Bright lights, big city

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London, River Thames, London at night, Tower Bridge, Strata SE1, Shard, Walkie Talkie, London skyline, skyscrapers

Posting photographs from my April trip to London has been somewhat interrupted – I guess the obvious answer would be to post them more quickly!

Juggling a tripod with troops of tourists on a bridge at rush hour in central London is not my preferred method of working – but needs must as I wanted detail in the sky and there’s just no moving the sunset! At the time I was peeved that the hurrying boat had ‘ruined’ my photograph and took another as soon as the bow wave had settled. On reflection (no pun intended!) I prefer this one; it has life and seems to sit better with the hustle and bustle of the moment.

The following day was my first visit to the Shard …. and the views were incredible; I had timed it to catch the last of the daylight before watching the city gradually light up – well worth doing if you can. With so much to see it was easy to be overwhelmed but this cluster of tower blocks repeatedly caught my eye; Strata SE1, otherwise known as the “Razor” (with the sloping black top to the left) was completed in 2010 with the remaining towers sprouting up since – interestingly, still little more than a building site on Google Earth.

Finally the last traces of daylight had gone, the city was fully lit and the dark artery of the Thames wound its way smoothly out to sea as aeroplanes, dots of light in the sky, followed each other in to City Airport.

So much to see and so little time …. if you’d like to see a few more images from my visit, including a selection of mono, please go to my Instagram feed.

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Lots Road Power Station

Tags

Chelsea Waterfront, construction, London development, long exposure, Lots Road Power Station, River Thames, skyscraper, survival

Lots Road Power Station began operations in 1905, claiming to be the largest power station ever built, it soon powered most of the London Underground as well as serving several other works and facilities. It was remodelled in the 1920s to cope with increased demand, survived the bombing raids of the Second World War, revamped again in the 1970s for environmental reasons and finally in 2002, after more than 90 years of operation,  the longest serving power station in the world was decommissioned.

Retired, but not yet finished ….. it is once again being remodelled; this time forming the centrepiece of the £1 billion Chelsea Waterfront regeneration project. At 275ft the chimneys were at one time the tallest in Europe but they will soon be dwarfed by the two residential skyscrapers currently under construction.

I wanted to try and capture something of it’s architectural elegance and pay tribute to its longevity.

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Contemplating irony

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barges, Bolsward, city barges, irony, London, painterly, photography, River Thames, skyline

For a long time I’ve wanted to photograph something of London – nothing in particular just a need to redress the mountain of mental images collected over time. A lucky opportunity came my way recently and whilst there we walked into town along the south bank of the Thames – it proved a truly fascinating way to see the city unfold.

From the relatively rural setting of the London Wetland Centre we soon found ourselves in Wandsworth where developments crowd the river bank and skeletal cranes pierce the sky. I’m not sure exactly what caught my eye here …. something to do with the shapes on the skyline, the steely blue colours and ruffled expanse of icy water. It seemed an almost two dimensional scene, a painting – and I had to stop.

Walking on towards the houseboats I found myself contemplating the irony of the place; these days, particularly so in the UK, river barges summon thoughts of rural leisure and on first impressions they looked a little out of place moored up in such an urban environment.

Ironic considering that they were once the very epitome of industry and the lifeblood of the city. Where the fancy bars and restaurants now are, their river terraces bustling with gin sipping city slickers, the waterfront would have been thick with labourers, black with coal and ripe with the lingering odours of graft and poverty – once a place to be avoided it is now the place to be!

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Alhambra

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Alhambra, cobbles, doors, mosaic, Nasrid Palace, photography, serenity, stairway, stars

In 1832 Washington Irving wrote of the Alhambra: “How unworthy is my scribbling of the place?” – and the same rings true for me today.

Its potted history reads like a tragic romance; small fortress flowers into exquisite palace, suffers under the heavy hands of a Renaissance king and marauding army, descent to a den of iniquity before recognition of its worth and finally the relatively safe haven of UNESCO 1000 years later.

Now the most visited site in Spain it somehow rises above it all; the passing of centuries still whispering in the shadows as the crowds throng the courtyards and corridors. Trying to capture something of the beauty and atmosphere without the intrusion of selfie stick wielders proved quite challenging ….

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Exploring Jerez

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back streets, barrels, cobbles, double vision, Hostal Sanvi, Jerez, low light, mystery, night photography, photography, reflection, Tio Pepe

In the harsh light of day the back streets of Jerez can be a little unassuming, appearing to not offer much although there is always something there for the curious. At night they are transformed to a world of mystery and intrigue with time worn cobbles reflecting rippled pools of lamp light and each corner beckons you on.

