As this time of year we seem to be more aware of the image. Be it a photographic image or some artwork on a Christmas card that we send or receive. There have been quite a few images taken around our Moving East activities recently, and I got to thinking of the line said by Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), the material-free jet-setter in the movie Up in the Air: “Photo albums are for people without memories”. So what are we trying to do when we take a photo or draw a picture?

People like to show the images they have created, to share their experiences with others.
People like the memories that their pictures bring. It captures the fresh memory, and in the case of our new training centre currently under construction in Purfleet we are only too aware of the saying that ‘time is precious’. What we see now with the dark exposed steel frame is merely a moment in time, and we feel the need to capture it.

Last month I was wondering around the inside of our new building with Bill, Hayley and Paul from South Essex College, alongside artist Melanie Manchort and Operations Director Robin Auld. It struck me then how we were all enthusiastically snapping images of this building as it takes shape before our very eyes.  The methods were varied for capturing images. In my case, my out of date Nokia mobile to Melanie’s more professional camera equipment, but the important thing was to get the snap.

The word “snapshot” wasn’t thought of until George Eastman produced his one dollar Box Brownie, with roll film, in 1900 – ‘You take the picture, we do the rest’ was what Kodak used as a slogan. An interesting by-line I thought. One that would suit the Moving East programme well.

Another reason for creating images is the belief that pictures fade slower than our memory. Our recent Carol Concert attracted around 200 people with many of them snapping away. If you look at Your Thurrock’s short film clip of the event http://www.yourthurrock.com/2011/12/20/christmas-carols-at-royal-opera-house-in-purfleet/ like me you’ll no doubt notice the flash of cameras and people capturing the memories we and our partners had helped create that wonderful evening. You take the picture we do the rest.

As part of the event we also invited children to draw what they imagined the new building being constructed on the High House site was to be - or what they wanted it to be. Images ranging from Zoos to Leisure Centres (and happily one or two Skills Academies too) were created. It is said that it was Dibutade, a young woman from ancient Corinth, who supposedly invented the art of drawing when her lover was about to embark on a long journey. The memory she would carry of him in her head would not be enough, so she traced his shadow on a wall in order to be able to look at him every day in his absence.

I’ve been looking at some of the images James Fletcher has been taking backstage at Skills Academy member venues in the Moving East area. Lovely black and white pictures with a little orange colour highlight.  These pictures tell a story of the, by no means absent, but often hidden roles in our theatres, entertainment venues and opera houses without which the arts couldn’t exist. Out of sight – out of mind. Not in our world as we seek to promote job roles behind the scenes. You take the picture we do the rest.

So as you look at that Christmas card you receive this year or back on the photos you take during this season, be aware of the image – enjoy the image – but think  a little of all the people who helped create it. Photo albums aren’t for people without memories – they’re reminders of what has happened and what has been achieved. Here’s to 2012 when images we have yet to imagine will soon appear before our very eyes!  Click.