Farm scene, Rue des
Grantez, Catel, Guernsey,
Channel Islands.
I had just left art
college in London and was trying out my new camera in 1970.
The scene is the farm buildings on the opposite side of the Rue
des Grantez
from where I lived in Catel, the most rural part of Guernsey.
The picture was intended to depict the very un-English sun bleached
buildings.
There was definitely no cat in the viewfinder. Just before I was
about to take the picture
the cat suddenly appeared from the other side of the roof and
sat looking at me.
It appeared as sun bleached as everything else... even its eyes.
It could not have been in a more perfect position to act as a
focal point for the picture.
This image has remained with me as a perfect example of the serendipity
associated
with photography that can turn an ordinary picture into hopefully
something special.
We had a shared telephone
line with the farmers who lived there, and would many a time
pick up the phone to hear a conversation going on in Guernsey
French, the Guernsey
Patois.
1970