A morning of culture

Turner Contemporary

Now that the initial excitement has died down and before the school holidays commence Phil and I took a trip to Margate to check out Turner Contemporary. We got off to a bad start as there was little parking nearby and when we did find one it was 'short stay' and more than 2 hours would have cost us a tenner. In the end we parked about half a mile up the road for free (not all visitors will be as patient or tight!).

We made our way down and the level of anticipation was rising.

The approach

The gallery's policy is to allow photography but no flash - which was fine for me as my dSLR does not have a built-in flash. There were the usual idiots with camera phones and compacts polluting the space....I'll get off my soap box now!

A swift double espresso followed in the cafe and we were off into the hall, not before being somewhat amused by one of the menu options 'rare breed sausages with . . . .'. I still don't get it.

Anyway, back to the gallery. Very helpful staff in a great space and superb exhibits, with the highlight for me being the work of Conrad Shawcross.

It's art Jim, but not as we know it

The hall was very dark and I was forced to shoot at 3200 ISO and above to maintain sharpness. In contrast, I managed to prop the end of my lens hood on my wallet to set some long exposures to capture the movement in one of Conrad's pieces.

13 seconds at f/14 ISO 50

30 seconds at f/22 ISO 50

The four bodies are two people who relocated about half-way through the exposure.

There is plenty of space to take in the work from distance as well as to get intimate with it

I really liked this staircase - a kind of  "agnostic's stairway to heaven"

Appreciation

In a public space I'm always looking for the candid shot. Today was no exception.

Contemplating how to phrase the reply

The VIP and the curator

When we arrived, Nick Robinson (yes, him, Political Editor of the BBC) was interviewing the curator, presumably asking whether it is money well spent...

When filming had finished we approached him and asked if he had a few minutes, which he gladly gave us, along with permission to photograph him (an all round good egg!).

One cannot go to Margate and not take a shot of the front. I opted on a b&w finish for this to focus on form and texture.

So, a good day was had by all and the TC gets a big THUMBS UP from wonky horizons and not a hint of 'art rage'.