When Harry Benson met Albert Watson

I recently watched the ArtWorks Scotland program on two of Scotland's most influential and internationally renowned photographers, Harry Benson and Albert Watson. Glasgow boy Benson is a photojournalist who gained notoriety when he was assigned to photography an up and coming band called The Beatles. He struck me as a modest man but singularly focussed on getting the picture by being in the right place at the right time. His view that "photography is the moment, it's spontaneous", contrasts with the approach of Albert Watson who takes great care and time to construct his images. Watson, born in Edinburgh, trained as a graphic designer and film-maker and his strong design sense is very evident in his stylised approach. I was privileged to see his work at Edinburgh City Art Centre a few years ago.

 Harry Benson

Albert Watson

The banter between the two was entertaining, as they revealed some secrets of how their most famous shots were captured. What came across most was their dedication, lifelong conviction and absolute passion for photography.

The Beatles pillow fight (Harry Benson)

Jack Nicholson (Albert Watson)

I shall take inspiration from both photographers when working on my Sense of Place Assignment. Benson's book 'Harry Benson's  Glasgow' perfectly captures the humour and friendly attitude of its inhabitants. 

Albert Watson's images from his travels in Las Vegas are so bold and graphic in their use of colour, shape and form. I hope to emulate this style in some of my images of Glasgow.

Retro velo

On holiday at the moment in Belgium. Our hotel in the small village of Horebeke had a collection of old, rusty bicycles outside just calling out to be photographed. I have recently been introduced to Lightroom 3 so used its preset effects to add to the nostalgia. Desaturating the colour is another approach I would like to try when I have more time.

ASSIGNMENT 5: Update. Brochure photoshoot

Spent Saturday at Walkers cycle shop and out on location taking the final pictures for their brochure. Main issues were working in a confined space in the shop, harsh lighting, limited outside locations, overcast weather and staff I had expected to photograph were unavailable.

The first draft layout has been approved and I expect have the revised layout ready by the end of this week.


UPDATE: APRIL 5TH

On holiday and finally have some free time to update and add to my blog. The brochure has been printed and Walkers Cycling are apparently delighted. I won't see it until the bike show on the 16th. My pictures are also being used as banners to decorate the show stand which I am really pleased about — I can't wait to see the stand! Unfortunately I can't see a way to upload a PDF of the brochure to my blog.

Moving on now to consider Assignment 5, I will submit a mixture of images used in the brochure and others from the various photo-shoots, as the client's requirements for the brochure do not entirely match the criteria for the assignment. I think I have a broad enough range of images so will now spend time carefully choosing the best to submit.