Down south, if they find a load of standing stones, they declare it an ancient monument and charge people £30 to look at it. Up north, we simply assume they're there to stop the cows from wandering out of the field.
Category: Scanned Negatives
Waves And Hills
I think this photograph of mine of Elland dates from the early 1980s, but I can't remember the exact date (oh, how I wish we had metadata back in those pre-digital days). The theme is timeless: waves of stone-clad industry washing up against the natural Pennine hills. I still travel up and down those steep … Continue reading Waves And Hills
The Nature Of Reality And The Digital Dilemma
This "image" (I'm not sure what to call it, I certainly didn't paint it in the conventional sense) is based on a photograph I took in Sheffield in the 1980s. As far as I remember, it was the junction of Old Street and Broad Street, but once all the filters and shenanigans have done their … Continue reading The Nature Of Reality And The Digital Dilemma
South Yorkshire Allegory
This is a photograph I took at a Yorkshire Miners' Gala parade in the early 1980s. Given everything that's going on at the moment, I suppose you could say it's allegorical - but I'll leave it up to you to work out the nature of the allegory. I just think that it's a pleasing photograph.
The Churchyard
I've chosen to caption this photograph, somewhat provisionally, as "The Churchyard", because I can't remember which churchyard I was in when I took it. The photographs next to it on the strip of negatives were taken in Elland, but I don't recognise this as being part of St Mary's. I wondered whether it might be … Continue reading The Churchyard
Elland Power
Looking back at this photograph, which I took nearly half a century ago from Blackley Road and looking down over Elland, I’m reminded of how the power station used to dominate the landscape. When I took the photo, the power station was relatively new - the official opening took place in 1961 - but it … Continue reading Elland Power
Albert
I took this photo of my father around the time I was doing a photography course at the local Tech. We were studying lighting, and the homework was to produce a dramatically lit portrait. I achieved this with a couple of reading lights and an old blackout curtain. These days, all you would have to … Continue reading Albert
Oxford Days
A 40-odd year old photograph of me, surrounded by textbooks and typewriter, and captioned "Oxford, 1984" might suggest an involvement with some of the famed academic institutions of that city. In fact, we were simply staying with friends for the weekend, and the lecture I was writing would have been delivered in the far less … Continue reading Oxford Days
Conversations With A. I. Lowry
So I said to AI, "What if L. S. Lowry had visited Elland and set up his easel on Saddleworth Road, looking towards Elland Bridge?" "Give me a photo to start me off," said AI. "OK, here's one I took back in the 1980s. Can you do anything with it?" "I'll have a go," said … Continue reading Conversations With A. I. Lowry
