In pursuit of getting closer to my project in an emotional sense I decided to go to the local cafe which is hugely significant in a personal sense because outside of the football realm, this is the place I spent most time with my Dad. Spending around 25 years sitting in the same small group of seats on the same side of the cafe. This is where my Dad brought me up in his own way. And I felt that I couldn’t really tell my story without including this place.

Upon arrival at the front door I was disappointed to find that the cafe was closed. However I was able to enter as the owner was clearing up. A window broken and shutters damaged. When asking what had happened I found that a local man having had an argument with his Dad had decided to try to ram raid the cafe with his car. His motivation for this was due to having an argument with his Dad. I felt this was ironic as my motivation for being there was to retrace the relationship I had with my own Dad.

I was able to photograph inside the building in addition to producing a couple of portraits but what I was able to do wasn’t what I had in mind. This didn’t mean that this work would be unusable, however it was different to what I intended.

At this late stage in the module I will soon be having to edit and sequence images for my WIPP. Therefore it may prove that these images don’t quite have a home in this stage of the project. Colberg (2017:79) offers some useful considerations when thinking about editing

‘For a photographer, good editing must start with the process of disassociating what is in the pictures from whatever background knowledge about them.’

Such comments are pertinent regarding this shoot as I very much had a vision of what I wanted to shoot and what I needed to tell a story from a subjective point of view. I didn’t consider at any point that I wouldn’t produce work that was appropriate.

Perhaps this this unsuccessful shoot was a pertinent lesson in teaching that overly relying on an element of a personal nature isn’t a particularly good idea. And it is they type of experience I probably needed to have. If I hadn’t attended this place then I would have felt as though I had net covered all bases. However, because I have attended, I have consumed the experience and learned by doing that I learned that I wasn’t in the correct place, photographically speaking. As my current reading is in the direction of Colberg, I am using many of the ideas as I’m beginning to think about editing and sequencing therefore, I suspect future critical evaluation will draw on much of his writing. At this stage, it feels like it was a very good investment.

Going forward, Colberg offers insightful advice which will become more significant in the coming weeks. When editing (2017:80)

‘Choosing the strongest photographs’.

Feels like good advice as I feel in danger of favouring some images relevant to narrative as opposed to the power of the photograph.

(2017:80) Some photographs that do not fit into a book edit might work very well in an exhibition, in much the same way, as many photographs that are needed in a book might look terrible when hanging in a frame on a wall.