Visual Research Installed In The Studio

After my walk along the Leeds-Liverpool canal, and my subsequent trip to Armley, Bradford and Halifax, I developed over a hundred photos that I had taken at the time, which, for some reason or other, had stood out to me. I displayed the horizontal images on the wider, larger wall, with the vertical images arranged to the side of my desk. I had wanted to create a large display of vivid photos ever since going to the Araki exhibition, in the Barbican Centre, a few years ago, so I was intending not to be overly picky. However, I had not realised that I had taken almost over five hundred photos, so choices had to be made.

After I had carefully decided upon the arrangement of the photos, I stood back to see whether I could ascertain a trail of thought within this large collection of images. It was obvious that the majority of photos were based around the textile machinery, many of which were close ups of both the material and the metal. I loved the contrast of the delicate flax or wool, against these solid iron contraptions. Also quite a few of the images were taken of the watermill in Armley or the canal. Knowing the importance of the waterways, I had made a conscious effort to take photos of bridges, and other water features. However, several of the photographs that I had developed were of just the water, with the canal borders.

Following on from this, I would like to do a sculpture/ installation based around the production of wool. However, to show the passing of time, I would like to use metal that 'had seen better days', so to refer to the past prestige of the North's industry. If somehow the sculpture could allude to the waterways, particularly the canal or canal locks, I think it would ground the piece more and add intrigue.



I found this beautifully detailed, 1855, engraving in the Charles Knight book. I made a screenprint of it and printed it with several colours and on different materials. I didn't really know what I was going to do with it, but it seemed a shame to not utilise the image, when it related so perfectly to what I was doing.

After reading Knight's study on Leeds, I felt really inspired to write a shortened version of the essay. I have highlighted interesting points, which are relevant to my work, and have begun to condense Knight's writing. Initially, I was thinking about making a photobook to display the photographs, which I have deliberately aged using photoshop. However, after looking at five photo/sketch books in the Brotherton's Special Collections Library from circa 1900, it seems rare to get an image book, without some writing at the front, so to contextualise the images. Consequently, I have decided to use this etching as the photobook's front cover, as I think it would be ideal in both making the book look authentical, but also old-fashioned.