Or was I influenced by an earlier visit to the Bodegas Tio Pepe?! 😀

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Any old iron

Tags

Chanda Mama Door Ke, exhibition, Hauser & Wirth, Invisible Reality, Pressed for Space, sculpture, Specimen No. 108, Subodh Gupta, Touch, Trace, Taste, Truth

I’m beginning to think that I should turn this into a ‘sculpture appreciation’ blog as that’s what I seem to have been doing lately; my latest exhibition being that of ‘Invisible Reality‘ by Subodh Gupta, a New-Delhi based artist, at Hauser & Wirth Somerset.

Much of the promotional material is very ‘arty’ in it’s description but basically most of the pieces are made from, or inspired by, old cooking pots. I wasn’t particularly struck by any of the promotional photos but was interested enough in the ‘wackiness’ of cooking pot sculpture to go and see for myself. What can I say – I was enthralled and have now been twice; seeing them in the flesh, so to speak, has to be experienced to be believed.

(Select a picture to open the gallery)

As it was with me, I doubt these photos have done much for you but if you have the chance to see Subodh Gupta’s work – go!

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Another Place

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Another Place, Antony Gormley, B&W, Crosby Beach, desolate, emptiness, fine art, high contrast, loneliness, mono, photography, sculpture

With my day not going according to plan I picked up the ongoing task of importing old photos into Lightroom. It can be a laborious process but every now and then the effort is rewarded, both in terms of reliving the moments but also by coming across something that, with the benefit of a growing idea of what I’m doing and a little rework, finally emerges as I’d originally hoped for.

My only visit to Crosby Beach (about four years ago) was late autumn, on a bitterly cold and windy day. The wide open sands, pounded by an icy sea beneath an insipid sky, looked bleak and uninviting; wind whipped tears from my eyes and stung sand at my face and hands and the loosely scattered figures of Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place‘, with their stares frozen to the far horizon, compound the sense of desolation.

There’s something strangely enjoyable about ‘bad’ conditions and, with this image finally coming into it’s own, with hindsight it wasn’t such a bad day after all 🙂

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Dancing Ladies

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Dancing Ladies, low light, off camera flash, photography, Relationships, Salisbury Cathedral, sculpture, Sophie Ryder

Sophie Ryder’s sculptures aren’t to everyone’s taste; many finding the human form with an animal head to be unsettling – as I did at first. However, having spent some time with them I’ve changed my view.

Her claim is that a human head makes the piece takes on a specific personality whereas an animal head allows the viewer to see what the work is about, to see beyond the simple portrayal of a person. She’s absolutely right; these dancing hares would look very ‘ordinary’ as dancing ladies but as Hares they are transformed into something magical.

With the growing dark and the warm glow of the Cathedral lights the Ladies’ dance seemed to change from one of simple joy to one of celebration …

… and I felt I should join them as my experiments with off camera flash finally resulted in a photograph I was happy with!

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Light manoeuvres

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Minotaur & Lady Hare Torsos, off camera flash, perspective, photography, Relationships, Salisbury Cathedral, sculpture, Sophie Ryder

Another installation from Sophie Ryder’s ‘Relationships’ exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral; the straightforward title of ‘Minotaur & Lady Hare Torsos’ plays down the emotion in the relationship between these two – I had the distinct impression they’d had a blazing row and each was waiting expectantly for the other to apologise!

My preferred low viewpoint resulted in the usual problems of shooting against the sky –  and led to my first experimental foray into off camera flash. Having eventually worked out how to get the bits of kit to talk to each other and listen to me (this is all about relationships!) I realised that my flash, although very good, just wasn’t powerful enough.  My shoot rapidly descended into a Benny Hill type farce as I scuttled between Torsos and camera brandishing a flashgun – You’ve Been Framed, here I come 😀
It was an interesting experiment and a new technique to play with – but I think I should have invested as much effort in the composition as I did with the technical shenanigans.

A rethink and change of perspective resulted in a far better photograph – more flattering to the subjects and more interest in the detail; no flash this time, just a simple HDR …. and aren’t  those ears fantastic?!

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)

Rising

Tags

introspective, Lady Hare, mono, photography, Rising, Salisbury Cathedral, sculpture, Sophie Ryder

Another monumental sculpture from Sophie Ryder at Salisbury Cathedral; a 20’ tall crouching Lady Hare entitled ‘Rising’.

Despite its size, there was something in the transparent wire construction, location and pose that gave the sculpture an air of fragility and vulnerability – and I experienced the slightly disconcerting sensation of feeling protective towards it. I wanted to fend off the clambering kids and casual kickers; to tell the groups of cheesy snappers and selfie grabbers to show a little respect, to slow down, to see, to think, to feel ….

I thought mono would work best to capture these feelings but I’m not sure – I like the colours of the … err … colour version 🙂 Any thoughts …. ?

Closer consideration of this introspective sculpture reveals a smaller, kneeling hare hiding within.

(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)