Focus on Imaging is Europes largest exhibition dedicated to photography.
Every year thousands of photography enthusiasts (this year attendance was over 37,000!), both professional and amateur, flock to the NEC in Birmingham to test out the latest equipment, learn new tricks from the free seminars and just as importantly to bag a bargain! Most exhibiting suppliers take advantage of the surplus custom and offer ‘show discounts’ on their products in a bid to entice further custom in the future.
The show is hosted over four days and it’s often the case that many people return at least twice during the period.
After having worked at the show for a couple of years with the official show video team interviewing people who repeatedly told us a large draw to the show is the discount prices, I returned this year with a project of my own.
Commissioned by Mary Walker the woman behind Focus, I was invited to satiate my curiosity and set up an on-site photo booth to ascertain exactly what these show bargains were.
I asked people to pose with their best bargain. They could pose however they liked, as long as they were holding the purchase/s they were most proud of.
I found the results were better than I ever imagined. People really got into the tone of the project and came up with interesting ways of best displaying their purchases. What I liked most was the amount of enthusiasm for having found a really great deal as there is often a sense of achievement that comes with finding something you needed at a great price, particularly if you have actively haggled for it.
Over the four day period I photographed 153 visitors to the show and even joined in myself as I found a great deal on some light moulding tools for my speedlight flash.
Here are a few of my favourites