Non-Places Photoshoot II
Recently I noticed how vacant the spaces beneath bridges are. Their busy flow of traffic above is complemented with another underneath but their construction leaves a lot of space. The first place I took photos of is Dunkirk Island in Nottingham. It’s a busy island and the flyover that covers the space is big. Underneath there is a roundabout and a cycle lane, other than this its just safety barriers and road separating the space. One one side of the island a piece of artwork is placed; only the people driving into the city have a chance to see it and even then if your concentrating whilst driving you’ll likely never notice it amongst the large slabs of Grey concrete and loose stones. As I took the photographs there was a real feeling of strength emanating from the support pillars, even as I have previously cycled past I had not noticed the “tunnel” that the supports make due to their placement. This space really is a Non-place as Auge defined it. It pertains to travel and transport, it doesn’t contribute to the identity of Nottingham other than being a directional landmark, it provides no sense of history and to my mind doesn’t help people form or nurture relationships or memories. But still the space is interesting. The huge concrete stone shapes seem to remove any fear of the fast moving traffic above and the open sides focus your mind to the dangers present their instead. What you can’t see can’t hurt you? Since returning home I have tried to imagine a better use of the space, maybe a row of small retail units for foot and cycle commuters to buy food and the morning paper from? The space is wasted at the moment.
The second place I took photos of was a pair of bridges near the Celanese in Spondon, Derby. The upper roads are two slip roads that leave from “Ranesway” the main road of the approach. Underneath them is a side road that connects the industrial work places that run alongside Ranesway. This side road bends as it approaches the railway line that also passes underneath the bridges. Its a busy but quiet space until either a car passes or a train tears by. (Brilliant spot if you like trains!) The close quarters of the bridge pillars and the fences that protect each space from vehicle and pedestrian invaders of either side; makes the space complicated and interesting. Scattered around and in-between where one space ends and another starts are spaces that seem to serve no purpose other than providing a safety margin in-case the large concrete blocks and ironwork fail to succeed in keeping the two transport worlds that pass around them separate.
I have installed a free piece of software for stitching panoramas together called Hugin (available from http://hugin.sourceforge.net/) and the results from it are much better than Photoshops Photomerge feature. The panoramas in this gallery were made with Hugin.
