Antiques down the ages

click photo to enlarge
There was a time when we regularly visited auctions and took an interest in the windows of antique shops. We were younger then, starting out in life, and the prospect of a bargain buy of an old piece of furniture to add to our home was something that appealed to us. In fact, we still have several of those purchases today including a lacquered and painted bamboo table, a chest of drawers, and some jade elephants. We retain them because they have served us well down the decades

I was reflecting on antiques the other day when we were in the Lincolnshire town of Horncastle. This is a place that has specialised in antique shops - it has many. Did antiques, I wondered, appeal to us more because we were younger? Did the age and character of the pieces offer us something that contemporary pieces didn't (apart from, usually, a better price)? In recent decades I believe that antiques have generally become less desirable than they were. They are not something I would go out of my way to buy today. But then, I have all the furniture I need, and am likely to need, so from our perspective that is certainly a difference from our younger years.

But, even though I'm not in the market for antiques, old habits die hard and I still have an occasional look at them through shop windows, on pavements, in yards, or wherever else they are displayed. Today's photograph shows a collection of pieces in a narrow yard at the side of a Horncastle antique shop. This section of the jumble of pots, statues, tiles, plants etc made a pleasing composition, and sepia with a vignette seemed a good way to present the shot.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 52mm (78mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Using photographic effects sparingly

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There's a place in photography for effects, that is to say, the post-exposure (or in-exposure) manipulation of an image away from what the camera ordinarily offers. Photography has never been about recording "reality" but rather a form of a reality as mediated by the photographic process. Consequently, any further manipulation should properly be seen as an addition to already existing manipulation rather than the adulteration of some kind of pure vision.

But, and its a big but, though effects have their place, they are much more effective (pun intended) if they are used sparingly, and we are very familiar with straightforward photographs. There's an analogy here with swearing: if it happens every other sentence the effect of the forbidden word is much less effective. If it's reserved for just the right occasion then it can have a very big impact. At least that's my view - on photographic effects and swearing. By extension, my view of Instagram and similar services is that eventually they dull the vision of its users and create a desire for ever wilder photographic effects.

My way of using effects is to wait until I have a photograph that looks like it could wear one well. Today's shot of an antique shop in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, had that appearance so it had a vignette, tonal contrast, a brown "grunge" cast and a few other things thrown at it. To my eye it pushes a photograph that advertises only through the phone number and the burglar alarm box that it resides in the twentieth or twenty-first century, back to somewhere in the grubby nineteenth century.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 27mm (40mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Weddings then and now

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On Wednesday 29th July 1981 we put our two year old son into the seat on the back of our tandem bicycle, and, with panniers full of food, drink, baby sundries, camera and a copy of Pevsner's, "The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire", we set off from our house in the city of Kingston upon Hull to cycle across the Humber Bridge and explore the countryside and medieval churches of North Lincolnshire. That day was not quite like any other day for two reasons: firstly it was an extra Bank Holiday and most people had a day off work, and secondly, in London a wedding was taking place - that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. It was with the avoidance of the publicity, euphoria, TV and radio coverage, street parties and the rest of the hoopla associated with that event that two committed republicans (and their son) chose to spend their day in this way.

Today is the day of another royal wedding, but this time I have no all-day excursion by bicycle or any other form of transport planned. That's not because my advancing years have turned me into a monarchist eager to gawp at the TV coverage as I wave my Made in China Union flag. No, this time I'll be tending the garden, doing a few domestic chores and tidying up after having spent a few days away from home.

During my recent trip I stopped briefly in Horncastle. This small Lincolnshire town is generally known for two things: firstly, it was a Roman town, and secondly, today it has more than the average number of antique shops. The latter are a variety of establishments that cater for a wide range of pockets. My photograph shows one in a nineteenth century bulding that looks like it has seen better days. However, the owner had brightened up the faded paintwork and crumbling masonry with a royal wedding display featuring flags, flowers and champagne. The other window showed a few wares for sale and evidence of political allegiance in the form of a poster urging people to vote for an Independent candidate. I took my photograph of the facade and moved on, and as I did so reflected that I hope anyone whose wedding is on 29th April 2011 has a long and happy marriage. And, from my republican standpoint, if the newlyweds happen to be a future king and queen perhaps they'd like to consider the probably beneficial effects of abdication on their marital bliss!

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 40mm
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On