Subject: Urban

  • Tangled Up In Black And White

    I discovered these abandoned studio chairs (five in number) at the back of some offices in Yarmouth; looked like they were having a meeting! I took some photographs and eventually cut them out. I had the idea of introducing lots of wires in the composition. Why? I don’t know, but I pursued the idea because I remembered some particular photos I had taken at a transport museum. I couldn’t find those images, but came across some other ‘wire’ shots. These were from a picture I’d done called ‘Lines In The Countryside, Wires In My Head’ – ( crayzee title, crayzee image!). The three overhead railway cable photos were the left over workings from the project, half finished. So I finished them, and arranged them accordingly. The chairs have of course been duplicated, sized , re-arranged and placed in the final collage. I kept the the sky stark white because I think it creates a strong and conflicting visual impact.

  • Garment Rail

    The Lord Mayors Procession happens every year and proceeds through the city. A lot of roads are blocked off for the route. It was at the bottom end of Exchange St. that I came upon these suited  display mannequins. They were strung across the road to take advantage of the closure. They belonged to Leadenhall Tailoring who were taking advantage of the opportunity to advertise. I took some photographs and preferred the shots with the sun shining down the street and their backs to me. I have placed them on a disused wooden quay from Port Augusta in Southern Australia. The rail tracks were obviously for cranes and trains in the port operations. I have also overlayed a lattice frame modelling mannequin, stretched and semi transparent which I had used in another picture (see ‘Lattice Girl’). I sized and re-arranged the display mannequins and applied couple of filters. I liked the ‘converging’ composition.

  • Bicycle Spaghetti

    Sitting outside Chapelfield Shopping Mall I noticed this sleek looking bike attached/locked to a cycle stand. With the loops of the stainless steel stand and the curves of the bicycle, there seemed to be a ‘flow’. I took a couple of photographs. The only problem was, the owner had covered the seat with a green plastic bag, to protect against rain. I noticed another bike on the next stand, so I photographed its seat. I cut away the bike and stand from the background and added the other seat. I cut away the spokes because they were a hindrance and too tedious to isolate. You can see the evidence of them on the bike and stand. I had some previous photographs of the same type of hooped stand, so I included them (one set upside down). I searched for a background and found a photo I had of a box with different angled squares. I kept the picture mostly black and white, except the lock and rear light.

  • Dying In The Kerb

    I was given a bunch of tulips as a present for my birthday. They came from Jane; it was a first for me! They looked quite good in the glass jug, but as in life….they started to droop and die. It was at that point I photographed the dramatic arrangement. Walking up Ten Bell Lane to the junction at Pottergate and Cow Hill, I noticed the road markings that had been worn away. The cobblestones seemed to emerge from the paint. I took a few photos. I have montaged two photographs together, not quite convincingly, but credible. I put the flowers into the picture and they seemed to fit very well. The whole image ‘works’ and there is some ‘movement’ too. I was very satisfied with the result.

  • Three King Lane (Redo) 2

    I have just found the original collage that I did with Pritstick and end-prints onto card, back in 1992! I eventually photographed it on transparency and scanned it into the computer. I edited the electronic file in 2019, hence the (Redo) in the title. Now I have re re-edited the image and included it on the website. Three King Lane is a pedestrian alleyway that runs down from Pottergate to St. Margaret’s Church on St. Benedicts St.  Back in 1992 the lane had be refurbished with brickwork and manhole covers (can I say MAN hole?) – there were lots of them so photographed and collaged. Not all the covers made it onto the final piece.

  • Structured 2

    I visited Portsmouth for the first time with my sister Anne and brother-in-law Chris who is a Pompey Boy. We walked along the city wall on the east side of the harbour at a place called Hotwalls. Going up a stairwell we got to the roof of the Round Tower. The viewing platform has seating that looks over the mouth of the harbour. This photo is of those steps and railings that struck me as visually arresting; the shadows cast and opposing lines of composition. At the top with the handrail, I cut away the original background with a view to putting something else on the skyline. I came across a photograph I had of a warehouse being built. The skeleton of the girders and safety rails fitted perfectly. This was here in Norwich at the Cathedral Retail Park on Barn Rd. I applied a filter to give the picture a gritty look. Why? .. I just liked the look!

  • View With A Room

    The room is a small summerhouse, raised on stilts that overlooks an ornate garden at Hunworth Hall. The French doors and windows open up to a long rectangular lily pond, surrounded by a beautifully laid out topiary garden. But being perverse, I replaced the sumptuous view with a moving walkway at Heathrow airport. I saw this between terminals 2 and 3, and it was empty!… a golden opportunity to photograph it. I removed the emergency stop button that was on a ‘stalk’ in the middle of the two lanes near to the camera. I introduced the clear glass globes (employed by fortune tellers) that I photographed on my light box. I naturally turned the ball upside down (law of optical physics) and sized the duplicates appropriately.

  • Striking 2

    I’m not in the habit of taking photos in public toilets. . believe me. . , but I was struck by the diagonal sunlight on the wall tiles and the orange flooring. The orange cubicle door gave the composition added finesse. There was no one around, so I took a couple of shots. There are situations that catch my eye (or the corner of it) and this space was a good example. The redundant pair of armchairs were plonked on a lawn outside some flats on Lothian St. The angle of the sun gave them some presence. I took a few photographs from different angles. The trestle table pub benches were stacked up outside a restaurant on St. Benedict’s, which had gone bust. They were so sculptural in the sunshine, so I had to take a few photos of them. I have turned them forty five degrees clockwise, in line with the light direction. The chairs and tables aren’t comparatively sized. I applied a couple of filters to accentuate the pattern of the material on the armchairs, the wood grain and the tiles.

  • Configuration 3

    Walking along the Promenade from Cromer Pier there is a set of steps with the whitewashed flint rampart, that takes you up to New St. and the No.1 Fish Restaurant. I stood at the bottom and liked the CONFIGURATION that was presented. It was an overcast day so the view looked monochrome. The signpost and railings seemed to accentuate the composition. I was going to put railway signals ascending the stairs, that I photographed in the York Railway Museum. I extended the sky to place some there. Then I remembered the horse and rider that I didn’t include in the picture entitled ‘Out Of The Stalls’. Forget the signals! The horse looked better! It is relatively larger than it should be. The ‘sky’ is my duvet. I applied a couple of filters to give the image. . . serenity?

  • Ring Road 2

    The snow covered view is of the A47 Southern Bypass during Covid lockdown (Feb.2021). This was during one of my walks, and is a photograph from a bridge spanning the unusually empty dual carriageway. The bridge/road is unmarked on the map but runs from Whitlingham Country Park to the Kirby Road. The Quay rings were at Yarmouth. They are embedded in the chest high parapet wall on the South Quay opposite the Great Yarmouth Borough Council building. I was looking for something or somewhere to locate the rings and eventually came across the road shot – perfect! You cannot see from this thumbnail image,  but I changed the destinations on the motorway sign to read; Somewhere, Nowhere and Anywhere. I applied a filter to accentuate the wintry look.