My ARPS panel was a challenge I set myself! While I worked in Chester city centre from 2005 to 2009 I used my lunch hours to do some photography. Apart from “people” pictures I was drawn to the various buildings being demolished as part of the ill-fated Northgate Project. My statement of intent was:-
“In Chester, The Northgate development had a compulsory purchase order placed on it’s buildings. The project included a motley collection of buildings constructed from the early twentieth century to the sixties, from factories, offices to residential. These buildings had been vacated and some were demolished when I decided that a record of their demise was essential, as some are now either gone or merely forgotten. The Northgate Project was eventually cancelled when the promised funds had not materialized, so now life has left this area and its community lost. I believe that each building has a character of its own, especially those with a history and a need for a little care. In the words of John Constable “I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may – light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful”. I have used this quotation to guide me in my panel of images. The panel is a set of cameo shots of the now forgotten Northgate Project. My intension is to preserve and share, through my love for photography, the abandoned character of this area before it is lost forever”.
I was assisted in this endeavour by Diane Owen FRPS to whom I am very much indebted. My first submission failed, but the comments received were very encouraging so, making the changes Dianne recommended (including making the prints smaller, and on Permajet fine art paper) my second submission was successful so one should not be discouraged by initial failure at this level!
