Nov 2008
Blott Artist Studios
21/11/08 20:05 Post: News
I have the pleasure to announce that I’ve been invited to be a member of Blott Artist Studios in Blackpool.
Blott Artist Studios was founded in 1998 by Corrine Streetly with help from Sean Hanford and Ann Carragher for professional artists living in and around the Blackpool area. Blott Studios have put on some great exhibitions in their gallery and I can’t wait to exhibit my own work alongside the other members of the group. I’ve already printed some of my photographs ready to be framed and I’m really excited about showing & selling my work in a local gallery. Much of the work that comes out of Blott represents the artists individual responses to the town and I’d like to think my photographs will fit in quite nicely. As I’ve only joined this week my details are yet to feature on their website, but I’ll be sure to announce it on this blog as soon as they are.
Speaking of exhibitions, I have some new work featured in the MA Visual Design as Creative Practice graduate exhibition in the foyer of the School of Art & Design in Blackpool. The exhibition officially opens on the 3rd December 2008 and if your around in the area it would be great if you’d check it out. Some great work to be found from my peers, including Aaron Tonks fabulous sculptures and amazing hand-made frames. The exhibition celebrates over two years work and showcases some of our finest work. I hope you can make it.
Finally, there won’t be any blog posts over the next week as I’m paying a flying visit to the city of Guangzhou in China and then on to Hong Kong for a few days. The weather forecast doesn’t look too promising (typical that it has been sunny there all this week!) yet I’m 100% determined to make it most of it regardless. I’ve never visited that side of the world before and I’m so excited to get out there, soak up the atmosphere and start taking some great photographs (hopefully)!
If you would like to get in touch with me regarding anything over the next week please contact me via email and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Important Amendment
From the 15th August 2009 I will no longer be a represented artist of Blott Artist Studios. This was a difficult personal decision of mine that I don't wish to go into here, but I do send my sincere thanks to Corrine and all the other artists at the gallery for their support and understanding.
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Contemporary Views & Their Origins
18/11/08 22:16 Post: Reference
For today's blog post I thought I would share the opening section of the first chapter from my MA dissertation paper. The full paper will be made available in January 2009 as a downloadable PDF for any students wishing to read it. I’ve included the table of contents for dissertation below:
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Contemporary Views & Their Origins
- Chapter Two: A Self-Perpetuating Myth?
- Case Study 1: ReBlackpool & ‘The Resort Masterplan’
- Case Study 2: Admission All Classes: Re-branding The Carnivalesque
- Case Study 3: Bloomfield Talks
- Chapter Three: Photographic Representations of Blackpool
- Chapter Four: Blackpool: An Unimagined Space?
- Conclusion
- References
- Bibliography
- Figures
‘With reference to contemporary perceptions of Blackpool, discuss the contribution of the visual and built environment to experiences, mythologies and social relationships to that of the transient and residential populous’.
Chapter One: Contemporary Views & Their Origins (Excerpt)
“Universally known and visited by tourists from around the world, few towns conjure up such stirring impressions as Blackpool. Cheerfully unpretentious and brash with all the trimmings expected of a traditional seaside town. Blackpool remains the iconic British resort. But there is more to its richly coloured history than you may think”.
(Thompson, D. (2007))
Often cited in the introductions of many historical books on Blackpool is the writer William Hutton of Birmingham. In 1788, he visited the town and described the topography of the landscape that lay before him. Hutton’s poetic descriptions (characteristic of many literary works of the late 18th century) offers an early insight into how the land may have looked before it was colonized and, how he personally saw the inhabitants living there at the time. Hutton (1788) notes that “about fifty houses grace the sea-bank”, although, he adds “it does not merit the name of a village, because they are scattered to the extent of a mile”. Hutton also describes in fine detail, the recreational behavior of those inhabiting the houses and lodgings. “In some of these are lodged the inferior class, whose sole motive for visiting this airy region is health”. This is an early indication as to the origins of Blackpool’s long-standing appeal to those who enjoy sunbathing and being ‘beside the seaside’. In Hutton’s time there was certainly an emerging love amongst the social elite for bathing and “drinking seawater”. The seaside and its potential to improve ones health must have certainly been a magnetic force for a population that would soon see the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in the mid 19th Century. With industrialization came the age of the railway, which enabled people to travel from the smoggy city for an opportunity to experience and enjoy the fresh sea air on the Fylde coast.
As the town became increasingly popular in the nineteen-twenties with city-dwellers wishing to get away from the daily grind of working life, new buildings, structures and spaces were designed and implemented by the Blackpool Corporation to entertain and cater for the masses. These included open-air swimming pools, the Illuminations and Stanley Park (which is one of the only green spaces available in the town). The construction of this new visual and built environment was quite profound at the time and definitely helped place Blackpool firmly on the map as a Mecca for working-class entertainment. Blackpool had been way ahead of its time back in 1879, when it became the first town in the UK to introduce electric street lighting installed along the promenade. This was, of course, what latter became known as the Illuminations and people still flock to the resort to enjoy and admire their colourful glow. The introduction of these few electric streetlights marked the beginning of the town’s cultural identity and unique character that became synonymous with popular entertainment. The three-piers on Blackpool’s seaside fringe also became notorious with being working class playgrounds for pleasure, but also celebrated the town’s Victorian history and heritage...(continued)
© Yannick Dixon 2008
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The Pleasure Beach & South Shore Promenade
09/11/08 23:25 Post: Blackpool Vistas
Taken around 4:50pm on South Shore Promenade, Blackpool. Tuesday 8th April 2008.
This is a panoramic photograph made from nine images taken of the Pleasure Beach in Blackpool back in April 2008. The backdrop features one of the town’s premier attractions, the Pleasure Beach’s biggest ride, ‘The Big One’. It is Europe’s largest roller coaster rides and certainly needs the panoramic treatment. To the right of the image are several of the new sculptures produced by contemporary artists (for example, those of Sir Peter Blake) that now feature on the newly revamped promenade. It is a great walk from Stargate, past the Pleasure Beach and onwards towards the centre of town, with plenty of attractions to enjoy and things to experience.
Technical Information
Made from nine photographs all taken at the following exposure:
Camera: Canon EOS 20D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 40mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
F-Stop: f/22
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Starlings Above (Part One)
04/11/08 20:45 Post: Personal Work
Taken at 3:51pm from North Pier, Blackpool. Tuesday 4th November 2008.
North Pier in Blackpool is a wonderful location to view starlings during the winter months and this afternoon I got another opportunity to photograph them. This is the first chance I’ve had to do some personal work since finishing my MA course and completing my recent freelance assignments, so I’m really pleased to be starting my postgraduate life with this photograph of starlings over Blackpool beach.
I will never forget the first time I saw a flock of starlings. It was during a cold February morning in 2006 on Blackpool promenade and there wasn’t another soul to be seen. I was walking past North Pier when I saw a huge swarm of starlings feeding on the beach. After a minute or so, the starlings all took off, on mass, creating what can only be described as a giant bubble. They made their way towards me, flying fast and low across the beach. The sound they made was simply incredible. There is something innately beautiful about starlings and I always feel very privileged to just to see them.
A selection of six black & white photographs that I’ve taken of starlings in flight can now be viewed in the portfolio section of this site. More to follow...
Technical Information
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
Lens: Canon EF-S 17mm - 85mm IS USM
ISO: 500
Focal Length: 85mm
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
F-Stop: f/5.6
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