Subject: Abstract

Here are two photographs taken within five minutes of each other. In the foreground is what’s known as a Flume. This is an exterior structure attached to the side of the newly built Marina Centre in Yarmouth. It is a swimming pool and fitness facility. The Flume is a tunnel/tube that people can slide through, out of the building and back again. I have cut away the brick wall that was in the photo. Behind that is the Ferris Wheel, known as the Great Yarmouth Observation Wheel. I was walking towards the sun, so both items were lit from the same direction. I simply placed one original photo on top of the other. I applied a filter to give the picture a bold look. I put this in the Abstract category because I couldn’t think where else it would be applicable.

Whenever I walk along a street, I might notice something as I pass, I stop, walk back and photograph it. Here are two examples of that idiosyncrasy. At the top is the remnants of a front door step which is now blocked off. The brick work remains. The building is now flats converted from a pub on Heigham St. know as The Pineapple P.H. The bottom segment is a glass grille for a basement below. This is at the entrance (again!) of the Olives bar/restaurant at the junction of Elm Hill and Wensum St.  I put the two together without much thought. Then I experimented with some opposing circles against the predominant squares. Copying the immediate background and distorting the result, highlighting the tops, I created raindrops! I know…they should be upside down in physical reality, but I preferred them as they are. Notice they’re not pear shaped.

Looking down into Anglia Square from the HMSO building, one  sees the shadows cast by the glass and steel canopy covering, in the middle of the shopping centre. I thought it created a visual dynamic that looked very arresting. I have accentuated the colour of the paving slabs. The disposable shaving razors in my bathroom caught my eye,…so click went the camera! I will photograph anything that catches my attention, and usually not use, this time I did. The pipes and access ladder are part of a vacant industrial unit around the back of Barker St. I liked the way these elements seem to connect. As for the title,…. the image came out of the blue and I was stumped as what to make of it. I have  created a previous picture,  which I titled ‘WTF’  for the same reason, hence ‘Part2’ for this picture. So…..WTF?

At the entrance to the Norwich Union building on Surrey Street, there are two statues flanking the grand edifice. They are; William Talbot (on the left) and Sir Samuel Bignold (centre). They were both sculpted by Mons. L. Chavalliaud, at the beginning of the 20th century. I have photographed a detailed section of the statues, as you can see; I liked the folds and books, and the shadows cast by their relief. The right hand segment is an egg box I had photographed previously. It was a cardboard composite pressed tray for six eggs. I flattened it (when it was empty) by standing on it. As usual, it was introduced into the collage, after looking through my library. I thought the image complimented the statues by colour, texture, shape and lighting. I titled the picture because of the portfolio business files you can see, signifying the gentleman’s office and stature.

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 ?

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 left side of the original photograph led on to the main passageway. 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.

I was visiting the Cathedral Of The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, in Victoria on Gozo, Malta. I was on the Cittadella Walkway which is the battlements of the cathedral fortress. Down below on another parapet were a group of tourists. They stood out because they were all wearing red baseball caps, presumably for the benefit of the tour organisers (I had to put a few caps on the heads of those incalcitrants who neglected to follow the rules). I liked the quirky scenario. They were looking at the town below. I have removed that part of the photo. I replaced it with the square parasols of the Cafe San Martino and a section of St. John’s Demi Bastion. As you can see (did you know, care, or notice ?) I have jigsawed the three components together and deliberately retained the small red parasol that was in amongst the larger grey ones. I added the ‘grass’ to overlay building work and customers in the cafe. I applied a filter to give the impression of the baking heat I experienced on that day.

Gone are the days of tin openers! I have a number of cans in my larder, and I noticed that the ring pull tops are of a different design – not as universal as one might think. That was my starting point. Looking to find a background or sympathetic situation, I came across a photo I took of my metallic kitchen sink, that I had rejected for a previous collage. I had smeared cooking oil in the basin to create water globules. To emulate the theme, I photographed the tops of the cans separately, following the same process, and then reduced their opacity to reveal the sink and slightly overlapping the cans.

Walking on the parapet footpath along the Yarmouth beach, one goes under the Britannia Pier. The path slopes up to the Anchor Gardens. The serrated concrete pad (to give pedestrians some grip on the incline) was illuminated by the low lying sun, and worth a photograph. I had a vision, of using the image and contrasting it with a thin blue horizon at the top. One thing led to another, and I finally ended up with this picture which evolved from that simple idea.