US Military Photographer of the Year 2012

The winners of the 2012 US Military Photographer of the year award has been announced.  With all of the freelance photographers currently risking their lives in war zones across the world I am always interested to see how military personnel are allowed to publically portray themselves in competitions like this.  Having served in the military myself I am acutely aware of how easy it is for these events to be hijacked as a public relations or political exercise.

Category: Combat camera operational, honorable mention

Army soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment deployed to Combat Outpost Sabari in Afghanistan scan the area as they begin a multi-day air assault mission May 2 in the eastern Khost province, near the Pakistani border.

Staff Sgt. Joshua L. DeMotts / U.S. Air Force

Category: Portrait-personality, second place

An Afghan National Army soldier poses with a poppy near the village of Karizonah, in Khost province. In Afghanistan, the poppy crop is a major source of funding for extremist groups involved in the Taliban-led insurgency.

Staff Sgt. Joshua L. DeMotts / U.S. Marine Corps

Category: Combat camera operational, first place

Afghan National Army special operations and coalition forces search a compound March 23, 2012, in Southern Afghanistan during a raid targeting a Taliban sub-commander.

Staff Sgt. Sean K. Harp / U.S. Army

Category: Hardware, first place

U.S. Air Force equipment from the 820th RED HORSE Squadron, descends for support during Mobility Air Force Exercise over the Nevada Test and Training Range. 

Airman 1st Class. Daniel Hughes / U.S. Air Force

Category: Features, first place

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Lock and his wife, Chris, comfort his mother, Mary, as she takes her last breaths before passing away Oct. 22 at a nursing facility in Gloversville, N.Y. She was 87.

Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock / U.S. Air Force

The image above is my favourite from the whole competition, I guess it appeals to the documentary photographer in me.  I investigated further into this shot.  The photographer is Jeremy Lock, grandson of the subject.  He is currently a U.S. Air Force combat photojournalist stationed at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. with the 1st Combat Camera Squadron.  Over the years he has had seven winning entries in the Military Photographer of the Year competition.  Whilst serving as a photographer in Iraq in 2006 he was taking pictures of a group of marines that came under fire.  Several marines were hit and Lock put down his cameras, picked up an assault rifle, and helped provide covering fire as the injured were dragged to safety.  For his actions he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Lock, shown above, has worked around the world with the military.  His work has been published in Time and National Geographic magazines as well as major newspapers across the United States including The New York Times, The LA Times and The Washington Times. His work has also been published in books including "The War in Iraq" and "A Day in the Life of the United States Armed Forces."  

An interview with Lock from 2006 can be found HERE.  I found the following points from the interview interesting to read - especially as I've just recently watched the brilliant documentary McCullin:

What special precautions and/or equipment do you take when you're going to a combat area?
Well, lucky for me, I have a lot of military training that is required before we step foot in the war zone. And on this trip it has definitely worked. The training just kicks in which in turn helps you complete the mission. When I go out for a shoot here, I wear a Kevlar helmet, body armor, shooters vest with one lens (17-55mm) extra batteries and film cards, note pad and pen and some essential first aid supplies. I have a 9mm pistol strapped to my leg and carry 2 cameras (D1X with a 80-400mm lens and a D2X with a 12-24mm lens) At times I do interchange the lenses with different bodies depending on the effect or situation. With my photography I do not use flash unless I am in a studio. And for night missions I carry a night vision lens adapter, but don’t use it. I use all natural light. And I always pray for my safe return! 

What ethical considerations do you keep in mind while shooting in combat zones (civilians and military)?To capture the truth! When editing my photos I do not do anything that can not be done in a darkroom - unless I'm creating an illustration.
 What are some of the ethics issues in conflict areas?Knowing when to shoot and knowing when to put the camera down and help out with civilians or military.  I have not really had any problems in this area yet. I did have to put my camera down and help give first aid to a civilian who was shot because there was only one guy helping and he needed help.  In my experiences the people I am photographing know I am there, so act accordingly. If something did go amiss I would like to think I would stop it or shoot what’s going on and let the higher ups deal with it. Until you are put into that situation, you don't know.
 How did these instances affect you, and did your emotions impact the way you approached a photo?
I have not encountered any ethical issues over here. I did, however, have one when I was working on a story in a neo natal intensive care unit very early in my career.  I was shooting a family that gave me permission to shoot them and their baby died. Although I had permission I couldn’t bring the camera to my face. Later I talked about the situation with my fellow photographers and we all agreed, as long as I wasn’t obtrusive to the family, shooting from a distance, the family probably would of loved to have the last few moments with their baby captured on film to remember. Again you just never know until you are put in to these situations. I believe if you are a good person you will do the right thing.

