A taste of cornwall...

A portrait photographer depends upon another person to complete his picture. The subject imagined, which in a sense is me, must be discovered in someone else willing to take part in a fiction he cannot possibly know about. - Richard Avedon

I am going to be doing a series of portraits for Cornwall life magazine. Local business owners will be interviewed about what they do, with a focus on local produce, local life and community, and then I will get a chance to photograph them in their environment.
It's a great project and I'm really excited about it. Obviously the magazine will prefer the 'happy, smiling people' kind of shots and I doubt they will want something overly arty or serious. Since I will be meeting an interesting selection of people though, who are all ready for their portrait to be taken, I thought I would take the opportunity to capture the images I want to capture at the same time.
So, we had our first interview this week and it was great fun! Glynn, the chef and owner of the Bistro in Fowey, was a fantastic model and I got some shots I'm very happy with... and some scrummy lunch to go along with it!
Here's one of my favourites (vegans look away now!);

Been busy since the restaurant and have done a couple more. Boat building and steam railway... again, a few of my favourites;

online...

just a quick post...

I have spent a couple of days putting a website together...

www.charlottestrawbridge.co.uk

I thought it would be worth using it as an online portfolio. Next step is getting the right people to see it so I can get some work out of it! So, if you know anyone looking for a photographer please pass it on!!

Self...

When I think about it, and when I look closely at my pictures, they are ALL, in their own way, nothing but self-portraits, a part of my life. - Christer Strömholm I have never attempted a self-portrait before. I think it is because part of me just thinks it's an artistic kind of vanity and I don't want other people to think I like taking photos of myself. I don't want to come across in the wrong way... and then I thought... that is exactly the reason I should do it.  I shouldn't care what someone else thinks! It's the one chance I will have to take any photo I want and the subject can't complain because the subject is me.  So, I am doing a week of self-portraits, trying to capture how I'm feeling each day in as many creative ways as possible... wish me luck! (click an image to enlarge) Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Black and White...

Black and white are the colours of photography. To me they symbolise the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected. Most of my photographs are of people; they are seen simply, as through the eyes of the man in the street. There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment. This kind of photography is realism. But realism is not enough--there has to be vision, and the two together can make a good photograph. It is difficult to describe this thin line where matter ends and mind begins. - Robert Frank - From pages 20-22 of Aperture, vol. 9, no. 1 (1961)

Not much to say about these really, just missed playing with black and white so...

Flamenco impressions...

A photograph is what it appears to be. Already far from 'reality' because of its silence, lack of movement, two-dimensionality and isolation from everything outside the rectangle, it can create another reality, an emotion that did not exist in the 'true' situation. It's the tension between these two realities that lends it strength. - Richard Kalvar

I've been in Granada this month learning flamenco and I wanted to photograph a show. It was a bit of a technical nightmare; dark room and fast movements. Doesn't do the dancing justice but I gave it a go...