The Blackpool Book

Woman in Curtain Shop

I originally produced these images for my first brief at college, which read...

"You have been asked to create a series of images that celebrate and document the lives, cultures and the characters of people who live, work and visit Blackpool."

Recently however, they have been chosen to be in 'The Blackpool Book' which is a collaboration of artists work concerning Blackpool. Publishing dates etc... will be noted here at a later date.

Girl in Flower Shop

I decided to photograph people working in various shops around Blackpool. At the time I felt that this wasn't the most creative way to approach the brief, but having been inspired my the work of August Sander and Diane Arbus I set out to find some interesting people.

Woman in Health Shop

To start the project as part of my research I shot on digital and normal colour film. But for our final pieces we had to shoot on 35mm Transparency Film. I shot off two rolls having spent several hours pounding the streets, and sent it in for development with fairly low expectations having never used the film before. However upon recieving the dev'd film, I found I actually had manage to collect quite a few portraits I felt I could comfortably use!

Man in Card Shop

In the end I chose these 6, an even ratio of men:women. They were display in sets of three as can be seen here. I chose these as they worked quite well together in my opinion as the shallow depth of field created by using a small aperture meant that the focus was entirely on the person, and their shop, although it can be identified as to what it sell, does not distract the attention of the viewer due to it's soft focusing.

Man in Phone Shop

This image is one of my favorites from the set. In particular the light coming from the display cabinet behind him helps to create a pleasant alternative to the relative darkness in the rest of the image.

I also find his face fascinating, I feel he holds alot more then he reveals.

Man in Fancy Dress Shop

I have used a similar composure throughout my images so to create quite a uniform set as this way the fit together in a more pleasing manner. All the persons are to the right of the frame, and in most instances are leaning on, or near the counter.