Seven Up - Best of 2023 — Hugh Rawson Photography

I’ve always believed that it’s best to leave your images for sometime before processing them. You might call it letting them marinate. And I suppose that the same principle applies to this post because I’ve left it several months into 2024 to reflect on my images from 2023.

The images I’ve chosen are a combination of the ones that had the most likes on Instagram and a few of my own favourites. You will notice that these are all colour. I did have one or two black-and-white images that I wanted to include. However, they looked out of place within the overall feel of the colour gallery. There may well be a follow up post of black and whites.

With each image, I’ll try to give you an idea of how the image came to be. Not so much about meta data, but more about how I came to see the image as I did – the moment, the perspective, the point of view, and, perhaps most importantly, the feeling I was trying to put across at the time.

No use.

This may be my favourite image of last year because I’ve never actually seen anything quite like it. I do like using frames in my images. However, these tend to be fairly typical or obvious frames such as windows, doors or the side of a lamp post or an edge of a building to close off one side of the image. This was actually the reverse side of the cafe sign and I took the opportunity to shoot through the letters.

Inevitably, you will be wondering what the sign was. This was taken at the copper kettle, a very well-known café opposite Kings College in Cambridge. this is the reverse side of the entrance and the sign, reads restaurant and coffee house (or something like that). it was very much a spur of the moment shop; I hadn’t gone looking for it, I’ve never noticed it before. It was simply an opportune moment as I left the café.

As is so often the case, the café was full. Fortunately for me, on this occasion, it was filled by people wearing complementary shades of blue and grey which also resonated with the frosted grey blue glass of the window. Not only that, but the bright yellow of the butter on the plate on the right hand side, complements the blues beautifully everyone in the image, appears to be either engrossed in their food, or in conversation, No single person is shown fully, but each is impacted by the opaque frame. the frame itself, the letters ES and U in reverse also invite the question as to what they spell out.

To me, this is what street photography is all about– noticing things that are seemingly hiding in plain sight, making something every day noticeable and beautiful.

Very Tempting.

This image is connected to the previous one by being shot at a café. Whereas inverted commas no use “was shot on the exit from the café, this image was shot while enjoying the coffee on a sunny Sunday morning in June. As far as I’m concerned, from the moment I’ll leave the house until I return the camera stays by my side, and every second is a chance to make an image. Resting my legs, enjoying a flat white and a cheeky croissant can only improve the photographic experience.

This is an area of London That has changed hugely in the last few decades. Just off Tooley Street, new buildings of chrome steel and glass have replaced the Dickensian warehouses alongside the Thames of two centuries ago. it’s an area that is fun to shoot in all kinds of light and weathers. However, it is also prone to the over officious security guard and so shooting with a small bodied camera is recommended. Walking around with a fistful of DSLR always seem to get me, stopped and moved along. With the rangefinder no one seems concerned.

With one eye on the street, I will often choose to sit in the window in a café. I think I had to shuffle myself along a few times in order to give myself a view of Tower Bridge while also maintaining a clear view of that column of bright light. It’s always good to include a view of a landmark to give the viewer summit information about where the image was taken. This isn’t a photo about Tower Bridge, but I like the fact that it’s a small part of the frame. This pedestrianised area can get very busy and it wasn’t as quiet as perhaps it seems. Waiting for a solitary figure to frame themselves against that almost white background. Without anyone else in the frame took some time. It would have been cleaner without the small huddle of three people in the right hand frame moving towards the bridge – you can’t have it all.

The words “very tempting” on the sign at the bottom of the image, give the image its title. But I can’t help but wonder if they are a distraction. Of course, I could have removed them in post processing. However, that goes against the grain with me – if it’s in it stays in.

Part of what makes the image work for me, is the combination of straight lines in the geometry of the buildings, the shadows with the diagonal light of the windows, showing on the building ahead, and the curves of the lamps of the café, as well as the reflection. It’s almost as if there are three suns in a kind of Star Wars way. The blue tones of the morning complement the warmth of the sun and the globe lighting well. In fact, I initially posted this image in black-and-white, and it was more successful in terms of likes on Instagram than this colour version.

Lake Michigan Handrails

A blazing hot day, lakeside in Chicago; the harsh concrete platform, and the bright red handrails contrast beautifully with the inviting blue of Lake Michigan. Here, the beauty of the lake is only approached via the concrete jetty and the bright red handrails. The natural environment harshly butts against the man-made. It is partly this contrast that appeals to me.

