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Mass Observation: Random

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So, time for the results of the fifth Mass Observation Project, and there are some fine examples here!

Following January Blues, Change, Isolation and Colour, I opted for something a bit more random, and boy did we get random back!!

Enjoy!

Random by Killing Time with a Camera

Name: killing time with a camera … (https://steviegill.wordpress.com/)

Location: The Beaches, Toronto

Note: What could be more random than eight inflatable unicorns sat in someone’s front garden? I walk down this road regularly and they certainly weren’t there on previous occasions — that’s the kind of thing I’d notice!

Random by Droning Speck

Name: Droning Speck

Location: UK

Note: In the end, are we not all going round in circles? The blue of the sign against the blue of the sky really caught my eye, but something wasn’t quite right. It all seemed a little random…

Random by CKPonderingsToo

Name: CKPonderingsToo

Location: Shapwick Heath, Somerset

Note: The bug had caught my eye, glistening brightly against the yellow irises. One of the things I love about mt photography technique (trigger-happy, drive-by snapping) is that I don’t always know what the result is going to be. It was only when I looked at the image on the computer that I appreciated it was two bugs, rather than one! (Yes, they’re cuddling to keep warm… It was a misty morning…)

Random by Doctor Ken, Gin Sop

Name: Doctor Ken, Gin Sop

Location: Somerset

Note: The random thing for this photo is that I have been called upon to do the ironing!

Random by Cap Does Craft

Name: Cap Does Craft

Location: Gallery Floor – South Yorkshire

Note: Random was called for and and random this is!  The speckled tiles, straight lines, wavy shadows, reflections and rainbow were taken pre-pandemic but work with the theme.  The rainbow was created by sunlight refracting through the edge of a glass door (and the handles to the door can just be seen in the reflection next to the rainbow). Whether the different aspects of this image come together to make a pleasing whole is perhaps for you to decide?

Random by Postcard Cafe

Name: Postcard Cafe https://postcardcafe.wordpress.com

Location: South West Sheffield (Taken during lockdown while on daily exercise)

Note: This photograph is of hay bales wrapped in plastic to produce silage, ready to be used as winter feed for livestock.  Most often we see these bales on farms dressed in black plastic and I liked that these are pink and green, which in itself seemed unusual.  I also liked the random nature the various components in the composition.  Brambles with their incredible daily growth are gradually attempting to reclaim the area for themselves and the bales arranged seemingly without too much order.  In a different setting this might be considered a work of art!

Random by Cooking-Post Nerd

Name: Cooking-Post Nerd

Location: Somerset

Note: It’ funny what you can find wandering the local streets during your daily exercise. I mean, what could be more random than Bear’s Curious Quest?!

history, Monochrome, People, Photography, Religion

Miss Adelaide Mabel Dickinson

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Miss Dickinson still had butterflies. But that, as her friends reminded her, was only to be expected. Her marriage celebrations were only a matter of days away and getting closer by the hour.

William – that is to say Mr William Walter – was a kind man, and the perfect match. No matter how often her mother told her that, Adelaide still didn’t entirely believe it.

She knew love to be important, and she knew she would come to love Mr Walter. But for now the butterflies in her stomach were not to be calmed.

Adelaide’s main worry was what happened after she and William exchanged their vows. He was older then her – nearly twelve years older – and she knew he had more experience than she could imagine. His three children were testament to that.

That was another thing. She wasn’t ready for motherhood! While Mr Walter employed two nannies, what were the expectations on her? To raise the three girls as her own. She couldn’t replace their mother – poor Evangeline Walter, whose demise had come far too soon. Would they like her? Would they warm to her?

The butterflies fluttered more quickly, as if buffeted by a sudden breeze. She grasped the chair more firmly and breathed in deeply.

It would be alright. William had reassured her of that. But there had been something about that reassurance, something hollow about it, that had left her less reassured than she had wanted.

“Pull yourself together, Adelaide,” she muttered, straightening up and stifling the gasp she could sense was coming.

