Stokes Croft & Montpellier
Strolling around Bristol during 2020 in search of more grunge and graffiti to photograph I found myself in the Stokes Croft area again. I’m not sure whether there was genuinely some event which I’d missed or whether some bright spark had spotted the scene and erected the sign. But whichever it made me giggle. :-)
Both the images in this post were captured with my trusty old Canon 1D Mk 4. Calling it old makes me feel sad though as it’s a wonderful camera for this sort of work. Sure, it doesn’t have the dynamic range, high ISO performance or resolution of more modern cameras but it’s a joy to use. It feels wonderful in the hand and provides great haptic feedback each time the shutter ‘fires’ with the most gorgeous ‘clunk’. OK, so a ‘clunk’ may sound trivial but its really useful feedback when you are in a noisy environment like a concert or even walking around the streets of Brizzle where some scenes may require quick reactions!
Community Art Space - Stokes Croft
“Community Art Space” was originally a colour photograph and you’d think that colour would have been a better way to communicate the colourful graffiti, litter and general mess but I found all those colours just too distracting. Even a contrasty black and white rendering didn’t workI Just too much black and white! My preference is this higher-key version; sufficient contrast without too much distraction. I’d love to hear what you think so, please leave a message below.
Montpellier adjoins Stokes Croft. It’s not an area I’m familiar with but a short while after leaving Stokes Croft aka the People Republic of Stokes Croft (PRSC) I found myself walking along Picton St. On turning a corner I found this delightful little shop with it’s Victorian-style signage, fronted by a block-paved area, overhanding tree and authentic lamppost. Yes, there was graffiti, grime etc in its immediate surroundings, but the shop itself looked great and especially with such colourful fruit and veg on display.
Picton Stores, Montpellier, Bristol
Similar to the top image I thought the full-colour version a little too distracting, especially the graffiti on the right-hand building and the flowers by the upper windows. But unlike the top image a black and white render didn’t work either So, I chose to desaturate the area surrounding the shop whilst leaving the shop unchanged. My thinking is this draws the eye to the shop, its fruit and veg and away from the surrounding distractions. Let me know your thoughts below.
Andy