Loughborough

Spent last Saturday at the Great Western Railway in Loughborough where a '40's weekend was being held. It was a planned visit as part of my Major Project where I am photographing activities held by societies such as re-enactors to bring to life events from the past. In this particular case I had a broad idea of what to expect, not only from the publicity material issued by the GWR but previous knowledge from a similar event held at Sheringham in Norfolk. In my planning I had to make a number of assumptions not least on what I was likely to see as each re-enactment varies considerably even when the subject title suggest a similarity. In this particular case I planned to take as many different shots as I could but also to use it as a learning experience for a similar event in Norfolk in the month of September.

The restored railway line has four stations and each had been turned into a different element of the early part of the Second World War. One station was primarily focused on Great Britain; the second on the German Army; the third on the Americans and the fourth was a 'French Town' occupied by the Germans. As always the relevant groups had made every effort to be authentic (apart, fortunately, language) and they were supported by a significant element of the spectators who had also dressed for the part.  I arrived early in the hope that there would be less crowds so that I could take shots that were not 'spoiled' by the presence of too many jarring modern elements . The early arrival worked well because as the day wore on the crowds became greater. However there was a slight drawback as many of the re-enactors knew each other and initially there was a great deal of fraternisation between the different armies. This problem was mitigated by the willingness of the actors to move away from each other as a photographer approached. I found the easiest way to get the shots that I wanted was to be near another photographer who would shepherd the character he wanted away from the group. I would then take my shots of the remainder who being less aware of my presence did not feel they had to pose unnaturally.

In all it was a fascinating day and I managed to take a number of photographs that on first examination seem to offer the type of material I was hoping for from my efforts.

One of the side benefits, although this is part of my major project, was the willingness of virtually everybody to chat when approached,whether spectator or actor. I had a lengthy conversation with 'Rommel' (who had been 'Montgomery' in the morning!) about his personal commitment to the re-enactment.  He was accompanied by his wife who answered a number of questions for him and there was some evidence of either shyness or possibly memory impairment when the conversation drifted away from the part he was playing. When he was being 'Rommel' he became the man and it was obvious that he put on the persona when putting on the uniform. This was not always the case with others who seemed to quickly abandon their role and were more than happy to discuss their actual background rather than that of someone in uniform in the 1940's.

Although I have still to work through the chosen 'negatives' I am happy with the outcome and believe that I have achieved what I set out to do. As I have said before there is also the important element of learning for me that I trust will lead to better images as I work through the project.