Jon Pumpkin's photostream  

Before faveing anything: are you actually a photographer? If I go to your stream, will there be nothing there? Will I find you are collecting photos of kids from others? Will it look as though you confuse children with sexual imagary? If the answer to any of these questions is 'yes' YOU WILL BE BLOCKED.

Anti-social, grumpy. Suffer from depression. Have the most patient partner in the world, and two gorgeous cats, Caitlin and Tristan. We now spend a lot of time living with another cat, Jeffrey.

I'll photograph anything, but my work tends to fall into three main groupings:

Aviation - these are mostly documentary aircraft-spotters stuff.

Candids - I do a lot of photography on the street in public places, but not covertly. I have rules, in particular not to photograph in a way that ridicules the participant, and to stop/refrain if it is causing distress or changing the behaviour of the participants. Where possible, I try to ask people about the photographs, but in truth it tends to change behaviour and a lot are taken "on the hoof" - getting consent often isn't practicable or would actually cause distress rather than alleviate it. My particular favourite street subjects are musicians and (because one of my particular specialisms is child development) youngsters, especially in their information-gathering modes.

The third is the doll-work, which is totally removed from the rest. I have no desire whatsoever to do similar work with real people.

If there's a theme to my work, it tends to be about the psychology of interaction. That said, there has been a change. Before posting here, I thought I was capturing emotions. Having been doing a lot of work with dolls lately, however, it has become very clear that the interpretation we bring to a situation is as important as the signals actually being sent. These dolls have no emotions, and yet it is surprising how much feeling they can be made to invite.

Hey! About to have a photo published in GUD magazine! www.gudmagazine.com. Heh!

Warning: The doll work does contain a lot of nudes. These used to be naturist rather than sexualised. However, if nudity offends you, steer clear of them, as they are anatomically correct (using the word "correct" very loosely!). Despite this, there were complaints about even suggesting dolls with genitalia, and capping it all was a complaint about a dressed doll in a skin tight leotard. So, anyway, that's provoked a "F____ it" attitude and there are now some doll photos which are overtly sexual.

Oh, sometimes its obvious that pictures are meant to be viewed as a set, but for the most part juxtapositions in the stream are coincidental, not deliberate.

I've been asked to indicate my age. I'm old. Way over 18. Way way over 18. Old enough to have three degrees - in Law, Psychology and Teaching. I am a member of the British Psychological Society, the Institute for Learning and the Affiliation of Ethical and Professional Therapists.

Please note that it is nice to be a contact with anyone, but if you don't have any photos of your own, and you seem to be obsessing with e.g. the photos of kids on the beach, I will block you.

Pictures of youngsters are now restricted to friends and family. I've done this with very great regret, as images of children should not be equated with images of erotica. If you would like to have access to all images, please do contact me.