Meditation Practitioners

For my community images I have chosen to do them at a meditation center as it's something i'm interested in myself and I think it'll be something different to show. I got several reject offers as many of the places were really private. I finally got hold of Ashoka meditation center which has a class in Penryn and Falmouth, so perfect for access. I have been emailing them for about 2 weeks and they've been asking all the staff and everything, I just have to sort out a date which is okay for them to do. I am really excited for this shoot!

For my community shoot I wanted to show the relationship between the practitioners and also the dedication they have for what they have faith in. I managed to arrange a date after all and instead of going to a centre Richard the main practitioner said it'd be better to do a shoot at his house with a few of his friends. I went to the house and was a bit nervous at first but they were all really welcoming and as I have an interest in Buddhism it helped. The room they were all going to meditate in was quite small and it had Buddha paintings and trinkets everywhere. The practitioners all came in and sat on their cushions, Richard then started a cd which played the mantras. They read from a mantra book and chanted, it was very atmospheric and I felt serene whilst photographing them. His cat also came and joined in which was funny, it kept drinking their tea.

These are a couple of photographs I got of them..

Isolation

For our next project we had to produce establishing images with the themes of, Isolation, Community and Industrial Coast. I started on Isolation and my idea came to me when I went for a walk a 6am around Penryn, It was so abandoned on the streets and it looked quite eerie but peaceful. I did this walk again but brought my camera out with me. I wanted to capture what happened on those streets at that time being it not a lot or a few people walking dogs. When my photos came out I was really pleased as I pushed my film from 400 to 1600 so they were grainy but I'm just happy they developed well. I think they look quite Victorian if you took away the cars. I still need to upload the ones I've chosen properly, my favourite is the the furniture image as I like the angles and the gritty building. This was not my final idea on this project and instead I photographed Maenporth Shipwreck.

Hostile Environment Training

My view as I woke up at 7am every morning for breakfast and lectures

For part of my course we got to get training for when we go abroad to dangerous countries. We did this with BlueDot which is ran by some of the most interesting guys I've met, they taught us so much and they treated us really well. I learnt navigation, first aid and what to do in these environments. I had such a good time and I'd do it every weekend if I could!

The tents that we lived in that were donated by Shelter Box

We learnt First Aid on these dummies 

This view was after a long day of mission training

Independent Businesses In Cornwall

This post is carrying on from my person at work piece. I have edited down which bakery shots I would like to show on crits, I think the detailed shot is my favourite.

I also went to Arwenack Fisheries in Falmouth  which has been running for about 40 or so years by a dad and his two sons. I was very lucky when I went in as they were about to gut and prepare a Salmon. I talked to them about their business and why they go into it, they were very amusing and told loads of funny stories. They had many local customers come in for their fish and sometimes just to chat which i thought went well with my reasoning for doing local businesses.

For my third shoot for independent shops I went to The Cheese Shop in Truro, they have a variety of cheeses which they sell and weigh. The man was really friendly and didn't mind me taking photos at all. He also sold little pottery mice which I found amusing. 

I wanted to photograph independent shops and show that the small businesses are better than the branded corporate shops. With these family run businesses you get better quality products and a better customer service. I feel that these shops are dieing out but in Falmouth they are still here which I like.