OUTER SUBURBS 61 – BUS SHELTER, WET MORNING

 

 

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I walked in the suburbs, far from home and without coat or umbrella, and there came a cloudburst.  Across the road was a bus shelter – one of those enclosed on nearly all sides – and I dived inside to escape the falling water.  There was no one else there – and so to a post that might have been entitled 10 Minutes in a Bus Shelter.  Well, you know, I was standing there, with interesting things to look at all around – the misty windows, the gleaming streets outside, the patterns on the floor, the metal struts framing the translucent perspex, the bright red seat, you name it – and I had a camera burning a hole in my pocket.

That’s one thing about photography really, if you get right into it, nowhere is visually boring, there are always things to stare at – and in this case, unless I fancied a drenching, I had the leisure to stare.

So, what to stare at?  Two worlds.  First, the confined, almost claustrophobic world of the shelter, distorted slightly by the TG-5’s wide lens – misted windows, patterned floor and red seating: bland, functional modernity, purposely designed for the have’s in our society who catch the buses, and equally purposely designed to offer little comfort for the have-not’s who have nowhere else to go and would like somewhere other than the shelter’s cold floor to sleep on.  And here we all were, at the start of November, gearing up for The Season of Goodwill.  But then, the bus shelter is in the real world, whereas The Season of Goodwill is only in our minds.

And the second world, the outside world, the view out through the shelter’s ever-open doorway: a view to wet pavements, a passing car and, in the background, an equally passing factory.  But, you say, how can a factory possibly be passing?   Well, I’m a geologist and to me everything is passing, but it is apparently the case that this old factory is on a site earmarked for hundreds of new houses; we shall see.

So I loitered there, looking at anything and everything, taking it all in.  And two women passed, better equipped for the weather than I.  And, whispering together, they gave me a long, suspicious look.  I imagined their conversation: “Here, what’s that strange old man doing in that bus shelter?  Do you think he’s a prevert?” (she’d been watching a Dr Strangelove rerun).  “Well, I expect he’d say its artistic, but I’m not so sure …”.  Actually I’ve got that quote wrong, because the most used words in our new, Politically Correct society are appropriate and inappropriate, and I have a feeling that, in their eyes, I’d have merited the latter.

But, nobody expects the unexpected, I do think. And, as Bob Dylan might put it, “”You can be in my bus shelter if I can be in your’s …” .

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 58 59 60 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 1 Nov 2018.
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SOMERSET LEVELS 311 – SCHOOL BUS OUTSIDE GODNEY

 

 

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The images in this short series from the Somerset Levels were taken on an absolutely beautiful morning, when the sunrise coincided with banks of thick fog.  Most if not all of the other images celebrate the natural beauty of that early morning, but here is one that simply looks at a facet of Levels life.

There is no school in the village of Godney, and so those who are not taken to their schools by other means go via the school bus, which is seen here waiting on the outskirts of the village early in the morning, prior to going into the village to pick up the children.

What can we see in this picture?  Well, obviously, the bus waiting amidst open farmland – it’ll be in a place where it does not block the single track road.  And the red triangle of the road sign to the right of the bus warns drivers that this narrow road is about to enter a series of sharp corners: the road is following the bends of the little River Sheppey – the raised river bank can be seen immediately behind the bus.  Then there is a telegraph poll, carrying landline phone cables.  And right of the road sign, part of the inverted umbrella shape of a pollarded willow tree.

A short while ago, my blogging colleague Harrie Nijland was talking to me about two distinct types of photography.  The first type of photo is simply a straight, factual representation of something, a record shot perhaps, or documentary photography.  This is such a shot, showing an everyday facet of Levels life, without any artistic ambitions or endeavour whatsoever.  But the second type of photo Harrie mentioned does use artistic / compositional / etc devices in an attempt to make images more attractive to the eye: and, for better or worse, the other images in this short series are all of this type.

There are other images from this early morning shoot here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 .

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 83mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Provia/Standard film simulation; Godney, on the Somerset Levels; 19 Oct 2018.
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PEOPLE 357 – GOING TO WORK 84 (MONO)

 

 

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An old and very dear friend of mine is a professional psychologist and avid people-watcher.  Her insights into everyday human behaviour never cease to fascinate and amaze me.  I had the idea sometime back of giving her a photobook of the Going To Work images (produced via Blurb) for her birthday, and that project is moving ahead.  In the course of assembling these pictures for use in her book, I have found six images that have not been posted in the Going To Work series but which really belong there, and so I am incorporating them into this series here.  This is the fourth of the six.  You can find the other images here: 1 2 3 .

