The Electric Jellyfish...?

On from yesterday's nod to Jackson Pollock, here is another elaboration on a fairly ordinary Salisbury street Christmas light. Same lens, same technique, though this has been edited with shadow detail enhanced which makes the individual strands clearer.

A long time ago, in a camera club evening where we had quite a prominent guest, whose name I've obviously forgotten! said that despite all his sharp, superbly composed medium format landscapes, he had sold more out-of-focus pictures than sharp ones, which raised a awkward laugh amongst us.

This is pertinent as I had done similar pix on these same, recycled lights, three or four years ago, but with a tripod. As well as rotating the camera, I also zoomed during the exposure, too. Then, about 18 months ago, whilst an image or two had been resting lazily on my website, I had an email from one of the largest/most significant provincial theatres in the country, Salisbury Playhouse.

Six months later, 20,000 programmes for the new Autumn season, each with the image as the front cover, giant posters and with their patrons such as Sting (& wife Trudie), Timothy West and a few others who you will probbaly have heard of, who would have at least seen it, though I know they wouldn't have checked the small printed photo credit. Well, you guessed it - their whole PR department adapting one of these squiggly electric images into a New Era corporate image, all safely in the knowledge (for them) that they were supporting a local snapper.

What they liked was that it was unique, very unusual and was 'electric' and best summed up their new 'era'. Cos the image is far more organic - you can zoom in to any magnification and you will see yet new patterns emerging. Yes, money was swapped and a whole year's free theatre for two. The image was even talked about at the PR Press/Friends Of special Club event, with the finished image projected to an insane size - this was really my moment. I got to know more people in influential, if not exactly financially rewarding, position, as we all know public funding for the Arts is at an all-time low.

So, next time you see a wiggly squiggly jellyfish type thing bear in mind that it's got more of a market than your perfect calendar-type landscape. You have been warned...

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