Twelve participants contributed 32 images in response to Tim Ewbank’s challenge to take photographs in two categories, close-up and book titles. The 18 close ups included 12 diverse subjects, from seeds to a camera and spiders to calligraphy, with some pictures including more than one subject – flowers (8) and insects (7) dominated. The photographers of the 14 book title pictures all chose something different, from Catcher in the Rye to The Godfather and The Screwtape Letters to A Diamond as Big as the Ritz. Fiction was more popular than non-fiction.
We Zoomed to look at and discuss the images on the 20th July. Most of the close ups were fairly straight pictures, but they still required a combination of skill and the right equipment to get good images. Nine of the book titles were illustrated with straight pictures and five were artful manipulations using props. People enjoyed sharing tales of how and where the pictures were made, including how effects were achieved using manipulation software. Some people felt free to include images not made during lockdown, which seemed a bit unfair. All images are available at https://www.zimbushboy.org/lockdown-2020.
I chose to submit book titles – I have no real interest in close up and have neither the equipment nor the skill to do it properly. I took the pictures to meet Tim’s brief, so an analysis of why they were taken, what they are of and what they are about is not appropriate. All are from a trip to St Davids in early July.