves to be larger - so you get a lot of personal
guidance. We were only four - plus two "residents" who sat in
on our sessions when not working in the darkroom or the kitchen - but could
hardly have been a more diverse group. A Finnish photographer based in England
working for a national Finnish newspaper; a photographer whose work in Nepal
among the Tibetan Buddhists had been published in many magazines and who
had started experimenting with a digital camera; and a third participant
for whom - as for me - photography is an amateur passion. What we shared
was a commitment to overcoming our equally diverse blocks - whether it was
inhibitions about moving from the bigger picture to more intimate images
of people; staying with a story long enough to give it shape and depth;
or finding a theme that went beyond a collection of isolated moments. |
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Over
the three days Homer shared his knowledge and experience with us and in
the afternoons we went "on location" trying out different approaches.
The locations included the tiny well-named village of Watchet, the formal
ornamental Hestercombe Gardens, and a car boot sale in a converted Buddhist
monastery.
We all learned
to be more patient, and make initially unpromising settings work for us.
Using a 35mm camera, unlike a larger format camera, it is easy to move
on quickly before a scene has revealed its possibilities and then look
back and see you should have waited. In a place like Watchet not a lot
is going on - but that doesn't mean nothing is, and we just had to work
harder at finding images. I also tried approaching people more straightforwardly
as if they had a right to know what I was doing but as if I didn't expect
them to refuse. I only got one refusal. Back in London I now find people
are more likely to say yes.
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Car boot - Jennifer Hurstfield |
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After this
workshop, thanks in large part to Homer's critical guidance and ability
to inspire, we each felt that in some way we could move on. We might still
go home to struggle with our own particular difficulty but we had each
gained some insight into how we could change and felt more focused and
confident about the direction to take.
But all this
is only part of the attraction of Duckspool. Peter Goldfield and his wife
Sue have created a haven where, as one of our group said "you can
immerse yourself completely in photography. There are images, books, and
magazines and nothing else to think about". Peter enjoys provoking
a debate (not just about photography) and so we sat round the table for
hours after each delicious evening meal.
As if all
that wasn't enough, on my weekend there were some mean guitar players,
including Peter himself. So if you go to Duckspool, take your guitar.
And if you haven't got a guitar, take your dancing shoes instead!
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Another Duckspool
resident - photo by Petteri Kokkonen
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