Walking along Queens Rd. one bright sunny lockdown day (Ref: the title), I came across two views of Norwich city centre. One was at the top end of the bus station entrance, and the other at the top of All Saints Green. I took some photographs, and when I got home, I montaged, designed and rendered the picture on the same day. I thought I would turn the blue sky red. It looked very dramatic, so I gave the buildings a reddish hue to compliment the light, and applied a filter for effect.
Subject: Building
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The Day The World Was Stunned
I was on the west coast of America with Sue where we witnessed 9/11 on T.V. as it happened. Like the world, we were stunned. This picture didn’t start out with the subject or title in mind. The Super Sabre jet, tail fin of the De Havilland Meteor, and the propellers were garnered from my visit to the aircraft museum in Flixton. The ‘buildings’ are at Earlham Cemetary in Norwich (not intended, but apt). The chimney has been doubled (without thinking about twin..) and the pyramidal roof enlarged. There were a LOT of images introduced to this collage at the beginning, but I eventually whittled them down. The title became apparent when I realised what I had unwittingly created.
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Painting Perspectives
One of my favourite places to go, have a couple of drinks and watch the world go by is Cromer Pier. One day I noticed an artist with his portable easel/tripod stand, painting a canvas. I asked if I could take a couple of photos of him as he painted, looking into the sun. He will be surprised to find that he is on one of two student accommodation blocks at the UEA. Even more so, to have St.Johns RC cathedral in Norwich, on the skyline. In the original photograph of the artist, I kept the shadow as a guide, for when I created a new shadow in the computer.
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Untitled No.58.2
There is a pedestrian passage running from St.Stephens St. to Malthouse Lane. I liked the perspective it presented, so I took a photograph. In reality it is quite narrow, so I’ve stretched it wider. Instead of the normal view of St.Stephens at the end (boring), I replaced it with the column of a flyover, seen from the Undercliff Walk on Marina Way in Brighton. I have, of course, tilted the image to give the picture its dynamic. Behind that is the blue facade of flats above the Silver Slipper arcade on Marine Parade in Yarmouth. I added some more windows. The focal point is an antique French shower unit, that I saw in the window of Stiffkey Bathrooms on St.Giles St. Lastly, I enlarged the manhole cover and moved it to the left, to balance the picture.
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Potboiler
This picture became a bit of a long process, to come to its final conclusion. The ‘sky’ was a lime green wall, falling into disrepair, at a car wash station on the Sprowston Road. The water tower (?) is in the Lion Wood Local Nature Reserve, just off Telegraph lane. The other two structures are part of Earlham Crematorium. There is a tall oblong tower that sits between the apex and the chimney, that I eventually removed. I came across the ceremonial complex and was struck by the different shapes, in the bright sunshine. The spheres and cubes were introduced later. I was thinking of Cezannes quote about nature comprising of a cylinder, sphere and cone when I started this image. A lot of adding and subtracting, and then cutting through the objects was employed before I settled for the end result. Truly, a potboiler!
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Key To The Gate
These three elements were photographed individually, on the same day. There was no plan, but they fell in together quite well. The arched front door belongs to the old Bethel Hospital, founded 1713 by Mary Chapman, which has become residential flats. I liked the way the early morning sun lit the edifice. I cut away the door, to reveal the front cover of my doorbell, which is connected to the button outside. It was made by Friesland of Stockport…for you doorbell buffs, out there. I found the padlock lying in the road, so I propped it up and photographed it, as you do! These three objects, as I said, seemed perfect for each other.
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The Bigger Sound
Set in the cloisters of Norwich Cathedral, but instead of a lawn; they look suspiciously like Australian clouds. I came across two young Salvation Army guys in front of the City Hall, who were going to, or coming from an event. I asked if i could photograph the Tuba one of them had, in the bright sunshine,..The young woman also a Salvation Army cadet was part of a Remembrance Day parade and was stood to attention. I developed the theme as I went along, to create the title!
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Elevation
If you walk round the back of Gentlemans Walk, by the market, there is a little passageway called Weavers lane. There at the back of a building is a spiral fire escape. I have used that as a stencil to cut through to the underlying images. Those are a montage of the entrance hall/staircase in the main building, of the Art School. I was experimenting as I created the picture, with no objective plan.
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Fixing The CCTV
In the middle of Eaton Park is a colonnaded pavilion with a domed bandstand at its centre. Surrounding the bandstand are circular rows of seating. I photographed one section, and as you can see, I repositioned a section of it. I was interested in swirling the seating to go off and beyond, creating a sympathetic composition. On a whim I put the engineer who was fixing a CCTV on Barn Rd., into the middle of the arena. Why?.. he just looked good being there, and gives the picture a focus. And a title. I think it’s beautiful!
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Untitled No.28
Brisbane. What a wonderful city. There is a river taxi that zigzags up the Brisbane River, but I can’t remember how far it goes. Anyway, this is one of the many luxury apartments on the river front, I took the photograph at this angle from the boat, as you do… The blue water piping was laying in a field near East Dereham (ref. Abstract No.6). It took a very long time to isolate the pipe from its background, i.e. the muddy embankment. Once again the two items were married after a lot of experimenting. I filtered the buildings and sky, to blend in with the pipe.