321 Triptych

click photo to enlarge
My blog post on the last day of 2009 featured three photographs presented in the form of a triptych. For anyone who doesn't know, a triptych is either a single picture divided into three parts but joined together or three different pictures joined together. In each case they are presented as a whole. I first came across the term when studying Renaissance painting. Often the reredos of an altar was in the form of a painted triptych of the Crucifixion, Nativity or Annunciation, that could be folded up when the altar wasn't in use. The Victorians made the religious triptych fashionable again, and they are still being produced today in one form or another for secular as well as church purposes.

My first triptych was intensely secular: how else can you describe photographs of the detergent and grease left on the roasting tray as I cleaned it after the Christmas meal? The same can be said of today's photograph(s) - my second foray into the world of the triptych. I'd taken a photograph of the number on a new sign that indicated the floor of a building that I was in. As I ascended the stairs in the stairwell I discovered that a different colour had been used for the walls of each floor. So, with the idea of a triptych in mind I made sure I got a shot of the numbers for the floors of the first, second and third storeys. The glass or plastic that the signs were made from reflected the windows and stairs, and I made sure to include these reflections. What appealed to me about these images was the high gloss and the sharp, clear delineation of the numbers contrasted with the out of focus softness ofthe reflections. The sequence - either ascending or descending - seemed the obvious way to sequence them.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1 (i.e. 3!)
Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 7.9mm (37mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/50
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On 

Reflecting on washing the dishes

click photo to enlarge
On what should I end the photographic year? Which would be the most apposite subject for the last image of 2009? Those thoughts were going through my head as I stood at the sink washing up after the turkey, roast potatoes, sprouts and the rest of the Christmas meal, listening to my newly acquired Nina Simone CD. I spend quite a bit of time pondering life, the universe, everything (and the blog) as I plunge my hands into the suds, and scrub the china. Even though we have an automated servant in the form of an electrical dishwasher, there are times when "man-draulic" action is required. I sometimes think that washing up has taken the place of my drive to and from work: it is a time for reflection, focusing on the important things of life, and putting the pressing but inconsequential bits in their place.

And, it works! In fact what came from this period of quiet reflection, as I listened to Nina sing "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" and "Nobody's Fault But Mine" - all titles with resonance for a regular blogger - was the subject of the final photograph of the year. It started with the difficulty of removing the cooked-on pieces of turkey from the tray on which it had been roasted. My usual tools were making no impression, so I placed it on the worktop, applied abrasive powder detergent and went at it with a damp scouring pad. As I leaned into my work I noticed that the, by now, liquid detergent was leaving swirls and swashes like those made by a large wet paintbrush on paper. Experimenting I found that I could make shapes that appeared three-dimensional, ones that recalled Munch's "The Scream", others that brought to mind Hokusai's "Great Wave of Kanagawa", and even Abstract -Expressionist works. So, I grabbed my small camera, and between strokes took several shots of my handiwork, three of which I present in the form of a "triptych." So pleased am I with my original artwork that I'm thinking of submitting it for the 2010 Turner Prize. Or perhaps not!

Now I imagine a few of you - and it will be only a few because not many can have made it this far in today's post - are wondering whether or not I got my dirty tray clean. It pains me and shames me to admit that I didn't, and that my wife had to complete my work (and achieve the required pristine finish). At this point I imagine quite a few of my female readers are shaking their heads knowingly, muttering, "Typical man - playing about with his camera instead of doing the washing up properly." And yes, once again I'm guilty as charged.

Happy New Year!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 5.1mm (24mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f2
Shutter Speed: 1/20
ISO: 400
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On