Juicy Melons

It was my birthday last week, nothing special about that. I'll assume the card is in the post. One of the cards I received was of David McEnerey's photograph 'Juicy Melons', a saucy 'post-cardesque' photo of a melon seller (is there or has there ever been such a thing?) posing suggestively with a pair of his finest wares while a young, well-endowed lady walks past him. I know it's probably not very correct politically, but sod it parliament has been dissolved anyway. The reason I'm compelled to write about this image is that I've been reading plenty of Journals, magazines, weblogs and mental jottings of phsycos about photography of late and the one thing this image made me ask was 'where's the humor?' I love photography and at it's best it holds a mirror up to life as a whole, which is my point: there's humor in life so why isn't there much humor in photography?

As with film, I suppose the reasoning would be there isn't much reward for such a hard task. When did a comedy last win the Best Film Oscar? Creating something funny in a single image is even tougher. You must create a narrative, set-up and punch-line in a single frame, and there isn't much by way of kudos in the end product.

David McEnery died in 2002 and was hailed by his peers as "The World's Funniest Photographers" but I some how doubt there will ever be a retrospective at the Tate.

The Saga of Seafield Childrens Hospital

Seafield Childrens Hospital
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

As this is my first post, please forgive any mistakes, omissions or bollocks that you find within these words.

I had came up with the idea of using the outdated stock that resides in the film fridge at work (35mm Ilford black and white, Kodak 120, and various other gelatin based formats) to try and document the demise of a former NHS building. The condemned visualizing the condemned as it were. After visiting the Arrol Park site in Ayr which resides within the grounds of the old Seafield Children's hospital grounds, I was struck at how dignified the old building looked. I took a few shots around the exterior of the main building, which has been sealed off by a temporary fence and decided that this was the perfect location and building for my idea.

After a few more visits and a few digital shots to garner some ideas I looked into gaining access to the building itself. Numerous phone calls later I was dealt a major blow to the project. The building, having sustained serious damage in a fire three years ago, is now in such a bad state of repair that entry would not be possible. It is literally collapsing in on it's self.

So that was in the inside of the structure out of the picture per se. I still want to pursue entry but at the moment I'll need to content myself with exterior shots and perhaps, just maybe, i can sneak past all the skanky pigeons who now reside in the towers and gutted main wards area and get some results. Who knows.