Preparation !
Sitting in my back garden, in the soft light of the early evening, I contemplate August in Edinburgh, asking myself how will I cope? This year will be a very different experience as I am nursing a broken collarbone which has been set with a metal plate – I’m absolutely forbidden from letting it bear any weight. Fortunately I can hold a camera, in my right hand but the temptation to use my left will be great.
Looking on the bright side I will be at the fringe with all the usual opportunities that include sharing these reflections but naturally swayed by my limitations. Travel has changed from car to rail limiting what I can take, so no excess baggage, one case, one camera bag and hopefully a tripod. I know that there are many who manage to deal with these limitations so my focus is to learn from this and see how effective I can be.
Travel !
Now I’m on the train heading for Edinburgh, it’s just gone 7:00pm and all’s well. This morning I found out that my recovery is on track as long as I’m careful to not put much weight on my arm. Incidentally ‘Network Rail’ had a new app that enables me to book and manage assisted travel, which I used that morning to efficiently get me on the train without stress.
Arriving at Waverley Station a helpful member of the station staff escorted me off the train, phoned for a taxi which was waiting for me at the other side of the station. I highly recommend the use of this service for those of you who have difficulty traveling due to an incapacity.
The First Day !
I was up early Wednesday morning, off to ‘Greenside’ for their launch show where I was straight into ‘fringe mode’. Photos taken, then off to the ‘Just the Tonic’ ‘Underbelly’ and ‘Assembly so a busy day covering the launches I could manage, before I gave in to my tiredness. However the good news is that my left arm works up to a fashion.
I am coping !
The Fringe Begins !
I was up early this morning for one of our regular ‘fringeRevew’ coffee meetings. Even though there are many reviewers on the team our meetings tend to be quite intimate as we are spread out over the three weeks and some are elsewhere, busy writing reviews.
August 1st and the Edinburgh Festival Society has announced that the ‘Fringe’ has begun and I’m happy to report that I’ve reviewed the recent photos from the press launches and uploaded them to ‘fringefoto’ ready to be viewed. This meant that I could take some time away from the screen to see whether the crowds are forming. Yes there are people around and the streets are filling up.
Penultimate Launch Show
Saturday was a busy day – Firstly to the Pleasance Courtyard for their Launch hosted by Thanyia Moore, it was well organised as usual and I was fortunate to claim my usual position to photograph the show, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Meet the Media
Gathering my camera bag I rushed from Pleasance Courtyard to ‘Meet the Media’ to join the rest of the team there. Many fringe performers, producers, directors and any other person connected with fringe shows had queued most of the morning for the opportunity to pitch their show to members of the media. I was a little disappointed not to see much evidence of costume being used to attract the eye. Yes a few performers dressed up for the occasion but nowhere near enough of them. Here are a couple of photos from the afternoon.
The Press Launches are over !
Last night, I completed my run of launch shows by attending ‘theSpaceUK’ gathering. Unlike previous years we collected in the gardens to chat for a while before being ushered into ‘The Triplex’ Venue 38. The show was fast paced with a select group of acts compered by, three time ‘Fringe First’ winners Khloe and Natasha.
This ends my first week at this year’s fringe. I have managed to cope with my broken collarbone which seems to be healing well. I still wear my sling when I’m travelling to try to protect it as it’s not healed yet, though I can manage to hold a camera and decent sized lens for up to an hour. My early fears as to whether I would manage have receded and all is well at present.
I will begin another post hopefully with a different theme in a few days so meanwhile here is a link to ‘Fringefoto.uk’ where my photographs are hosted.