She heard a clicking from behind the light.

“There you go, Miss. All done.”

(This is a story based on an anonymous Carte de Visite found in a junk shop, and should not be seen as a true reflection of this person’s life or that of the photographer, Wilbert of Bristol Bridge, Bristol.)

This month’s Mass Observation post was well received, and in these weird and wonderful times, we all need a bit of colour!

Moving forward, the project for June has a new theme…

RANDOM

Who doesn’t like a bit of randomness? Interpret the theme as you will!

To take part, simply take a photo around the theme of random:

  • Email the image to adayinphotographs@outlook.com by Sunday 31st May 2020.
  • Images should be a maximum of 650 pixels wide.
  • Include your name, website/blog address and a short note about the image, including where it was taken.
  • Come back and see the results on Sunday 7th June!
history, Monochrome, People, Photography, work

Mrs Esther Alice Wilberforce

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She had waited for what seemed like hours now, in the damn uncomfortable chair, that creaked every time she moved slightly and was as hard as the front step she had cleaned that very morning. But she kept her lips tightly shut, knowing that her son and daughter had paid a lot for her to have this photograph taken.

She didn’t believe in this kind of frippery, of course – it was a waste of money that could be better spent on the house – but she knew Joseph and Maria had meant well.

The Bristol studio Esther Wilberforce had found herself in was draughty, and the cold, damp air was threatening to make her cough.

The photographer – a Mr Houlson – had said she looked the perfect Victorian woman, which was a little embarrassing. He was smartly dressed and young enough to be her grandson. But he wore a fixed smile of someone desperate and she wondered if his business was not all he had expected it to be. She sensed the disapproval of Mr Houlson’s father – his was the money at risk, of course – and felt this young man was trying to come across as eager and professional as possible to hide the resignation of a failing business.

Still, she would have to recommend him to Mrs Whitmore, of course. If nothing else, the Reading Group would get to hear about the photograph – what was it Mr Houlson called it? A Visiting Card? – so she had to remain upbeat.

“Just another 30 seconds, Mrs Wilberforce,” the young man said from the darkness beyond the camera.

Just a few more seconds, and she could rest her aching bones and let out that cough!

(This is a story based on an anonymous Carte de Visite found in a junk shop, and should not be seen as a true reflection of this person’s life or that of the photographer, R Houlson of Griffin Hill, Bristol.)

This month’s Mass Observation post was well received, and in these weird and wonderful times, we all need a bit of colour!

Moving forward, the project for June has a new theme…

RANDOM

Who doesn’t like a bit of randomness? Interpret the theme as you will!

To take part, simply take a photo around the theme of random:

  • Email the image to adayinphotographs@outlook.com by Sunday 31st May 2020.
  • Images should be a maximum of 650 pixels wide.
  • Include your name, website/blog address and a short note about the image, including where it was taken.
  • Come back and see the results on Sunday 7th June!
Animals, Colour, Glastonbury, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

Animals of Somerset

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With the lockdown ongoing (at time of writing), there is a definite need to get out and about for the regulation one-a-day constitutional, and on these trips out, you can encounter endless wildlife.

One of my recent discoveries was the Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve – on deserted mornings, all you can hear is the wildlife around you, various birds chirruping and tweeting, interspersed with the occasional booming of the nesting bitterns.

The photos below are not limited to Shapwick Heath, but it provides the inspiration for the set of images.

(Click on an image to see a larger version.)

This month’s Mass Observation post was well received, and in these weird and wonderful times, we all need a bit of colour!

Moving forward, the project for June has a new theme…

RANDOM

Who doesn’t like a bit of randomness? Interpret the theme as you will!

To take part, simply take a photo around the theme of random:

  • Email the image to adayinphotographs@outlook.com by Sunday 31st May 2020.
  • Images should be a maximum of 650 pixels wide.
  • Include your name, website/blog address and a short note about the image, including where it was taken.
  • Come back and see the results on Sunday 7th June!