Assignment Three: Spaces to places

Aims and Objectives:  To present a series of up to 12 photographs exploring a landscape or small part of a landscape that holds significance for me. The objective is to engage with the concept of how a 'space' become a 'place'.  

Interpretation:

"Photographs slice space into place; land is framed as landscape. Representation envelops reality; it becomes an act of colonisation." (Wells, 2011, loc 1217)

As Alexander (2015, p178) points out, 'place and 'space' are broad terms, and have a variety of uses and connotations. 'Place' is both a verb and a noun and as a noun has both subjective ('this is a good place') and objective uses. It is overused: Wikipedia denotes 'place' as the 15th most commonly used noun in English language (curiously between 'woman' in 14th position and 'work' in 16th).

'Space' connotes openness. It can be specific, as Alexander (ibid) notes, in the sense of a measured space in a room, but also evocative of a scale beyond human comprehension in the astronomical sense.

The breadth of use of the terms invites a very personal interpretation of how they relate; Alexander (ibid) argues that 'Objectively speaking,..., a place is just another sort of space'. (emphasis in original). The reverse is also true: a car park containing no vehicles, for example. 

But in the context of this assignment, I think we are looking for a more subjective interpretation; the subtext of the title is suggestive that space is an objective abstract that is recognisable and interpretable at a level that people would identify with easily. It is. The notion, however, that somehow 'space' transforms to 'place' requires value judgement, imagination, a sense of meaning. Our place, therefore, is to a degree our interpretation; an abstract of what we value; the quotation from Wells is suggestive of this within the framework of photography. Elsewhere, she discusses the spiritual dimension of photography, the experience of mood enhancement. Photography cannot replicate experiences but they 'can reference or substitute, through invoking equivalent memories', and contribute to a sense of identity (ibid, loc 4212-19).

So how can this be interpreted into a photographic project? I sought a subject that has meaning rather then spiritual significance as, frankly. I do not value landscape in that way. Mine is a more quizzical, interpretative, interest.

That is where the idea for Warmley Gardens & Grotto came from. Less than a mile from my front door is the site of what was largest industrial plant in the mid 18th century incorporating some strange and sublime relics from William Champion's brass works and his attendant follies. This was the basis for exercise 3.5, the precursor to this assignment. Having visited a couple of times previously, I decided out find out more of the man himself and to photograph the site with the aim of highlighting:

• the strange nature of Champion's legacy (Neptune's statue, the lake);
• how an industrial site served as a memorial both to his implicit high sense of self worth and to fun and alternative (Neptune's statue, the grotto, the mound);
• the clever way the industrial processes and by-product (clinker) were integrated into the gardens and grotto (the waterfall, the water tank, the chequered wall); 
• how the site has somehow survived encroachment with housing just metres from the site of the lake and boat house, and Neptune bizarrely staring over mobile homes. This is an example of the close proximity of diverse uses in our landscape that is a theme  in my work for this module.

It is an odd site, depending on your point of view either a hideous manifestation of industrial excess, self aggrandisement, and lack of taste; or a clever and far-sighted way of integrating some folly and fun into a functional setting. There is probably truth in both but we do not know, as Champion;s legacy is short on factual detail. In my view, the icons lack any pretence of good taste. Neptune's statue in particular is a hideous concrete monolith completely lacking in artistic style, with clinker stuck on for effect. Yet therein lies the fascination too; why would someone go to this expense to provide a functionally useless albeit partially integrated set of structures. It is a folly but not completely a folly. The site tells an historical story that leaves one wondering quite what the motives were, yet evidently of sufficient interest that the structures remain more or less intact. The painting below shows how the site might have looked in its operational heyday:

 

Source: Painting by unknown artist. Kingswood Museum

 The images are presented as both prints and a Flickr presentation:

Practicalities
 
The in camera details are included in Flickr. Prints were prepared by Peak Imaging Professional, on Satin Matt paper (C-Type). Not all the images on Flickr are presented as prints, restricting the printed output to twelve images. The images were taken using tripod; post processing was restricted to mitigating dynamic range issues as far as possible using shadows/highlights. Minimal sharpening was utilised using Topaz Detail, a plugin that minimizes noise and halo. Champion apparently used smoke from the plant to fill the tunnel in order to make the experience of entering even more spooky; consequently one image has been processed so as to include a smoke effect using a freely available image as a separate layer.

References:

Alexander, Jesse (2015) Perspectives on Place: Theory and Practice in Landscape Photography. Bloomsbury Publishing. London.

Wells, Liz (2011) Land Matters: Landscape Photography, Culture and Identity. Kindle edition.