“I am not so much interested in entertaining an
audience or providing vehicles for escape but in delivering a highly crafted
detailed image conveying a sense of reality. A reality that shares a
recognition of aspects of urban living. But importantly, making images of a
landscape that attempts to question our acceptance and perception of the
inevitable consequences of living in a post imperialist society and within a
post industrial landscape". John
Davies - November 2011.
Born in County Durham, Davies’ images ooze Northern
grit; self processed and mainly in black and white, they show an atmospheric
study of Britain’s industrial landscape.
A lover of
images in which industry and nature come together, I am drawn to Davies’
shot, ‘Agecroft Power Station, Salford’, taken in 1983. The impact is twofold;
however thoughts about the strange placement of a football pitch in the shadow
of the power station are overshadowed by the startling vastness of the cooling
towers.
Most of Davies’ work seems to create a narrative about the transformation of British industry. The monochrome finish draws attention to the elements of design in his images; as shown below, these images are a mass of rhythm, pattern, curve and reflection, all working together to bare the realities of urban living.
Soup Kitchen/Arms Houses
Stockport Viaduct
Runcorn Bridges
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