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Taken on platform 10 of Birmingham New Street station while waiting for the train to University. Suitably grim and depressing for the high grain film.
Nikon FM2n
Ilford Delta 3200
Scanned from negative
St Mary, Worstead, Norfolk
Worstead is always a good place to start a Norfolk church-exploring bike ride. The little station sits a mile or so to the west of the village, which is large enough to feel as if it might have intended to have become a town once, but didn't. One this warm day at the end of August 2019 there was nobody about, just a fat cat lazily rolling in the village square. The sun was cutting the haze, the sky wide and blue. It was like being in France.
Worstead church is absolutely enormous, and hemmed in by the walls of a tight little graveyard. Like the church at Salle, and at Southwold in Suffolk, St Mary was all built in one go, pretty much. This happened in the late 14th century. As at Salle, it is reflective of a large number of bequests from different people over a short period rather than anyone fabulously rich doing it on their own, and the money, of course, came from wool. Worstead is still recognised as the name of a fabric today.
I said it was pretty much built at one go, but there was still plenty of money about in the 15th century to raise the clerestory and install a hammerbeam roof. This seems to have been such an ambitious project that flying buttresses had to be installed on top of the aisles to hold the top of the nave up, an expedient measure that has left the building both interesting and beautiful. It was my third visit of the summer, and once again I stepped out of the sunlight into the slight chill of a vast open space.
Even if you don't easily warm to big churches and prefer the little ones, St Mary is so pretty inside that it is hard not to love it. This is partly helped by the removal of all pews and benches from the aisles. Those that remain in the body of the church are lovely 18th century box pews, quite out of keeping with the medieval nature of the rest of the building, but quirky and oddly delightful. The great tower arch is elegant, and is thrown into relief by the towering font cover. The ringing gallery under the tower is dated 1501, and is reminiscent of the one not so very far off at Cawston. The 19th Century tower screen below it is a perfect foil for the medieval details to the east. The paintings in the dado depict Christian virtues and are apparently copies of windows by Sir Joshua Reynolds at New College, Oxford.
Worstead is famous for its roodscreen, but perhaps this is more because of its height, elegance and completeness than its historicity. The figures on the dado have been repainted sumptuously, but not always with an eye to authenticity. Most, though not all, depict disciples, and yet several are replicated on the unrepainted aisle screens, suggesting that they may once have been different figures to the ones we see now. From north to south they appear to be a dreadfully repainted Christ the Man of Sorrows, a similarly poor St Paul, St James the Less, St Philip, St Simon, St Jude, St Matthew, St John, St Andrew, St Peter, St James, St Thomas, St Bartholomew, a figure labelled St Jerome who looks very much as if he was originally St Matthias, and then the two oddest figures, St William of Norwich holding three nails and then a figure crucified, arms tied to the spans. This is be the infamous St Uncumber, also known as St Wilgefortis, the bearded lady of early medieval mythology. Later, she was crucified, probably upside down. Across the top rail, a dedicatory inscription winds, mysterious and beautiful.
The aisles extend either side of the chancel. Each has its own small screen with just four figures. The four figures at the entrance to the north side are St Peter, St Paul, St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist. Three of these are also on the rood screen, suggesting that either the images there are wholly Victorian, or these aisle screens came originally from elsewhere. The south aisle chapel is simpler. The screen features another St Bartholomew, another St Philip, St Lawrence and a bishop, probably St Thomas of Canterbury.
But this church is in any case a building to wander around in, a place to enjoy for its great beauty as much as to interrogate for its medieval authenticity. As you turn corners, vistas open up. The view from the font to the south door, for example, or that back to the west from the chancel. All perfect, all stunning.
Gorgeous faded petals, it almost looks like the rain washed the colour out.
Zenit-B with Fuji Reala 100
during Moody Sibiu Tour
My wishes for your magic weekend will continue...
"L" goes WELL
:)
PLEASE no logo dump here!
Testing out my new 30 degree grid for my speedotron beauty dish. Composite image.
