Subject: Surreal

Two friends had recently bought a house, and I helped them decorating all the rooms before they moved in. This is the front living room. Above the fireplace were the shadows left by what was obviously an oval shaped mirror. Also there was what we jokingly called a banjo, but of course it can only have been a Barometer. I stretched the image; one can tell by the shape of the fire grate. I had a picture that I had done previously but not used of the blister strips. I had arranged them on a piece of silver foil and took a few photographs. Looking for something to replace the view through the window, I tried a few images and put the strip picture in, and it fitted perfectly, looking incongruous and surreal. Finally I wanted something else to balance the composition. I thought of the drinking glass (pills…water…) which is of course not relatively sized. It took me some time and effort to make the glass transparent and credible.

I noticed the two principal items on the same page ( amongst other images), on my computer screen, so I combined them. Obviously the tail fin of the English Electric Lightning fighter jet isn’t bigger than the grain silo. After isolating both images from their inherent backgrounds, I looked for something to combine them. I came the close-up of a fuselage body of an aeroplane from the same Aviation Museum as the Lighting. This provided an excellent background. I invented a couple of extra riveted cover panels to satisfy the composition. I tilted the tail fin to create some dynamism. The title was a flippant afterthought.

The platform is at Dar-Es-Salaam railway station in Tanzania. I was with three friends, embarking on a three day railway trip to Serenje in Zambia. We were going to visit Dr. Livingstones memorial site, and eventually go to Victoria Falls (Mosi-Oa-Tunya) in Zimbabwe. The ‘train’ at platform 3 is part of a replica of George Stephensons ‘Rocket’ steam locomotive (1829). This is an exhibit at the York Railway Museum. It was built in 1935 and is credited to Robert Stephenson & Co. It has its cylinder cut away to reveal the workings of the piston. I made use of the platform support column to give the appearance of credibility. Also on the platform is the coupling and vacuum brake hose from the front of another train exhibited at the museum. The picture was, as usual, developed from vague introductions of different elements. I applied a filter to enhance the picture.

This was the time when the Covid lockdown was implemented. I used to go for long walks, and here was the Norwich Northern Bypass. What would be a VERY busy dual carriageway was empty. Parked on the edges of Norwich airport were those and many more planes, grounded for the duration. I have introduced a couple of objects to create more confusion. The silver object is a cutlery receptacle to be found on the kitchen sink drainer. Stuck into it is a chrome spiral toast rack. I was experimenting with a ‘sculptural’ display with no plan for its use when I photographed it, just perverse boredom. The wheel (duplicated in the background) is part of a cider press presented as a decorative curio outside the Adam and Eve pub in Norwich. I created the shadows and added the sun ‘sparks’ on the sculpture. I think the world did go mad during that time. Evidence suggests it hasn’t recovered since. It’s got worse!

Repeating myself (ad nauseum), I maintain that I didn’t start this picture with any idea of a considered objective. The image started (in the sky) with the flagstones and the semi-circular metal (copper?) runner for a set of gates (no longer there) at St. John’s RC Cathedral in Norwich. In the foreground is a water feature, with steps running down, which is part of the Ceremonial Pool, on the Great Verandah at the entrance to the Australian Parliment building. The fire in the top of an oil barrel came next, probably from a firework party. The remains of a bonfire was from a camping trip in North Norfolk (I had to photograph it – as you do). I added the people (from another source) and the ‘stars’ to complete and realise a narrative – unwittingly…..well..after introducing the bonfire remains, as an experiment, the picture developed a theme. I was more interested in the curves and the composition.

This scene is set on the seafront walkway in Yarmouth. The particular spot is under the Britannia Pier, with the metal staircase going up to the pier. I liked the shadow created and the lines of the concrete steps and metal shutters. Without rhyme or reason I introduced the fairground Orbiter (see also ‘G-Force’) which I had photographed in Hunstanton. I enlarged, dragged and cropped the contraption so it fitted convincingly. In between the steps going up was a background of people and the beach beyond. I cut them away and looked for something to fill the spaces. I needed a shot of the sun shining towards the camera to complete the composition and light direction. I eventually came across the photo of the Ferris Wheel on Yarmouth beach. Then the narrative defined the title.

The picture started with a photo I took of a Funfair Swing Ride at the Royal Norfolk Show. I was going to substitute the people on the chained swings with something else (?). Then I placed the ride in a big marquee tent at the show. I liked the roof of the exhibition tent, which had sheep and goats being penned/displayed. The next stage was to perversely replace the riders with coat hangers ..are you keeping up so far?, this is where I got lost!  I photographed a collection of different coat hangers. I decided to dispose of the funfair ride, and populate the magnificent tent with the coat hangers. I had to find and photograph MORE coat hangers zzzzzzzzz…..The picture took a long time to create, but I was pleased with the result.

I noticed the whitewashed windows of a closed down pub on Redwell St. I liked the arbitrary way the wash was applied (on the inside). You can see the reflection of a block of offices opposite. There are three photos collaged together, hence Tripytch. The bridge is Lady Julian Bridge, which was silhouetted at the time, and was being decorated with a string of electric lights, for some later event. Notice the stepladder. I turned the lights on in the computer, and copied and strung some more off the structure.

The printing press belonged to Edvard Munch and can be be seen in the Munchmuseet in Oslo. Munch was of course famous for his painting and subsequent prints ‘The Scream’; the prints were produced on this press. The picture is set in an Orangery, but I cannot remember which grand house in Norfolk this was, Felbrigg? What I did was to photograph the room from either end (it only had one side of windows, with a bare wall on the opposing side), and joined the two aspects together. I cut out the window panes, to reveal a Norfolk landscape behind. The blue sky was also added. The title was inspired by the star shape component (the pressure roller arm?) of the lithographic press.