For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
Julian Germain created a series of photographs over a period of eight years of an elderly gentleman, Charles Snelling, living in Portsmouth. Germain met Charles Snelling in April 1992. He has been described as a simple and gentle man, who loved colour therefore surrounded himself by colour. Although Germain does not focus on photographing people who have died or have had a personal connection with, but he creates meaningful photographs which reflect the man’s life. The images express his personality and emotions, they demonstrate the simplicity and beauty of his life. I especially like the portrait made of him on the beach eating an ice cream because it just shows ordinary aspects of his life. Another photograph I think it really effective within the project is the image of Snelling about to have breakfast, I think it works well because it is a daily routine most people partake in. Scrapbooks have been included into the project in order for the reader to gain a sense and understanding of Snelling’s life before Germain began photographing him. The style of the scrapbook is very cinematic and they have authenticity that cannot be captured in the modern photographs. Germain’s photographs have a shallow depth of field which are rich and artfully composed. I think a great deal of the images produced in the project are able to be related to, most audiences can understand and feel connected to what Germain is trying to show. The book is straight and honest, there is no hidden message or underlying agenda. It is simply a portrait of an elderly man’s life. The beautiful title of the book quotes the American natural philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Germain narrates Snelling’s organised life, from his daily routines, solving cross word puzzles and listening to music.
‘Without ever trying or intending to, he showed me that the most important things in life cost nothing at all. He was my antidote to modern living.’
‘The important things in life, as Julian Germain shows, are free. One just has to be willing to embrace them.’