Lighting setup shot:
www.flickr.com/photos/powersimagery/4528942475/
Lighting Diagram:
www.flickr.com/photos/powersimagery/4528942457/
Strobist:
X1600 into 30degree grid on Speedotron dish cam right
7ft V Card cam left subjects back
Pottery tomb figure of a singer (Han Dynasty), unearthed near Guanghan, Sichuan, in November 1994.
Last week’s photo shoots were of Tianfu Square (at night) and a day trip to Huanglongxi Ancient Town southeast of Chengdu. This week, I changed it up a little and went to a museum that I’d been wanting to visit for quite some time (but, honestly, was just too lazy to go to until now).
Sanxingdui (literally, “three star mound(s)”) is an archaeological site/museum. To give you perspective, I’ll make a few comparisons. The easiest (and less impressive) comparison is to the Jinsha Archaeological Site within the Chengdu city limits.
Jinsha is a very nice site in its own right, and has a lot of source material that dates from around 2,500-3,000 years ago. The Jinsha site was more recently discovered (2001) than the Sanxingdui site (early 20th century; excavations began in earnest in 1986). At Jinsha, things just feel like “leftovers.” I mean to say…there doesn’t feel like anything that the world at large necessarily needed to know about – though some of the art there, the skeletal remains, etc. are incredibly interesting if you have an interest in human history. However, I digress. The main point I should make regarding Jinsha and Sanxingdui is that it’s believed that the sites are from a related culture, though the timing is off by about 500 years (if I remember right from the signage at Jinsha).
The other comparison I will make is to China’s most famous archaeological site: the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. Those are more important from a nationalistic point of view, I suppose, in that they were made (or ordered to be made, to be more precise) by China’s first emperor circa 200 BC. Aside from that, the terracotta army is quite impressive.
I feel Sanxingdui is much more important to human history, though, and I say this for a few reasons. First, it predates China (as a “nation-state”) by about 1,000 years. Almost everything that has been unearthed here is from roughly the 12th or 13th century BC (per carbon dating). Finding this site was (rightfully so) a huge shock in the archaeological record. It wasn’t known that people were in this area, if I’m not mistaken, and that they were as advanced as they were.
As you can see from the collection, this is a people who were highly advanced, had a monetary system (based on the knowledge of cowry shells, etc.), religious practices, and a high technical skill with bronze and other alloys. The masks from Sanxingdui are the most famous part of this collection and are still in such good shape 3,000 years later that they could honestly be placed in any museum in the world. They’re truly quite impressive.
Another reason I say so little is known of the people who lived here is that, while this museum is of exceptional quality – architecturally, in presentation, in every aspect – there is so little background information provided about the people’s origins. We can see how they lived, what was important to them, and other things, but the one thing that is missing is…where they came from. I continually found myself saying, “Wow,” over and again throughout the afternoon here.
Getting here is relatively easy now. A bus goes from Xinnanmen long distance bus station in downtown Chengdu (leaving at 9:30 a.m.) and takes you directly to the Sanxingdui parking lot, about 50 km (at most) towards the northeast on the Mianyang freeway. The closest town is Guanghan, and the cost of the ticket, for a round trip ride, is 50 RMB. (The bus returns at 2:40 p.m., which gives about 4 hours to see the entire museum and grounds.)
Upon getting to the visitor center, you have to pass through security scanners (in each of the three other buildings, too, for that matter). After paying the very reasonable 80 RMB admission, you pass through security yet again and are finally in the museum/site proper. I don’t recall much information available at the visitor center, but I may have just missed it. In retrospect, it would be very nice to have some informational videos – even if they were just to say much isn’t known about the history of the people. It could have given suppositions of life in video format, or even focused on the discovery of the site. (Again, maybe they’re already there, and I missed them…but, I don’t think so.)
