The leafs are changing colour, the days are getting shorter and there’s a wonderful Chill in the air, yes there’s no doubt in my mind, autumn has arrived, I love welcoming in the autumn, there’s something almost magical about this time of year. I know this feeling comes from being a fan of horror films and no film screams (pardon the pun) autumn more than the 1978 classic, John Carpenters Halloween, I’ve always loved the look and feel of this film and I’m always using Dean Cundey’s cinematography as inspiration in my work.
The dark brings with it vibrant colours that come alive with the cold which mixed with the warmth inside shops, coffee houses, etc brings us condensation on the windows, and then there’s the rain which we get lots of in the UK when all these elements come together I just don’t think you can take a bad photo.
We lost many things due to the lockdowns of 2020, the biggest for me was the autumn months this is the time of the year where I spend most of my time shooting, the streets are alive with people consuming, catching up with old friends heading into the warm and familiar environment of a cafe or coffee shop, but these places were all closed and the streets were empty and silent, but not this year and I will be making the most of this coming autumn, making up for lost time if you will.
I know I'm not alone in waiting for this time of year, Matt Hall will be one of the many street photographers I know that will be spending hours out on the cold dark streets armed with his trusty cameras, as I’m sure many of you will be, its a great time of year for photographers and not just street photographers.
The autumn brings with it 3 holidays that are a street photographers dream, not only do we Halloween night, but 5 days later it’s bonfire night, remember, remember the 5th of November, this night is also known as Guy Fawkes night, this is where we celebrate the gunpowder plot of 1605, this won’t mean anything to those of you that live outside of the UK unless you’ve seen the film V for Vendetta. In 1605 Guy Fawkes and other conspirators tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament I know it’s a strange thing to celebrate and I’ve never really understood why it’s celebrated. Anyway, this is an evening that I look forward to each year, I say evening but the celebrations Normally carry on for a week, unfortunately, this didn’t happen in 2020 and I have my fingers crossed that it goes ahead this year. By the middle of November we start to see Christmas lights being placed around the towns and cities which in turn adds more colourful lights in the mix, as I said, it really is a wonderful time to be a street photographer.
I know the dark short days can make us feel trapped which in turn leads to anxiety and depression and I fully understand why that is, but for me, it has the opposite effect, I feel so alive at this time of year I get the most excited for picking up my camera and heading out into the cold, dark, wet nights that lay ahead.
Check back over the coming months as I’ll be sharing my photos in future blogs
