“The decision as to when to photograph, the actual click of the shutter, is partly controlled by the outside, by the flow of life, but it also comes from the mind and heart of the artist. The photograph is his vision of the world and expresses, however subtly, his values and convictions.” Paul Strand, 1976, […]
Author: Ian Butler
Rob Bremner
So far in this project, my references to the use of colour have been in relation to achieving a sort of ironic Martin Parr palette whereby the discontinuity between the ‘ugly’ subject and its ‘pretty’ appearance would mirror the incongruities in my area of interest, the work(place). Rob Bremner’s use of colour is far more […]
John Myers – The End of Industry
I have already expressed my deep admiration and liking for the photography of John Myers. Almost everything I have done over the last 12 months shows his influence. The End of Industry is the third and final volume of his work published by RRB books a few weeks ago and it completes his catalogue raisonné. […]
The Workers Gallery
Ynyshir is a typical small town in the Rhondda Fach that developed in the mid 1850s in pursuit of coal. In May 2014, the town’s library was closed as a result of government spending cuts. Gayle Rogers, whose husband Chris Williams’ studio was next door to the library, had already been involved in the successful […]
A further walk in the Park
I made my fourth visit to Trafford Park on 19th August, in sunshine. I planned to walk through those areas to the north and west of the Park that I had only partly explored previously. Pretty Ugly I was still looking for a kind of ironic Martin Parr effect where saturated colours point not to […]
History of Trafford Park – Part II
Competition and decline Whilst the threats to Trafford Park from globalising trade identified by Colonel Stevens were closing in, the initial shocks came from much more local competition. Already, industrial estates were being developed elsewhere as government sought to direct both industrial and regional development through the Distribution of Industry Act (1945) and the Town […]
Georges Perec
I first read George Perec (1936-1982) in the early 1970s. He was radical, daring, funny and beyond cool. I didn’t realise then that his work would still have a hold on me and how I take pictures over forty years later. Perec was the only child of Polish-Jewish parents, Icek and Cyrla Peretz, and grew […]
History of Trafford Park – Part I
In many ways, the history of Trafford Park is the economic history of the UK. The Park began as an audacious example of late Victorian entrepreneurship and has seen its fortunes rise and fall through the cycle of growth and recession that characterised economic progress through two world wars and the succession of global financial […]
A Walk in the Park …
I have now visited Trafford Park three times. The first time, on the 4th June, was to gain an impression of the area and to assess the feasibility of my project. I will say more about the history and geography of the Park in my next post but on this damp, drizzly Tuesday, the Park […]
Why photograph industrial estates?
It has to be admitted that an interest in industrial estates is not a widely shared one amongst photographers. A similar degree of disinterest has been expressed by urban geographers, labour economists and by sociologists of work too – at least in the West. In development studies, the industrial estate remains an area of contention, […]
