Mark Power in an English photographer born in Harpenden, England 1959. He is a Professor of Photography in The Faculty of Arts and Architecture at the University of Brighton. Power embarked on creating The Shipping Forecast between the years of 1992 and 1996. This project involved travelling to and photographing all 31 areas covered by the Shipping Forecast broadcast on BBC Radio 4. I like that this work is very specific and structured so Power knows exactly where he is going to be making his photographs. This particular project was published as a book and was a touring exhibition across the UK and France. Power drove around in a car for the entire project taking inspiration of works from Tony Ray-Jones.
Mark Power [1959 – present]Tony Ray-Jones
Tony Ray-Jones was an English photographer who inspired Power. He died in 1972 at only age 30. Ray-Jones was a documentary photographer who took interest in photographing the way of the British and wanted to delve into this more in depth. He wanted to look at his own society in a new way by using irony, compassion, nostalgia and humour. He became hugely influential on the development of British documentary photography from the 1970s through to the present.
“My aim is to communicate something of the spirit and the mentality of the English, their habits and their way of life, the ironies that exist in the way they do things, partly through their traditions and partly through the nature of their environment and their mentality.” – Tony Ray-Jones
I particularly like this photograph with the small boy lung down on the beach seemingly tired. It looks as if he is fiddling with the sand instead of playing with the digger toy next to him. The spectator is able to see that this young boy is getting tired and just wants to chill out so he decided to lye on the sand and just wait for his parents to come and get him to go home. I like this image because it is simple. The subject is what the spectators eyes will be drawn to straight away as he is the only object around other than the sand and the background beach houses. This image is from the series The Shipping Forecast and mainly based on the beaches of each weather forecast location covered by BBC Radio 4.
Another image that I like is the one above because it really is a candid action shot. It brings in some nostalgia for me of when I was younger and when my parents used to have to lift me up from the waves coming for me when I was too small to stand against them myself. I really like this image as it does bring back some funny memories with my family. It is an image that I think a lot, if not everyone, can relate to at some point or other in their lives. It is such a simple image but holds so many memories and good times. The subjects in this image don’t necessarily matter, it is more about what they are doing and what the image is bringing to the spectator. The wave looks so huge compared to the little boy who would defiantly been taken under by it yet it in comparison to the woman holding him the wave doesn’t seem so big, it looks a lot smaller and less intimidating. The wave does look very powerful in this image and that it could knock the both of them down. I also like the woman in the background who doesn’t look phased at all by the wave as she just seems to be walking straight through it. This image shows many different emotions with the small boy looking scared/worried and the woman in the background looking chilled out and not bothered. This image reminds me of all the times as a young child that I would overdramatise everything and that most things seemed like a big deal whereas now they become meaningless and are not to be dwelled on. That comes with age and maturity but I love that this image shows that, in a way. This is a great documentation of families on the beach and how usually people are. The woman doesn’t have her bikini strap on obviously she has been trying to tan and not get a paler line along her back from the straps when her son/possibly brother asked her to play in the water with him. The young boy is wearing armbands, learning how to swim and he also has goggles. This images makes me think of how when you were young you didn’t really care about anything, in the way you looked or the way people saw you but as you get older you tend to care a whole lot more about your image. I do really like this image as there is a lot going on and the spectator is able to access memories just by looking at this particular image.
![Mark Power [1959 - present]](https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo16a2/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/10/Ouside-In-A-Magnum-Photo-Showcase-Mark-Power-Portrait-3-1024x681.jpg)
