26 Different Endings

http://www.markpower.co.uk/index.cfm?p=10320

Above is a link to the autobiographical essay by David Chandler published with Power's '26 Different Endings Work'.

These are my favorite images from the '26 Different Endings' Series. Below is a description taken from Mark Power's Website stating what this series is about

"The 'A-Z London Street Atlas' is the most popular map of any kind in Britain, selling over 200,000 copies a year.

In the Spring of 2003 Power was enjoying a picnic somewhere to the west of London. Leafing idly through his own A-Z, he noticed the stream in front of him ran along the very edge of the atlas and the field beyond was off the page altogether.

The coverage of the map changes with each new edition. Someone somewhere decides, year by year, where it should end; which parts of the periphery of London should be included, and which should not.

This project is about the unfortunate places that fall just off the edge. The title, '26 Different Endings' is the name of the book , while the touring exhibition, an extended version of 56 pictures, is 'A System of Edges'."

Overall I think this series is an example of Mark Power's best work. I feel that I can almost relate to some of the scenes in the images. They seem to be very dull, bland and quiet scenes which almost remind me of my hometown on a typical weekday. There seems to be a lot dereliction, something which occurs a lot in my town. The images are composed in a way that emphasizes how dull the outskirts of a place can be, they are very statically composed. Also, in a time where images tend to be very highly edited these images seem the opposite. The colours seem very bland and plain. Did he do this on purpose to make the images seem even more boring and if you want, 'life-like'?. In my view this work is a very successful piece of work.