Today I printed off the pool of pictures that I intend to make my final selection from. There are 40 in total. I have to weed them down to 6 -10 for the assignment. Re-reading Michael Freeman’s excellent post on the Life magazine story a country doctor by W.Eugene Smith I can relate that story to my own in several ways. There are two different levels to the editorial construction. The first is the obvious human interest story and the second is around the issues like growing old and aging, how we treat our old people. Related to this, but perhaps not separate is the issue around how we treat people with illness.
I have now laid the 40 individual small photographs on a large piece of mounting board and began to shuffle them around it. straight away it becomes easy to remove and discount some because there are others that are better versions of the same image. I have decided I think on my opening establishing shot and it will be this:
My reason for choosing it are because of the mood of the image, the dark brooding sky, I think my dad looking out to sea is a metaphor for remembering the past and or contemplating the future and what is to come. Also the scale here is good, he looks small to me set into the big landscape with that dark sky. From a pace and continuity point of view also it is a good opening shot, leaving an amount of curiosity that will help to draw the viewer on to the next image.
From here on in it gets more complicated and difficult to choose. One thing I realise though is that what I had in my head involved too many images. If I want to address each issue I need to do it with less images than I had envisaged. I also see clearer other images that I would have previously overlooked. For instance this image here:
From the point of view of a day in the life, which is the title of the assignment it is good because it is a morning shot. If you look at the table it is set for breakfast. The mood again is contemplative, remembering.
The next couple of shots I have selected could be good inserted here because they change the mood and introduce some tension. Which might again sustain interest.
I chose this because of my Dad’s body language. The way the nurse is looking at the paper and not at him. His hands remind me of someone waiting to receive communion, subservient to authority.
And here I like the facial expressions and there is tension here.
I have two possibilities chosen next:
This one shows my Dad in his surroundings. In his place and he has a great facial expression too, it’s the first time we see him laugh. He is dressed for work too and this could be a good bridge between the let couple of images and the next series of him at work. Although the image is not 100 percent sharp.
Here again he is in his surroundings. His facial expression is not as lighthearted, he is concentrating. His hands are the main focus here, they are quite expressive I think.
Another possibility here for a link to the next section is this image:
it introduces a certain amount of humor and we see that my Dad has a companion too, we can see him in the background getting ready to work. I think that this image would also express my own take on him as a subject, I see my own sense of humor here.
an alternative would be this one:
Which might be good because we are not sure what happens next. Also it shows where he lives. Could this represent a challenge? Something to be overcome?
This introduces the subject of work and my Father never stops working. He is always doing something. I like how expressive his hands are here. The subject of work is about a return to normality an assertion of his independence.
Chopping wood. Preparing for the future. This is a strong image.
More work and again my own sense of humor comes through I think in this image. What else does this say? Nothing will stand in his way perhaps? Perhaps seen in relation to the bigger picture I should consider removing this.
Coming to end now so I thought it would be good to introduce a change in pace again. 
Again I like his hand in this image. Could you describe his look here as reverential I wonder? He looks intent on what he is doing though. I am not sure if it clear here that he is drinking his whiskey from an egg cup. The new medication means he must be more careful about the amount of alcohol he consumes, it’s an evening shot too. The pace is changed here too, it has slowed.
Closing shot. I have two possibilities:
The first is my favorite:
it shows him with the photos of his kids and grand kids all around him. I like his facial expression and I like the lightness of it compared to the opening shot. The fact that his hands are moving gives it energy.
The second alternative is this:
we are on the beach again and so the narrative has turned full circle. But this time the mood is lighter, the sky is lighter and Dad’s facial expression is much lighter, he is laughing. Perhaps this is saying that although we face troubles and that sometimes we may have to deal with challenges we can get through it and carry on. It’s interesting to compare the two possibilities actually. If I had looked at the first one I would have thought it was the best but side by side I almost see it as too idealized, too much of a fairy tale ending compared to the image above. Perhaps this image is about the need for hope despite what life throws at us. In a sense I think this is the more real of the two.
I think I need to leave this now for a day and come back to it tomorrow. I aim to get it finished this week. Its been an interesting exercise to lay out the images on paper and it has made it easy to see the possible dead ends in the narrative that I could have led myself up. It’s also made it easier to see the pace and the continuity. There were several ideas that I had and took photos around that I no longer need at all. They might have fitted into a longer story but with only 10 final images they become extraneous to requirements.
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