Rust and Restoration

Posted on 01/12/201501/12/2015 by Alastair

About ten years ago we had a studio in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter. We first moved into it just before the area started being developed. The old dock next to the studio building was empty and a number of the buildings were derelict – it wasn’t the best area in town. How things change!

Walking round what is now the marina was . . . interesting – now it is very pleasant. The dock has boats in it again and housing, other buildings and art around it. The National Waterfront Museum holds a significant space there as do other architectural developments.

On this walk there was still a taste of the past, not so much in the brightly painted and well maintained Helwick Lightship but in the old rust bucket resting next to it. It looks a fascinating vessel and I am sure there must be good reason for it being there – perhaps it is awaiting restoration. Why ever it’s there, they make for quite a contrast sitting next to each other.

Light is Everything – Calibration of Meridian Tower Swansea

Posted on 18/04/201418/04/2014 by Alastair

Which of these three colour adjustments do you prefer?

I have photographed this building in Swansea on a number of occasions and every time, as you would expect, it is different. Whether it be the time of day, the angle viewed, the weather conditions or the camera settings, the appearance of the photos taken will always produce dramatically different images.

All of these things combined are what makes the difference of course. On this occasion the tower viewed from this angle in the early evening light of a semi overcast hazy day was what gave me this image.

However, there is one other point that can severely affect how you see an image – the calibration of your computer screen. The first image here is a compromise necessitated by the differences between my two ageing monitors which have become impossible to match in calibration. I have become familiar with these monitors and am able to make adjustments to give me images I am happy with when seen on other people’s computers (most of the time). There are so many variables with this that I make a point of collaborating closely with the printer whenever I am not printing the image myself.

My final check for colour adjustment at the moment is my iPhone – if it look alright on that (colour wise), then the chances are it will look OK on other screens.

Architectural Patterns

Posted on 16/04/201416/04/2014 by Alastair

Vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines, circles, squares, rectangles – these are the elements that make up the structures of so much, if not all architecture. Add in a bit of colour and some more angles and curves and the combinations of pattern are endless.

Symmetry seems sometimes to be a prerequisite in architectural design but it is when asymmetry is used that things get really exciting and no doubt, from the architects point of view, prohibitively expensive.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with the look of these buildings in Swansea’s maritime Quarter – there are plenty of those pattern combinations to be discovered. I do, however, think that it is a shame that imagination seems to come at a price.

Watching Over the Winds

Posted on 01/08/201301/08/2013 by Alastair

Visit the StillWalks website

The statue atop the Marina Towers Observatory on Swansea Seafront looks out over Swansea Bay and was no doubt keeping an eye on those land wind surfers I posted about yesterday.

The statue was made by Swansea artists Rob Conybear and Uta Molling and has the title “Ecliptica”. You can see many more examples of public art in Swansea here. The architect Robin Campbell was responsible for much of the architectural art work in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter where we used to have a studio – it was a great place to work!

Abertawe Walk

Posted on 12/07/201312/07/2013 by Alastair

A few weeks ago I started writing a short blog style article for the online version of our local newspaper, the South Wales Evening Post. The articles are about some of the walks I take in the Swansea area and many of them are a little off the beaten track.

My contribution to the paper today (read here) features the River Tawe at Ynystawe but here, on this blog I want to present another part of the river. The StillWalks, “Abertawe Walk”, takes you along the cycle path between the Liberty Stadium and the bridges at SA1 and the Maritime Quarter in Swansea.

The production for this walk was done in the Autumn and the walk takes you through the woods along side the river as well as the cycle path.

The video can be seen here and the photos below are taken from that production.

from Abertawe Walk – Autumn

from Abertawe Walk

A Different Viewpoint – Millennium Bridge, Swansea

Posted on 19/06/201319/06/2013 by Alastair

The Millennium foot and cycle bridge is an attractive piece of architecture in Swansea and can bee seen from one side of the River Tawe against the backdrop of the modern development of SA1 and from the other side, against Swansea’s Maritime Quarter and the rigging of sailing boats in the marina.

You can find any number of photographs of the bridge if you Google it – perhaps these are one or two new viewpoints even if they don’t show the identifiable suspension structure.

Maritime Quarter, Swansea – Different Scales

Posted on 02/04/201302/04/2013 by Alastair

I have managed, in the last photo of this series, to bring the scale of the Meridian Tower down to that of the Helwick Lightship sitting in Swansea’s marina.

The sounds of the marina can be a fascinating orchestra of rigging when the wind is up. On this day there was just the lapping of water under the floating booms, passing voices and high heeled shoes. They would not have been there if the marina wind orchestra had been playing!

Swansea Marina sound sample

You can listen to this on SoundCloud below (if you’re on the blog) or click here.

Meridian Tower

Rigging in the Marina

Helwick Lightship and Meridian Tower

Different Scales

Architecture of Swansea Bay

Posted on 01/04/201301/04/2013 by Alastair

The Maritime Quarter in Swansea has been in development for many years. We used to have a studio there and watched much of the current architecture being constructed.

The view from the 27th floor of the Meridian Tower is almost as good as that from Brynmill or Kilvey Hill – except, of course, when it is in mist! Whether this building is included in a StillWalk of the area remains to be seen.