Random Excellence: Andreas Sakka

"Where my father used to work" by Andreas Sakka

This was taken in the summer of 2010 from the fourth floor of my Dad's seafront property in the town of Margate in England (postal code CT9 1UN to be precise). There he has a workshop where he used to manufacture dresses and skirts to sell in the shop on the ground floor. He stopped the practice some years ago when making clothing in-house was simply not economically viable in this era of mass-produced imports from around the globe. Whilst the workshop is now unused, the wonderful views over the gardens, beach and marina remain, and there is a lovely light in there as the sun sets over the sea.

The photo was taken during a 30-day photo challenge; for one month I took a photo every single day despite whatever else I was doing, or the weather. And by taking one photo a day, I mean I tried to take one meaningful and semi-decent photo a day, rather than a pointless snapshot. It's a challenge that is really quite difficult, but very rewarding and educational. More than anything, I found it really made me look—and I mean to really look, properly, at the world with a surprising intensity. It's fantastic the things you notice when you really look. Anyway, it's a challenge I'd heartily recommend to anyone practising photography. Before you can take a decent image, you must be able to look and see the world around you. Properly.

Andreas

©2013 by Andreas Sakka, all rights reserved

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Dan Horton-Szar: "A lovely and subtle photograph. I live less than twenty miles from Margate, in the city of Canterbury. In fact I recall recently photographing the lighthouse visible through the window in the shot above.

"I agree heartily with the idea of challenging yourself to take at least one meaningful photograph every day. The reason for this comment is to recommend Blipfoto.com, an online community based in Edinburgh which is designed for exactly this purpose. You are allowed to post just one picture per day and it has to be taken on that day. I'm up to day 150 so far, and it has done wonders for my photography. Nice bunch of people populate the site too. I've no vested interest in this, just that it's been a very good experience for me and thought it might interest other TOP readers."

Comments

[Lawa]

A beautiful photo and a great approach – and one roll of Fuji Superia 400 is enough for a whole month!

[Hugh Smith]

“Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.”
Walker Evans

[Steve Pritchard]

What a lovely, evocative photograph - and such light!

[Joe Glaser]

Talk about cream rising! Lovely tonality and composition. The view out the window is wonderfully gauzy, but for me what turns the trick is the shadow play along the wall.

[roy]

Ah, Margate.
In 1972 I helped a local Greek family set up the first (legal) casino there. Previously I'd been working at another casino called "Nero's" in nearby Ramsgate from which they head-hunted me, sorta.

The front man for the Margate operation was an intellectually challenged former world champion Graeco-Roman wrestler: I'll omit his name. Astonishingly he'd previously held a casino licence in (I think) London in the 60's before the introduction of the Gaming Act - which was initiated by the Mob's attempts to set up UK operations (imaginatively fronted by George Raft). By comparison Margate was pretty sedate. I keep meaning to revisit the place one of these days.

Unfortunately I can't think of any photographically related addition to this fascinating anecdote!
Roy

[Dave Stewart]

I confess to also being a Blipfoto fan, and heard about it via comments on TOP several years ago. Some days are a real struggle, not helped by hectic days at work, cycling 15 to 20 miles, and swimming - all of which apply to this rainy day in the Scottish Highlands. Or that's my excuse for another feeble snapshot this evening...

Other than the simple rules: only one photo; and it has to have been taken on the day stated, it's very much up to you how you use the site. I recently added to the challenge by managing to take 35 days (non-consecutive) "Blips" out of 37 exposures from a single roll of B&W film. Still need to scan and upload those. One is very TOP related... ;-)

I like the diary type aspect in my usage of it. Some friends and family look-in, and scarily read all my ramblings.

905 uploaded, and about four missed days so far.

[John Krumm]

The photo creates (at least to my eyes) a bit of an optical illusion. The ocean horizon is straight when I put a ruler to it, but the window frame angles and shadow and table angles all make my mind think the horizon is crooked.

[Eric Auer]

Many Photography clubs offer great monthly challenges.

My favorite is the one from the Pentaxforums.com that asks you to use one lens for a month, Post a picture each day.

It can get hard if you have a real job.

[Jay Pastelak]

Four years ago I became involved in the Solo Photo Book Month (SoFoBoMo). The aim was to produce 35 photographs in a "sliding" month (30 contiguous days from May 1 to June 30 of that year) and publish them as a PDF book on the organization's web site.
It was an exhilarating experience in that I produced more photos in that period than in any month before or since. I shot everything, and yes, there was the goal to try to make "good" pictures (whatever that means) instead of just snapshots. I thought I did pretty well (http://www.atjay.com/pages/onemonth.pdf for anyone interested) but it wasn't easy.
Unfortunately, the program ended in 2011 as the principles found maintaining the site competing with more pressing projects. But a photo a day, as it were, is such a useful exercise. Even with a full-time job.