Dave, an ex-pupil, and now old friend of mine, came down from London to see the exhibition on Friday. Over lunch we talked about the pleasures of working on projects, the satisfaction of building up an 'archive' of images, objects or, in his case words for RAIN. His project started with a challenge he and a friend set themselves to see how many words (descriptive and in dialect) they could find for different kinds of rain. They now want to put the 250 or so words they have uncovered into a book (yes, 250!..though in a country obsessed with its weather maybe that is not surprising). They are not sure what form this book will take but have been discussing how it could be illustrated. Inspired by my exhibition he had wondered how photography might capture different types of rain.
It struck me that certain forms of rain could be photographed relatively easily - there is evidence of that in the exhibition already. Raindrops so heavy on poppy petals it has curled them right over into a sort of flower foetus. A 'black' curtain of rain against an orange dawn on the horizon of a seascape. But how would one photograph a light drizzle for example. Heavier rain makes different patterns in puddles at it lands, so that seems more straightforward. It is a challenge I shall be thinking about over the next few weeks and, hopefully, a project we shall take forward next time we meet.
In the meantime I am looking forward to seeing their exhaustive list!