OUIL405- Visual Narratives- Initial Research

For my research, I decided to go somewhere when I had been before. I wanted to visit somewhere when I could easily find people to talk to, and find different landscapes and environment in one place, rather then choosing a specific place or environment and not properly connecting with it.

The location I chose for the brief is Scarborough beach and the surrounding area. Reason being I know the area, and there will be people there, as well as different things to look at and investigate.

I travelled there alone, and upon arriving I had no preconceptions of what I wanted to achieve through the day. I left my car in the car park and started to wander, taking pictures of literally anything that caught my interest. I started to walk towards the less 'touristy' side of the coastline, where it is much more rural and there really isn't anything but pathways and the occasional bench to sit on. So the only thing I was taking pictures of was trees, paths and signs; which got very boring, very quickly.



I then began to walk towards the busier side of the coastline, where all the arcades and rock shops are. I enjoyed this part of the walk much more, and found myself drawn to the 'tackier' building and features, rather than the traditional 'pretty' things that people usually take more notice of.

Scarborough at the best of times is a bit of a shithole, but when the weather is horrible and the tide is in, it just seems even more run down. I loved how eerily quiet it was, there were more pigeons around than people. Pretty much the only people I saw all day were the arcade owners (the ones that were open) stood outside waiting for the punters to roll in...



After collecting pictures of all the things that interested me. I wanted to talk to a local about the area, and see if I could get anything out of them which I could use in the picture book. I went to a rock shop and spoke to a woman who worked there. After general chatter I asked her about what the area is like this time of year, to which she responded 'if you want to buy rock and look at seagulls then Scarborough is the place to be. There isn't really much else going on here".

After getting home, and feeling pretty disheartened about the trip, thinking I hadn't come up with a solid narrative that I wanted to work with. I looked through the images and really enjoyed looking at all the tacky shops and arcades and signs. They have a really eery feel to them, and although there isn't necessarily a specific narrative there in terms of a physical development or adventure.

I think a really interesting book can be created by illustrating the things that people never really look at. The mundane 'attractions' that people usually overlook as simply that, an attraction, are really what makes up a lot of what we see as a 'holiday town', and are purely the reason some people visit these places.

The adventure and narrative I had myself was walking down the coast, looking at the bright colours of the arcades and shops, and although it won't be the most thrilling story ever, I think if I can illustrate the images in a different way, it could create a really interesting set of images.






Here is a seagull



Edit: 1/4/16



I found this image which is useful for giving me a generaly idea of how the seafront looks. I love the 'layered effect to the buildings behind the 'focus buildings' I will try and incorporate them into my work somehow.