The Shooting Gallery Series 1

Whilst looking on 4OD I came across the art, design and literature section. I investigated further and found The Shooting Gallery which is a "collection of original material, award-winning shorts and Internet hits focusing on still image and photography.

I decided to take a look at Series 1, Episode 9 ( there appears to be only one episode available for watch series) called 'Caught on Camera' a collection of short films.

1. Back to the Future: A profile on Irina Werning who travels the world recreating photographs from peoples childhoods. I particularly liked this idea and am actually quite keen on giving it a go myself. She says that she will only work on 10 pictures at a time. There are stories behind why each person wishes to have their image recreated which she learns as she works on each one. She believes that the details in each photo are very important as they can distract you from the person shown.

2. The Neglected: UNESCO award winning photographer David Gillanders followed young drug addicts of Odessa, Ukraine for three years. These children live underground and are forgotten by society. many of the images show children coming up out of man hole covers and other tightly cramped places. This to me represented how they are trapped in their situation and are desperate to escape. Many of the children shown in the images actually died.

3. In Focus: shows blind photographer Pete Eckert, who calls himself a blind visual artist, and an unexpected exhibition of his work in New York City. His work was amazing and shows there is no limit to what you can do and as he put it himself "blindness is no barrier to seeing things clearly".

4. Dark Clouds: Chinese- British photographer Ian Teh highlights China's industry, showing coal fields and the hidden side of the economy. It showed a glimpse of another life and world that is rarely seen. China is the biggest producer of CO2, ruining people's health. Thousands of miners are killed each year in the most dangerous job. These images really do show a dark side to life.

5. Caracas: A portrait of life in the slums of Caracas and and the people who live their.

6: A Life Alone: New York photographer Maisie Crow follows Tom Rose, who after 63 years of married life finds himself alone for the first time after his wife's death. This video was actually quite upsetting as Tom admits that he no longer sleeps upstairs in the bed he shared with his wife as he can't bear to go up there alone.

7. The Stolen Scream: About Noam Golai who had posted photos of himself screaming on flickr and then found that the images had been used on tshirts, magazine covers and even on walls in Iran as a sign of protest. This had all been done without his knowledge! I myself would probably be furious that my work had been used without my permission but Golai sees it that people all around the world have still viewed his work.

I have enjoyed watching snap shots of other photographers work and have found some to be inspiring. I think that coming across The Shooting gallery has been worthwhile and I shall continue to watch other episodes. I think that if you can take something away from each persons work you view, even if it is deciding what you do and don't like then it has been a positive experience.