Discovering the Perfectly Normal

For all that I am privileged to travel to many amazing places beyond the UK, I am increasingly aware of the attractions of my own country. This awareness has been heightened by our partial confinement to the isles as Greg's leg recovers. Flickr is an important part of my life now and, as well as showcasing some excellent photographs, it is a source of inspiration for themes. Flickr contact 'tatraskoda' has extensively photographed Gainsborough, presumably his home town. In one sense the pictures mean little to me as I don't know the place but, at the same time, they fascinate as a carefully constructed record.


The things by which we are surrounded, those parts of our everyday lives, are the easiest to overlook. There is little incentive to photograph them; if we do not, they change or disappear. For many years after the disposal or at least discarding of my SLR, I did not have a camera. When the advantages of digital became evident I saw so many things as potential subjects. It still took time though to turn to the familiar - where I live and where I have lived. I know what I have missed and am determined to miss no more. The task is not to shoot indiscriminately but to capture aspects of the perfectly normal in a way which contains interest. Sometimes that interest will become apparent only with the passage of time.


If you want to understand what I mean, study some historical photographs especially of places you know. You will see things, places, people that have gone forever. They are, save for those images, beyond obliteration. There is no trace in the present day and a visit to the subject location reveals nothing. Such is the value of our photographs.

I have started with Lee on the Solent, Havant, Fareham, Gosport and Chichester. I won't be flooding my photostream but I hope what I do post will be appreciated.