A very short clip with Lock in action is HERE

Lock learnt his skills at the Defense Information School.  Some details of the courses run there can be found by looking through some of the links from the page ie for the Intermediate Photojournalism Course - the references page is useful, it seems that actually taking pictures is a very small part of the course.

Lock is currently the chief photographer for the Airman Magazine, the official magazine of the USAF, and some of his images for that publication can be found HERE.

More images from this year's competition can be found at:

The Telegraph

CBS News

The Daily Mail

Life After Zog - Chiara Tocci at the Third Floor Gallery

On Saturday 22 March I was lucky enough to attend the opening night of Life after Zog at the Third Floor Gallery in Cardiff.  The exhibition, by Chiara Tocci, is her response to seeing streams of disillusioned Albanians docking on the coasts of her home town in southern Italy in the early Nineties.

I was really impressed by this collection of images.  A lot of documentary photographers create images that 'shout' their story, I found that Tocci's series was very quiet and reserved - and made better for it.  The images are split into two smaller stories are are a mix of portraits, landscapes and still lifes.  The images are presented in square format and the colours of many of the images are muted.  For me it is the portraits that really make this series work.  

As I will be starting a Documentary Photography degree in September, I found it inspiring to learnt that Tocci is a formed student of the same course at the University of Wales Newport.  She graduated in 2010 and has quickly found success having already had several solo exhibitions internationally.  Her internet footprint is currently pretty small, but I predict that this is a photographer to watch in the future.

A book of Tocci's work in Albania has been published by Schilt Publishing under the title Life After Zog and Other Stories. You may be able to save a little money by looking at Amazon and picking up a well looked after second hand copy.  The book opens with an interesting narrative from Tocci in which she summarises the situation in Albania and explains where she took her images.

Chiara Tocci was the recipient of the 2010 Marco Pesaresi award and the winner of the Portrait Commission at the National Museum Wales and National Portrait Gallery, London. Her first solo show “Life after Zog and other stories” took place in September 2011 at Sifest (Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy) and then toured the Fnac galleries in Italy throughout 2012.

If you are lucky enough to be reading this post before 24 April 2013 and are close to Cardiff then you should get yourself down to the Third Floor Gallery to see these images on display.  The book is a good representation of the work but they look much better displayed on the gallery walls.

Other photographic series taken in Albania:

From Verve Photo site:

The Albanians by Joachim Ladefoged

Albania by David Clifford

Missing and Bertelec by Bevis Fusha

Third Floor Gallery: Hin Chau, Justin Maxon and Erin Trieb

View out of one of the gallery windows onto Bute Street

Now that I am settled in after our recent move to Wales I've been taking some time to explore Cardiff and the photo galleries there.  One of my favourite galleries is the Third Floor Gallery located on Bute Street.  I intend to visit this gallery often and, whilst it may be too far for you to visit, I hope that you can learn about the photographers exhibiting there through this blog.

The Third Floor Gallery is actually located over two floors with the recently opened lower floor cunningly named the Second Floor Gallery.  It was set up by photographers Joni Karanka, Maceij Dakowicz, and Bartosz Nowicki.  It runs only through the generosity of donations and it's staff are all volunteers.  The main exhibitions run for about six weeks on the third floor and older ones are 'demoted' to the second floor to extend their exhibition time by a further six weeks.  Entry is free but donations and sponsorship are always welcome.

Hin Chau

The main exhibition during this visit was by the photographer Hin Chau.  The inspiration for his work was a chance encounter in a rubbish strewn field:

“Several years ago, I found myself standing before a field littered with a kaleidoscopic multitude of plastic bags. A middle-aged couple was passing by; 'Isn't this absolutely ghastly?' they announced with considerable consternation. I paused before making a remark that surprised both them and myself: it was one of the most wonderful things I'd seen in a while.” - Hin Chua



This led to his series After the Fall.  The images in this series were taken at the edge of developed areas and attempt to show where the grey area between urban and rural/industrial lies.  Rather than just wandering around his locations Chau uses satellite imagery to scout a potential location before making a trip to the area.  Creating the series has proved a great excuse to travel and so far Chau has visited fifteen countries and hundreds of towns and cities.



