moochers, a photo from Scottish Borders, Scotland

Photographer's Note

This was taken at a lurcher and terrier show held in the Scottish Borders town of Selkirk.Both lurchers and terriers are hunting dogs. However, recent legislation has made the hunting of game by dogs illegal.Rabbits are the main quarry now as they fall outside this legislation. Mooching is what men do when they go out hunting with dogs.
You will spot that this show was held at Selkirk's cricket ground. The clubhouse building in the background is on a squint. I left it this way because in order to straighten it I would need to rotate slightly, and crop but this would lose the foot of the big deerhound which I didn't want to do.Lovely dog, isn't he? Mooching is a generally speaking a sport enjoyed by the working classes and you would perhaps have to understand the nuances of the British class system to recognise the difference between this group of likely lads and these people
Technically speaking I have learnt a lot since I took this picture in 2007 but I think its interesting from a sociological pov as a snapshot of life in the UK. I keep thinking up themes that I would like to pursue and this one could be the first of a culture & class theme...perhaps, maybe...

casperduppy, AROBN54, bakes888, graffer, Cretense, holmertz trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

AROBN54 (11475) 2009-05-27 16:43

Nice looking group, Bev.
I love those big hounds and I particularly like the way you caught that one looking right at you. B&W suits it well and the sharpness and detail are really good. GREAT note, too and I like your ideas. Very well done. Many thanks and warmest wishes,
Shelly

wolf38 (30) 2009-05-27 22:24

Hello Bev. Here you show an interesting social study in black-and-white. A strong picture, - it works outstanding. Compliment. Best regards, Wolfgang.

bakes888 (18499) 2009-05-28 0:14

Hi Bev. We still hunters that use dogs, mainly for feral pigs with hunters on foot but the horseback hare hunters also and I guess there is a class difference between them also (in our classless society!). Nice catch, I don’t think the tilt detracts too much if at all, I probably wouldn’t have noticed had you not pointed it out. Good use of BW to give an ageless feel. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

graffer (1800) 2009-05-28 2:55

Hello Bev,

Ah......... That triangle again! And what a strong composition it makes.

Apart from that, what really stands out - in both senses of the expression - is the head of the dog at the top right of the group, staring off into the distance.

I also like the fact that only one of the moochers - and only one of the dogs - is actually looking at the camera.

The decision to use monochrome has paid of, giving a "gritty" feel to the picture.

Never one to refuse a challenge, I thought I'd try to straighten out the clock tower without losing the dog's foot.

See WS.

Kind regards,

Peter.

[workshop] [compare] +

Cretense (68709) 2009-05-29 6:05

Hi Bev!

Excellent daily life scene, great framing and composition, perfect choice of b&w, that also helps with the "washed out" sky! Congratulations!

Hercules

cobbydale (1958) 2009-05-30 16:41

Hi Bev, I think you're right about the sociological aspect of this one. Replace the 21st century clothing with 19th century garb and this could be one of those Victorian black and white shots we've so often seen.

I thought of you last weekend as I was driving up the A65 from Skipton to Ingleton - the traffic was tailing back due to all the horse-drawn caravans making their way up for the Appleby Horse Fair next week. Hopefully you'll get some more interesting photos from this year's event?
cheers
Leon

holmertz (101956) 2009-06-14 2:09

Hello Bev,
Along with your interesting note (and the one accompaning the photo of "these people") this is a great picture. Not just because of what it may say about British class society (and you can notice the same obvious details in the supposedly almost classless Swedish society, where class differences are actually stronger than for many decades), but because it's such a fine composition. I suppose they did not pose for you, and yet they placed themselves in a perfect triangle.
Regards,
Gert