Exercise 5.1 – Using your camera as a measuring device.
Use your camera as a measuring device. This doesn’t refer to the distance scale on the focus ring(!). Rather, find a subject that you have an empathy with and take a sequence of shots to ‘explore the distance between you’. Add the sequence to your learning log, indicating which is your ‘select’ – your best shot.
When you review the set to decide upon a ‘select’, don’t evaluate the shots just according to the idea you had when you took the photographs; instead evaluate it by what you discover within the frame (you’ve already done this in Exercise 1.4). In other words, be open to the unexpected.
I found this exercise quite challenging, especially when asked to photograph a subject I feel a deep connection with. Initially, my creative flow was stifled, and I found myself procrastinating. Eventually, during a short visit back to the UK, I decided to take some candid, “snapshot” style shots of my parents while we were visiting the Martin Parr Exhibition at The Hepworth. Although, I must admit, they might not be too pleased when they discover I used them as subjects for this project!
The photos are spontaneous, capturing my parents in various moments as they wandered through the exhibition with me. I didn’t have a specific trait or theme in mind while shooting them, which left me unsure of how the photos would turn out. There are elements in the shots that just appear in the frame, purely due to my attempt to remain unnoticed. However, as I reviewed them, I realized that these images truly embody the essence of my parents: inseparable after 52 years, yet each with their own unique personality.
Choosing a final image was tough. For example, Image 2 reflects how I often think of them: my dad, in his own world, doing something we can’t quite explain, while my mum looks on in wonder. Image 10, though not featuring them directly, captures a meaningful moment—my dad wearing a hat, something he never did in his youth, but which both his and my mum’s fathers wore. The way it rests between two coffee cups in the frame symbolized how, over time, my dad has come to embody aspects of both grandfathers
Ultimately, I chose Image 5. It captures my parents interacting and discussing something, perfectly representing how they engage with each other. What makes this image even more poignant is the unintentional backdrop of an older couple in a Martin Parr photograph from Last Resort. This couple’s mannerisms resemble those of my mum’s aunt and uncle, and although mum didn’t recognize it, it seems like they’re discussing a long-passed family member. Discovering this detail during my review, two weeks later, made the shot all the more emotional.