For me this series blurred the lines between artistic and documentary photography.  The abstract nature of many of the images in the series was appealing when seen as a collection but I only actually liked about six of the images.  The images were displayed in smaller sets of photographs, as can be seen below, and I liked the way that lines and curves ran through each of the sets.  In each of the sets there always seemed to be an image that just didn't quite fit and I wonder if this was a deliberate artistic tool used to jar the viewer's eye?

I thought that the print quality of the images and the 'pinned to the wall' method of display distracted from the exhibition, but again this may have been the photographer's requested layout/method.  Chau has also exhibited in Paris and the display method was different there, much darker and closer to the feel of the imagery as can be seen below:





Due to space constraints only a small portion of the series has been put on display so I would encourage you to explore Chau's work in more depth by looking at his website.

Winter in America: Justin Maxon and Erin Trieb

No expense spared!

Having finished looking at the main exhibition I moved down to the 2nd Floor Gallery to check out the work by Justin Maxon and Erin Trieb.  These photographers had their work displayed together in an exhibition called Winter in America.

‘Save your souls, it’s winter in America’ cried Gil Scott Heron in 1974, against a backdrop of economic decline, social fragmentation, racial tension and a lingering war in Vietnam. 

Fast forward to contemporary America where the economy is struggling, racism blights many communities and the war in Afghanistan adds a daily toll of misery. ...This is the harsh backdrop to the work of Justin Maxon and Erin Trieb, 2010 and 2011 winners of the prestigious FotoVisura grant. 

Justin Maxon

Maxon's images in this exhibition were taken from his series When the Spirit Moves.  Maxon chose to investigate life in Chester, Pennsylvania and area where violence is commonplace (there are over 300 unsolved murders since the 1990's) and inhabitants have to endure poverty and unemployment.  



Many of the images in this series have been created by using multiple exposures in the camera - a successful attempt by Maxon to show the layers of complexity to the poor social situation of his subjects.  The images work much better when seen in the gallery rather than the crude recreations displayed in this blog.



Each of the images is accompanied by a short piece of descriptive text that helps to explain what the viewer is seeing - this is particularly useful in the case of the multiple exposures where it is not always clear what has been captured.  Even in the single exposure shots the text adds depth and understanding.  In the image below, for example, we learn that the subject was shot in the neck in 2008 whilst driving away from a party.  The bullet was meant for his friend.  As a result of his injuries he was left paralysed.  Maxon has captured him sitting and waiting, with an electric toothbrush in his mouth, for his carer to return to finish brushing his teeth.



The high contrast, grainy, black and white images reminded me of a series taken by the street photographer Boogie working in New York.  Both are visions of a darker side to society that is often overlooked by the mainstream.  I would like to think that showing this underbelly will bring aid and assistance to communities portrayed but I doubt that anything ever gets done, or can be done in the short term, to help.



More of Maxon's work can be found on his website.

Erin Trieb

The second half of the Winter in America exhibition was by Erin Trieb.  Where Maxon chose to follow a community to create his images of a broken America, Trieb focused on one individual, 22 year old soldier Adam Ramsey.  Ramsey served in Afghanistan and was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on his return from duty.  The images were originally taken as part of Trieb's The War at Home series which document Ramsey's battle with depression and subsequent rehabilitation.

This was my favourite part of the exhibition.  Classical documentary photography at its best.  Trieb had previously worked with veterans and this gave her a stronger insight into the suffering of troops after the fighting had stopped.

As with the Maxon's images texts had been provided to explain each of the images.  This really added to the story and the difficulties that Ramsey, and many veterans like him, suffer.  The exhibition was quite emotional and I thought that the images and text worked well together to create a strong narrative.  I can't believe that this series hasn't been published as a book (and if I'm wrong please tell me where I can get hold of a copy!).

Trieb talks about her work, then part of a charity project called The Homecoming Project to the DARTS Society HERE. 

