regeneration Archives - notquitelight.com

16 Oct 2024

DUCIE STREET MANCHESTER 6.49AM

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 […]

11 Oct 2024

HULME PARK MANCHESTER 6.34AM

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 […]

08 Oct 2024

CASTLEFIELD AREA, MANCHESTER 6.14am

FIRST LIGHT: 06.06 SUNRISE: 07.22 It was an odd morning, where I felt out of place, harassed by circumstance. It rained, quieting the birdsong. The man operating the car park was suspicious of my presence, and set me a deadline to leave. “Next time ask the boss for permission first” he said. There was no contact number on the signs, just warnings as to the cost of parking there without consent. Cars filled with construction men began to arrive, invading […]

FROM OLD MILL TO THE END OF EMPIRE / NEWS

09 Dec 2020

DARK DAYS, LUMINOUS NIGHTS

DARK DAYS, LUMINOUS NIGHTS In 2019 I was commissioned by Manchester Collective to produce a collection of stills and a film, exploring the ancient and haunting Irk Valley in Manchester. The project was exhibited at Salford’s The White Hotel in June 2021. This was the Manchester Collective’s summing up of the project. “It’s 2021. Manchester. Gleaming apartments rise up over the ancient river Irk, and under the prime real estate of Angel Meadow, 40,000 bodies are buried. Cities change. […]

PROJECTS

02 Apr 2018

COTTENHAM LANE, 6.05AM

Cottenham Lane, in Salford, is not far from Strangeways prison. Two mills ( one of which houses Private White VC ) run virtually its whole length, before the cul-de-sac comes to an abrupt halt at the banks of the Irwell. A footbridge at the far end can either lead you to, or away from the city centres. In the distance new Salford and Manchester rise ever more square and shiny, and are as different to the brick factories as a […]

'FROM TRINITY TO THE CRESCENT'

13 Sep 2017

THE WELSH STREETS LIVERPOOL 8

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW FULL SIZED The Welsh Streets in Liverpool 8 Commissioned by Place First Ltd Now on public view on High Park Street

GALLERIES

24 Aug 2017

THE WELSH STREETS – LIVERPOOL 8

Earlier this year, I was commissioned by Place First to document the first phase of the Welsh Streets regeneration project in Liverpool 8. The series of terraced streets are being refurbished so that once again the area will be again a thriving community. There was a strong campaign in the local area to have the houses saved from demolition and the project shows that not always do existing dwellings have to be flattened and replaced with high rise structures. In […]

PROJECTS

19 Mar 2017

blueprint studios guided walk manchester

BLUEPRINT STUDIOS, COLLIER STREET 7.18AM

BLUEPRINT STUDIOS, COLLIER STREET, 7.18AM The windows of Blueprint Studios glowed red, like a 4 bar electric heater. Behind me, an upstairs room in The Eagle Inn beamed bright tungsten light towards Trinity Way, like a lighthouse for those stumbling in search of the past. Behind both brick buildings the new, taller version of ancient Greengate had emerged, not quite facing in the same direction. I considered if the demolition of the Victorian architecture, and the emergence of the tower […]

'FROM TRINITY TO THE CRESCENT' 0

05 Mar 2017

THE BRIDGEWATER CANAL BOOTHSTOWN WINTER

-4- Canal boats traditionally travel at 4 miles per hour, which roughly equates to the speed of a brisk walking pace, and this significantly determines how the waterway is experienced. It allows us time to observe, whilst travelling, in a way often lost to us in the modern era. It’s also a constant thread back to our ancestors, who also would have journeyed along the Bridgewater Canal with the same measured progress. Over the four seasons of the year, I’ll […]

'4' - THE BRIDGEWATER CANAL IN SALFORD

30 Jan 2017

CONSTRUCTION

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW FULL SIZED These pictures are from projects where I have been commissioned to archive the construction of buildings. For me, I am talking to the future with these pictures. They are not a simple facsimile of the building being made, but a series of clues for future historians.

GALLERIES