CAMBRIDGE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, SALFORD, 5.58AM Yesterday morning, I left my studio at 5.30am, and made my way up to the Cambridge industrial estate, which lies just beyond the banks of the River Irwell in Broughton. Above me was a glum sky, which only grudgingly allowed smears of cleaner blue through just before sunrise. The birds were up early, forcefully calling their information songs out to each other through the rough branches of trees, left to hang wild over derelict land […]
ARDWICK, MANCHESTER 2.43AM Watch the short film, featuring the stills and my text read out loud, along with the field recordings. A fox was the first thing I noticed, skilfully moving through the streets, foraging for some unseen reward. I wondered where it lived, where it came from, and how it survived in the city. As soon as it sensed me, it sped away through the railings of a gate, and disappeared into the twilight. I looked to the east. […]
HOLT TOWN, MANCHESTER 3.10AM Watch the short film, containing my reading of the text, sounds from the dawn and extra photographs. I was woken not by my alarm, but by the sound of wind screaming through gaps in my door. And then, on leaving for Holt Town, I nearly forgot my keys, which would have meant I’d have been locked out on my return after sunrise. This caused me to feel unsettled, a sense further enhanced when, after parking on […]
RETRO BAR, SACKVILLE STREET MANCHESTER, 3.29 AM Watch the film, with narrative and field recordings. Some mornings the sound of birdsong fills the still air. Other times there is a tense silence, and I’m caused to strain to hear the first notes of the blackbird’s delicious melody, signalling the end of darkness. On this particular breezeless morning in May, as I patrolled the area near Retro Bar, still too deep in shadow to be photographed, the main sound was of […]
CHEETHAM HILL, MANCHESTER 3.57AM Still images from the dawn visit, the text below read out and mixed with field recordings from the time spent there. “We’re told the Earth is spinning at some ludicrous speed, imperceptibly whirling us through the days and nights of our lives. I am most aware of this extraordinary phenomenon when photographing a fixed point, such as a building, with the sun or moon nearby. With each long exposure I can see the planets shifting, never […]
ANCOATS, MANCHESTER 5.24AM The decision as to where I will photograph at dawn is often taken the moment I turn the ignition in my car. A flock of choices swirl around my head, as if a strong breeze has caught a pile of carefully folded orders, and I must somehow pluck one out of the air. Once I’ve grasped my instructions, I’m aware and accept that I’ve set off on a particular path of fate, and that what I encounter […]
HIGHER BROUGHTON, SALFORD, SPRING EQUINOX 5.49AM The previous evening had been spent with a close friend, wandering the haunts of his past life as a student living in the area quite some years ago, him scampering childlike up and down the street where he had once shared a house. He marvelled at the changes, minimal to my eyes, but to him an era now lost and forever altered by passing time. The area’s residents are now often Orthodox Jews, and […]
MIDDLEWOOD LOCKS 7.27AM Walking towards Middlewood Locks, down Oldfield Road in Salford at around 6.40am, I was passed by a young man carrying on his back a case containing a tuba, or maybe a euphonium. His head was down, lost in thought as he made his way, I assumed, to some orchestral practice somewhere. I’m not sure why I found this slightly absurd, but I did. I wondered, should he practise at home, what it must be like living next […]
Islington Way, Salford 6.44am The birds seemed louder on this morning, than they had been for any of the previous week. As I stepped out of Islington Mill, a robin bounced near my feet, as if leading me like a pied piper. It moved without fear, clearly used to people passing nearby. The only time it stopped was to listen to the melody messages flying through the air, an air which also carried a scent of change that raked my […]
DUCIE STREET, MANCHESTER 6.49am The Piccadilly Eastern sky was covered in cloud, so that no stars were visible. Blackbirds sang urgently, as if hurrying me up, worried that I’d not be ready for first light as I meandered around Ducie Street. The area was far from peaceful and quiet, even at this early hour. It felt as if nothing would remain the same for long here. A concrete mixer crept slowly by, looking for a place to settle. I silently […]