Explore a road

June 2015

...roads are all something we have in common. Make a short series of photographs about a road near where you live...use this exercise to develop the observational skills that will be challenged in Assignment 2. The object is to try to think about something that is familiar to you in a different way. ...Work intuitively and try not to labour the exercise. Compile a digital contact sheet from your shoot and evaluate your work, identifying images of particular interest-to you or, potentially to a wider audience.

Kirklington Road, Rainworth, Notts

My village is experiencing a growth period with the development of new housing estates and building of new playgrounds for the children. Services such as health care and schools have expanded and the way to sell a new house seems to be to make a "youtube" video of the new build to welcome people in. I found this quite limiting as it does not tell the interested party anything about the village itself. The village is based around a crossroads - one of these being the A617 which runs from Chesterfield to Newark. As the amount of traffic increased, a bypass was built around the village. This has not altered the use of the services and amenities.

I aimed to show the potential resident some of the facilities, amenities and historical points of interest along just one road in the village; from a range of houses, football ground, petrol station, fish and chip shop, village hall, miners welfare, function rooms, school, surgery, dentist, scrap metal collection and public transport. Pavements are wide for children and pushchairs, safety has been considered, houses are cared for and there are plenty of seats - for sitting and watching the world go by.

I considered taking the images in the style of Lee Friedlander's America by Car, because I often drive down this road. As it was a pleasant evening, I walked and found it more sociable as many of the older residents stopped to chat when they saw my camera. I learnt much more about the current affairs of the village and the vandalism to the newest play area which is just off this road. I would not have had this experience in the car. This is what appealed to me about the journey made along the HS2 line by Toby Smith.

This work could be developed by including people; for example a group of people playing bowls on the lawn, a resident sitting on one of the many benches, an event happening at the Village Hall. By photographing earlier in the day, the gates on the surgery would be open and the village would look more lively.

My selection - I discovered when narrowing down the images that I should have had a clear idea of what I was trying to show first. I could show for example, cigarette butts in the layby next to the bus stop, the wine bottles in the bin, the plaster peeling off the houses but does that fit with the audience I am trying to show? This will be important for my Assignment 2 plan.

Still thinking about Friedlander's work, I considered how the A1 might be represented  by a photographer using his style of work. My daughter took a couple of images for me when I was driving, such as moving traffic e.g. being behind a lorry and roadworks - typical of many a journey. I was able to experiment when I reached the destination. I can see how restrictive the view is with parts of the car in, and as a viewer I want to see what is around the corner or further to the left/right. The viewer is only seeing what I want them to see.

Watch one of the films mentioned in this section or any other "road movie" of your choice. Write a short review (around 500 words) focusing on how the road features within the film's narrative.

Road to Perdition (2002) Director Sam Mendes

The synopsis of the film is that a child whose father works for gangsters stows away in the family car to discover the occupation of his father. Upon witnessing his father at work, the son unintentionally puts the family at risk. His mother and brother are killed by gangsters and father and son flee on a road trip to Chicago, (perdition or Hell) during which time the father sets out to create an emotional bond with his son and teach him how to survive. The father robs banks of his former employers to survive and eventually Al Capone dispatches a hitman (photographer) to kill the father. By the end of the film the boy is safe.

The meaning of the film is that the father chose the road he was on which was not the best and he hopes that his son will choose differently.

At the beginning of the film, the boy rides his bike around the frozen town, symbolic of the boy’s emotionally cold relationship with his father. It gives a sense of place to the town which is referred to during the journey when things are not going well.

As the film moves to the road trip, there are beautiful shots of the car in wide open countryside with soft lighting (used throughout) and a sense that life will be alright. These scenes are light and airy, and features greens and browns as the predominant colours. The car is seen from all angles; inside the bonnet, an aerial shot and from inside observing the boy’s interest as the scenery changes from country to big city. The snow disappears and they carry straight on through the crossroads.

As the danger increases, the road becomes darker, especially when they approach the diner where the assassin will meet the father whilst the son is left alone in the car. At this point the father realizes that he needs to teach his son survival skills so he teaches his son to drive. His attitude changed and he started to enjoy his son. A ground level shot of the boy driving past added some speed.

As they approach the town to rob banks, the boy acted as the chauffer, dropping his father off and picking him up. There are some great scenes through the window of the car driving past with the boy driving. The relationship changed again, with the two acting as a partnership.

The boy drove his father when he became wounded and the journey became more urgent with close ups of action inside the car. They are looked after by an elderly couple and as they leave, the weather is brighter with sunshine and the journey has hope again.

The story takes another turn as the father goes back with the son to end the lives of the gangsters of the town and make life more bearable for the future. Once again, the scenes are dark, the rain is torrential and a little misty adding to the drama.

In the last part of the drive, the boy has his head out of the car; it has turned into excitement and the end of all their troubles; the start of a new life. However, the father is killed. The final part of the drive is long shot of the boy driving to the house with the elderly couple to start a new life.

This film summed up a road trip for me – it had a beginning and an end, was shot from different angles through diverse scenery and showed life inside and outside the car.