MEDLOCK MILL, 2.41AM Once June has begun, first light is early enough to still be part of the previous day. And, by that, I mean that people are still on nights out that began on a different date. Time becomes muddled, and yesterday and today have no real value, they are simply markers to help us understand when we set out, and when we return. As I set up my tripod in the dark moments before dawn, men and women […]
The dawn sky above Manchester was divided. Above the city centre was a velvety cloudscape, the colour of burnished gold and tobacco, whilst the poorer suburbs of the east and north were sleeping under deep, plain blue. Bats dived over the grass of Improbable Hill, pinching midgets from the air. The local songbirds, hidden in a thick clot of trees, seemed reluctant to begin their chorus of shrill messages. The streets were still and peaceful. I too was quiet in […]
MIDDLEWOOD LOCKS, WASTELAND 5.26AM I’m content to confess that I’ve spent much of the last decade, maybe longer, hoping to find a portal to pass through. In my head, the city is full of them, and I simply need to turn around the correct corner and I will be gone, into another dimension, an alternative version of Manchester and Salford, of shadow lives and other outcomes. Given the unlikely nature of this happening, I’ve accepted a compromise, where I travel […]
HYDRA CLOSE, 5.18am There is an estate in Lower Broughton of social housing, with streets named after constellations. Auriga, Cygnus, Lacerata, names to transport you deep into other worlds. But when I looked up on this morning the stars were covered with drifting cloud, and the world below felt encased in darkness, separated from the distant universe above. I was on Hydra Close, a short cul-de-sac. A single blackbird began to sing loudly from the upper branches of a tall […]
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 […]