Summer challenge idea?

IIRC, you preferred an "E" in your whiskEy...

The problem could lie in the perception of mundanity. My parents used to live on the edge of Dartmoor and I would drive over the moor to see them and never notice the beauty of the place - familiarity had made it (to me) mundane. These days, I drive over the moor less frequently so appreciate the scenery immeasurably more and often stop to take it in. I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of people who are born and raised in other areas of outstanding natural beauty who rarely notice what to them has become simply the view from the kitchen sink!
 
Nod said:
IIRC, you preferred an "E" in your whiskEy...

The problem could lie in the perception of mundanity. My parents used to live on the edge of Dartmoor and I would drive over the moor to see them and never notice the beauty of the place - familiarity had made it (to me) mundane. These days, I drive over the moor less frequently so appreciate the scenery immeasurably more and often stop to take it in. I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of people who are born and raised in other areas of outstanding natural beauty who rarely notice what to them has become simply the view from the kitchen sink!
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Therein lies the problem for me too, mundanity is in the eye of the beholder. I still love the idea of the challenge but don't want to flamed for taking a shot of something I consider mundane but others would think of the most interesting architecture they've ever seen.
 
Nod said:
IIRC, you preferred an "E" in your whiskEy...

The problem could lie in the perception of mundanity. My parents used to live on the edge of Dartmoor and I would drive over the moor to see them and never notice the beauty of the place - familiarity had made it (to me) mundane. These days, I drive over the moor less frequently so appreciate the scenery immeasurably more and often stop to take it in. I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of people who are born and raised in other areas of outstanding natural beauty who rarely notice what to them has become simply the view from the kitchen sink!
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Yup, on these grounds I propose taking Kenilworth Castle as my mundane building... :D:D:p
 
I'm in - sounds like my kinda thang!

But - if this is a Summer long theme with one film - that means one camera is gonna be out of action for other uses. Hmmmmmm... I've got a film picker somewhere :) Or maybe I'll just whap off a roll over a week.

My home town, Wigan, is surprisingly interesting as far as architecture goes - but we do have one concrete monstrosity that springs to mind :)
 
-Oy- said:
I'm in - sounds like my kinda thang!

But - if this is a Summer long theme with one film - that means one camera is gonna be out of action for other uses. Hmmmmmm... I've got a film picker somewhere :) Or maybe I'll just whap off a roll over a week.

My home town, Wigan, is surprisingly interesting as far as architecture goes - but we do have one concrete monstrosity that springs to mind :)
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Blimey! 'ere we go, another one dissing the concrete :bat:
 
H'mm just remembered there is still the good morning challenge.
 
I mentioned at the mega-meet that I was thinking of setting myself the challenge of making Reading look interesting. That mini-project might be ideal for this.

Yv said:
For example, top of my cliche list would be colour popping, but you can't actually 'shoot it differently' ...
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Convert the focal point to mono while leaving the rest of the image in colour - bonus points for doing that to a portrait of a homeless person to convey their separation from society. ;)

RaglanSurf said:
Tis a good idea and I'm in but can somebody define "fairly mundane" for me?
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My first thought was brutalist architecture but that can be fascinating in its own right so wouldn't fit the mundane criteria. I saw a blog post last week of some amazing brutalist interiors that would be a perfect example of what I mean but I'm having trouble finding it again. I think shopping centres, traffic junctions, the kind of thing we walk past every day without considering a photo opportunity is what's meant. Could be details within the mundane, such as interesting signs or a collection of stickers on a lamppost. I have a slightly odd predilection* for drain and manhole covers and often take a shot or two of any that I think stand out.







* Yes, I know I'm setting up an out-of-context quote there.
 
Mundane, to me, is something that you wouldn't normally look at twice. If it's a brutalist building that you look at and think "Christ that's ugly" (or "that's amazing") it's not mundane. Seeing something photographically worthy in something you wouldn't normally give a second glance to seems like an excellent exercise to me.
 
