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 […]
HULME PARK 6.34AM Hulme Park exists adjacent to the Mancunian Way, its grass and trees entirely overlooked by the phalanx of huge glass towers that have now formed up on the opposite side of the inner ring road, one of the many tarmac moats that encircle the city centre. Ahead of the following morning, I was out in the late evening scouting the landscape. In this semi-darkness, the sharp sheen of the block’s regimented elevation panels were criss-crossed with bands […]
Not Quite Light is available for commissions, workshops and photowalks… The Not Quite Light project, exploring the world in the half-light of dawn and dusk, brings a fresh way to explore the world around us. And you can be part of this work through collabortaing on commissions, or hiring me for workshops, talks and twilight photowalks. COMMISSIONS The Not Quite Light project has been commissioned for a wide variety of projects and collaborations. This https://buttress.net/journal/2024/03/25/project-voices-rob-burgess-brunswick-villagehas seen work made across several […]
I recently took photographs which have slightly evolved Not Quite Light in the city. I’ve begun to seek out spaces which are ostensibly public, and which yet are unsettling in the twilight. Often they are areas used for leisure, or green spaces, but that were once industrial areas, now reclaimed for other uses. The initial three photographs from this collection are now exclusively available as limited edition prints via the Saul Hay Gallery in Castlefield. They can be bought in […]
THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS AVAILABLE AS A LIMITED EDITION PRINT, AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY VIA SAUL HAY GALLERY Fear comes with me when I work in the twilight. As I stand by my tripod, waiting for minutes to pass as I take my photographs, I’m as much engaged with risk, as I am with the scene before me, constantly casting around for signs of danger, animalistic instincts awoken by my isolation in darkened surroundings. In the stillness of half-light, everything is exaggerated. Sound, […]
THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS AVAILABLE AS A LIMITED EDITION PRINT, EXCLUSIVELY VIA SAUL HAY GALLERY… When is dusk? For me it’s a period of time that can last for over an hour. If you’re staring at a darkening sky, searching for the last of the light, it’s a state of mind as much as anything else. There was a sign on the railings that quite clearly stated that the park would be locked up at dusk. The winter sky was awash […]
THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS AVAILABLE AS A LIMITED EDITION PRINT EXCLUSIVELY VIA SAUL HAY GALLERY It’s not the clock that sets our feelings towards any particular space, it’s light, or its absence, setting that particular agenda. And now that it’s winter time, when dusk falls across the end of the working day, our familiar paths home become shrouded in darkness, altering our perceptions of known places. And so we tend to gather around around light. On a recent Friday tea-time, I’m […]
I’ve made a short film / slideshow featuring the photographs from the exhibition ‘Time Will Tell’, shown in March and April 2022 at The Modernist Society in Manchester. The pictures are set to audio recorded whilst out at dawn.