The topics for the club’s annual photographer of the year (POTY) competition were up on their website without me even realising.
The theme for round 1 was ‘Urban Life’ so I started looking into street photography for inspiration.
With a holiday in Wales planned there were two weeks out of the schedule to the deadline. Therefore, I roped Kathryn in to roam around Norwich on a warm Sunday afternoon.
She brought her camera too, and we had a lot more fun that we anticipated wandering around trying to be all ‘arty’ and get some shots. It was also fun exploring some parts of Norwich we may not usually walk around.
I did a couple of shots in Caernarfon town while in North Wales but didn’t get much of note. Then on our return to Norwich, and with a new camera in my hand more suited to street photography, I roamed around Norwich again, this time with my daughter.
Collage 1
From the collage below, I liked the ‘Be Active’ sign with the Beryl bikes and the blurry lights in the Logan’s sandwich bar.
The ‘Our Story’ was outside Clark’s Shoes and I liked that I caught a reflection of a couple walking passed. The manikins and window reflections were shot outside the Art Uni, and the shutter shot was taken by Kathryn which I really like due to the colour and texture of the metallic shutter.
Collage 2
The next collage involves people… I like the guy sitting near the cash machines as his expression seems to sum up the current economic cost of living crisis. The smartly dressed man was an opportune shot outside the Arts Uni.
The girl walking amused me with the one way sign albeit that’s for the traffic not people. The cheesy grills scene is just nice and colourful and discreet in terms of the people.
Collage 3
This set will have two shots recognisable as Norwich markets shots, and I really like the scene with city hall clock tower in the background.
The alleyway with the canary is appealing just for that as well as the colours, and the Cosy Club restaurant is a nice building that used to be a bank.
Collage 4
The collage below is reflections from Bedford Street where an empty shop had a wardrobe or cabinet with a mirror which made for some interesting reflections as people walked by.
The other two shots were reflections from The Forum library in Norwich.
Other ‘Street’ shots
I really liked this graffiti art who my daughter said was a well known local lad who she knew but had sadly passed away. I tried a monochrome and colour edit to see how they would come out.
The next three shots were in shortlist for POTY Urban Life theme.
For the shot below, I liked the irony of the the square grid with the sign. However, I probably need to adjust the geometry to emphasis the square and I wasn’t totally convinced viewers would get it. Note the colours toned down stopping short of going full mono.
The next shot was in the shortlist right up until final weekend. I liked the contradiction of the fire assembly point with the instructions for smokers to put out their cigarettes.
The image below was an early shot and I liked the scene with the CCTV camera emphasised through the fence. However, I felt it was too obvious a scene, and didn’t really offer anything particularly interesting.
So, which of these shots would I choose for the club competition of ‘Urban Life’? Stay tuned to find out.
Onwards and upwards…