Bath Chronicle - Deadline Day, second week

The next day, I went to Walcot Chapel Gallery to take photos of the exhibition with the artists involved. I had set up the appointment the day before, calling the main organiser of the event and setting up a time to come when as many of the artists taking part could be there as possible. I set up the shot in one of the corners of the exhibition with artwork shown behind, seen below (published on page 6 of that week's paper):



I got any last details I needed for the story before being sent to another photo op, this time at the Royal Hospital for Rheumatic Disease. The Bath National Osteoporosis Society had raised money to buy the hospital four new state of the art mechanical beds which they were unveiling that day. I set up the shot of members of the society and members of hospital staff surrounding the bed with a commemorative cake in the forefront of the image.

After this, I was asked to go to Royal Victoria Park where the streets had been closed to parking for the day and get photos and quotes from anyone affected. The council had set up bicycle races to happen every Wednesday in May in the park and had closed it to all cars and parking on those days. There were a number of people that were annoyed at this, as there was no advance warning and the park is a popular place to park for many commuters. I walked around the whole of the park, taking photos of the entrances and signs of closure and scouting for people that looked like they could be unhappy with the decision. I was able to get quotes from a local police officer that said he hadn’t been notified of it, an elderly couple from Bristol who only come into Bath to bring their grandchild to the park on Wednesdays and a local taxi driver. They all asked to remain unnamed but expressed their irritation at the organisers of the event that proved to make a mundane story appear more interesting.

The quotes I got for the story and the photo were published on page 4 of that week's paper, seen below:


(The full article can be found here.)

I had to do all this in time to be back by the deadline on Wednesday afternoon. The paper is sent to the printers at the end of the day on Wednesday, to be printed overnight and hit the shelves by about 6:00 in the morning on a Thursday. This was good experience as it showed me what it is like to work to a deadline and make sure everything is done in time.