Street Photography_Edinburgh_04

The isolation has kicked in here in the U.K. It took a while. Who knows what affect the governments tardiness will have on the coming weeks, months even. The streets of Edinburgh are becoming quieter by the day. There seems to be an air of suspicion about. People are avoiding other people.

Edinburgh. 2020

Although the physical space between us is growing, there does seem to be an awareness of each other developing. Strangers say hello or give a nod. We might make eye contact. When you carry a camera people possibly think you are a reporter or a weirdo or something. Some look at you with suspicion, others pay no heed. The photo above shows the intersection of north bridge and the royal mile. It's often a bustling spot with lots of tourists looking this way and that wondering if are they close to the castle or not. Yesterday was slightly eerie. But also peaceful.

Edinburgh.2020

I live outside of the main city, closer to Leith. Easter road and the surrounding area has its charms, its own sort of community. You won't really see many tourists out this way, even though its only about a ten minute cycle from the city centre. I'm also close to Portobello, the seaside spot which reminds me of my hometown of Bray. It's smaller but the seafront has its promenade and its amusements. My plan is to cycle out there and take some photos at some point. The severity of quarantine has not reached the levels of places like Italy yet. We are not checked by police when we leave our houses. Perhaps this is not a good thing. Perhaps we should be on complete, enforced lockdown. I am being diligent on my trips outside however. I keep physical distance and avoid gatherings of people. I've always been okay in my own company so this way of being does not seem that difficult.

Recently I picked up a book by a writer called John Berger called 'Understanding the Photograph'. It is by no means a technical manual. Bergers writings about photography come from a more philosophical place. They are very illuminating.

'A photograph arrests the flow of time in which the event photographed once existed. All photographs are of the past, yet in them an instant of the past is arrested so that, unlike a lived past, it can never lead to the present'

Berger is comparing the photo to a memory. However our memories can be fluid and connect with what came after. Our memories are often askew or foggy. We can invent memories. Photos on the other hand freeze time as it were. They disconnect the instant from the continuous experience we are all existing within. Berger states then that all photographs are ambiguous as they have been extracted from the flow of time. This ambiguity then obviously allows us to interpret an image from our own perspective unless we are given accompanying text and explanation specifying exactly what we are looking at.

Edinburgh.2020

This is especially the case in street photography I believe as many of the images are of life that we are not personally connected to. If the street photographer chooses people as their main subject and the shots are candid, the viewer is usually looking at strangers.

Edinburgh.2020

Why does this interest us? Are we all helplessly voyeuristic or are we actually much more closely connected than we perceive on a daily basis? I tend to lean towards the latter. We can identify with images of other people as we are intrinsically equipped to read them. We can look at how someone stands, how they dress, their facial expressions, the environment they are in. Of course many photographs will not connect with us on an emotional level but we can, in a very short space of time, make a personal decision on what we are actually looking at and possibly attach our own, personal meaning to the image. This is what interests me very much about this form of photography. Ambiguous images can become somehow symbolic to the viewer depending on their perception.

At this current time, all these musings may come across as completely irrelevant and self absorbed. However, for me, it is a way to move through this period and we all have our own devices. We can read about the virus, the panic, etc. everywhere at any moment. I can't really put forward advice or pretend that I'm out helping people. We've been told to stay at a distance. Thats all I can really do at the moment I think. The nursing and hospital staff are the real helpers. I would hope that someone might be able to pass some isolation time by reading one or more of these posts and find some interest within. Until next time...

Edinburgh.2020