To stir things up a bit...a photo can be mundane. I was brought up in a small town with it's share of interesting features. One particular building next to a canal has been photographed so many times that photos of it are mundane. My photos of it at night (taken long after I'd moved away) are different so I'd regard them as no longer mundane (but I would say that!). Seeing the view daily for years is what makes it mundane

simon ess has an avatar of some concrete (I remember that particular concrete being built) which most people hardly notice apart from the steepness. To me that bridge is far less mundane (photographically) than the scant castle remains around it.

abdoujaparov has summed it up well but for it to work as a project I think some explanation of the photographers reasons for the subject choice will be needed.
 
morfis said:
abdoujaparov has summed it up well but for it to work as a project I think some explanation of the photographers reasons for the subject choice will be needed.
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H'mmm well for me, if a shot doesn't "hit" me straight away then no amount of explanation would make it look better, and would suggest many people would think like that.
 
excalibur2 said:
H'mmm well for me, if a shot doesn't "hit" me straight away then no amount of explanation would make it look better, and would suggest many people would think like that.
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Not what I meant. The end result needs to be good but why was the original 'subject' considered mundane? Without that we just have a series of good photographs.
 
morfis said:
Not what I meant. The end result needs to be good but why was the original 'subject' considered mundane? Without that we just have a series of good photographs.
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Well I found in the past in camera club competitions and probably the same here is that you take two types of shots one that you like and normally take or one that you think the judges would like (to get the most points)....if you are lucky you can get it in one..... e.g. the challenge was "loneliness" well I found it so boring looking for a subject that look lonely etc, in fact my idea worked out in one, as the family and I went to the coast and I got my son to stand at the end of a small jetty with the parallel lines leading to him looking at the sea with his head down (erm looking lonely)......h'mm well I guess everybody else's shot was better cos I didn't get anywhere but I do have a nice picture of my son.;)
So after all that waffle it's your choice and still think take what you like and let the photo stand to be judged.
 
simon ess said:
I've got that song going through my head now. "This is not America" Bowie.

Except it's, "This is not a camera club."

:)
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Well the principle is the same in any photo challenge in that it is to get you out to take shots you probably wouldn't take anyway.......so you can take two types...blah, blah as above ;)
 
Yeah, you're quite right Brian. I do see what you're saying.

I have to remember I'm the weird one who likes taking pictures of mundane things.

I wonder if anyone else took a picture of the bins behind the hall over the weekend.
 
simon ess said:
Yeah, you're quite right Brian. I do see what you're saying.

I have to remember I'm the weird one who likes taking pictures of mundane things.

I wonder if anyone else took a picture of the bins behind the hall over the weekend.
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Of course no one else did Simon, the rest of us are slightly less weird than that. :)
 
Andysnap said:
Of course no one else did Simon, the rest of us are slightly less weird than that. :)
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in fairness, it is only slightly less...


However, going back to the idea, yes, you have to be able to justify the mundanity, but as with any set of pictures designed to be viewed together, a few words to explain is always a good idea anyway.

Concrete can be very mundane, here in London we have that god awful South Bank centre, which imo is a loathsome concrete monstrosity, but its not mundane. On the other hand, when every newly built Tesco looks the same, for me that is the ultimate in mundane.
 
Yv said:
Concrete can be very mundane, here in London we have that god awful South Bank centre, which imo is a loathsome concrete monstrosity, but its not mundane.
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Blasphemer! It is a complex of buildings that shows concrete at its beautifully brutal best.
 
excalibur2 said:
A challenge for you Nick, living in the London area, is to try and taken a decent shot of the crappiest building I've ever seen and some blind people in the council have made it a listed building :eek::rolleyes:
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01697/trellick-tower-l_1697428i.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/7948150/Ecocities-and-Concrete-Londons-architecture-reimagined-in-photographs-by-Andy-Spain.html?image=8&h=620&w=620&tbnid=0iV3jZFCROdxDM:&zoom=1&tbnh=186&tbnw=186&usg=__bG7LLZwxTbw02gMjeqopcDw6OMk=&docid=_5mCIstHtQUC-M&itg=1
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Another much maligned architectural gem. seems people go all gooey eyed over a twee picket fenced country cottage but completely miss how absolutely stunning a lot of the 50's & 60's architecture is. Still it takes all sorts, some people even like the Canon T70 :D
 
RaglanSurf said:
Another much maligned architectural gem. seems people go all gooey eyed over a twee picket fenced country cottage but completely miss how absolutely stunning a lot of the 50's & 60's architecture is. Still it takes all sorts, some people even like the Canon T70 :D
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...you might like this BBC video then http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01rr0yh/building-sights-series-3-4-trellick-tower the architect was a guy from a James Bond film and his name was Goldfinger.;)
 
I fancy a go at this.

As long as we're not restricted to Asdas! :)
 
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