If you’re a regular reader of this blog or my Planes, Boats, Trains blog, you’ll know my fascination for the Library of Congress archive, and especially the gigantic panoramas of industrial, urban and dockyard scenes. So you imagine my delight when I saw this gigantic panorama taken in Oldham in 1876 at the Grafters exhibition…
Author: Andy
#441 – Brierfield Mill Part 8 – The Shopfloor
I’ve saved the shopfloor to last as, well, there wasn’t much of interest to shoot. 380000 square feet of basically f*** all and pigeons. The mill had been methodically stripped of everything. But as a photographer, that’s fine as it forces me to look beyond the empty space and try harder to see things. It…
#440 – Brierfield Mill Part 7 – Doors and (more) Windows
Like all big mills, Brierfield has lots of windows. Hundreds of them. So here’s a few more, plus a door. Weaving shed floor. This was a more modern portal framed building roof built onto an older weaving shed, giving the place substantially more volume. This wall runs alongside the Leeds Liverpool Canal affording some lovely…
#439 – Brierfield Mill Part 6 – The Clock Tower
The clock tower is an interesting focal point from a photographic perspective. However on closer inspection it doesn’t look quite right. Site Supervisor Paul worked in the mill for a large part of his career and is of the opinion that not only is it a somewhat later addition, but that the design was actually…
#438 – Brierfield Mill Part 5 – The Clock
One of the most interesting (and inaccessible) remains in the mill is the clock. It is electro-mechanical (electricity winds it up, effectively) and a lovely thing to behold. And to top things it off, it rings a large bell, which was inaccessible to a large fellow like myself. Carved into the wood supports for the…
#437 – Brierfield Mill Part 4 – Reception
The timber lined reception had been untouched by the demolition crew that had cleared out the admin building (the entire site is listed so no buildings are getting pulled down). It’s symmetry appealed to me so I made the most of it. Unfortunately all the offices had been stripped and the internal walls reduced to…
Shadows of the North Book – last few copies / free PDF sample
Having sold quite a few of my books recently at my talks and online, I’m down to the last few copies of my self-published book, and I’m considering my options for a reprint. The safe option is to go back to Blurb, but good though they are, they are ridiculously expensive and I only ever buy…
My recent Urbex shoot for O2 / Samsung
More to come soon, but I’ve recently been commissioned to take some urbex style photos using the awesome new Samsung Galaxy S7. Here’s the press release from O2: http://news.o2.co.uk/?press-release=urban-explorer-snaps-eerie-pics-samsung-galaxy-s7-o2 And a story in the Manchester Evening News: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/london-road-fire-station-urban-11055107 Finally a gallery of photos on my website of London Road Fire Station: http://www.theviewfromthenorth.org/london-road-fire-station-samsung More to come………
#436 – Brierfield Mill Part 3 – North Light Windows
If you’ve seen my recent blog posts on the Rossendale mills, then this will look quite reminiscent of some of those. I’m not sure why I’ve developed a fascination for northlight windows, it’s probably just a passing whimsy, but in the right light they can look great. Unfortunately the winter sun was well off to…
#435 – Brierfield Mill Part 2 – Views Through a Window
Windows. This composition is something I’ve used successfully over the years and is one I still employ. I’m sure if a psychoanalyst saw them all he would interpret them as the sign of a troubled mind, but it’s just a composition I happen to like. I wanted to find ways of including the clock tower…
Mechanical Landscapes 