When I arrived on the 30th July those all around the fringe were busy, setting up, briefing the troops and all the other things necessary for this year’s fun.
I wandered around watching what was happening and planning my schedule. Now I was onto the Press Launches and selecting shows to photograph.
That was then – this is now.
I have only a few days left here at the Fringe and I have quickly come to the realisation that time is running out, and that I need to be as organised as I can be.
So how do I choose a show to photograph?
Sometimes it’s quite simple, as this is my 10th year I have met quite a few people. Tim Marriot pictured above is a fine actor playing ‘Mengele’ in the Blue Room at Assembly. I enjoy this work so I saw the show and took some photographs from the side of the space.
The Press Launches
Other than known performers I enjoy going to press launches to take photographs as it’s an excellent chance to see a number of shows in presentation form at each of the venues. The emphasis for me is on the variety and I hate being treated as a punter. I’m here for the visual element and generally don’t shout and applaud, although I may enjoy the performance this is not what I do. My hands are full of equipment and my mind on the visual element.
Evidently performers need a good response from the audience to achieve their best but let’s get on with the show and not berate the audience if the response from the audience is not as good as they think it should be. Maybe that’s why I’m not an avid fan of comedy as a lot of performers work off the audience.
During these press events, I have spoken with a great many people, plus like most of us here I am regularly flyered, maybe not by as many as some because I’m usually in a hurry to get somewhere and I choose to avoid eye contact so I don’t get stopped too often
This produces a list of shows to which I add a few recommendations from others both from the FringeReview team and other aquaintances. However, the long and the short of it I need to feel that it’s something visually engaging, serious; light; fast paced or ponderous, it does not matter I just enjoy taking photographs.
