Strangers or Friends?

Going with the idea of perceptions of people, I went to my parish church and on that particular evening they were doing the church inventory so there were plenty of people around available to have their picture taken. I asked numerous people, some that I knew and some that I didn't. Some didn't mind their picture being taken, however some were very embarrassed at the proposal and declined my request, often for reasons such as they 'hadn't done their hair' or 'they weren't very photogenic'. I did however manage to take photographs of some of the people that were around. The first image was taken at the back of the church behind the alter. This man is the parish priest, Father Robin. When I approached him to take his picture he was very welcoming, however the one poignant thing he did say was 'how will they know who I am' seeing as he didn't have any robes on or his usual 'collar'. This started me thinking about how to display his portrait. I used the black background and added text onto the black background rather than onto the initail image. This makes it seem like a TV screen perhaps. I then needed to focus on the style of font used 'How will they know who I am?', is written out in italics as this particular font seemed to fit the style of image. The font was very important when creating the image as the wrong font could completely give off the wrong perception of the image and the person in the image.

My next image was of a gentlemen that I was familiar with from seeing him around the church when I was younger, however I did not know him by name or anything about him. I merely asked him for a snap and he posed how he wished. He has his head slightly downward showing that perhaps he was embarrassed or wasn't completely happy with the picture being taken. He seemed like a very quiet man and got on with what he was doing without talking to the other people around. After taking the images I asked my dad to tell me some information on the people I had photographed as he knew them all very well. He said that he didn't know much at all about this particular man and he would always sit at the back of church by himself, but he never missed a Sunday. His name was not on the electoral roll either but my dad said his name was Edmondsham Potherwaite, but that was all he knew.


Before I knew this man's name I created this image. I knew nothing about him at all yet he agreed to let me take his picture in an environment with many other people around.

After speaking with my dad I created this image. The first image of the priest was a quote from him, however I think it is much more fitting in this image to have the quote from my dad as I didn't know anything about this man and had to find out from another source.

This gentleman I know very well and when I was younger he would always speak to me about my future aspirations, this being Law. He is a very interesting man and can always help answer questions about Law. He reassured me that university would be fine as long as I kept my head in the game and he offered to give me any help I needed. I already knew his name and his occupation so the conversation was merely a social one.

I also know this lady very well. I have known her since I was very young and again she always speaks to me at church and I have helped with many things under her management. As well as helping at the church her regular occupation is a primary school teacher at a local primary school.