Year: 2019

Negative Archives NA01/1

NEGATIVE ARCHIVES : 35mm B&W Negatives (1970) NA01/1 Demolition, HalifaxGibbet Street, HalifaxBurdock Way, HalifaxGladys Burnett, NorthowramAlbert Burnett, Northowram A strip of five negatives which I took in 1970, at the time Burdock Way was under construction. The project involved substantial demolition work, and also some upgrading to the remaining property around the Gibbet Lane area. … Continue reading Negative Archives NA01/1

Lava Flows And Burdock

It is difficult to appreciate the scale of the construction of Burdock Way in Halifax from a modern perspective: new buildings have taken root, trees have filled the empty spaces, the highway has "bedded-in" to the local scenery. I must have taken this photograph in 1970, when construction had just started, and you almost get … Continue reading Lava Flows And Burdock

The Aching Question

A photograph of unknowns from who knows where, on the back of which it gives the date: 24 June 1918. One is left with the aching question: did he make it?

Ward’s End, Halifax

With some old picture postcards, all you need is a big magnifying glass and a spare morning, and you can get lost in history (and with digital technology you don't even need the magnifying glass, just a good scan and a decent zoom). This old picture postcard of Ward's End in Halifax is a case … Continue reading Ward’s End, Halifax

Sticking To A Good Idea

I have a book, somewhere on my bookshelf, which charts the history of great ideas and how they came about. It starts off by imagining how our ancestors might have thought up the idea of the wheel ,and goes on to describe the moment of sublime insight that gave us such inventions as the vacuum … Continue reading Sticking To A Good Idea

Superglued To The Hillside

TERRACED HOUSES, SOUTHOWRAM BANK, HALIFAX. SCANNED NEGATIVE, 1974 Houses that are superglued to the hillside: two storeys at the front, three at the back. From the top window you could see all the way to Wainhouse Tower - if it wasn't for the mills in between.

Howard & Louise Bantes

This is a nineteenth century photograph (but only just) from the studio of Borman and Johnson of Main Street, Danbury in Connecticut. Before Norman and Johnson took over, the studio belonged to a certain Mr Blackman. On the reverse, the names of the two children are listed as A Howard Bantes, age 12; and Louise … Continue reading Howard & Louise Bantes

Pictures From Nowhere : A Thing Of Beauty

An old faded print of so little significance that it has been long abandoned. A faded caption on the reverse commemorating faded relationships. A thing of beauty. Aunt Lily And Grandma Nunn

Pictures From Nowhere : Busy

There is nothing better than a busy photograph. Two tin baths, half a skirt, a branch cutting through a frown: this 1926 photo contains enough for a lengthy essay.