Montage inspired by Manchester's Northern Quarter

Research Music, Art, Location

The Northern Quarter in Manchester x

Music sculpture in the Northern Quarter 

The Northern Quarter in Manchester

The Northern Quarter in Manchester was chosen for unit 23 as an area for research as a Location for Art and Music expression. 

The idea was to convey through images why the Northern Quarter is considered to be the centre of alternative and bohemian culture in Manchester.

Popular streets include Oldham Street, Tib Street, Newton Street, Lever Street, Dale Street, Hilton Street and Thomas Street.

The "Northern Quarter" as such did not exist as a distinct area until the mid 1990's.
Today popular for its numerous bars and cafes as well as its mix of music and clothes shops.

Posters, fly posting  lyrics in the pavement and plaques on the wall give  relaxed references to music and the creative life in Manchester.

Meanwhile, the area is something of a mecca for DJs, with shops such as Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange, Vox Pop Records, Beatin' Rhythm, Eastern Bloc Records .

The Northern Quarter as a whole is characterized by its offbeat, alternative atmosphere. During the daytime, trendy hangouts. There are Cafes bars and restaurants offering a variety of for, culture, alternative information about events and music

Nightlife in the Northern Quarter includes music venues The Night and Day Café, Band on the Wall, the Roadhouse and The Ruby Lounge, The Mint Lounge


The area is also known as a home to the creative industries, and in particular fashion design, with various designers, agencies, and clothing wholesalers populating its back streets. There are also a number of commercial art galleries in the area.

Infact a interesting exhibition of photos by Kevin Cummins was held in Lever Street (March 2013). The exhibition showcased iconic photos of Morrissey and The Smiths.

Kevin Cummins is one of the coolest photographers working in the UK. He is most famous for his photographs of rock bands including including Joy Division, The Smiths and Oasis.
Here are a few images from the exhibition:-

Affleck's Palace is a former department store which has been turned into a multi-storey bazaar for alternative clothing and nick-nacks captures the alternative feel of the Northern Quarter. Here are a few of the many images i could have posted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Quarter_(Manchester)

Music Shoot

Music Shoot 

Music Shoot for a new band called
Here are some of the promotional pictures that were taken on 4.3.2.1213.

The band is called Rolled Gold

Inspiration From the following images

Photograph to interpret a piece of music

Task: Interpret a piece of music through a photograph

"Ironic"

By:

ALANIS MORISSETTE 

LYRICS

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice..."
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic...don't you think
A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think...

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

Why this song?

I love this song by Alanis Morissette "ironic". The song was in the charts when i was hoping to get a job in Manchester, instead I moved to a job in London. Exactly the same time as my future husband gained employment in Manchester!!! "Ironic". The lyrics to the song appealed to me at the time and even now remind me of those days.

Music Photography Album cover

Task was to produce a image for  an album cover

George born to rock

I chose this image because it has a lot of energy. The light causing over exposure almost feels like the image could be taken at a live concert on stage. The shadow behind George I feel make the image interesting and gives it depth.

Inspiration

My inspiration for the photograph was the album cover by The Clash

Cover of The Clash album London Calling.

The cover features a photograph by Pennie Smith of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar against the stage, at The Palladium in New York City on 21 September 1979 during the "Clash Take the Fifth" U.S. tour. The picture is surrounded by typography deliberately similar to Elvis Presley's debut album. The picture was later voted the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q (magazine), although at the time Smith did not want the picture used. She did not feel it was a technically good shot because the photograph is slightly out of focus (as she was backing away from Paul to avoid getting hit). However, Joe Strummer convinced her to use the shot. The broken remains of Simonon's bass are in the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheClashLondonCallingalbumcover.jpg

London Calling

London Calling is the third studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 through CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 through Epic Records. The album represented a change in The Clash's musical style, featuring elements of ska, funk, pop, soul, jazz, rockabilly, and reggae more prominently than in their previous two albums.

The album's subject matter included social displacement, unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood. The album received unanimously positive reviews and was ranked at number eight on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003. London Calling was a top ten album in the UK, and its lead single "London Calling" was a top 20 single.  It has sold over five million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Calling

Pennie Smith

Pennie Smith
Born 1949
London, England
Education Twickenham Art school
Pennie Smith (born in London) is an English photographer, known for having photographed several rock musicians. She specialises in black-and-white photography.
Smith attended Twickenham Art school in the late 1960s, studying graphics and fine art. With others, she collaborated with graphic designer, Barney Bubbles and music journalist, Nick Kent in producing Friends magazine from 1969 to 1972. In 1970 she designed the sleeve for the Pink Fairies debut release Never Never Land. Her first major photographic commission was to cover a 1970s Led Zeppelin tour. Smith went on to work at the NME as staff photographer until the early 1980s.
In her career, Smith has photographed some well-known rock musicians including: Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Iggy Pop, The Clash, The Jam, The Slits, Siouxsie Sioux, Debbie Harry, U2, Morrissey, The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis , David Smith and The Strokes.
In addition to her portrait work she has covered tours with musicians, including a photograph of The Clash's Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar on the stage in New York during a 1979 tour. The photograph went on to be used on the cover of the Clash album London Calling, designed by Ray Lowry, and received Q magazine’s "Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Photograph of All-Time" award in 2002.

Smith's work has appeared on the covers and pages of the NME, on album sleeves, promotional material and has featured in books. In 1980 her best selling book, The Clash, Before and After, was published.
Smith currently lives and works in a disused railway station in West London, which she bought and converted into a studio while she was a student, and freelances in black and white reportage photography.
In late 2009 multiple images by Smith were included in the Who Shot Rock & Roll exhibit of rock photography at the Brooklyn Museum.
In Jan 2010 Smith's London Calling image was issued on a postage stamp by the Royal Mail.

Pennie Smith

Lilli Alan

Paul Weller

Blur

I took inspiration from Pennie Smith to shoot Rolled Gold