The independent retail institution that is Affleck’s Palace in Manchester seems, thankfully, to have survived all that virus-related crap and remains the place to go if you want to buy just about anything that is a little off-beat (and see its previous appearance). There are dozens of stalls like this. I wasn’t in the place to pick up a gas mask, however, in case you were wondering.
I don’t know why I at first chose to point my camera at this wall (on Abingdon Street in Manchester). It was only after uploading the shot that I noticed the very evident face on the cigarette bin. Kind of spooky, in fact: an inanimate object with a secret inner life, if ever there was one.
Chosen as much because this was the year’s first outbreak of cherry blossom — at least, in my sight. The position of the photographer on this shot was carefully chosen — Alan Turing’s statue is visible, the litter bin is artfully concealed.
So little time do I spend on campus these days that I had not noticed the great exhibition of old Manchester rock scene photographs in the main canteen, in University Place. Some superb pictures: notice Ian Curtis to bottom left, the rest of Joy Division above, and then Tony Wilson, Peter Saville and Alan Erasmus (Factory Records more or less) under the relevant sign.
Fantastic to look at; but I wonder whether it’s wasted on the students, most of whom, let’s face it, have been born since 2000 AD and unless they have very cool parents haven’t the slightest idea who Joy Division are or ever were — particularly if they come from China. It’s not a value judgment.
There still doesn’t seem to be a great deal going on in Manchester, but at least the light was good today. Lancaster House stands on the intersection of Princess and Whitworth Streets, and is a good example of the Victorian tendency to stick these grandiose flourishes at the top of any given commercial building. Does it assert some kind of dominance, or did they just have a lot of stone left over? Either way, I like it.
In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s coming up to Christmas. Manchester city centre gets frantic at this time of year and in recent times I have done my best to avoid it: in fact I only have one more day there scheduled for 2022. The proprietors of this posh store on Spring Gardens (where all the stores are posh: next door is Vivienne Westwood) go for it every year to this extent; this year there’s the added layer of statement, that energy bills are just something other people have to worry about. But it does look pretty: even with the back of a ‘No Entry’ sign in the way.
Decided I’d probably better put in an appearance in Manchester, but at this time of year it’s still barely sunrise when the 06:55 (constantly late-running) finally makes it there. I am pleased with this shot simply because it’s one of those that turned out just how I wanted it to when I pressed the shutter. I know the verticals are out of true, but that’s deliberate.
A day to reacquaint myself with people, who, generally, have not been seen on here for the last few days. Not that there will be many visits to Manchester coming up; I’m trying to minimise the need for them. And. by the way — Japan, brilliant stuff guys.
I’m sure it’s up to something useful. One of those shots which, I am very aware, would have benefited from better symmetry, but there’s only so much preparatory work one can do while stood in the middle of a street.
Spent the whole day entertaining some visitors from Norway, so they should feature on the daily post. Johannes ponders his beer, Anita brings more, and Catherine seems happy that her luggage — thought lost in the system — has been found. They and their colleagues reminded me that Norway is a place I have not been to lately, despite it remaining the third-most featured country on this blog (after England and Australia); its last appearance was 26th April 2018, as I departed Tromsø airport for the last time (so far). If I made a good impression today, perhaps I will get an invite back…
Being 42 