Light Over Water Photography » History

Memories…

Hamish — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:46:20 +0000

Rather than a lengthy description of each image I shall summarise; these are all items picked up from around the Somme region of France following the First World War. Cases and cases of helmets, bayonets, badges and other rusting artefacts found in the fields from, most likely, fallen soldiers. In one instance a map outlined the journey of one soldier from England, across the channel, south through France, up into the north of the Somme where he was killed…

Battleground

Hamish — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 10:53:02 +0000

Stopped off at the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel in the Somme region of France, infamous for the tragic loss of life of many thousands in the First World War. This image shows the preserved battle field on which the 29th Division, containing the Newfoundlanders (then still part of Great Britain), fought the German opposition. If ever in the area it is definitely worth the free guided tour, fortunately/unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) it was very cold (5C or so) and raining when I was there, the advantage being I got a very good account from the guide of everything that happened on the battle field. We’re all taught about war in school and told this and that happened but until you actually see where it all took place, you never really appreciate it or properly take it in. Books with dry text accompanying old black and white photos really made me go off history as a subject (was not well presented to keep my attention!) but seeing this place made something click. Although time has taken its toll on the trenches since the war, erosion and people clambering over them etc., its is still possible to see the Allied front-line and communication trenches in the foreground of the image (running lower right to middle left). The German front-line lay roughly along the edge of the trees at the far end of the field as it stands today, these would not have been here during the war and primarily serve to indicate certain boundaries. Hard to imagine what they went through being there was roughly only 200m or less that separated these two forces. Unfortunately for the Allies the Germans had many advantages, thanks in part to their preparation and also their choice of location to make a stand along the ridge of a Y-shaped valley, which provided shelter and regular supplies of munitions and food. The Allies were up against it before they even went over the top but when the order came for the Newfoundlanders to head over the top they kept on moving despite the overwhelming odds and circumstances. The characteristic of the Newfoundlanders to commit and carry out their orders with utter dependency earned their regiment the status of ‘Royal’ Newfoundland Regiment. For a more accurate description of what happened read on…

Salt water

Hamish — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:27:31 +0000

On my return to the UK I stopped off, in the pouring rain, at Arc-et-Senans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, no less! Designed by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux who realised that it made more sense to build the processing plant – required to obtain salt from the natural salt springs in the Besançon/Jura region – near the fuel (wood) to power everything after the already existing one had exhausted local supplies. What exists today is a semi-circular arrangement of buildings and it was hoped it would become the beginnings of the ideal city layout, unfortunately for the architect the French Revolution prevented further development and many of his works failed to see the light of day.
Ledoux was also responsible for the design and layout of modern theatre seating; with the expensive seats up-front and cheaper seats at the back, rather than the ‘royal boxes’ that often couldn’t even see the stage! Lots of his work was never realised but to see scale models made from his architectural drawings was impressive…worth the stop-over despite the downpour.

Old Friends

Hamish — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:20:07 +0000

In the center of Florence stand the trio of the Duomo (The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore), Campanile (bell tower) and Baptistry. Although there was scaffold over the dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi this didn’t detract from its imposing stance over the city, completely dominating the sky-line for miles around. Seen from below I was just about able to fit the three buildings in the frame against a deep blue late summer sky…

Dock Lands

Hamish — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:00:40 +0000

Isambard Kingdom Brunel wasn’t just famous for his bridges, railways or tunnels…one of his other great achievements was the SS Great Britain. The largest ship of its kind when it was completed in the specially adapted dry-dock in Bristol, it was the first ocean-going, wrought iron, screw-propeller driven ship in the world and completed the trip to New York in 14 days. This is one of those quick-grabs I was in the right place at the right time for…