Mark Power's Gallery.

 This image was my favourite from his series 'Black Country Stories' (the gallery we visited in Walsall). the story was that he noticed this pile before returning to his hotel room and re-visited in the morning to photograph as it looked like this. It's rather unusual, especially as the pieces of bread aren't even whole. It's like people are just throwing away the bits that they didn't like (the crusts) to the birds. However, the pile in the centre looks like bread crumbs which creates unusual shapes- circle in the centre surrounded by lines and squares.

I found this image really interesting due to the amount of quirky objects found within the skip- even the skip itself is painted half purple and half yellow, it looks out of place and fruity. In the skip is a large painting which could possibly be of great value but this could have gone unnoticed by the viewer or possibly the owner too. It is ironic that the house next door supports CCTV cameras which suggests that it is monitoring the painting much like a gallery or exhibition, where the skip is helping the painting to be propped up for viewing.

 

For this project, Mark Power photographed many subjects such as urban landscapes, beauty salons, Gentleman's clubs, shopping arcades, tattoo studios, spray tan parlours and people's shoes on the pavement. He manages to 'reveal the beauty in the everyday and overlooked' as although the images show 'dirty pole-dancing clubs' and people trying to improve themselves with make-up as they hate their appearance, these are the ideas that ensure that the town contains thriving businesses and essentially what the town is most proud of. The negative views are then hidden amongst the success and beauty of the businesses. I really enjoyed this gallery and it genuinely inspired me to see the beauty within the world rather than taking things with their face value. :D

 

This image stood out to me, especially in correspondence to the 'gentleman's clubs' seen in other images. Although Mark Power took images of random people's feet, these particular pair of heels look quite tacky and suggest that her profession may be within one of these clubs. You can see this by how cheap the shoes look, as well as the unkempt look of the nail varnish on her toes. The detail in the leggings emphasises the sexy/lacy texture and possibly lingerie.

Looking at the juxtaposition of images situated around the room, I noticed that the photograph of an elderly gentleman's, smart shoes on the pavement helped to represent a frail innocence. This was hung next to the clip of the dancers in the 'gentleman's club' not wearing much to cover their bodies. This contradicts the previous image and suggests that innocence isn't always quite as pure as you'd think. As these clubs were thriving, the chances are that many people attended.