Upon leaving the video center, the first of the three buildings you arrive at is the Comprehensive Gallery. This gallery is wonderful in that it has actually been built into one of the three mounds. (I’m not 100% sure that this is one of the three original mounds; perhaps it’s a replica of the mound. Either way, it was a good use of the land.) The comprehensive gallery consists of five areas that, for the most part, focus on earthenware and stone ware artefacts that were unearthed in the pits. The relics are well-presented, well-labeled, and well-maintained. Besides earthenware and stoneware, there are also plenty of artefacts made of jade, some of bronze, some of gold foil, and so on. The comprehensive gallery ends with a display of bronze money trees that were (are?) important in Chinese culture.
After finishing in the Comprehensive Gallery, my second stop was to go to the Cultural Relics & Restoration Gallery. This is the smallest of the three, and most comprehensive (in terms of presenting artwork from all of Chinese history) of the three galleries. There are plenty of pieces here from the Song, Tang, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. I went through here in a bit of a hurry, so am not certain whether or not the relics in this hall are local to the Chengdu plain or not. I think they are.
Hurrying along, I found my way outside and passed the Echo Altar (sacrificial stage) and quickly wandered around the Bronze Hall before going in. I was enjoying the landscape at the site as it’s spring and magnolias are in bloom all around the grounds, along with rapeseed (a little), and a lot of landscaped flowers along the way.
The Bronze Hall is the highlight of the Sanxingdui site. It almost exclusively contains nothing but masks. You would think it gets a little redundant after a while, as most of the masks are similar (exaggerated pupils, though two or three have protruding pupils), mostly of bronze, and all with the sparse signage that they were excavated from either pit #1, #2, or #3 in the 13th-12th century BC. However, like the Comprehensive Gallery, the Bronze Hall is an architecturally pleasing building that presents the masks in six different sections, also ending with a large (3.5 times the original size) replica of a bronze money tree.
Feeling completely satisfied with Sanxingdui, and fresh out of galleries to visit, I left the Bronze Hall and walked the grounds towards the main exit. There is a restaurant and shopping area on the way out (though I didn’t stop to eat or buy anything). I did take a very quick glance into the gift shop, but wasn’t really excited by anything I saw offhand.
After a little more photographing, I made it back to the bus with about 45 minutes to spare. All in all, it was a perfect day out of town at a museum, and I was also thrilled that there weren’t too many people out here. I couldn’t have asked for much more from this experience.
I finished the day off at Tai Koo Li, eating Thai food at Lian (in a very early preparation for an upcoming holiday in May). Before the May holiday, though, the goal of getting out to shoot every weekend continues. Monday (today), March 14th was spent in Pingle, another ancient town, which was completely underwhelming…especially after last week’s shoot at Huanglongxi and yesterday’s shoot at Sanxingdui. Fortunately, there is plenty more to photograph between now and May.
Nice sized utility sink, salvage from a hospital shutdown/remodel. It's all about recycling. I just hope it was never used in the morgue.... :)
USAF B-1B Lancer flyover at supersonic speed.
This is part of a set I'll be adding to as time permits over the next couple of days. Please visit the whole set when you get a chance.
After a long hot day of being stuck to my feet, I decided to air out the old Pumas and give my feet a breather as I watched a few Z trains go by. The tough grit of a farm road felt good on the bottoms of my feet and combined with the setting sun and rural quietness, made for a relaxing way to end the day.
12th February 2011. Sinar Norma, Aero Ektar 178mm lens .
Kodak Kodalith film @approx 6ISO, 1/4s f/2.5.
Developed in Dektol 1+2 2 minutes.
High contrast pictorial negative printed to 10x8 on Ilford Multigrade IV paper, with grade 0 filtration. Developed in Dektol 1+2. Burning in on hightlights especially white flower heads. Straight scan.
National Coming Out Day 29th Philly OutFest Woody's Block Party featuring DJ TRIPP at the Main Stage at South 13th and Walnut Street in Philadelphia PA on Sunday afternoon, 13 October 2019 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Follow Outfest 2019 Woody's Block Party event page at www.facebook.com/events/2356502784664828/
Follow Philly Pride Presents OUTFEST 2019 event page at www.facebook.com/events/2659522510758876/
Elvert Barnes 29th PHILLY OUT FEST 2019 docu-project at elvertbarnes.com/PhillyOutFest2019.html