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Tag : Victorian City

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 […]

26 Feb 2017
River irwell near water street manchester

ORDSALL CHORD, MANCHESTER 7.07AM

WATER STREET 7.07AM Yet again the weather forecast had failed me. Rain spattered into my glasses as the clouds above surged into the distance, following an unseen agenda that all below would simply have to cope with. Beneath where I was standing, near the Victoria and Albert hotel, a million droplets strafed the Irwell, causing the gulls to twist and swirl as if trying to throw off an attacking fighter plane. A business man stomped towards his large BMW, frowning […]

25 Oct 2016
the meadow salford

SALFORD MEADOW, 6.31AM

THE MEADOW, 6.31AM To reach Salford Meadow you have to zig-zag through small streets past newly built houses, where cars glimmer in drive ways just big enough to contain them. It’s obvious which are the kitchens and bathrooms in these homes, as they are the only ones lit. People briefly appear and swig swiftly from mugs, or materialise upstairs as monotone bulks behind frosted glass. I parked at the end of a fancily illuminated footbridge and made my way down […]

28 Sep 2016
silk street adelphi salford

SILK STREET, SALFORD 6.23AM

SILK STREET, 6.23AM There’s an area just off Bury New Road that I’ve wanted to photograph for a while. It’s a place still of the old city, where mixed Mancunians chance their lives on numerous ventures, trading goods of varying quality and legality from around the world. As the streets lead away from the main road there is a sense of decay, and clustered rubbish sullies the paths and kerbs, as if a great tide has swept in, depositing the […]

15 Sep 2016

WATER STREET, MANCHESTER 5.36AM

WATER STREET, MANCHESTER 5.36AM It would seem that we can no longer expect the summer to remain in its expected place anymore. The warmth of remembered childhood days has now slipped beyond the start of the new school year, and September has become the month when we go to work in our shirt sleeves, as did I on this room temperature dawn. When it is this balmy, and I’m out under a night sky, with the world lit and coloured […]

04 Sep 2016
Riverside Irwell Salford dawn

RIVERSIDE, SALFORD 5.28AM

RIVERSIDE, SALFORD, 5.28AM Often I’m already en route when I decide where I’ll go to photograph, simply following the course of fate and instinct to bring me to my destination. And, on this late summer morning, I fetched up at the River Irwell near Adelphi Street, along whose muddied sides human settlement is once again thriving. As I turned down neat, new streets, and came suddenly upon a footbridge, I realised how little I knew of the river’s course once […]

01 Sep 2016
Liverpool Street, Salford, dawn

NQl “From Trinity To The Crescent”

It’s been a while since I’ve had chance to return to my personal Not Quite Light project, and it felt great to be back producing pictures for it on Thursday at dawn. I was working down along the banks of the Irwell in Salford. There will be a blog post from the session in the next few days. Whilst I was driving home, the early morning light became sublime so I parked my car and photographed Liverpool Street. Not long […]

20 Jul 2016
guided walk manchester

NEW BRIDGE STREET 3.10AM – 4.05AM

NEW BRIDGE STREET 3.10AM – 4.50AM  Since starting this particular series of Not Quite Light I’ve realized quite how little I know about the Irwell. Its path is that of an uncoiling snake, and I couldn’t easily draw it out if asked. It’s a river that, during the industrial revolution, both Manchester and Salford turned their backs on, polluting it for profit, and it often feels hidden away like an embarrassing member of the family that they don’t know what […]

14 Jun 2016
The Lowry Hotel Manchester

ST.MARY’S PARSONAGE, MANCHESTER 3.29AM

ST.MARY’S PARSONAGE, MANCHESTER 3.29AM There is no more accurate an alarm than nature. The first, single call of dawn this morning was sharp and distinct, and I actually saw it happen. A blackbird, unaware that I’d snook down a small alley off St. Mary’s Parsonage, and onto a paved area that looked over the Irwell from Manchester, was perched on spiked rails to my right, and was signalling the arrival of a new day. When I turned to look it […]

02 Jun 2016
mark addy salford

NEW POST “FROM TRINITY TO THE CRESCENT”

MARK ADDY, NEW BAILEY, 4.01AM There’s a new post from my Not Quite Light Project “From Trinity To The Crescent” To read CLICK HERE

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