searchingtoseeopalescence
Posted on March 31, 2014
It’s been an up-and-down few weeks, and I haven’t been as active on here as I would like to be. Getting the time to post is proving more and more difficult, unfortunately. I went back to my little skeleton leaves, and decided I hadn’t quite finished with them. I had a feeling they would work well as layers. I use this technique a lot in my images, and it’s a surprisingly creative and enjoyable process in which unexpected things often emerge. Here, it served to enhance the shimmery opalescent shades – which were just the merest suggestions before – to create something light and lustrous, and a little bit summery.
© images and content Emily Hughes, 2014
Tangled
Posted on June 18, 2013
Maybe it’s a reflection of my current state of mind, but give me an unkempt tangle of grasses and wild flowers over a neatly cultivated border any day.
Rolleiflex
Posted on September 8, 2012
At last I have some recent images from my beloved rolleiflex to share.
These were all taken this summer in Sidmouth, Devon and various locations in France.
I didn’t make any adjustments to the images apart from the odd minor crop or straightening of a wonky horizon as I wanted to show them as they are (although some of them would work really well in black and white) This constitutes two rolls of film (you get 12 to a roll), so I was pleased I got so many images I liked considering focusing was pretty hard (the focusing screen is very dark on my camera), and framing can also be quite tricky. I was also guessing a lot with exposure as my light meter is broken.
For those who are interested I used Fuji Reala which is a print colour film (C-41) 100 ASA. It was out of date which probably accounts for the graininess and the slightly antique colour cast they have. For some I used a tripod but most were handheld.
© images and content Emily Hughes and searchingtosee, 2012
Evening lights
Posted on July 31, 2012
As the evening descends there is pause; a moment of interlude. People convene, rub their bellies and head for the comfort of food, cigarettes, a quiet pint or two before launching into the frenzy of the night-time festivities.
The sun pools the last of its sweet golden liquor into the horizon beyond and the cheerful winking lights lead us towards the dazzling final act.
© Emily Hughes and searchingtosee, 2012
Emotion
Posted on July 26, 2012
One of the most magical moments of the truck festival for me was hearing The Low Anthem perform. They are a low key, low-fi eccentric bunch who are obsessed with recycling instruments and appear to turn their hands to every instrument under the sun including trumpet, clarinet, dulcimer, the pump organ and even the saw. They recorded their latest album in an abandoned pasta sauce factory.
They played this song, which a former band member had scribbled down before he left in the dead of night.
A lady next to me with spiky red hair burst into tears uncontrollably half way through the performance.
We all understood.
It’s one of those songs that just releases any kind of pent up emotion inside of you. It is raw and heartfelt and tender. To me it sounds just like pure emotion would feel, or as one fan on you tube puts it “all I can say is that this song makes me wanna cry like a bitch every time I hear it”.
It was a powerful moment of shared emotion in a crowd; a moment of haunting beauty.
Here are the faces of the crowd, listening, watching, whilst they played it …
© Emily Hughes and searchingtosee, 2012
Two’s company
Posted on July 25, 2012
This is the first post in a series on crowd images. Alex and I spent last weekend at the Truck festival near Steventon in Oxfordshire. It was a fantastic weekend; excellent music and a great atmosphere. There were many highlights, some of which I will post more about.
One of the things I enjoyed was plucking out scenes of couples from the crowds (sometimes intentionally and other times accidentally). I liked the way the twosomes found their own secret spaces to just be quietly in their togetherness and share tranquil moments amongst the ensuing chaos and frenzy of the festival crowds. There is a sense of both reckless abandon and extreme privacy in a very public space (not least highlighted by my presence as intruder-photographer, and mostly fueled by lots of cider!). The images also tell their own little stories of friendship, love and community – truly summing up the spirit of the whole festival for me.
© Emily Hughes and searchingtosee, 2012
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