I was recently asked to do some shot for a spotlight profile. An afternoon in the studio with some creative lighting produced some interesting shots. The aim to control the focus on the face and nose, but making his ears slightly drop off.

I recently delivered some sessions with Poverty Truth Leeds in conjunction with Red Ladder. The task was to coincide work with The Shed Crew Stage Play, based on the book Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew by Bernard Hare. The images were shot by a group of people who are members of the Poverty Trust. The participants had not in the main used SLRs and DSLRs. The theme was to photograph the difference in wealth distribution within Leeds City Centre. The impetus for the session was to look at Street Photography.

This exhibition coincides with an exhibition of photographs by Walter Lewis.

The work was exhibited alongside the show at Albion Electric Warehouse, Leeds (Friday 22nd September - 1st October 2017)

Photographs of the space by: Walter Lewis

This work started by me wanting to photograph Men in Sheds, from which I have found some amazing pastimes The two people featured here are Martyn with Victoria and John with the steam locomotive. Engineering fascinates me, I do have some understanding of how things work, but not to a finite detail. These trains pull around two horsepower and can in real terms pull three carriages of people (if I remember correctly). The point that leaves me in awe is that the train are scratch built. In discussion regarding the steam trains, I remember that trains are built to scale (physically), but in reality there is a science to it. The bit I remember is that the heat is the same (coal powered) as a full sized model and that the water droplets and bubble in water are the same, therefore to build to scale in relation to mechanics is not possible as the boilers are smaller and therefore hold less water.

My initial introduction was at a tea break and I mumbled something about being interested in Volkswagens and engineering, one of the assembled crowd quipped with a dry retort “I thought you were interested in engineering.” So, things started okay, was that my initiation? I explained the idea of the project that I am interested in the idea of engineering in relation to the shed and how men use them. The instant response was that “we use them to get away from the wife.” I had just had the same conversation with Martyn on the way into the canteen. I responded to this comment by stating, “…in my research so far, I have found that there are two possible reasons for having a shed, yes, one is to avoid the wife; but secondly, a man who has a hobby does not have affairs (with other women) – therefore you must be having an affair with a steam engine.” Brave? Well it broke the ice.

For more information on Ravensprings Park and the Brighouse and Halifax Model Engineers visit: http://www.bhme.co.uk/