London

I have definitely been drawn to black and white photography, a format I had not used since my C&G course some 8 years ago. As the course was an introduction to black and white photography, we focussed on the darkroom and I was actually quite surprised at how quickly I got back into it. The smell of chemicals was strangely familiar and the whole process was very satisfying. Maybe I need to get out more! Once I had achieved the final print and particularly when it was appreciated by fellow students and staff, I felt a rush of adrenaline race through me and quickly scanned the negatives for my next ‘masterpiece’. Ok, so slight exaggeration there, but I did find the darkroom experience most satisfying.

There was a gap of about 6 months when I was unable to use the darkroom as we were under pressure to get assignments in and all that malarkey. I recently took some films that I had taken when visiting London with my niece over the summer.

Having practiced Street Photography, I decided to use the opportunity to document the lives of the weird and wonderful people in and around Camden Market. This was my niece’s first experience of Camden, so I gave her my digital camera to use so she could follow suit and capture the sights and sounds of the bustling market stalls and shops.

The area is so vibrant and diverse that I wanted to try to capture that spirit. You can be who you want to be there and no one bats an eyelid. The nearest alternative we had in Manchester was around Afflecks Palace, a converted department store that housed a variety of stalls selling an eclectic mix of clothes, knick-knacks and paraphernalia.

The camera I used was a Pentax MZ-5N with a FA1:1.9 43mm fixed lens. The whole set up is not that big so I can surreptitiously snap away at the crowd whist impersonating a tourist. I have sussed out the best way to capture the more interesting subjects is to pretend to photograph something slightly to the side of them and wait for them to walk into the shot, or simply take the shot and run…

© Andrea Percival

 The one negative aspect of using films is the time factor even though in my opinion, I do prefer the end product to digital photos. I developed the films myself and used a negative scanner to produce the photographs. Again it was the time factor that led me to choose the scanner over the darkroom. I am intending to set up a studio near to my home and once this is completed, I will be able to use the darkroom more often.