what makes a place special from a photographers point of view

[morturn]

I am doing an MA in Public History at Ruskin College Oxford, hence why I have been a bit quite on the boards this last few months. Public History is the study of how none academic people (us mere mortals) acquires their sense of the past.

Photographs play an important roll in Public History, as do ‘places’, so what in your opinion make a place a special place from a photographers point of view?

If I give an example, the boat graveyard at Purton in Gloucestershire is a special photographic place for me and I know Barrie liked Purton too. For me it was the ‘entropy’ or the state of decay of the boats, knowing that they will not be there for much longer and the resulting colours and textures arising out of the decay.

Most of the very excellent AV shows I see here are also about places, so what is it, from your point of view, which makes a place photographically valuable to make you want to go out, sometimes travelling many miles, to photograph a place then spend time turning it into a presentation?

[Ken Cox]

AS THEY SAY

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

myself - like to take picts of trucks, ships, cars -- things that represent "engineering masterpieces" like building a bridge between Canada and the USA

i had a windmill, farm animals, churches, barns etc., kick back in '70's but there were not enough close by

if you travel down the highway, be on the lookout for "oddities" - when you come back the other way look again -- something might get your juices flowing

--people are the hardest

if you are travelling in strange territory and you see something interesting in the distance -- take picts as you go - that bend in the road may take you away from what you saw

ken

[stonemason]

When my mind is totaly concentrated on the place I'm in, then it's special, and I seem to take my best images in such places. Being a keen wildlife photographer it can also be an event, such as the first image captured of an elusive bird or animal, this also tends to make the place special.

Geoff

[Lakelandlass]

I am doing an MA in Public History at Ruskin College Oxford, hence why I have been a bit quite on the boards this last few months. Public History is the study of how none academic people (us mere mortals) acquires their sense of the past.

Photographs play an important roll in Public History, as do ‘places’, so what in your opinion make a place a special place from a photographers point of view?

If I give an example, the boat graveyard at Purton in Gloucestershire is a special photographic place for me and I know Barrie liked Purton too. For me it was the ‘entropy’ or the state of decay of the boats, knowing that they will not be there for much longer and the resulting colours and textures arising out of the decay.

Most of the very excellent AV shows I see here are also about places, so what is it, from your point of view, which makes a place photographically valuable to make you want to go out, sometimes travelling many miles, to photograph a place then spend time turning it into a presentation?

Some places seem to touch the soul. Landscapes, especially mountains do it for me.

Maureen

[Almark]

A view that may not remain is special. Knowing that something is going to be destroyed, cleaned up, removed, eroded and so on allows you capture it for yourself and others.