Snap

At the weekend I went to Bradford.

Leaving the station I was surprised to hear the cathedral bells ringing. 'I wonder what can be the cause,' I thought. And then I noticed the reason for the pealing bells.... work had finally begun to put a roof on the world's largest swimming pool.

My reason for going to Bradford was to take the kids to the Media Museum. As a museum it has serious limitations, not least because the exhibits hardly ever change, but the kids enjoy it - and the Darlek - and I have always rather enjoyed the photography exhibitions... which do occasionally change.

The current exhibition is called Only in England, and features the work of Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr.

I enjoyed the pictures, Martin Parr rather more than Tony Ray Jones - who for me was rather more interested in finding and recording the grotesque. And though Ray Jones had probably twice as many pictures as Parr, there were only maybe two or three that provoked more than a second look. The stand out piece being the picture of the mod girl on Brighton beach, with a portable turntable.

Whereas I found Parr's pictures far more interesting.

I was particularly struck by the a set of trestles laid out for a street party for the Queen's jubilee and in the background are puddles of sheeting rain.

But there were others that are worthy of merit - the three ladies going to church with the cow, the people at the buffet table for the inauguration of mayor of Todmorden (particularly the way in captures each individuals attitude to food, the woman eyeing the pork pie was very good) and the entrants at the best mouse content.

When I had finished being a grumpy parent - quite why children of 6 and 3 should be interested in images of a by-gone world that are displayed two feet above their heads, I'm not sure... not that it stopped me going into slightly insane parent mode - I got to thinking about the differences between visual and written arts.

Although people often talk about layers, and such, in poetry the reality is that the perspective of the point of view very rarely leads to much beyond the surface.

For instance the street party picture.

One might describe the sodden tables, the spoiled food, the flapping table clothes, and then lead the reader into the puddles in the mid-ground, but it is very rare to carry on to the waste ground beyond and the sky. And if an attempt is made, it all too often becomes laden with fake political statements. Because Parr is making a statement about poverty, one only needs to look the houses, the food, cinder tracks, the dark rough grass. And, given that this occurs in the 1970's there are all kinds of memes and tropes that could be be woven into this scene - very few of which would have much relevance in what is essentially a representation of community spirit.

And obviously a poem, or a piece of prose, would not have the instant impact, and the accidental touches, that make a photograph so interesting.

The exhibition is well worth a visit if you are in the Bradford area.

My only regret is that I didn't get my dates sorted out in advance because they were having a widescreen film festival and I really want to see This is Cinerama - though clearly not badly enough to make the simplest of arrangements.


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