ARCHIVE 478 – STAIRS AT TATE MODERN

 

 

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In 2005 I went ape over Modern Art  – in no small measure due to attending day schools on such luminaries as Degas, Manet, Monet, Picasso, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec, which were put on by Bristol University.  It really was something of a revelation, it was as though my eyes had suddenly been opened.  Such was my enthusiasm that I made two trips to Tate Modern, in London, to see some of these masters’ work at first hand. Its said that the UK consists of two parts, London and the rest, and that’s true – in any event London is not for me, its always far too big, far too busy, and it tires me out.

Tate Modern was crowded, but that was only to be expected, and it was really quite something to be seeing so much artwork in the raw.  While there though, I also became visually intrigued by the vast emptiness of the Turbine Hall, and especially by the metal stairs that led up from it to other levels in the building – and here is a picture.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: OM-4 with 50mm Zuiko lens; Fuji Provia 400 colour slide film rated at 1600 ISO; Tate Modern, London; 22 Mar 2005.

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OUTER SUBURBS 161 – STANDING IN THE HALL, LOOKING TOWARDS THE KITCHEN DOOR

 

 

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Visiting friends, and waiting in the dark hall of their large Victorian house.   Beautifully diffused light from their brightly lit kitchen was streaming in through the translucent panels on the door, subtly illuminating the colours of the paintwork: the scene caught my eye.  The wooden bannisters on the stairs ascend in semi-shadow on the left, catching the bright light from the door here and there.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 3200 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Portrait profile; south Bristol; 2 Dec 2019.

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OUTER SUBURBS 152 – FIRE ESCAPE (MONO)

 

 

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The other side of retail, away from the public eye: fire escape, refuse and flowers along the back of a row of neat local shops.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it – recommended .

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm; 1000 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the B&W 06 profile; south Bristol; 5 Sept 2018.
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BRISTOL 147 – CAR PARK

 

 

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Stairs in a city centre car park: stark, utilitarian, unimaginative – the triumph of functionality and “the figure at the bottom of the spreadsheet” over any nod towards elegance or visual appeal.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it.

Technique: Z 6 with 70-300 Nikkor lens used in DX (= APS-C) format to give 450mm; 1600 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid v2 profile; beside Redcliffe Way, in central Bristol; 10 May 2019.
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BRISTOL 140 – LOOKING DOWN STAIRS TOWARDS A CARPET

 

 

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With Paula in St Nicholas Market: a flight of battered yellow stairs lead down to a purple carpet.  Battered stairs?  Yes, well used, leading to a pub!

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it.

Technique: Z 6 with 24-120 Nikkor lens used (by mistake!) in DX (= APS-C) format to give 63mm – going to DX format was not necessary as 63mm us within the 24-120 range of the lens ; 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid v2 picture control; rotated; beside St Nicholas Market, Bristol; 3 June 2019.
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OUTER SUBURBS 65 – REACHING HOME (MONO)

 

 

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Reaching home: the view down from the pavement to the entrance to a basement flat by the river.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Yellowed 1 preset and adding a light Copper tone; south Bristol; 16 Jan 2019.
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STILL LIFE 241 – FLIGHT OF METAL STAIRS

 

 

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Looking at a flight of metal stairs, at eye level.

This may appear a little abstract so, to explain, each step has a yellow front lip; and the treads on the surfaces of the steps can also be seen.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 212mm (equiv); 3200 ISO; jpeg produced in-camera from a raw file, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; beside Temple Meads railway station, Bristol; 19 July 2018.
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STILL LIFE 150 – STAIRS IN AN ALLEYWAY

 

 

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Street art and a flight of steps, off Quay Street in the city centre.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that version to enlarge it further – recommended.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 84mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Provia/Standard film simulation; Bristol; 19 May 2017.
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STILL LIFE 142 – STAIRWAY

 

 

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Outdoor stairway, with a roof to protect it from the elements but still in need of some tlc.  Also an abstract design, more or less bisected by the diagonal from the upper right corner to the lower left.  Strong horizontals on the right are abruptly truncated by a (grimy!) wall with some angular, zigzag patterning on the left.  Further up these steps, on a landing, were rough sleepers.

Did I wish these stairs sparkling, clean and conforming to the “Modern Sterile” look?  Not at all, to me they show more character, more reality, like this – and all the more so for being surrounded by the shopping centre’s gleaming and pristine retail temples.

Click onto the image to open a larger image in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it still further.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm; 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Broadmead shopping centre, central Bristol; 7 July 2017.

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STILL LIFE 103 – FLIGHTS OF STEPS

 

 

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Looking down flights of steps with yellow edges.

Originally taken in portrait format, the image has been rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise.  The last two steps of a flight with their yellow, high-visibility safety edges are seen on the right, and there is a small landing, floored with handsome granite slabs, in the centre of the picture.  A second flight of steps descends between dark walls on the left but, because of the angle of the shot, all of the yellow edges of these steps meld together to form one yellow mass.  Another landing is dimly seen between the walls’ shadow at extreme left.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto the larger version to enlarge it yet again.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 85mm (equiv); 400 ISO; image rotation;  Lightroom, applying the Astia/Soft film simulation; York Place, Clifton, Bristol; 21 Apr 2017.
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