Sunday 19 June 2011

Happy Father's Day

I picked up and scanned an image from one of my old photo albums today, mindful of the fact that my mum's albums lie patiently below my desk awaiting I pick up the piles of images and scan them into meaningful albums. 
I wish I can find the time to do this, as these photos are obviously very important to myself, as well as my family, but at the moment I just can't find the time.

However on this bleak and quiet June's day in Great Yarmouth I picked up one of my favourite images from the period when Matt was tiny, and scanned it to reveal how age it starting to get to my old 35mm prints.  It's a portrait of Matt with my dad, an image I'm particularly fond of.
I must have used 1600 film for this as it has very strong grain, and although I didn't use to keep notes of my 35mm work I remember I went through a phase of using red filters and high ISO film.  I loved Ilford but this roll was probably FUJI neopan.  Even then I was constantly trying to break the rules and used the red filter for this portrait.  Red filters on B&W were'nt recommended for portrait use as the resultant images were very punchy and contrasty, but in this case I guess I pulled it off well.  


This reminds me I've been a Nikon user for nearly 20 years now, maybe I should publish a small collection of work across the years soon, mindful that my work has been developing over a period of time and that my initial work only had few elements of interest.  

But before any of that, I must get my act sorted and scan all my mum's old albums.  It would be so nice to give my dad an album of his old hillclimbing days, days when he was so heavily engaged in football management, and the images of us growing up... it's his 75th in a couple of months....

In the meantime, a Happy Father's day to all you great dads out dad and particularly to my own dad.  Thank you for being who you are... we learnt so much from the good and less good, and for raising us with the good values that we are now transmitting to others  :) x

Sunday 5 June 2011

Obrigada Ayrton

I find it very difficult to write this post, primarily because it isn't easy for me to explain how much of a positive influence Ayrton Senna has been on my mindset and what inspiration he has been to me for many years.

I write this after having viewed a screening of Senna which troubled me no end as I relived those emotional times and I admit to feeling very surprised to the emotional link that is firmly nailed in my psychology.

I remember the time when we started to read about Senna in Lotus in the Motoring News, which my dad had on order at the local newsagents (only a few copies made their way down to Malta!); motorsport ruled the discussions in the family, dad was still very active in clubs and both my brother and myself had quite serious aspirations to be part of the world, though I was more preoccupied about academic achievements and my brother was busy bolting stuff together in my dad's Elan.

I saw Ayrton as an elder brother sort of figure, very similar in his mannerisms, expression, emotional involvement to us.  I was also greatly impressed by his ability to do things not better, but miles better, than anybody else... I always thought his focus and intensity were the secret to his success and I followed each and every race determined to let the experience influence me.

I could probably write a lot about the subject but I am not sure people will subscribe to my point of view, just because they do not know me well enough in person, and understand how intense a person I am myself and how connected I felt and continued to feel in all this.

I left the cinema yesterday feeling very raw and emotionally shattered.  Some people stared at my face and my bloodshot eyes smeared with mascara.  I was disappointed at the disengagement of the audience, I had half expected some cheering and clapping and the odd person with the Senna T-shirt.  There was none! Silly of me, this is England, this is Norfolk... should I not recall how difficult Ayrton found this county when he left Brazil to join Lotus?  He was branded cold and difficult, just because he was totally in focus and would let nothing come in his way. 

The film is brilliant, with an amount of documentary that has not been seen before and I thorougly recommend it to you if you want an insight into Senna and F1 at the time.  I thought the original documentary for the racing by Globo TV with subtitles in English was a brilliant idea as it transmits the energy and power of the country who looked up to him as he brought a beam of sunlight to the desperation they were living in. Kudos go to Manish Panday and the team that made the film for the intensity and passion that came through the well made documentary.

I would like to show you some clips from Senna which have provided me with inspiration in my personal and professional life, which I have viewed endless times when I felt I was getting nowhere and I could see no clear way forward, and I had to rely on my own personal strenght to move ahead.  This strength actually, probably had little to do with me but with the inspiration that I got from Senna....










I am very lucky to have a friend in Melanie Whiting, as she totally understand my passion and inspiration from Senna.  Melanie Whiting used to lead the Respectfully Ayrton International Network which brought about Senna fans together every year in Australia.  It is great to have friends that share a passion at the same level!  Thank you Melanie!

Just for the point, I don't follow F1 anymore.  I stopped in 94.  I believe motorsport is about the interaction between man and machine, nothing more...

As for me, I respectfully quoting Ayrton... 'there is a lot to go, a lot to learn, a lot to do'

:)














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