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Tag: Eugene Atget

Western Approaches in Schmap Liverpool Guide

I mentioned that I loved photography. I discovered it in my late teens, and I owe the interest not so much to my father, but to my acquaintance with and passion for surrealism. Back then I adored Man Ray. Later I discovered Helmut Newton, and Cecil Beaton, and David Bailey, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and of course Eugene Atget, and so my passion has crystallised. I should note that many of the pictures you see on Flickr were taken with cameraphone, although I’ve recently begun to upload those that were taken with a regular camera.

Quite a few people recently have told me that they liked my pictures, which is very encouraging. Even more so was a Flickrmail from the editor of Schmap Guides a couple of weeks ago telling me that one of my Liverpool pictures was shortlisted for the inclusion in the forthcoming edition of Schmap Liverpool Guide. Then yesterday at work, when I checked my email during lunch, I found out that my photo of the Western Approaches Headquarters was included in the Guide. What a wonderful way to start the weekend!

I am thoroughly delighted and grateful to the editorial of Schmap for this inclusion. I would certainly like more of this and similar things to come, but ultimately, this means that I should finally start taking my passion for photography just as seriously as I take my passion for literature, cinema, and music.

You can navigate the guide below, in the cultural section of which you will find, apart from the Western Approaches Museum, St Georges Hall, Walker Art Gallery, and Liverpool Museum and Planetarium.

http://www.schmap.com/templates/t011g.html?uid=liverpool&sid=tours_tour2&ultranarrow=true&#mapview=Map&tab=map&placeid=106184&topleft=53.41894,-3.00304&bottomright=53.39643,-2.9694&autoplay=1&c=f6f6f6A72122A62122A62122FFF88FFAF5BBffffffFFF88Fd8d8d8A4A7A6A621226990ffECEBBD0000005C5A4E5C5A4E000000929292F0EFDA

As a matter of fact, although I’ve been to Liverpool I haven’t been to many Liverpool museums, and reading about the Western Approaches, which is now a part of Liverpool War Museum, absolutely makes me want to visit it. Bearing in mind that I’m currently on a week-long holiday, this should be a great opportunity to navigate the Schmap Guide. As Liverpool War Museum website tells us,

The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of the United Kingdom. It is roughly the same height as the west coast of Britain, starting directly on the coast and ending in the Atlantic roughly at Iceland. The area is particularly important to the UK, because many of the larger shipping ports lie in this area. (http://www.liverpoolwarmuseum.co.uk/history/)

The bunker, we are told, had played a crucial part in the Battle of the Atlantic, “its role being to ensure the successful delivery of supplies and equipment into wartime Britain from the sea”. Reconstructed by the Walton Group, the bunker “is the original building where the original battle was fought and won. It has been reconstructed exactly how it used to be”.

Below is a bigger version of my picture of the Western Approaches Headquarters.

Western Approaches Headquarters, Liverpool

Thanks for reading and visiting! You can connect with me on Google+ @ https://plus.google.com/108262661313082363581/posts/. Julia x

Views of Manchester


I remembered listening to a short talk by Slavoj Žižek on Channel 4 last year, in which he discussed (very briefly) Charlie Chaplin’s film, The Great Dictator. Although the image of a dictator was unambiguously drawn on Hitler, the *true* dictator, metaphorically speaking, was the sound. Chaplin manipulated this comparison by alternating scenes with a silent Jewish barber with those with a hysterical quasi-Nazi leader, thus showing us the potential, but also the drawbacks, of using and hearing a person’s voice.

The drawback is not in the possibility of an actor having a weird voice, which may not fit their appearance or character. The drawback of a sound movie is in that it minimises the dramatic effect. Some will certainly argue otherwise, and it is indeed almost impossible to imagine, say, Kieslowski’s trilogy, Trois Couleurs, without the use of sound (especially in Trois Couleurs: Bleu). But however helpful it may be, sound imposes on us not only a directorial vision, but also a specific vision of our own. We may begin, for instance, to associate a certain tone of voice with a particular type of character; or a certain type of music with a specific kind of films. Those who have seen Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage, and especially those who attended a Q&A session with Mark Rothemund at Cornerhouse in October 2005, will remember that some film critics thought the music theme in his film has reminded them of Jaws’ soundtrack. The conclusion is easy to draw.

But methinks sound is not the only disputable gain in the media and arts world. I love colour photography, but some scenes, I believe, are made to be captured on black-and-white film, or mastercoloured in sepia. At best, it can teach a viewer that such colours, as black and white, don’t really exist. It can also make familiar sites look unfamiliar and more dramatic. Last but not least, b/w and sepia photos allow the viewer to use their imagination, instead of restricting them to a specific shade of colour palette.

I do think it is important to lift up this restriction through colour and sound and to revert to one’s intellectual (directorial, perhaps?) effort in filling up a silent “monochrome” space with colours and sounds. Which is why I’ve found myself continuously taking b/w and sepia pictures in Manchester. Captured this way, they remind me of some Parisian endroits I’ve seen in books, on early daguerreotypes, and on the photos by Eugene Atget.


The first two pictures were taken last Sunday, when I was killing time, walking in Castlefield, between watching Manhattan and Eraserhead at Cornerhouse. The image on the left is the passage of the Town Hall extension, which has got an Italian air about it (again, as far as I am concerned).

Although I might have appeared as if I didn’t like the use of colour or sound, this is obviously not true. Sometimes colour is invaluable – like on the shot below. As I wrote in the picture’s description on Flickr, I haven’t watched the sunset for quite a long time. And when I finally got the chance this Thursday, I absolutely could not miss it.

error: Sorry, no copying !!