Frame On : November

This month's frame holds a still from a a tech of 27. The show is a National Theatre of Scotland production that ran at the Lyceum Theatre this month. Starring Maureen Beattie as Sister Ursula, an old story of faith and virtue in a closed orthodoxy, is clashed against the contemporary threat of the bitter, sprawling pharmaceutical economy.

However, none of this is in my image. It tells of a dilemma. It as much depicts someone on the margins of dark thoughts as it does directly project a darkness of its own in its composition. A bleak black backdrop, all detail is swept away and the image we remain with is a very sparse and morbid scene of contemplation. Over all the other images of our shoot, with the spectacular set and subtle expression of the actors, this stands out almost as a single image summary of  Ursula's pervading doubt.

Since this was shot in a tech rehearsal (for the lights and stage) rather than a performance, I was lucky to see this in a moment where the actors were waiting for their cues. It wasn't scripted or rehearsed, it was altogether unintended.

Perhaps the moral of this month is that the image that screams loudest does not always have the best story.

Frame On

Whoa- ho! Here it is, the blog's 101st post. A new chapter, a new story, a fresh gust of air. And all that.

But behold! Apart from the mania of moving flats, reshuffling my possessions (to the bin) and settling downtown in sexy Leith, i have finally honoured one of those great ideas put before me by a great mind. See the frame! This is the new shrine of self improvement. No gruelling lunges, no spinach milkshake, simply the frame. Every month i will update it with a print of my best photo of the last 30 days. Not my favourite, this blog here is the shrine to all of those, but my best image. Brand spanking, all singing...brand...the best.

The world is still turning after all, i'm still taking pictures. It just so happens in the last while i've been taking a lot of exciting pictures that i'm not quite ready to share. Hence, the frame. This months image has had to lie dormant behind a sofa and travel in a box over the last 2 years. It takes me aways back. It is a photo from my first exhibition , before i was properly able to take a photo, certainly, before i studied. The wonderful S had an idea to expand traditional Icelandic recipes and baking  into a full event. We baked and photographed like mad and exhibited our 25 photos in the Grassmarket for the month of June 2009. This delight is the Blueberry Cheesecake, and while it represents a brief and maybe imperfect foray into food photography, it also symbolises a brave effort of doing something we never had. And long may that continue.

F r a m e.