Nottingham

School Ground

A weekend walk around Nottingham probably 1982. I had not long had a lesson in the zone system by visiting lecturer Fay Godwin and wanted to capture a large tonal range in bright sunlight. A metal bin in a school playground seemed to resonate. Years later I went to the photographers gallery after work in the Tony Stone Darkrooms, having not eaten I soon became a bit drunk on the free wine. Seeing Fay I walked up to her and said something along the lines of “Hello Fay, remember me?” she was very kind and I was an idiot!

1980

From the flat 8 project. In my mind I had it that the 4 art students I shared with ate together and shared a cooking rota, perhaps true some of the time but not generally. Being back in touch means memories can be compared and they dont always align with the stories we tell.
Pentax K1000, 50mm f2 lens Ilford HP5 film.

Keith Piper. Artist. 1980

Keith Piper, on the site of abandoned houses about to be demolished in Hamden Street, Nottingham. 1980.

Keith was a fellow flatmate at the student accomodation just down the street from here. I had asked Keith if I could take his portrait as I had the loan of an old MPP 5×4 view camera and wanted to try to do a portrait with it. Rather than the clinical look of a studio I thought it would be good to have a more interesting background.

It was inevitable perhaps that putting up my old images from the past would help me reconnect with people. My first ever photo course project was to photograph “where we lived”. This is probably the Polytechnic version of “What I did in my holidays” as it kept us out of our tutors hair whilst they got ready for the new year. The result was the flat 8 project.

The project has become more valuable with time, the appreciation of the guys I shared the flat with and then recently finding out what happened to them as they reveal themselves 44 years later. It turns out that Keith was a founder member of the BLK art group (whilst still on the course) and he used his energies and passion for tackling social and political issues through his art. He was and is a key figure in the development of the black art movement in the UK.

His entry in Wikipedia is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Piper_(artist) and his website is here: https://www.keithpiper.info/.

The art students in my first year accomodation at Trent were good company. They tended to be a year older as I had come straight from school and they had come from an intermediary local foundation art course. They were confident and more worldy wise than I was and introduced me to new ideas and music.

Disco at the Arbouretum pub in Nottingham 1982/3

The Arboretum in 1980 was a pub for older people, there was live music from singers in the style of Frank Sinatra and others of that period.

Within a short time it was refitted for the younger crowd. Dress code to get in: no trainers, smart attire.

The atmosphere was intense. Groups of girls, groups of boys. Overcoming the friction with music and alcohol.

Sawley, Derbyshire


Cows gather for milking on a farm next to All Saints Church, Yashica 124G 1981/82. Field trip for Trent Polytechnic photo students.

Living history

 

I photographed the prospectus for Newark Colledge in I think 1981 / 1982 as part of my photo course. I visited each department in turn but I remember best the visit to  the violin making department.

The students were from all over the world and I remember the calm but focused atmosphere. It turns out that the people I photographed then have gone on to be significant figures in their field.

Hans Johannsson had left a year or two earlier but I was asked by Brian FitzGibbon the director of a short documentary if I would supply some images taken in the early 80s, I was happy to do so. Its well woth a watch as the director has made a sensitive and well rounded overview of Hans’s journey.

I love the fact that Hans whilst respecting the past thinks above and beyond what has been to what could be and is still prepared to experiment.

Watch the Video here; https://youtu.be/EhF26dlwX8M

A student of art 1980

Bernard in the kitchen at the first year student accomodation in Bayham street. I took the religious iconography as ironic but now I wonder.

The learning process

Euan Duff the course leader at the Photo Department at Trent Polytechnic knew I enjoyed documentary photography so give me the opportunity in my second year to work with a graphics student who had a project on schooling in Nottingham.

One of the schools I photographed was a small private primary. Entering the classroom was like going back in time to my state school in St.Helens, perhaps the floors were less dusty here but it flooded me with memories of listening to stories and the strict and not so strict teachers.

On the desk is a packet of sweets or munchies, not too sure if they are confiscated from a child or used to reward good behavior. Young minds informed.

Elegaic light

Nottingham Municipal War Memorial next to the river Trent. A nightime walk with my camera and tripod in the early 1980s.

The light brings out the sad beauty of the monument, it would seem to me that a lot of thought has gone into it, a focus for complentation.

Disparate objects

Trent Polytechnic photo course project: Disparate Objects. Take in approx 1981 age when done: 20
We were encouraged on the courses to complete set tasks, one of the tasks was to photograph two seemingly unrelated objects together.

I cannot remember where I came up with the idea of the safety pin and record for my “disparate objects”, like most ideas they just seem to pop into existence.

I cannot remember how I warped the record, perhaps I used the oven in the student accommodation?

In 1976/7 I was in my mid teens and ripe for being in the punk generation, some of my classmates were punks. I was more likely to be listening to the New Seekers at the time.
I like the idea of a “safety” pin destroying the “music” though of course we all know it was home taping that actually killed music.

Until now I thought my conceptual photography started at my time at Tony Stone  Images but clearly, thanks to the tutors at Trent Polytechnic it started here.

This was shot on a 5×4 studio camera using tungsten lights and FP4 black and white negative film.

Place

Night time shot in Nottingham. Taken in approx. 1982-1983.

Concentration

Taken not at my state school Cowley Boys in St.Helens but at a real private school in Nottingham.
Part of a second year Trent Polytechnic Photo project covering the subject of schooling in Nottingham in collaboration with a design student in 1981 or 1982

Very similar school to Cowley boys in pretty much every way except this was a fee paying school. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to Cowley as they managed to drag me up from ‘failing’ to ‘mediocrity’ in academic terms, a huge shift for me. The ethos of the school promoted learning and development and it did rub off.

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