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15th January 2012 -It was Simon Paul Sugden that brought me to the attention of Martyn Sutcliffe, Simon also bringing Martyn to the attention of the BradfordEye's website. Martyn had sent me pictures that he'd taken in Bradford for his Flickr site "Hidden Bradford", they were watermarked with his name, later kindly sending me the full file minus watermark. I recall on first viewing, at being blown away, as to the subject matter, but more over it was the shear logistics involved, which also added to my admiration of this man. Pictures taken in a city, underground, is certainly no new thing, pictures taken under the streets of Bradford, with no real backup is  totally new, and how certain individuals push the boundary's of their art. Art for that's what it is! What he does (Martyn), creates discomfort (for himself) , perhaps a little danger, maybe more given that we're in a major city's centre, but the results bare out all this effort, isn't that art, effort, pain equals a worthwhile result, to be judged later by others, as to if it's art. Many will say that photography is now for the masses  not for just a select middle class , or at the turn 20th century an elite hobby for wealthy individuals. I can certainly go back to the 60s where  comments like that were still voiced"!

 

With all the equipment that's available today, and the ease of use even for the most sophisticated of equipment, one has to remember that photography is a technical subject, I'm sure for most of the pictures the average accomplished amateur, views the subject, fires away, and any problems can be resolved later in Photoshop. I fear however that if the majority of keen amateur's were using film, where bracketing shots are the order of the day, and then to develop and print to achieve the finished article, well how many would be so keen then!

 

So it's good to see an individual who's using the latest digital equipment, pushing at the gate, the Bradford gate in this case, by finding a subject that let's face it, not many people are queuing up to picture, this is what Martyn does and does well, overcoming the technical problems with constant experimentation to achieve the right result. The pictures show Bradford under and above ground, and really comes at the urban subject with  a real edge! So take a look at Martyn Sutcliffe's pictures on his Flickr site, click the link! Martyn Sutcliffe's photostream