Subject: Urban

This picture which looks like the remnants of a dystopian Wasteland, started with an upturned bike with its wheels removed. I came across it on a back street in Pottergate, Norwich. The mountain of scrap metal (including the car!) was in a big yard in Yarmouth. The premises belong to EMR Group Scrap Metal, on the Southgate Rd. opposite the junction with Queens Rd. It was a photo opportunity I couldn’t miss. Marrying the two aspects came by experimentation, as I was looking for what scenario to use the bicycle. The disparity between sizes added to the surreal effect. Lastly came the skyline which I’ve filled with the Ferris Wheel from Yarmouth beach. I have distorted it to fill the picture and give the image some ‘movement ‘. I applied a different filter to each component to distinguish their place in the montage. The title came at the very end and the irony wasn’t lost on me……..

This is the meeting of Muspole St., St.Andrews Hill, London St., Bedford St. and Whitefriars Bridge, behind the law courts. Confused? I am too. I like the way the triangular tops of the industrial building (the old St.George’s Works complex), reflect the coloured cobble stones, and the cut paving slabs. Also, the round windows, mirroring the knobs on top of the railings. But best of all, the railing posts, dancing across the street!

I came across the dramatic shadow being cast by the public seating in Lowestoft, that was overlooking the beach below. I think it was Victorian because of its style. To set the bench against an unusual backdrop, I eventually settled on the beachside promenade in Yarmouth. I am always contrary, and thought by turning the image upside down, it would create a dynamic narrative. I turned up the colour saturation to offset the monochrome seat and shadow. The last thing I did was to put the flared reflection on the armrest.

It seems as though I have become fixated with distorted Helter-Skelters (Ref:’Fandango’j; this one being a permanent attraction in Cromer on the Promenade. The structure includes the white roof of an indoor gaming machines emporium, which the ride stands above. The dial is something I created from scratch, at the last minute, to compliment the composition and distract the eye… Next to these is the Lady Julian Bridge in Norwich. I had to distort the towers to reflect the flow of the picture. I changed the sky from the slightly hazy to the more interesting…..

This is the Ferris wheel on the beach front in Yarmouth. I cut away the spaces between the spokes, which took a very long time! I then looked for a background and eventually found one of the photos I took of the Eastern Edge Complex at Lowestoft. These are newly built beach huts (see ‘Lowestoft Beach Huts’ in the Abstract category). They seemed to give the picture some depth. The top half of the photo was the beach, which I didn’t like. The man walking was good but he was partly hidden by the wheel, so I moved him. I substituted the beach for the plain net curtains in my bedroom, and then ‘swirled’ the image to reflect the curve of the wheel. “Will you walk into my parlour? said the spider to the fly” the famous poem by Mary Hewitt 1829.

I came across the silhouetted access platforms (Cherry Pickers) on the South Denes Rd. in Great Yarmouth. They were parked in a yard, sticking up above a brick wall. I thought that they looked quite stunning, grouped together as they were, I HAD to photograph them. I took a few shots from different angles, and after selecting the photos I wanted, it took a very long time to isolate (cut them out) them from their backgrounds. I needed a landscape to pin them on. I sorted through a lot of images, trying to find an unusual setting that also provided a narrative. The view I chose, is of the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool. It is near the Pier Head, on Mann Island. I liked the few half opened windows, on a sheer wall of glass. I did invent a few more open windows, for artistic license. I think the window in the top left hand corner, unifies the composition.

This collage is of the beach huts recently completed and yet to be occupied, overlooking the South Beach. I photographed the complex from different perspectives and chose some of the many pictures to be ‘jigsawed’ together. I thought of applying a wave motion to reflect their environment. I also saturated the colours and turned the blue sky to yellow.

Walking along the path by the beach, I noticed the strip of land being developed between the path and the car park (No.11) on the North Drive in Yarmouth. They were obviously laying down paving stones to rest and establish beach huts. The sections were surrounded by a metal fence. I was drawn to the gate lying on the ground, ready to be attached to the gap in the corner. I included a section of fencing that I had photographed further along. I introduced the glass office buildings (in Melbourne) to contrast with the colour and lines in the foreground. The fence was limited in the original photo frame, so I extended the lines and then cut the sections diagonally to accentuate the composition. Finally, I saturated the colours to give the picture more punch.

Hamish had just left the front passenger seat to get some groceries, whilst Kaye and I were sat in the back. The lighting and the curves of the interior with the ripped up door panelling, looked quite striking from where I was sitting. How to fill the window space? Back home in front of the computer, I saw a photo I had taken of a shopfront with a sort of small ‘front garden’. It is the fenced enclosure of an estate agent’s called ‘Minors & Brady’ on Unthank Rd, so I incorporated that image to expand the narrative. I filled the side view mirror with a photo of a kerb with double yellow lines, to be synonymous with the interior curves. I liked the contrast between the fluid shapes in the car, and the straight lines outside. Simon won’t mind me saying his car is rubbish,… because it is.. f++k him! Ha ha….