A Project Decision: Levenshulme

Feeling frustrated by the lack of direction in my MA project, I decided to take advantage of the first sunny day of the year and take a walk around Levenshulme, my local area. I strolled down the high street and realised that what I had been looking for was right on my doorstep;

Levenshulme is a place of contradictions and contrasts: a community of middle class and working class residents; a mixture of many ethnicities, incorporating Polish, Irish, Romanian and Asian communities; a bohemian and arty suburb, with much poverty, yet one in which residents take an interest in making improvements. The residents view the area as being forgotten by the council – not poor enough to warrant the most urgent attention, yet not prosperous enough to lift itself out of the degeneration that occurs. The high street is an excellent example of this; a once-thriving commercial area that is now over-run with takeaways, pound shops and independent retailers struggling to survive.  Levenshulme is a microcosm of the political and aesthetic aspects of Manchester I have been hoping to capture through my photographs.

I decided to document Levenshulme high street.

I took my Mamiya 6x6, aiming to capture each shop individually in a square frame. This turned out not to be entirely possible but I was pleased with the shots I got.

My aim now is to return to the high street over the coming year, documenting the changing face of this stretch of road. I would like to improve my aesthetic regimentation in the images, through using a tripod and possibly a 5x4 camera.

Islington Mill, Salford

A former cotton mill, built in 1823 for cotton spinning. It was bought by Bill Campbell in 1994, and gradually converted into 50 artists' studios, 2 gallery spaces, a recording studio, club space, B&B and home.

I decided to make a last ditch attempt to continue the regeneration project I had hoped to pursue for the MA, by visiting a venue that was well-managed and had become a success already. The work on the building is ongoing, but Islington Mill is already well known for its creative approach to regenerating part of Manchester's history.

I enjoyed the shoot, but realised that in this building there would not be enough to sustain my project; studios were rows of closed doors that I was reluctant to open, and the remaining spaces were static in terms of regeneration work.

A site specific installation by Susie McMurray on the left, celebrating 10 years since the opening of Islington Mill. 80kg of white feathers spread across the attic space of the building, creating a surreal visual effect. On the right is Diego Mallo, artist in residence during my visit.

studio spaces leading off a corridor

Hulme Hippodrome

The Theatre was built as a home for melodrama and originally seated 3,000 when it first opened as the Grand Junction Theatre and Floral Hall in 1901. The Theatre was renamed the Hulme Hippodrome in 1905 when it became a music hall.

In 1962 the Theatre was converted for Bingo and Casino use, and then later became a nightclub which closed down in 1986.

The building is Grade II Listed and whilst the auditorium with its two galleries remain in its original state, albeit slowly falling into disrepair, the same can't be said for its original exterior which has long since been altered beyond recognition. The current owners, a church group called Deya Ministries, who had been holding services in the Theatre's foyer for some time, have now leased the Theatre to 'Youth Village' who are a not-for-profit group who plan to convert the Theatre into an arts centre and a hub for community groups across Manchester: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1460167_encore-plans-for-new-curtain-call-for-hulme-hippodrome I got talking to Tony, the manager of Youth Village, and offered to document the regeneration of the Hippodrome - he sounded enthusiastic but failed to respond to subsequent emails. Another case of relying on people who perhaps didn't understand the nature of the project. I decided to leave this as a single photoshoot.

Blackpool

I had started to lose focus in the MA project; it was proving difficult to access the kind of regeneration in which I took an interest and I was tiring of the subject. I decided to have a day trip to Blackpool for inspiration, prompted by the prospect of seeing an exhibition at The Grundy Gallery (Mass Observation) and by some research on Julian McKenny; 

 

and another artist I found, Pamela Klaffke;

I was really pleased with the images I got, both digitally and on film - I borrowed the 6x9 camera from uni to try it out, and also took my 6x6 Mamiya TLR.

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

I took my A-level students on a trip to Liverpool to take photos, and decided to take some of my own whilst wandering around. I was struck by the Brutalist architecture of the Metropolitan Cathedral and took images that simply appealed to me in visual terms - simplistic compositions and subtle colours.