Winding Wood Opera - Arriving

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Winding Wood Opera - The performance and lunch

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Morocco
April 2011

Morocco is an extraordinary bubble where the middle ages meets the 21st century. In the capital, Marrakesh, the rambling and colossal souk hides under canopies held together with bits of rope, soldered metal and spliced wiring.

Hanging from the supports are all manner of products from shoes to chandeliers and bicycle tyres to bananas.

Thousands of local artisans move through the maze of lock up shops jostling for passage between donkeys, motor scooters and bewildered tourists. 

When you venture onto a roof top you see the whole low rise vista dotted with satellite dishes, with the Atlas Mountains beckoning in the distance, across a dry desert scrub.

The call to prayer bellows out from the central Mosque at various times of the day, amplified electrically so that in the din of the alleyways, you can hear Allah’s word.

Europeans have colonised a lot of these town houses and this is evident from the manicured roof terraces and smarter awnings providing shelter from the baking sun.

No Moroccan sunbathes, so their terraces are storage depositories or places to sit at nightfall to enjoy mint tea, a cigarette or some finger food.

Before the tragedy of the recent bomb blast, the Agana Cafe was a well-known haunt for tourists and locals as it sits next to the closest entrance to the souk.

Indeed we sat there and used it as 'base' for three days just before the terrorist explosion. In the immense main square in front of it, the food stalls cater for 60,000 people a day with kebabs, salads, nuts, dates and all manner of fruits and cakes.

It is a snacker’s heaven and while you decide which to frequent, the sound of drumming, flute music and chanting hangs on the smoke laden air from the charcoal burners. Snake charmers and water sellers tout themselves for photographs at 10 Dirham a time.

As that is a pound a shot you must be choosy of your picture needs. What's more they are canny and know that if your camera is set on burst, at 4 frames a second, they can ask 10 Dirham for each frame!  

I hope visitors to do not flee from Morocco fearing terrorist atrocities.

Its palaces, people, countryside and hospitality are fabulously enticing, right on the doorstep of Europe and in the same time zone.

The team at Eye saw the potential for a rich and varied workshop and are planning a trip there in May 2012.

Two Day EYE Photographic workshop at The Lightbox, Woking.
February 2011

Conscious that not all photography enthusiasts are based in or around London, EYE looked for an exciting new venue for an out of town two day workshop. We discovered the Lightbox, an award winning gallery and museum, in Woking and held our first two day workshop there last month.

Although the weather was truly awful, casting a monochrome look and feel over Woking, the workshop was a great success, as you will see from the feedback from one participant below.

People often ask us how we accommodate people with different skills and interests and this workshop really demonstrated how well we do that.

We always keep our workshops small with a ratio of around one tutor to four participants so that everyone can receive the individual attention they require. So the different interests on this occasion included architecture, portraiture, landscape and abstract.

As with all EYE workshops, this was action-packed – fast paced and structured, yet relaxed and informal. Having determined everyone’s level of experience and their particular interests Michael Potter, our lead photographer and Director of EYE, introduced the group to the fundamentals of ISO, f-stops and shutter speeds by way of a talk and visual presentation.

The group then proceeded to put into practice all they had learned – photographing the interiors of the Lightbox and turning the camera on one another to experience both sides of the lens.

The group then braved the elements and went to the Brookwood American Military Cemetery, where the dampness and poor light provided excellent conditions for the use of monochrome. This was followed by some still life food photography which was also lunch!

Throughout the two days the weather meant we always had to take into account light, composition, background, lens choice etc as well as taking particular care of the equipment in the drizzle – all good practical experience.

There was not much in the way of wining and dining, apart from the odd beer, but plenty of teas and coffees and ginger biscuits to keep us going.
On the first day we ate at the Lightbox’s Palette Café and the following day sheltered from the rain in the White Hart pub in a village 10 minutes drive from Woking. During both meals, camera bodies and lenses adorned the tables, conversation kept returning to all things photographic and the food doubled up as still life opportunities.

Each day finished with a downloading and editing session, which forms a crucial part of digital photography and requires discipline and basic file management as well as editing skills. Finally, each participant was asked to whittle down their images and select their best seven from which the tutors created a 35 image, three minute slideshow set to music with contributions from everyone.

Everyone worked really well together, supporting each other and having a stimulating and engaging time and the feedback was excellent.

We are now looking forward to the next workshop on the Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th March and hoping for some Spring sunshine.