Mary Attfield
Introduction
After an education in science and law, Mary had a career in industrial training and education development.
She took up photography as an antidote to work concerns. At first, being short of time, she only produced trade-processed colour slides but, from the early 1990s, has concentrated on monochrome prints,
Until now she has worked in the darkroom but 2007 will be a turning point for her, as she intends to move over to digital methods of print production sometime towards the end of the year.
Mary's philosophy
Having always had an interest in paintings, sculpture, colour and design but lacking the ability to be truly creative in any of these fields, photography has proved to be the ideal outlet for the more creative side of my makeup. A fascination with human nature has been the other driving force behind my work.
Colour was my first concern. While working solely in the medium of colour slides, in which my only input was at the taking stage, I moved towards a limited colour range and awareness of design and space in the picture frame. When I took up monochrome photography, this led naturally to an initial concentration on design, perspective and lighting - themes that I pursued without the inclusion of a human element.
Portraying people in colour had never really appealed to me because I found them too distracting in the type of image I was looking for and in any case I was not bold enough to consider it. But, gradually and without realising it, I became more confident about incorporating people in my monochrome pictures. Now I hardly ever take a picture that does not include a human element.
I take observational photographs in which I hope to capture never to be repeated “slices of life”. This usually means working in urban situations, outdoors or inside buildings - wherever people are to be found. Apart from going out with the intention of looking for pictures, I never plan my work, beyond searching for a location that looks to have potential and then waiting for things to happen.
What fascinates me is the transience of moments in time and the intriguing way in which people react to one another and their surroundings. I hope such photographs will also say something to future generations about the way we live now. I want my pictures to transmit what I think and feel when taking them and to portray something about the human condition. Whether they do or not is another matter!
A manual camera, two lenses and two filters are my standard equipment. More would reduce the mobility and speed of reaction I need. Some people carry a camera everywhere. I do not. I need to concentrate fully in order to see things properly, so prefer to devote times specifically to photography and to work entirely on my own, without time constraints.
Monochrome printing in the darkroom suits my work, so this is the method I have been using. When I move to digital, I intend to use it only to ease the printing process, aiming for at least the quality I have recently been able to produce in the darkroom. I would regard it as a loss of reality or integrity to alter substantially any “slice of life” picture I have taken, so manipulation does not appeal to me. In any case I shall be on a huge learning curve, so it will be best to keep things as simple as possible! I can imagine that colour will also become an area of interest again. I shall try to keep an open mind.