portrait

I've now decided that I'd like my book to be a portrait of Leeds, containing 12 images of black and white photography of people in and around Leeds. I would like the images to reflect some of the different areas of Leeds, such as the richer and the poorer areas and the diversity of culture. I borrowed and SLR from Vernon Street and went out to ask some strangers whether I could take a photo of them. Below is a test contact sheet of my images, and below that is the contact sheet with the correct exposure time.

I really like the image below of the old man outside of a pub. This was in Armley, just outside of Leeds. Unfortunately, he was holding a pint in one hand and a cigarette in the other next to the no smoking sign but moved them out of the photo. Taking close up images of strangers proved to be quite a difficult task, as most people said no or looked uncomfortable when I asked them. This fellow asked if he could take a picture of us if we took one of him, so we obliged cautiously. I'm definitely going to use this picture in my book, as I think that it shows quite a lot of character, and the background shows a slightly more grotty part of Leeds.

I really like the image below, as the focus and contrast is just right. I think that the man's face shows a good depth of character and the only thing that is lacking is a related background. He was leaning on his car door which you can't quite see on the picture. Unless I can replace this image with one with a more interesting background, I shall be using this one in my book.

Below is a photograph which I took whilst waiting for the bus to Armley, it was one of the first so i didn't quite manage to pluck up the courage to ask the man if I could take a photo of him so I settled for the back of his head. I like the busy road in the background but am unsure of whether I shall use this for my book.

This is probably my favourite image which I took of Rachael outside of Vernon Street. She stood nice and still for me so the focus is sharp on her face which I really like. I shall definitely include this in my book as it also shows the younger student side of Leeds. In the background is a sign for Leeds College of Art and Design, which I wish was clearer but I think that the crispness of the photo really makes the image which is good enough for my book I think.

light night

Friday night was Light Night in Leeds, a celebration and showcase of creative work in the centre of Leeds, which is held through the night in and outside some of the city's main buildings.

Light Night Leeds

Above is the first part of light night which we had a look at. The lit windows were part of a Leeds Met building just across the road from my halls, The Plaza. We were directed through a building into a courtyard, which was covered in fairy lights and had eerie sounds emanating from hidden speakers. The overall effect of the area was quite unnerving, as there were people walking round in facemasks and boiler suits who would follow you and hold your gaze for a little too long. 

The buildings surrounding the green in the centre were also lit up purple, I think this made it look more eerie, but i couldn't get a crisp enough picture as I don't have a tripod. Despite this, I quite like the blurryness.

This is the lit up path leading around the green. In the centre, around 10 students dressed in suits with glowing piping were fastened to separate trees by elastic tied around their waists, and were slowly building and destroying a city made of lit up paper houses. 

Part of the lit up scene in the green. The other side of this tree were people in boiler suits rolling in the mud and shouting at the spectators. They made me feel a little uneasy so I didn't stay there very long...

On Briggate, there was a small tent in the middle of the street playing reggae music. We had a look inside "Black Dogs Dose of Summer", and this is what was inside: on one side there were tables selling ice cream and smoothies, the other a stand with people painting faces either red (for sunburn) or orange (for suntan). The tent was heated and extremely warm, and there were few chairs to sit on, but I loved the umbrellas hung from the ceiling with painted clouds on.

Up in the Civic Quarter at Leeds Met there was a Legoville, in which thousands of pieces of Lego were spread across the floor for participants to make their interpretation of Leeds. I thought that this was a very good idea, but looking at the table of finished models it was apparent that people hadn't really taken it seriously and had made models of anything. The room also smelt very strongly of sick so we didn't stay very long..

There was a large psychedelic projection on the tower of the Parkinson Building which we went to have a look at, but at this point we had been walking round Leeds for several hours looking for events and were a bit tired of Light Night. We had a look around the Leeds University campus for any other Light Night events and came to the conclusion that it wasn't as well organised as it could have been, seen as we spent most of the night looking round the city for the next event as the previous was either full of finished. Despite this, my favourite part of Light Night was definitely the Leeds Met show of lights in the green next to the Plaza, as I thought this was the most interactive and interesting.

london

At the weekend I went to London on the train to go see my family for my cousin's 21st birthday. It certainly made me appreciate Leeds more as a city and a place to live, as I had forgotten how grotty some parts of London are and how unsafe it is to walk round London on your own. On the other hand, I love the underground! I really like the tube system, and especially the smell for some reason..

The tube! I love the design of it and how everything is shaped, the repetition of the posters down the escalators, and how it is so cosy warm down there. One day I'll live underground..

My cousin Rob's party was also pretty good, and found out my cousin is doing exactly the same route as me with AF and then uni. We also looked pretty cool with our pink and blue hair :D

photos

As it takes a while to upload photos onto here, I've created a Flickr account for others.

Clickety here to go to my Flickr page. I'll update this regularly.

leeds museum

I went to visit Leeds Museum the other day, to have a look at the history of Leeds and to have a look at the Museum's interpretation of Leeds and its surroundings and past. Inside, there was a permanent exhibition displaying historical items related to Leeds, as well as modern day things which we may not realise actually originate from the area. 

One wall was entirely dedicated to old advertisements from shops in Leeds, this one in particular caught my eye:

It's an advertisement for tweed, and I really like the design. I think it's really eyecatching, yet the design is quite complicated and takes the viewer to read the text before it is entirely clear what it is selling. I also found some of the images about buildings which now cease to exist in Leeds, such as this below, one of the many picture houses which used to line the streets of the city.

After the museum, I was looking on the internet for some more information and images of historical buildings in Leeds, some which still stand and some which have been replaced or knocked down. I found this website through the Leeds City Council website. It's an archive of images ranging from the 1880s to today, gathered mainly from Leeds City Library.

The link is here.

In my spare time, I would like to explore some of these buildings to see what they look like today in comparison to the photos.

black and white

Had our black and white photography induction today. I've played around with SLRs in my Art Foundation, but never really got the chance to do very much as the cameras were rubbish and there were few of them.

So we walked round Leeds this morning, and I took pictures of things which caught my eye. Mostly experimenting as I'm still trying to find a direction for my project.

Here's the contact sheet:

And the contact sheet we used to decide on the most suitable exposure time:

Got a couple of nice pictures of signs and places in town, but after looking at the negatives I've decided that I definitely like the close-ups best. I really like the softness of the image below, and also how the composition of the background makes the image look a lot older than it really is. 

I also really like this one which Victoria took of me:

I'm going to visit my grandparents in Boston Spa tomorrow, which is just outside of Leeds, and if possible I'm going to borrow an SLR from college and take some nice pictures! On the way back I might stop off at Roundhay and as many little places outside of Leeds as possible on the bus. Really want to get out of the centre and go explore some of the suburbs.

I love the darkroom!!