Manchester | Being 42

Sep 27 2011

Evening light, Manchester Airport

Monday 26th September 2011, 6.00pm (day 32)

To mark the start of its second month, this blog is going international for 3 days – to Finland, as it happens. I wanted to get a shot inside the airport to try to encapsulate the day but they are such intrinsically boring and bland places, and you keep thinking that if you snap away, some security guard is going to come and confiscate your phone. Fortunately while we were on the taxiway waiting for take-off, the evening light shone just so, and something came of the wait.

Tagged 42, aircraft, evening, gallery, Manchester, Manchester Airport, photography, planes, sunset

Sep 20 2011

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Daily Post, Interior Gallery

Vicky in the old Hippodrome theatre, Hulme, Manchester

Tuesday 20th September 2011, 5.05pm (day 26)

No single photo or few lines of text can do justice to this place. Several people I spoke to today, from the district of Hulme, said that this used to be a real asset to the area.Derelict, but still just about hanging in there, this place is owned by an evangelical ministry and seems also to have a community group on its case, trying to stop it either falling down completely or being ripped down by developers. Hulme was one of the places hit by the civil unrest back in August. Right-wingers want to strip ‘benefits’ from anyone caught nicking a bottle of Lucozade at that time but they won’t raise a finger to restore an incredible place like this for the REAL benefit of the community. I could go on and this page would get angrier, but you get the point I’m sure.

(Thanks to Vicky for showing it to me and also not complaining as I snuck her into the corner of the pictures…)

Tagged 42, derelict, gallery, Hippodrome, Hulme, Manchester, photography, theater

Sep 13 2011

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Daily Post, Urban scene Gallery

King Street, Manchester city centre

Tuesday 13th September 2011, 7.55am (day 19)

Manchester is technically where I work but I’m there, on average, about 40% of the working week. I don’t dislike it but I don’t have any particular identification with it either: it’s not a beautiful city like, say, Edinburgh or Amsterdam. But it has its moments. And it did give the world Joy Division.

[NB: I almost put a different picture up here, of very strange evening light as a shower came over Hebden Bridge, but that would have made it two HB sky pictures in a row. I did like the shot, however, so I’ve put it on my Flickr site.]

Tagged 42, gallery, King Street, Manchester, morning, photography

Sep 08 2011

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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait Gallery

Kro Bar, Manchester

Thursday 8th September 2011, 6.00pm (day 14)

At this time of year there is an element of the holiday rep about my job. One lot of students are about to finish their time with me but as they do so, the next lot are on their planes in, ready to start the next cycle. Today I had drinks with some of those who were departing. Cormac, my colleague (being Irish) and I had Guinness; Huiyu & Dalal caffeine. But it’s all the same in the end. They’ve worked hard this year as have we. We all deserve it.