Looking forward to getting back to Uni this week after two weeks off for Easter break. I’ve finished my dissertation, got most of my journal up to date and have selected 15-16 pictures for my portfolio which all needs to be handed in soon. I had some questions about the portfolio, such as how many images should there be in the file and whether they needed text accompanying the images by way of explanations and descriptions etc.
Notwork
Upon arriving at the car park before the short walk to the MK Building (George Wallis building) I jumped out of the car excited to get in , get some answers and get on with completing the outstanding tasks. When I looked at my phone, I noticed a tonne of messages in the uni group chat about the network being down today but figured that it should be ok to carry on. Phone back in pocket, bag on my shoulder I locked up the car and turned to start walking, only to find Alice, our lecturer, waiting to explain things to me. She said that the network was down so there would be no teaching today and that they would be closing the buildings and then sending anyone away.
I hoped that this was not a repeat of the incident where they had a cyber attack and took a few weeks to get back on top of things again but thanked Alice for the update and then got in the car. I updated the rest of my coursemates who were in the group chat and then set to thinking what I could do to help with my coursework before heading home to continue the written work. I looked at google maps and decided that Walsall was somewhere I had never been before and I figured that there would be some good old concrete buildings and a few streets to continue my street photography practice in. With that tapped into the sat nav, I headed off.
Walsall Wanderer
Arriving in Walsall soon after I left the car in a car park for a short walk to the town centre, via the New Art Gallery. It had just opened so I figured that I should investigate it and have a look at the arty goodness within the walls of this reasonably modern construction.
Inside the building I was immediately presented with the Garman-Ryan collection of works including paintings drawings, sketches, sculpture and all manner of other artifacts. It was a truly wide ranging collection with artists featuring Jacob Epstein, Matisse, Picasso, JMW Turner, Degas, Cezanne, Sally Ryan and Kathleen Garman. There were galleries based on different themes such as Animals, Birds, Children, Figure Studies, Flowers, Still Life, World Objects, Work and Leisure. Each of the sections had a collection of works that fitted in with the overarching theme and many were beautiful works of art.
I didn’t take many photos as I was walking around the exhibitions, especially when a huge bunch of schoolkids entered the museum and made a huge noise as they wandered around looking at the paintings and other works. It was great hearing the teachers filling the kids heads with enthusiasm about art and discussing the work that was on the walls and plinths around them, and I don’t mind the noise in a museum setting, they’re kids for gods sake. I was ultra careful to keep my camera over my shoulder and not raise it to take pictures of the art whilst there were schoolkids about.
I made a few photos of the inside of the gallery once I’d made it back downstairs as there was a huge white illuminated cross on the upper ceiling that was visible from the floor. In the ground floor there was a shop and amongst the items were work by Black Country Type (Tom Hicks) and Claire Buckerfield who both work at the Uni of Wolves, there were prints and other books for sale, but I picked up a copy of Tom’s catalogue for the exhibition he’d put on at Birmingham City University last year. A small book called Black Country Type Ay It. The “Ay It” is a Black Country or Yam Yam way of saying “isn’t it?” or “ain’t it?”
I left the art gallery and took my new book back to the car as I wasn’t planning on carrying much around for the rest of the time in Walsall. Then I headed back to the town centre for more photography.
Action Stations
I happened upon the railway station as I walked along and found a walkway that took me into the shopping centre and then out into the town. The bus station was in front of me with a huge ovoid white painted roof, all full of smaller and larger glazed holes to allow natural daylight into the under canopy area where the buses come to dock and pick up and drop off the passengers. I like this canopy and as it happens there is a photo of this in that new book I’d just bought.
Out of the bus station and into a church, St Paul’s church that was seemingly a small arcade of crafty shops and a tattoo parlour. The cross at the front of the church was floating high above the ground and appeared to be made of glass and was a sight to behold. I’m not religious at all but I do find religious buildings fascinating and appreciate the efforts the architects and builders have gone to over the years.
I found the Old Square Shopping Centre from here and marvelled at the similarity of this when compared to the recently demolished Riverside Shopping Centre in Shrewsbury. It was a sad state, with water leaks and closed off spaces everywhere. The glass roof was a nice touch but it looks like this old centre is due for a redevelopment.
Exiting the shopping centre after taking some photos, I bumped into one of my coursemates, Nikki, who advised me of some other places to wander to whilst I was here. I walked up to the church, via a small sweet shop where I bought some jargonelle pear drops, lovely. I couldn’t see much from up here at the church, the main stairs were all chained up so I wasn’t able to get to the highest point. I did notice from here though that there was a good old concrete car park not far away so I of course headed in that direction. On the way I came across a Traffic Warden slapping tickets all over cars on the street and then found the concrete goodness I was looking for.
Car Park Of Course
It was in a poor state, the concrete was all spalling and the reinforcement steels were rusting through making it worse. This will no doubt be getting worse and worse over time, and with it being shut due to NCP having financial woes I doubt it will be something that gets looked at soon. As it was all fenced off I couldn’t make it into the building so moved on to the next area.
I ended up wandering around the town centre and trying not to draw attention to myself as there were a lot of people affected by addiction to different substances nearby, so I avoided pointing the camera in their direction and eventually ended back at the railway station where I sat on platform one for 10 mins for a rest before heading back towards the car.
Back at the car I found that I was unable to work out the stupid app that the signs suggest downloading, so I was looking for answers on other signs, when Nikki and her partner Lee appeared on their way for a meal, they advised me that there was a ticket machine by JD Gyms so I headed over to pay for my parking and then got back on the road.
Home Again Jiggety Jig
Once home, I was plugged back into the matrix again, writing up blog posts, downloading photographs, preparing more of my portfolio, and journal logs etc. This kept me busy all afternoon and all night, and still keeps me busy even now at half past midnight on Sunday night.
I look forward to seeing how we get on at uni this coming Wednesday and see if everything I’ve prepared so far is up to snuff. I’m also planning on picking up my large A0 print of the Shirehall blind so that I can bring it home ahead of the hang at the art gallery in May.
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