Belfast – Page 6 – Riccarpics

Imagination and Images

With mostly shooting images for stock its rejuvenating to take some time and produce photographs to be printed and displayed on a wall.

I sell prints on Fine Art America and its a different type of work than I would send to a picture library.

Most of the work I send off for stock is destined for the editorial market. Editorial images can’t be altered so other than adjusting the levels, straightening the horizon if needed and some cropping they’re as is. Selling photographs to hang on walls is very different. You have the freedom to change things, even if I don’t avail of it as much as I probably should. People and objects can be added or removed, the sky can be changed, sometimes the final image owes little to the original photograph. Even with this freedom I’m reluctant to change much in a photograph. I’ll remove telegraph poles and the like that jar with the composition and even doing this can leave me with vague feelings of unease. I envy those who can produce images that come from their imagination as much as from their camera, but I’m too used to dealing with editorial images to start adding fake moons and alien skies to photographs.

These images are from an afternoon walking around aimlessly, mainly in the area of The Big Fish and Clarendon Dock. Other than removing the odd telegraph pole or light and processing them in black and white the scenes are pretty much as I saw them.

Lagan Weir Bridge over the River Lagan with the Custom House is on the right. The bridge connects Donegall Quay with Queen’s Quay and replaced the previous bridge that never really felt permanent.

The Obel Tower sits on Donegall Quay on the River Lagan near to the Lagan Weir. The tower is the tallest storeyed building in Ireland

Lagan Weir and Lagan Weir Bridge with one of the giant Harland and Wolff Shipyard cranes in the background

The Obel Tower sits on Donegall Quay on the River Lagan near to the Lagan Weir. The tower is the tallest storeyed building on Ireland

Sinclair Seamens Presbyterian Church was designed by Charles Lanyon and opened in 1857. The church was built in memory of John Sinclair a local born businessman, whose family made donations to build places of worship.

January

It often rains in January and and its usually cold. I think I’ve said it before that I don’t remember anyone ever telling me they came to Ireland for the weather.

Last week I had an appointment in Belfast and with some time to kill had a walk around the city centre. It was raining – that light drizzle that soaks you without you realising it until its too late. There were more people about than I expected on such a day, perhaps drawn by the New Year sales

What I was surprised to see were people, obviously visitors to the city, posing and and taking pictures at the Big Fish.

Shortly afterwards I came across a walking tour preparing to set off from the city hall and I saw another couple of walking tours as I wandered around.

Belfast suffered badly during “The troubles” with few tourists in the height of summer, never mind January. To people that remember those times these visitors bring a sense of normality.

Good to see.

A walking tour prepares to set off from the City Hall — A walking tour prepares to set off from the city hall

Belfast 2018

This is the time of the year when you publish some of your best or favourite photographs taken in the previous year.

I didn’t travel around the country as much as usual in 2018, mainly because of illness over the summer, so I’ve limited myself to Belfast. These are some of the photographs that jumped out at me for various reasons.

I found it more difficult than expected to select images but right or wrong these are what I’ve decided on. They’re not in any particular order.

Porringer's Entry - The Morning Star — Porringer’s Entry – The Morning Star

Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, 4 August 2018. Thousands turn out for the annual Pride Day Parade.If I had been able to back up another few feet I would’ve got the full ‘Pride’ shadow on the road. Unfortunately there were too many people behind me.

Belfast Cathedral, St. Anne's — Belfast Cathedral, St. Anne’s

Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK – August, 8, 2018: The Big Fish or Salmon of Knowledge with one of the Harland and Wolff shipyard cranes in the background

Belfast Rickshaw with The Obel Building to the right

McHughs Bar, Belfast — McHughs Bar and Restaurant. Built around 1711 McHughs is believed to be the oldest surviving building in Belfast

Welcome Ambassador in the rain, Donegall Place

Musicians playing outdoors, Botanic Gardens

The Entries

I’ve had a very loose ongoing project about The Entries rattling around in my head for years and wrote briefly about Pottinger’s Entry in an earlier post. The Entries or The Belfast Entries mostly run between High Street and Ann Street and date back to around 1630. In those days they led to the waterfront as what is now High Street was then the Farset river.

The problem I’ve always had with The Entries is that its challenging to make an interesting photograph. Pottinger’s Entry is the most photogenic – there is the Morning Star Victorian pub and arches at each end. The others are not so interesting and some show signs of neglect.

Joy's Entry at Ann Street — The Jailhouse, Joy’s Entry, Belfast. Previously called McCracken’s the bar has been extended

Joy's Entry at High Street — Joy’s Entry at High Street

The Mermaid Inn, Wilson's Court — The Mermaid Inn, Wilson’s Court

Wilson's Court at High Street — Wilson’s Court at High Street

Bank of the Four Johns

The Bank Buildings, Castle Street, Belfast was built in 1785 and was originally known as the Bank of the Four Johns because the four founders shared that Christian name. The bank collapsed around the early 1800’s and became the residence of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Connor.

Interestingly or gruesomely, depending on your outlook, the area directly in front of the building was used for public executions until 1816.

In 1853 the building was taken on by a wholesale drapery company and later became a retail department store with the upper floors being used as wholesale and warehouse area.

It was bought by House of Frazer in 1969 and later Boots the chemist. Boots moved out in 1975 when the building was badly damaged by fire after an IRA bomb and the present owners, Primark took possession in 1979.

On 28 August this year fire broke out on the fifth floor.

I photographed what was left the next day and it was only today while tidying up some of my photographs I came across this photograph that I had taken on the run up to Christmas 2016. The after the fire photograph is at the bottom.