In a more abstract way, I love the rectangles made by the two sides of the red handrail and the corresponding diamond, lozenge shaped shadows on the concrete. Similarly, the way the top of the handrails lineup with the horizon is aesthetically very satisfying.

There will be those that argue that this is not street photography. To me, street photography can be taken anywhere– in the street, on the beach, in the subway, at the airport, hey, even on the moon. The essential elements are that the image is candid and that there is evidence of human intervention.

Veil Descending

In a way, this image is more typical of the way I shoot. If there is such a thing as a contact sheet with digital images, you would see that this image is a one off. I was not working the scene; there was no image like this before or after it. It exists on its own.

To me, this is the real thrill of street photography – coming across a one-off moment or instance, which is gone in a flash (no pun intended). This was taken at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. It’s a magnificent building and, on an August afternoon, gorgeous, warm light floods the space. Rounding a corner on one of the walkways I came across this scene. I quickly brought the camera to my eye and did my best to frame all the converging lines of the arches as best I could.

The warm tones of the wood and the sunlight, the purity of the museum walls, and the main characters outfit beautifully complement the turquoise veil.

I find that the more I look at this picture, the more I see. It’s a complex mix of lines and light, shadows and curves and diagonals. It all takes place within the arch and there’s an inner arch which gently skirts the side of the outer arch. To capture the woman in the centre of the arch was almost entirely down to luck. The time it took her to move through what is probably less than 10 feet of that stairwell was just enough to get my one shot. If you look closely, there is another figure observing the scene from a window above. I think I wish she wasn’t there, but that’s street photography.

Swallowed

This is London Waterloo station, where the light at certain times of day is stunning, especially now that the old Eurostar rail terminal has been repurposed as additional platforms. Golden light pours down onto the lower concourse

Here, the shadows have a personality of their own, a dark, looming presence , which almost seems to chase the solitary figure from the scene. He’s clearly not hurrying, he’s being drawn into the subterranean safety of the London underground system. It makes me think Bill Brandt’s images of Londoners sheltering on the platforms during the Blitz in 1940.

Perhaps this is the last leg of our chap’s journey as he leaves behind the vestiges of his day, or maybe he’s heading out for an evening with mates. Either way the dark looming presence will soon be left behind. Maybe the poster asking “how did we do?” is calling him to reflect at the end of his working day.

A Shade After Twelve

This image was one of several I took within a very short space of time. I like them all, though mostly I prefer them in black-and-white. One showed just the architecture - the parliament building, Westminster Bridge, the Elizabeth Tower, and the arch, which frames them all. The modern graffiti contrasts sharply with the classical Victorian architecture in the distance. I have to assume the architecture will outlast the modern art. Another image was filled with tourists, umbrellas up, photographing the same scene without a thought for me who had been standing there all along – never mind, they actually improved the scene, as is so often the way. The image I’ve chosen makes the most of the individual and her red umbrella under that gunmetal sky.

The three different images were clearly taken within seconds of each other as the hands of the clock show. This one was taken just moments after midday - enabling me to use the pun a shade after twelve.

Time Stands Still

Baker Street has to be one of the most photographed tube stations. This is not the classic view and could’ve been taken in almost any of the hundreds of London Underground stations. I am always drawn to shooting on the tube. It’s not just that each station is different and has its own style. It’s not just the beautiful curves of the ceilings on the platforms and how they intersect with the straight lines of the track and the markings. For me there is a real thrill in taking photographs of people in an environment where you can easily be spotted or found out.

On the platforms, and even more so on the trains themselves, people are huddled close together for a concentrated slice of time. Everyone is waiting for the same thing – the train to pull in, the train to pull out, and for the train to reach its destination. For an intense time, everyone shares the same experience and there’s no escape if you are caught.

I went for a slow shutter speed and held steady - always a challenge in a rangefinder without image stabilisation. Luckily, the solitary passenger didn’t move as the train pulled in, enabling me to catch the moving train, while everything else is frozen still. I like the warm tones of the woman and her coat which compliment the cooler blues of the train as it moves through.

I’d love to know your thoughts. Let me know in the comments.

Oh… and happy New Year!