Selecting a Subject

My choice of poem was not immediately obvious as I had little experience of poetry. The only poems I remember are war poems from ‘O’ Level English Literature by Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. However, war was not a subject I wanted to tackle at this stage.

After a little research I came across Norman MacCaig. His Wikipedia entry [1] describes him as “a Scottish poet and teacher. His poetry is known for its humour and simplicity of language”. Just what I was after, plus he had a famous poem from 1988 about a train journey.

London to Edinburgh

I’m waiting for the moment
when the train crosses the Border
and home creeps closer
at seventy miles an hour.

I dismiss the last four days
and their friendly strangers
into the past
that grows bigger every minute.

The train sounds urgent as I am,
it says home and home and home.
I light a cigarette
and sit smiling in the corner.

Scotland, I rush towards you
into my future that,
every minute,
grows smaller and smaller.

by Norman MacCaig (1910-1996)

I travel to work every day by train and have grown up using the railways on family trips so it is a subject that I can be creative with. This poem is about a journey, saying goodbye to the past, longing to get home and looking to the remainder of the future.

This is a gentle poem, relaxing in the moment and reflective of the past and the future. An acceptance that life rushes by and a longing to spend the rest of it in his home town. There is contentment in the poem in the knowledge that he will be home soon.

The exercise specifically says that images should not be a literal description of the poem so no signs of London or Edinburgh and no express trains. Allude to speed and train travel but not locomotives. The essence of the poem is about a life, a journey, past friends, home and ageing (possibly death).

Initial image ideas are:

Shots of trackside through train carriage windows.

Reflections through carriage windows or shiny loco surface

Images capturing motion but not great speed
“home creeps closer, at seventy miles an hour”

Trackside cemetery shot through a carriage window

Town boundary, where urban meets rural.

Comfortable indoor nostalgic scene.

Memories / old photos

Family group scenes / family gatherings

Misty/smokey/warm scene

I spent five hours shooting at the Bluebell Railway where I took 1100 photos. Although I had a list of the types of shot I wanted it was still a difficult task capturing the vision I had in my mind for the set.

The next task was to select a short list of 20 or so but I had already identified that the ‘journey’ was going to be difficult to make selects due to the different situations that I had captured.

The exercise has shown me that a lot of work, time and patience is required to create a set to convey the ‘feeling’ of the poem. Up until now exercises, and even assignments, have been rushed and are delivered as complete even though the end product could be improved with more thought and reflection.

My final selection attempts too convey a journey using repetition and passing scenery shot through a carriage window. This places the viewer in the position of the subject in the poem. I think I have captured the journey aspect, nostalgia and rushing to get home. What I have not been successful at is capturing the element of a life, recollecting the past and wondering about the future and getting old.

Motion Set
Currently I have 8 images in an ‘impressionist’ style, created by a combination of the moving train and slow shutter speed, to reflect the feelings conveyed to me by the poem. However, future work would be required to capture a sense of a life lived and the ageing process. An ideal shot would be a line side graveyard to convey this. I could add more views but I do not have enough variety, although I like the idea of similar repeating images to create a longer journey.

The start and closing images have been selected to specifically capture the start and end of the journey/life. The seat on the platform represents the friends and strangers met in the past and now gone. The platform seat also introduces the viewer to the theme of a railway journey. The core images capture the passing scenery as the train continues on the trip home, which is represented in the penultimate image. The final image shows the journey at an end and some choices for the remainder of the journey/life.

Comfortable Set
Feedback on the ‘Motion Set’ was that there was too much blur which made it uncomfortable and cold. I still prefer the ‘Motion Set’ as I think it is lyrical and conveys progression. I decided to put together another set which is warmer and more engaging. Unfortunately there are too many styles and as a result they do not hang together as a set. The journey is too literal and does not have the same pace as the motion set.