Reflecting on the City of London - A/S Portfolio Photo Gallery by Graham Jeffries at pbase.com

Reflecting on the City of London - A/S Portfolio

This is the final portfolio of images put together for Unit 2 in an A/S Level course at Brockenhurst College. The objective is to examine the Docklands and the City of London considering the differences from the perspective of gender.

I hope you enjoy these images - good light!




A/S Level - Sense of Place - London - Work in progress

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Ricardo		15-Mar-2005 20:51
You see Graham, told you it was going to be difficult to get it down to 12. !!! You know my view of Jazz so we can leave that, I still maintain pic 11 starts off well then kinda fizzles out, you have much better pictures lower down, but....... and here's the BUT.... you have to choose!!!!! Its all part of the learning process, self criticism is very hard but has to be done, however because its so difficult you will not do it lightly, it will be a seriously considered action and it will be right. Good Luck (as I said before there's not much luck involved here),or, as our good friend, mentor and guide Mario would say "good light".

Graham Jeffries		15-Mar-2005 20:31
"Now, to Graham's pics: As Ricardo says, an admirable set, well done! Here are my thoughts as I go through them... Canary Wharf. Couldn't decide if the receding lines added to the sense of height or just made the buildings look loppy. I think I would have either made the foreshortening more pronounced, by going closer, or pulled back to lessen it. Is the cloud in the middle (beautifully placed!) as burned out as it looks or is that just how it looks on the web? Reflected Towers is really interesting and links well to the previous pic. Canada Square. The tall buildings have much more impact in this one as we are much closer. Love the circular clock against the angular building behind it. Some resonance in the curved edges of the buildings on the right. Nice one. Columns and Walkway would have worked better for me had there been a point of interest (person, dog, litter) somewhere on the pathway. ... which is why Lady and Columns is a much more effective composition. Man walking by. Is the light coloured building in the back overexposed? (Again, could be the web graphics.) Kelly Holmes is a lovely shot but the loss of the corner of the flag is a tad annoying. Love the changing light on the building behind. I think I would have straightened it a bit though. Inspirational Hair is just brilliant. Jazz Man Ray. I think I agree with your tutor (sorry Ricardo): the man adds balance, and the fact that he is walking away from the musicians adds to the story. Bus Stop - great image. Female Accent. I love the comparison between the male figure and the sculpture, but it somehow gets a bit lost in the branches of that tree. I can quite see why you took it at the angle, though, to get the hollow forms in the centre. Columbus Square - man walking by. I just love this image; a wonderful grabshot. City Slickers has to go Sandwich Bar. Lovely shot, would have preferred to see all round the base of the statue plinth, perhaps the crop is a little too tight here. Bank Station. Curves left, curves right,...this I feel is a great composition. Ditto Curved Road. Contrast handled well by your D70! Lloyds Bank. Some awkward cropping on the left - we see the edge of a white van and the rather interesting drain cover is chopped up a bit. Cornhill Exchange. Another of my favourites. It would perhaps have been better if the car wasn't cluttering the image of the man, (by moving to the right a bit) but I love the resonance bewtween the man and the statue - well spotted. St Pauls reflected. Wonderful! Deep in thought. Love this one too. Canada Square. All those clocks and people rushing to and from work! Great! Reflections. I like the grabshot of the man smoking, but it doesn't really work for me, this one. Man on phone. As Ricardo says, brilliant image. How clever of you to plant that tree right between the model's eyes! Gherkin. You know I like this one. Still my fave I think. Canary Wharf Station. Lovely movement shot, captures the rush hour brilliantly. Oh boy, I am in awe. I look forward tremedously to fidning out which ones go forward. Your course is clearly paying dividends, Graham Helen"

Graham Jeffries		15-Mar-2005 20:30
"I like most, those of your pictures which depict the human figure in the built environment rather than the 'depopulated' ones. My personal favourite? Canary Wharf Station. It may not be technically the best shot but I love the sense of movement which sweeps from left to right across the picture. I have to disagree with Ricardo about the man on the left of the jazz group photo - I think he makes the image! Mark"

Graham Jeffries		15-Mar-2005 20:29
"Hi Graham You are going to really struggle to get this down to 12 images!!!!!!! The content is super, technically I believe they are first class and the presentation of the web-site is excellent. I can only offer a couple of points,and these are subjective of course, I am here for you to shoot down if you wish. I'm not keen on City Slickers (3) ...Jazz Man Ray 2C I feel would benefit from losing the pedestrian on the left!!! 3d curved road is probably one of the weaker pictures, it starts off strongly with the S curve lead-in but that ends in a very heavy part of the image and just sort of stops!!! The shot of the sandwich bar, this would really need to be set up but if there was a moving foot disappearing round the corner this I think would add a huge note of mystery to the photo, I know maybe that is not required for your immediate purpose but it could be a project to try out at some point. Bank tube shot, I think is excellent but could be improved if the curve of the platform edge was disappearing into the bottom right hand corner of the print, the lead-in would be superb, at present the edge bleeds out of the bottom centre of the picture, a bit boring!! sorry. Man on phone, well................Graham you have not been taking pictures long enough to be entitled to have such a fantastic picture. I mean, how dare you present something like this it's... it's....... it's (fast show impression follows) I'NT BLACK AND WHITE BRILLIANT !!!!!! Wish I had this in my portfolio !! this is I think ARPS type standard if printed really well. there you are, I'm done , a super set of pictures and I look forward to hearing which the final pictures you use. good luck, ( not that luck enters into it here) hope my ramblings are useful. Ricardo"

Graham Jeffries		15-Mar-2005 20:14
"I like the way you have contrasted the structure of the two places - i.e the curves in the city and the straight hard edges of docklands - it works well - also the two puddle reflection shots taken in the city also carry this idea on, as the buildings reflected are from two very differnet times yet both are very feminine and the fact that they are contained within puddles also shows that nature has a stronger hold over the city than the newer development of docklands and nature is seen as being a feminine force... I think it works well. Richard"

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