Flight

A lone airliner makes its way to destinations unknown.

Olympus 35 RC & JCH Streetpan.

Taken on 15 February 2019

Colourful buildings

Two photos today, both shot with the Canon AF35M II on expired Superia 100.

The first is a section of Park Hill Flats in Sheffield. The section depicted here has undergone re-development into modern apartments and business facilities and is a far-cry from the state of the place thirty years ago, when the development and area was in a state of decline. The flats were originally built back in the 1960s to replace the tenement buildings that were demolished due to being unfit for habitation and high levels of crime (the area being dubbed “Little Chicago” in the 1930s), and was designed so that every floor except the top would have at least one entrance at ground level – something facilitated by the hilly nature of Sheffield and the location of the buildings. The flats were all accessed by wide walkways that were dubbed “streets in the sky” and were wide enough to accommodate milk-floats. The flats are in the brutalism style that was fashionable at the time but which is often despised these days. Being a strong example of this type of architecture, the development was granted grade II listed building status in the 1990s.

The second shot is of the Co-Operative Funeral Care building, also in Sheffield and not a million miles from Park Hill Flats (hence the reason both shots are only a handful of frames apart on the negatives 🙂 ). I’m not sure when this building was constructed, but I would again expect the 1960s. I used to pass it on the bus when visiting my nan’s house and was always drawn to the colourful glass panes beneath the apex of the roof. They catch the sun in the daytime and would be illuminated from within after dark fell.

Canon Sure Shot AF35M II and Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired 2008).

Taken on 9 February 2019

Photographing the ordinary

Some more colour photos, although in a different vein to my other recent colour shots. Instead of the splashes of colour, texture and contrast that I tend to favour in 35mm, these are shots of relatively mundane, ordinary subjects. You would be fully within your rights to say that they’re boring, and I’m not sure I could argue against that. Nonetheless, shots such as this have an appeal to my particular tastes. In the same way that Stephen Shore’s photographs of traffic intersections and motel room interiors have a compelling interest to them so, I think, do photographs of other outwardly dull subjects – the sort of things that most people will pass by without a second glance and yet are still objects that would be missed were they no longer there. Oftentimes, these things are showing signs of neglect and there’s an appeal to the thought of that fading beauty.

Yashica Mat 124 G & Fujifilm Pro 400H.

Taken on 20 February 2019

The commute

My last shot of the day when visiting Manchester the other week. I like how the sun was catching on the rails and the figure and train set each other off nicely in the frame.

Olympus 35 RC & Fomapan 400.

Taken on 15 February 2019

Close Encounters

This is one of the main atrium / escalator areas in the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester, UK. The design of the overhead lighting was very striking and so I took the shot. Upon scanning the negative it reminded me of the climactic scene in Steven Spielberg’s classic movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, where the alien mothership descends at Devil’s Tower (although that had fewer retail outlets and escalators if I recall correctly… 🙂 ).

Olympus 35 RC & Fomapan 400.

Taken on 15 February 2019

By the sunlit fountain

People enjoy the unseasonably mild February weather by the fountain in Picadilly Gardens, Manchester.

The 35 RC’s lens had coped quite well with the conditions (shooting straight into the direction of the low sun). There’s some noticeable flaring in the shot (top left, and lower-centre right), but nothing too severe and the contrast has remained in place.

Olympus 35 RC & Fomapan 400.

Taken on 15 February 2019

By the arches

Another shot from Manchester. Eagle-eyed readers will spot Allan – the chap from yesterday’s post – in the background of the image.

The JCH Street Pan produced lovely contrasty photographs in this light.

Olympus 35 RC & JCH Street Pan.

Taken on 15 February 2019

Appy Allan

While I was wandering around the School Strike for Climate protest last friday, I happened across the chap in the photo below. He was dressed in unusual but smart attire and had an interesting look about him so I decided to do something I rarely do – ask if I could make a portrait. He generously allowed me to take the shot below and I stood and chatted to him for a while. He was pleased to see the schoolkids standing up for something they believed in, and said how it wouldn’t have been possible to do so when he was at school. He went on to tell me a little about himself – the clothes he was wearing were Vivienne Westwood designs, and he explained that, thanks to his colourful and interesting life story, a documentary was being produced about him (http://www.appyallanfilm.com/). He was a friendly bloke and it was good to speak with him.

Olympus 35 RC & JCH Street Pan.

Taken on 15 February 2019

School Strike for Climate

On Friday 15 February 2019, pupils across the UK took a day of action, skipping school to protest against the impact of climate change and to demand action be taken to prevent it from becoming worse. There were some amusing placards on display and it was good to see these young people make their voices heard.

I was in Manchester on the day and noticed the demonstration as I was heading towards the library, and took the following photographs.

Olympus 35 RC & JCH Street Pan.

Taken on 15 February 2019

Eyes in the back of his head

I spotted this chap chatting on his phone with his sunglasses perched on the back of his head and couldn’t resist getting a photo. The little 35 RC has done it proud. The JCH Street Pan produced some lovely tones in bright light, but also resulted in very underexposed thin negatives where I’d shot in dimmer conditions. The underexposed images aren’t unusable – and some of them look pretty great – but they will take some work in Lightroom, not least to remove all the additional dust spots that appear on thin negs.

Olympus 35 RC & JCH Street Pan.

Taken on 15 February 2019