Assignment 5: Getting There

Not 100% sure I am really getting there, but I am making progress, getting out every day or so with my camera.  The overall idea of what I am trying to create is settling into place, a portrait of a street, exploring what it means to be German in 2014 and what signs and symbols tell us about society.  The style is landscape, but detailed landscape.  I am very much back where I wanted to be when I finished Landscape.  Work has picked up again, lurching from crisis to crisis, which is not really helping.  I seem to be in a permanent state of exhaustion which is not conducive to creative thought.

I also got the dreaded letter from the OCA this week informing me that my course time is nearing an end, that I must complete by 6 June, or in my case 18 May.  As it is the 10 May today, that means I am getting towards the end of this Assignment, whether I am ready or not.  I am still a little bruised by the lack of understanding and flexibility shown by the OCA, but I am not going to change things now.  I still get the odd, "Screw It" thought, but rapidly squash that idea, I want this degree and I hope soon that I can start enjoying my photography once more, 2 years of this course has been a misery.

This blog entry is really just a checkpoint on the photos I have been taking and a way for me to look at each critically and comment on them - it is a way of filtering towards the final set.

 This one amuses me, even the children here are deeply suspicious of photographers.  I am not focusing on people for this assignment, however, this image has some charm.

 I am always looking for highly ordered, structured scenes that conform to my way of looking at the world.  This is one.  It illustrates the tidiness of German street furniture, however, this is looking out from my chosen street so I should not really include it.

 Not sure, here.  A detail and an interesting one about a local flea market, but I think too simple even for me.

 Another shot I have been working with.  I am trying to find a way to combine the word Wein (wine) on the side of the building.  It would have been nice to have some people sitting there, but then again, that proably would have prevented me from taking the photograph.

 This is a look into the Innenhof of one of the apartment blocks lining the street.  The formed concrete is quite reminiscent of WW2 German structures, very brutal but functional.

Signs in a window can say a lot about the locale.  The problem here is that the day was too bright, I need to return when there are fewer reflections.  This has potential, although I have another similar shot that include s a house number that I think is stronger.

Happy Days - liquid lunch.  The omnipresent bicycle brings an extra dimension of fitness to the shot of two rather middle aged overweight men.

A play on words, Einfahrt (Entrance) has been subverted into Weinfahrt.  The sign points to the parking for the Garibaldi Wine wholesaler.  Another small detail, perhaps poiting to the fact that humor is not unknown in Germany, contrary to many stereotypes.

 I have been experimenting with a variety of long shots of the street, this one using a telephoto for compression.  I will use such a shot to define the structure of the street, but also to show how insanely Green everything is.

A close up of the Graffiti I included in my last post.  I think I prefer the wider shot, it makes a better statement, of the tiny blot in an otherwise pristine landscape.

Maybe a slight jibe at the fact that not all is perfect, I would not want to use a chemical loo anyway, but especially not one that looks like it is about to topple.  This may also serve as an illustration of the continued development of the area.

 The previous two images are variations on a theme.  Most German neighbourhoods will have a fruit and veg stall placed conveniently near the exit from the tube station or a major junction.  With this shot I am trying to combine the bicycles with the fruit stall to carry the healthy living message which sharply contrasts with the beer and sausages image of Munich.  People here are very active, very concious of their health, but also still enjoy beer and sausages.

Perhaps a contrast with the previous image, this Pizza delivery car points to the continual rise of convenience food.  Germans like good food, but are very much not a nation of cooks.  Eating out is cheap, but so is home delivery.  I also like the casual use of the sidewalk as a road.

I don't have an overall message here, other than that I am making progress, assembling a set of images that will be strong enough for the assignment, well they must be.  7 days to go, tick tock, tick tock!