Thankfully there were no injuries but the staff at both Primark and neighbouring businesses are now faced with an uncertain future. The surrounding area has been cordoned off, as the building is unsafe, with premises inside the cordon having to close. Pedestrians and traffic have been diverted, further reducing footfall to the nearby shops that have been able to continue trading.

There has been a campaign involving some local celebrities to promote the city and the council has committed funds to ease things but its a situation that is going to affect the livelihoods of many people in these already uncertain times with Brexit on the horizon.

The morning after

Every year, in September, we have a Culture Night in Belfast and this year was the 10th anniversary. The night now attracts over 100,000 people to the various events both in the street and in bars and restaurants. These range from mural painting and street entertainers, that tend to just pop up, to more formal events like choirs singing at the Cathedral and live music in the various bars and restaurants. This year there were over 250 events. Originally confined to Cathedral Quarter Culture Night now spreads across the city.

The night is family friendly and marketed as the biggest event in Belfast’s cultural calendar – put simply Its a Big Night.

I think I’ve only missed one year when I was laid up with an injured knee and in the last few years I’ve taken photographs mainly for myself rather than stock.

The next day I was back in Belfast and thought, while there, I should grab some pictures of ‘the morning after.’ With over 100,000 people in the streets the night before I expected some breakages and rubbish – lots of rubbish and photographs of rubbish can be good for stock. They suggest pollution, recycling and green issues as well as general environmental challenges to list a few subjects.

I readily admit that I didn’t really search for rubbish, I didn’t think I would have too. I happened to be in the city and expected to be able to easily grab a few pics of discarded waste and untidiness while there. These photographs are among the best I got. The streets were surprisingly tidy. It would seem that Belfast, as well as getting better every year at organising large events, is getting better at clearing away the mess the next morning and getting the city back to normal.

Rubbish discarded on a paved area — Discarded rubbish

I didn’t take many photographs the previous evening but here are a couple. The first is Fresh Garbage, a clothes shop that also sells incense, smoking accessories, jewellery and lots of other stuff.

This is The Duke of York Bar in Commercial Court. It sells beer and has the biggest selection of whiskeys I’ve seen.

Pottinger’s Entry

An entry is what people from Belfast call an alley.

“The Belfast Entries” or simply “The Entries” are the alleys that mostly run from Ann Street through to High Street, Belfast. They have been described as, “The close knit passageways where Belfast was born and bred.” They date from a time when the geography of the city was very different from now. It is believed that The Entries led to bridges that crossed the Farset River, now flowing through a culvert underneath High Street.

Pottinger’s Entry is the most accessible of The Entries and hosts the popular Morning Star bar, dating from Victorian times. With a brick arched passageway at the Ann Street end, where you will often find a busker and an ornate metal arch at the High Street end, it is probably the most photogenic.

I’ll try and cover some of the others in the future.

Arch over entrance to Pottinger’s Entry, Belfast

Arch over Pottinger’s Entry. The entry runs from Ann Street to High Street

The Morning Star, Pottingers Entry, Belfast. A popular pub dating from Victorian times

Pride before a Fail

I try to get to Belfast Pride most years and send the pictures to Alamy Live News. I don’t think I’ve ever sold any as news but the occasional one has sold after it moved from News to the main collection.

The first Belfast Pride Parade was, unbelievably, in 1991. The years really do pass quicker as you get older and change happens fast. It would’ve been around 100 people and few would’ve bothered watching them. Now thousands turn out to watch with large companies like Sainsbury’s and Asda represented in the Parade. The police even take part!

My main motive in going this year, apart from taking photographs, was to experiment with delivering images to Alamy faster. In the past when submitting to Live News I had travelled home and uploaded the photographs from my main computer. This I am told is not the way it should be done. Images should be sent within minutes not hours.

Some time ago I had bought an App called PressIPTC that allowed you to upload images to an Android tablet or even phone and FTP them. I had never got round to using it before and thinking this would be an ideal opportunity decided I would try it on an Android tablet I have. The night before I managed to get it set up, added the IPTC information I would include, tested the connection via my iPhone and went to bed feeling confident.

Failure! I took some pictures at the start of the parade and went back to the car to send them off. I had expected to have to do it in the street or at best a coffee shop but I’d managed to get parked nearby and thought the peace and quiet of my car would be more conducive to dealing with iffy wireless connections and strange software. I know these things rarely work as they should first or even sixth time. I loaded the photographs onto the tablet, got a connection via my iPhone and couldn’t get the pictures to go. I made quite a few further attempts but couldn’t get it to work. That saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result popped into my mind. I’m not sure its right when your’e dealing with computers but I left it and went back to the parade for more photographs. Later I went home and sent the images to Alamy Live News as I’ve always done.

I’ve looked at Press IPTC again and still can’t get it to work. It hasn’t been updated for 3 years and I suppose its possible that with the updates to Android it simply may not work anymore. My knowledge on such things is limited. I’ve checked online but found little about the App and the website is no longer there.

Shuttersnitch for the iPad/iPhone is similar to Press IPTC but after my experience I’m reluctant to travel the same route and spend yet more time and money at this, albeit with a different operating system. Perhaps sometime in the future I’ll revisit it.

I’ve resurrected an old Netbook with a proper keyboard and a slot to put the memory card in. That’s the way forward if I can find suitable software. There are also questions on the screen quality and processing power but I’m hopeful. Its not ideal when I’m trying to keep weight down but I’ll see how it goes.

I’ve posted a few images below and and you can see more here.