I saw this Parabolic Grid Antenna at the RAF Air Defence Museum at Neatishead. I took a few a few photos of this outside exhibit, because I liked the curved structure. I isolated it from its original placement and set it against a more interesting cloudscape. I photographed this vista from the top deck of a bus; I was on my way to Norwich from Mattishall and the flat countryside and the ‘big sky’ was too good to miss. The recessed skylights are in the ceiling of Chantry Place Shopping Mall. I have curved them (to reflect the radar) and reduced their opacity. The one window I left is the prominent one, top right which strangely looks like a ship/boat/spacecraft ?
Gridlock
Visiting the Royal Norfolk Show, I came across this metal cage which looked quite interesting. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but took a few photos anyway. I now know it is a Cattle Crush, which secures the animal whilst it is being examined or treated. This model is the Tamar Squeeze, manufactured by L.M. Bateman at Cheddleton, Staffs. There were some side panels which I have cut away, and duplicated a couple of wheels, which I tacked on also. I put the ‘Lock’ and ‘Unlock’ labels on the frame too, hence the title. Looking for a background to set the frame against, was a long process. Eventually I selected a cropped shot of a jetty in Queensland somewhere. I applied a filter to give it a gritty effect, and darkened it a bit to give some contrast for the main image.
Brick Harbour
I decided to put this image in the COASTAL category for four reasons. The picture started with the interesting brick wall ( ancient and modern) which I photographed on Station Rd., opposite the Post Office at Well-Next-The-Sea. Then came the metal ring that is used for the ropes to tie-off the boats on South Quay, Yarmouth. The rope came from the bottom of a boat, moored at The Quay in Blakeney. The last item was the boat. I took the photo, looking down from a pedestrian bridge that spans a concrete slipway at West Cliff in Sheringham. These components don’t have anything in common concerning size. I had the idea of turning the left hand portion of the wall into water, by distorting and applying a filter to give the desired result. (Convincing?……hmmm). I introduced the reflection of the sun and created the sparkling effect with a special paintbrush.
Watching The Sun Go Down
This is the result of me just noodling around with a couple of photos, and exploring a possible composition. There is the electricity pylon at Arminghall, just outside Norwich, and separately, what I suppose is an electrical junction box, on a railway line, above a bridge on Long John Hill. The overhead power lines for the trains are also visible. Creating the sun, sky and stars with Photoshop, the picture exploded before my eyes!
Secured Colours
A little way up Cambridge St. in Norwich are two rows of ‘lock-up’ garages opposing each other. I noticed how each garage had a different door clasp latch. To make things more interesting (visually…) was that they had every type of padlock imaginable. I photographed the best examples. For the background, I sampled the colours from the chosen locks and ‘barcoded’ the results individually. I was amazed by the vast array of colours the were inherent to the locks.
Look Both Ways
There has been a large building development near the crossroads, at the end of Dereham Rd. called St. Benedict’s Gate. It is now complete, and is a big student accommodation complex. A new zebra crossing has been established, for bikes and pedestrians, to service the said blocks of flats. I took a few shots of the pristine markings and collaged them, as you can see. I incorporated the cutlery drainer, (same one, from three different angles) which I had photographed around the same time. I liked the object because I could cut out the spaces to reveal the background. ‘Look Both Ways’ is of course, stencilled with the markings, for the benefit of the user.
Windpower
If you walk south, as far as possible on Yarmouth beach, you will see the two towers for the construction of wind turbines. Cordoned off and up on the embankment are the turbine bodies themselves, laid flat. What you see are the bases with the connecting rods protruding and protected with the green plastic sheaths. I photographed them through the gap in the wire fence. The deck chairs were on the beach, discarded and being blown by the wind, as you see them. I isolated them from the sand they were lying on. Not far away was a guy flying a kite….Snap! I put them together and turned the deckchairs accordingly, and the title and theme was realised!
Order And Chaos
I was drawn to the beautifully lit image of the section of the Yarmouth Marketplace you can see. It has been opened recently, and was designed by Hudson Architects of Norwich. The right hand side of the original photograph led on to the main thoroughfare . I have broadened and substituted the space to include the ‘Chaos’. This comprises of a view near the Lascaris Wharf in Valletta, and a building in Marsalforn, in Gozo. I liked the confusion of wire and shadow on the corner of the house. I have distorted the two components and added two filters for effect. The ‘Order’ was given a softening filter.
Step And Tap
I started this picture by co-joining the two sets of steps. One set descending and the other ascending, which I thought would present an interesting image. The staggered walkway at the top (which I distorted) were in Valletta, Malta. I think they are the Sqaq Ix-Xatt 3, coming down to the Xatt I Imsida. The bottom set is at Tigne Point, descending to Silema Creek. That’s where I got stuck, because the result wasn’t that inspiring. I searched around for something to enliven the scene. Eventually I found the photo of a trumpet, which was in the window of an antique/curio shop on Church Street in Sheringham. It seemed to fit perfectly. The young woman was originally on the bottom step, on the left hand side. I enlarged her and brought her further up the steps to mirror the trumpet finger buttons . I admit the picture isn’t great, but I was happy to let it go after a long process of chopping and changing, and wanting to achieve something I couldn’t quite realise.
Miracle In The Basement
The basement in this scene is the underground storage building at the St. Elmo Fort. It is part of the National War Museum in Valletta, Malta. I liked the steps leading down with the pool of light, and the utilitarian bulkhead wall light. I stretched the dark room to the left. In this space I added the window in disrepair and the stone blocks. The window came from a military building at the now de-commissioned Fort Manoel on Manoel Island, a relic from WW2. The blocks and wooden sculptures were in the ‘front garden’ of a house on Xatt I Imsada, a street on the way into Valletta centre. The statue of Santa Marija is in the Cathedral Of The Assumption, in Victoria, Gozo. I thought the processional statue is so beautiful in its residence and background, situated in its own placement. It was made in Rome at the Fabbrica Di Statue Reliligiose Of Francesco Rosa, in 1897. I intentionally fitted the statue in front of the wall light to give the halo effect, and stretched it to fit the perspective.