Summary

I had a great time at the Third Floor Gallery and it was well worth the trip.  I can't say I was taken with all of Chau's images, but there were one or two that I would like to own prints of.  The Maxon and Trieb works were powerful and emotive.  I hadn't heard of either photographer before my visit and so I'm glad that I have now discovered their work, Trieb's in particular.  The Winter in America exhibition is due to end very soon (it has already been extended twice) so if you can you should hurry on down and see it.

Threshold 2012 Newport Documentary Photography

Some of the gallery space for Threshold 2012

I had a busy time this weekend and it was all photography based.   I spent the morning getting shown around Swansea Metropolitan University as a potential student and then finished off with an afternoon at an exhibition by final year Documentary Students from Newport University.

Threshold 2012 is an exhibition being held in Newport's Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre from Friday 5th October until Saturday 13th October.  If you are in the area and have a chance to get down and visit then I would highly recommend it.

The exhibition brings together the works of 25 final year Documentary Photography students.  The student's have to plan and organise the exhibition as part of their course, and the works are a response to a brief set in the 'Conceptual Documentary' module.  Each of the images has a deeper meaning and when you arrive at the exhibition you are given a useful guide that explains what the images are about.

As I made my way through the exhibition I looked at the images first without the guide, this meant I got an overall feel for each image and could make up my own ideas about what it stood for.  By looking at the guide I could then see if I was anywhere near the photographer's intent.  Usually I was way off the mark or failed to read fully into the image but it was a fun experience nevertheless.

Some of my personal favourites from the exhibition are shown below with selected text from the accompanying guide.

James Kieran: What Makes you Happy

These images were taken in locations where James once met his dates.  He set the exposure time to match the amount of time he spent thinking about his lover (ranging from three to eight minutes!).  In the book of the work the images are accompanied by text from his personal diary - an addition which personally I found detracted somewhat from the strength of his images.  I originally thought that the text was supposed to fit into the blank spaces beside each of the images but apparently this was actually just a deliberate framing technique by the photographer.  There is a strange simplicity to the images and the lack of an obvious narrative in the exhibition meant that my interpretation of this series was completely wrong (I was going with childhood dreams and nightmares).

Dimitra Kountiou:  Disindustrialisation

I was drawn to Dimitra's images as they reminded me of my own work capturing shots of abandoned shops.  Dimitra grew up in Greece and returned there to take pictures of an area that was once a thriving commercial and industrial complex.  For me this was once of the more traditional Doc Photo series and was far less conceptual than some of the others.  I thought that the display technique was interesting as you had to stand back to look at the main image, but were then forced to step 'into' the display to see the smaller pictures.  The series wasn't strong enough to stand as a typology (but I'm a lover of typologies) but the differences in each chosen location meant that I didn't get bored.  It is interesting to see how the effects of the recession have been so universal - these shots could have been taken almost anywhere in the USA or Europe.

Christian Fowler: Suspension

For me this series was the strongest emotional piece on display.  Christian's father had died six years ago and this work looks at the way that memory can fade over time.  An old photo of his father was frozen inside a huge block of ice.  The ice was placed in different locations around his home, his dad's favourite chair, in bed beside his mother and so on.  As the series progresses the ice melts and shrinks in size until all that is left is the original photograph.  The book that Christian made of these series was really strong and the images were beautifully captured - I particularly liked that there was sympathy for the subject, but that he was not afraid to show the imperfect details of his home.

Daniel Wallace: Bus

This was my favourite single image from the show.  I have a strange attraction to images with clean lines, muted colours and a sense that that subjects have had their image 'stolen' from them.  Daniel's series looks at how bus stops become part of their environment and can become a sense of focus for the micro communities that form to use them.  I'm not sure about the bulldog clip hanging technique though (you can see several of the series were displayed this way from the first picture in this post) - I felt that this was definitely a series that warranted some expensive mounts and frames.

