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Tag : LOW LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

15 May 2015
new islington, ancoats, manchester

OLD MILL STREET, ANCOATS 4.27AM

OLD MILL STREET, 4.27AM – Old Mill Street, where the Ancoats Dispensary still exists, is at one edge of my project, the other being Strangeways. From redemption to restitution I suppose. This area, once the industrial core of Manchester, is now known as New Islington and was supposed to be the vanguard of urban development on this side of the city. And then the recession came. This particular morning the sky was clear, and the colours rich. It reminded me […]

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10 May 2015

THOMAS STREET, NORTHERN QUARTER 4.42AM

THOMAS STREET, 4.42AM – It was my first time photographing on a Saturday morning. The sodium lamps, neon and first gasp of dawn daylight created a filmic atmosphere, causing the buildings to look like the grand vision of a set designer, and the people in them extras, sent out on cue by a director eager to create the illusion of reality in this strange hour. This area of Manchester has, for centuries, been where people have come for pleasure, to […]

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07 May 2015

DERBY STREET, CHEETHAM HILL 5.15AM

DERBY STREET, CHEETHAM HILL  5.15AM – At 4AM, which is now my waking up time for Not Quite Light, I feel like death and it is only the thought of life that takes me from my tomb and out into the day. It was dark and felt as dawn could never arrive. Even the birds seemed reluctant to announce dawn this morning, as the consistent rain spattered onto the pavements. I made my way up towards Cheetham Hill to an […]

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09 Apr 2015

DUCIE HOUSE, LAYSTALL STREET 6AM

DUCIE HOUSE, LAYSTALL STREET, 6AM – Ducie House used to be where the legendary Home nightclub banged out its tunes, and where I was once refused entry for not wearing “VIP” shoes. It was the early 90s hub for creative talent in the city and housed numerous designers, magazines and other young, unruly Mancs plotting to rule the world from their Manchester base. Its ground floor is now occupied by Urban Splash, planners of New Islington, a work in progress, […]

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07 Apr 2015

CAR PARK, DUCIE STREET, 6.33AM

CAR PARK, DUCIE STREET, 6.33AM – This morning, the first after the Easter holidays, I was awoken not by my alarm but by an industrious bird sensing dawn at 4.55am. There was a thin but effective mist hovering above the streets, and anyone that was out seemed to have bent down their heads, as if the weight of the fog was too much on this first day back to work. The sun was due to have risen at 6.33am but […]

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04 Apr 2015

LEVER STREET, MANCHESTER 6.00AM

LEVER STREET, MANCHESTER 6.00AM – On the streets at dawn there is a relationship to the space which feels highly personal, a temporary sense of ownership even. Without the distraction of traffic and people and purifying daylight there exists an awareness of detail often absent without the collusion of shadow and streetlight. Also, and unbeknownst to them, I’ve begun to develop a relationship with the workers of the morning, the hidden heroes of our city, who have become familiar to […]

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31 Mar 2015

JERSEY STREET, MANCHESTER 6.20AM

JERSEY STREET, MANCHESTER 6.20AM I was at a friend’s house recently and Scooby Doo was on. I noticed that the drawings of the deserted buildings were often depicted in the half light, with deep blue skies and vivid foreground colours. The sets were remarkably claustrophobic for a show loved by children, with no hint that there was another world beyond the blocked shadows. The first 2 days after the onset of British Summer Time brought gales that caused an unearthly […]

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28 Mar 2015

KELVIN STREET, MANCHESTER 6.14AM

KELVIN STREET, MANCHESTER 6.14AM I was driving around the city with my partner recently, who isn’t from Manchester, past derelict land and injured buildings, and she said “You have to know Manchester to love it”. I’ve thought about what she said a lot in the last couple of weeks, as I’ve entered the still streets at dawn, and I think it may be a truth. To the immediate eye Manchester has a twisted grandeur, with its monumental Victorian buildings blemished […]

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24 Mar 2015

REDBANK, TOWARDS THE GREEN QUARTER, MANCHESTER 5.50AM

REDBANK, TOWARDS THE GREEN QUARTER, MANCHESTER 5.50AM I’ve always been an owl, enjoying late bedtimes. In fact I’d do without sleep if I could, and so it’s becoming quite the challenge to get to bed early enough to cope with the very early starts that come with the approach of Spring and Summer. I’d managed midnight, and knew that I’d only have just under 5 hours before the alarm would sound at 4.45AM. The fear of oversleeping must have settled […]

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12 Mar 2015

CREAMLINE DAIRIES, REDBANK, MANCHESTER 5.55AM

CREAMLINE DAIRIES, REDBANK, MANCHESTER 5.55AM I awoke at 4.55AM to a single bird chirruping, sensing dawn’s approach, and my first thought of the day was whether the other birds had murderous feelings towards this lone piper as it roused them from their slumber. As I was readying myself, for some reason I kept wondering as to why I never felt threatened when I went out, why I just assumed I would be safe from being mugged or assaulted. The morning, […]

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