Waiting for the morning bus.

Composition: the two men in the foreground make this image, and there are at least two ways of viewing the resulting composition.  I first thought that the man on the right, the one peering around the edge of the shelter, makes this image – probably because he’s sharp and not obscured by the sunlit grime of the shelter’s transparent side.  My eyes seemed first to go to him, and then to the fully exposed face of the older man on the left, and thence on to the other two, half-seen men further back in the shelter.  But now I wonder if the older man on the left is not the attention grabber and, if that is the case, then there is a dynamic – do I go from him to look at the man on the right (which I probably do), or go to look at the men at the back – and thence find my eyes going back and fore along this “human chain”?  What do you think?  Who do you look at first?

With superhuman patience I might have been able to further reduce the amounts of grime visible on the shelter’s side, but I don’t have that patience and, anyway, this is unprettified city life.

Earlier images from this series can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,  29, 30,  31,  32, 33  34  35  36 37  38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45  46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and then click again on this larger version.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 200 ISO; Lightroom; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Strong Infrared High Contrast preset and adding a light coffee tone; Victoria Street, central Bristol; 24 Feb 2017.

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PEOPLE 353 – GOING TO WORK 81

 

 

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The early morning bus in winter: close, overheated, steamy, and everyone dressed for the cold outdoors.

Earlier images from this series can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,  29, 30,  31,  32, 33  34  35  36 37  38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45  46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 6400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Provia/Standard film simulation;  Temple Gate, Bristol; 2 Feb 2018.
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PEOPLE 351 – GOING TO WORK 79

 

 

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Taking us to work.

Remorselessly.

Every 30 minutes.

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Earlier images from this series can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,  29, 30,  31,  32, 33  34  35  36 37  38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45  46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm(equiv); 6400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Temple Gate, Bristol; 2 Feb 2018.
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PEOPLE 350 – GOING TO WORK 78

 

 

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Its just around sunrise, in Bristol, at the start of February.  And a fat, unkempt and rather unnerving old man – brandishing a camera and wearing an improbable hat – appears suddenly out of the gloom and, camera raised, lurches forward uncertainly towards the passengers on the early morning bus.

Earlier images from this series can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,  29, 30,  31,  32, 33  34  35  36 37  38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45  46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 6400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Astia/Soft film simulation; Temple Gate, Bristol; 2 Feb 2018.
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PEOPLE 347 – GOING TO WORK 76

 

 

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Going To Work In The Modern World.

Earlier images from this series can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,  29, 30,  31,  32, 33  34  35  36 37  38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45  46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 25,600 ISO; Lightroom; Temple Gate, central Bristol; 23 Dec 2016.
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PEOPLE 337 – GOING TO WORK 68

 

 

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Morning crowds, heading for work, with tall, double-decker buses in the background.

Another take on this scene, in mono, has already been posted: click onto link 47 below here.

Earlier images from this series can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,  29, 30,  31,  32, 33  34  35  36 37  38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45  46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Broad Quay, central Bristol; 11 Nov 2016.
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PEOPLE 334 – GOING TO WORK 65

 

 

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Early morning bus, in November: parka, mittens, screen time.

Earlier images from this series can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,  29, 30,  31,  32, 33  34  35  36 37  38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45  46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it.

Technique: X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Bristol Bridge, central Bristol; 11 Nov 2016.
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STILL LIFE 220 – SHELTER AT A BUS STOP (MONO + COLOUR)

 

 

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Early morning near Temple Meads railway station, so early in fact that Harts Bakery wasn’t yet open.  Suppressing a primal urge to leave teeth marks on their door, I wandered off along the main road, and there was a bus shelter with a screen that brightly displayed a sequence of adverts which, one after the other, defied the gloom.

One of these adverts was pure white with a tiny spot of blue and, every time it blazed out, the inside of the shelter lit up in bright and joyful sympathy – though sterile and cold as ice, this was an enticing world, a thoroughly modern world, a world trying its best to sell me something.  And entranced as I was by this flickering Aladdin’s Cave, only the sobering glimpse of the morning’s cold pavement beyond (together with the thought of Harts’ hot goodies) saved me from its soulless, electronic allure.

Technique: totally blown highlights without a shred of detail accompany intensely black, featureless shadows: the words visual taboo, and anathema too, raise their ugly heads.  I can only hope that the Photographic Correctness Police will make me attend a course that will result in The FATman becoming an even more rounded individual.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 212mm (equiv); 3200 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film preset; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Contrast Smooth preset and selectively restoring colour; Temple Gate, central Bristol; 20 Apr 2018.
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