Ciaran Woolcombe: Surrounded

I love street photography, it's my current favourite pastime, and I often take snaps of abandoned rubbish.  I was therefore delighted to see that this was the sort of thing that final year student's were also filling their time with.  Ciaran's work aims to show how our everyday lives are spent surrounded by multinational global corporations.  Combined with this is the fact that commerce and capitalism pushes us to discard items that we see as 'rubbish' in the pursuit for newer items.  Ah, candid snaps and rubbish - heaven :)

Luke Santilli: Inzanagi and Inzanami

My favourite series of the exhibition was Inzanagi and Izanami by Luke Santilli.  This was a very conceptual series that is intended to show how everything is in a constant state of flux.  I didn't take a photo of the actual display (doh!) and so the image shown above is taken from the Threshold website.  Unfortunately this screen version doesn't do justice to his work, as the printed version was just amazing.  It looked like a stylised abstract painting and the colours were really eye catching.  There is just enough detail in each of the images to have an idea of what the subject matter is, but you had to get up close to see what was going on.  The thing that really made this series was the printed book that accompanied it.  The book uses a Japanese bookbinding technique to give it a real hand-crafted look (like the book in the link).  The pages inside were not your typical shiny white but instead had a variety of textures.  Some of the pages that contained text were printed on a transparent paper and it felt like I was holding an artists precious diary.  The catalogue that comes with the exhibition has the details of all the photographers and through it I managed to contact Luke and order a copy of his book - I'm going to surprise myself with it on Christmas morning :)


I cannot finish this post without saying a massive thank you Denise Fotheringham who was kind enough to talk to me for a good half an hour about the different work on display.  More importantly she told me loads about the Documentary Photography course at Newport and allayed a lot of my niggling worries about the content and relevance of the course.  She was a great ambassador for the University.

Choosing a long term photography project

Choosing a long term photography project 

The following is based on information from a discussion between Magnum photographer David Hurn and Bill Jay (author of 15 books on the history and criticism of photography) in their book On Being a Photographer.

I found their discussion on the thought process for choosing a photography project very interesting and thought I’d share it with you. There is a lot of very good information in On Being and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

Your first decision must be “what to photograph?”. 

The photographer must have an intense curiosity, not just a passing visual influence, in the theme of the pictures. This curiosity leads to intense examination, reading, talking, research and many, many failed attempts over a long period of time. 

Carry a notebook and during quiet times or as the though occurs to you, compile a list of anything that really interests you. In other words, write a list of subjects that fascinate you without regard to photography. What could inflame your passion and curiosity over a long period of time? Be as specific as possible. After you have exhausted the list, you can begin to cut it down by asking yourself these questions: 

Is it visual? You can safely eliminate such fascinating (to you) topics as existential philosophy or the Old Testament or the existence of life on other planets. 

Is it practical? You can cut out topics which are difficult or impossible to photograph at your convenience on a regular basis. For example, if I were a photographer of limited means living in, say, Denver, I would have to eliminate the topic of Japanese pagodas, at least as photography is concerned. Or I would cut out an interest in famous film stars – the subject must not only be practical but continually accessible. 

Is it a subject about which I know enough? Eliminate those subjects about which you are ignorant, at least until you have conducted a good deal of research into the topic. For example, you are not contributing anything to the issue of urban poverty by wandering back streets and snatching pictures of derelicts in doorways. That’s exploitation, not exploration. 

Is it interesting to others? This is a tricky one, but is worth asking yourself: if you have several remaining topics all of which are equally fascinating, which one is interesting to others? This is tricky only in that it ignores the issue of your intended audience, which might be a small, specialized one, and the issue of pandering to public appeal. 

Make sure you take on a project that is containable, and can be completed within a reasonable period of time. Also the more precise the topic, the easier it is to conduct research. Let me give some general examples. If your list contains an interest such as ‘education’, make it ‘my life as a student at so-and-so campus’; ‘flowers’ becomes ‘plants that relate to architecture’; ‘portraits’ is reduced to ‘Cleveland sculptors in their studios’…

Why the pictures that run through this article?  Well these are from one of the projects I am currently working on based on the approach given by the book.  One of the themes that fascinates me is that of mortality and more specifically the way that we can leave a presence after our deaths.  I had spotted several bunches of flowers and tributes left at the roadside near my home after a spate of fatal road traffic accidents.  I went out early in the morning in spring last year and took pictures from three different sites (although the pictures here are from two sites).  To continue to project I went out at the same date and time this year and shot from the same locations to see what, if any differences had occurred.  I intend to continue this project for at least another year before I can put the images together in a short book.  I feel that I could answer all four of the questions raised in project selection, it is visual, practical, I knew the locations well and, hopefully, it is interesting!

