1: Outside Looking In

“From a photographer’s point of view, a window looking on to the street is a way of being of the world, but not in it.” Geoff Dyer (Dyer, 2012).  In many ways this sums up my engagement with my local community – and in fairness just about everywhere else.  This series attempts to catch that sense of being an outsider, consisting of views of my local community as I usually catch them – from my car window, in my rear view mirror, through the window of the kitchen, the living room, the office. In keeping with my lifestyle I have also included my laptop, phone and the television as they form a significant strand of my links to my community.

I have adapted two further strategies to emphasise the fleeting and erratic nature of this interaction. Firstly the photos are intended to appear like snapshots speaking to the snatched nature of much of my interaction with the community. I have deliberately included elements of a variety of frames to emphasise my separation from the subject. I have also chosen shutter speeds that allow the moving, human, components to blur.

Secondly I have chosen to present the images as postcards. My intent is that prior to submission for assessment I would post them to my home address from the post box in my village. Postcards are generally associated with places we visit – a way of letting people back home know where we are – a way of saying “Wish you were here”.