When in Ballymoney a couple of weeks ago I was loitering about waiting for my wife to finish browsing the numerous charity shops in the town. There was a large sign that had appeared which I thought might make a decent photograph. It was advertising a summer drive-in Evangelical Service and I walked around it a few times trying out various angles. Before I could snap it up I got accosted by a couple of likely lads who looked like they spend most days kicking about the toon with not much on their agenda. I'm always a tad wary since I'm obviously not very mobile and I'm carrying an expensive camera (Hasselblad on this occasion. I'm using two hiking poles to get about these days as my hip is not in great shape at the moment). They seemed pleasant enough but very interested in my camera and where I was from but once I informed them I used to be Chair of the Ballymoney Photographic Club and they knew I was relatively local we all relaxed a bit. Well, I relaxed a bit - I think they just wanted someone to talk to for a while other than each other. They wanted to know if I'd ever heard of Corfield cameras, which used to be manufactured in the town. Duh...of course I know about Corfield cameras! I don't have any but that's probably an oversight on my part. Plus, the prices they go for these days means it ain't pocket money. Corfield weren't exclusive to Ballymoney as they were made in Wolverhampton prior to coming to Ballymoney but still, it's pretty cool to have had cameras manufactured just down the road from where you grew up. And pretty good ones at that. This article is a good read if you've 10 minutes to spare and want to know more about very talented Sir Kenneth Corfield and his cameras.
And as usual I'm getting distracted. Nearly forgot to show you the masterpiece of the lads:
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| A couple of young fellows in Ballymoney, immortalised for ever on film and now on this place. They were standing in front of an arty mural of some sort, in case you were wondering. Not too many of those around Ballymoney, it's fair to say. FP4+ in RO9, Foma 313 paper. |
Nice one. I was expecting a couple of punks with mohawks and razors in their shoes. Some years ago when I was using my Contax 645 to photograph an old gingko tree a couple of 'young lads' were standing by looking at the camera with great interest. "If I knew any English, I'd ask him what kind of camera that is . . . ."
ReplyDeleteHaha Ballymoney ain’t Brighton - thank goodness! I lived in Brighton for about 10 years. Strange place…a toss-up whether you got seedy, down&out Brighton or cool, chic Brighton on any one day. Final straw for me was when I was out on my own one lovely Sunday morning (with OM-1), walking along the lower esplanade by the beach. No one around…except for 4 lads aged about 12. As they passed me, one leapt up and screamed in my face. Of course a great laugh to them but I was really shaken. Had they been older I could have been in real trouble. I decided then I’d had enough of Brighton. I moved back to Northern Ireland later that year.
DeleteThat’s a great anecdote by the way - clearly they thought the foreigner wouldn’t understand their lingo. You could have really shocked them by replying :)
Yikes! Brighton is off the Grand Tour list.
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