Swansea University Graduates

Swansea University Graduates

A short while ago I looked at the work of three photographer that had graduated from Newport University.  Now it's the turn of one of the other establishments I will be applying to: Swansea Metropolitan University.

Copyright Paul Read

Paul Read

Paul graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Photojournalism from Swansea.  In 2006 he was awarded the Guardian Student Photographer of the year.  His work has been short-listed and exhibited by the Getty Images Gallery for the Ian Parry Award.  He has received commissions from the Guardian and has shot in various locations across the world.  Although he has a photo-journalist background it seems that he has moved into events and wedding photography (judging by his LinkedIn pages).  Looking through his work are some strong documentary ideas - the series taken of children with polio is an interesting one as he has moved away from 'obvious' shots of unwell children.

Eight galleries of Paul's work can be found on his website HERE.

Copyright Tom Pope

Tom Pope

Tom graduated from Swansea in 2008 with a BA(Hons) Photography in the Arts.  In his final year at university he was selected for the New Sensations Exhibition in London and won first prize in the Swansea Open and Mission Gallery Open competitions.  He regularly shows his work at national and international level exhibitions and is currently studying for his Masters at the Royal College of Art.  

Tom's portfolio can be found HERE.  I can definitely see the difference between the artistic and documentary schools of photography.  A lot of Tom's work is beyond me, but I really like the idea of the San Fransico Panorama and the passage of time as the camera sweeps across the horizon. 

Copyright Jonathan Morris

Jonathan Morris

Jonathan graduated in 2009 with a BA(Hons) in Photo Journalism.  His final year project, the documentation of teenagers that gather in the centre of Swansea, was published in the collaborative book 'Nu: Fiction and Stuff'.  He is still based in Wales and says his primary aim is 'documenting UK culture'.  He has completed his MA at Westminster University.  As with many documentary photographers I've looked at his website also contains links to wedding photography!  I guess the bills have to be paid some how.  

You can find Jonathan's work HERE.

Liverpool Street Shoot

Liverpool Street Shoot

I went to Liverpool on Saturday, principally to visit the Open Eye Gallery, but also to try some more street photography.  The gallery itself was a bit of a disappointment but I really enjoyed wandering around a new city grabbing shots as I went.

The image shown above was taken minutes after arriving in the city, it's the stairway in large underground car park.  Some children were playing on the semi-transparent roof and it created a strange abstract image when I looked straight up at it.

Currently I'm drawn to capturing images of the older generation.  This group caught my eye as I walked between two shopping centres.  The postures and interactions between the two pairs was appealing.  The lady with the legs crossed in the 'wrong' direction serves as the focal point for the shot and I was lucky that they were sat under a stairway as this created a relatively neutral background for me.  I love that each of the subjects has a different facial expression, I wish the lady on the left hadn't caught sight of the camera.  The camera, my GX1, worked as brilliantly as ever at capturing detail - you can even see the support sock on the lady second from the left. 

This street performer was keeping a large crowd enthralled.  I just caught the end of his first drum solo and put some money in his bowl.  This made me more confident about taking photos of him and I tried several different positions and angles until I thought I had something usable.  One of the bad habits I'm trying to overcome is 'chimping'.  This is where you take a photo and then, straight away, stare at the LCD screen and make 'ooh ahh' sounds.  It's a bad habit as you can guarantee that the 'decisive moment' will occur as you look at the screen and you will miss it.  I am also trying to shoot at the 14mm end of my telephoto lens as it forces me closer to my subjects and gives a more personal feel to the images.  As with all my black and white images I converted this using the truly amazing Silver Efex Pro 2 software.  For this shot I had to use individual control points to lighten the drummer's face very slightly to improve it as a focal point at the top of the bucket-bottle-face triangle. I was lucky that in this image two of the bystanders were looking straight at the drummer and this helps to bring the viewer's eye back into the frame.

This final image was taken whilst I was grabbing some calories in a fast food restaurant.  I was sat in the window so I could try and take pictures of people gawping at a large menu board.  I happened to notice that a second menu board was splitting the harsh midday light into two distinct beams.  I waited patiently for someone to sit at the window and was lucky enough that this guy came along.  He was setting up his meal and very distracted and so I grabbed two frames as he dipped his head into the light beam.  

There are a few more images from the day on my Flickr pages and you can see them HERE