Landscape Constellations Residential Workshop With John Blakemore & David Noble | 21st – 28th September 2019 | North

£1485 per person All single room occupancy Landscape Constellations: developing and understanding connections to the landscape

With John Blakemore and David Noble

This truly unique weeklong residential workshop seeks to take the photographer on a journey into developing not only a deeper connection to and understanding of the landscape but more importantly developing a deeper understanding of their own photographic practice through a process of immersion, reflection and refinement. Over the course of a week we will take a unique approach to the workshop concept in that we will work with a single location allowing us to seek out our own connections to the landscape we are photographing. We will seek to uncover the essence of the place we are photographing and reflect in and ask questions of ourselves about how we might truly tell a visual story with a deeper narrative. Our location will be the iconic on . Although there is the well-known area of this vast human impacted landscape that is Paddy’s Hole the area itself is both vast, dynamic, complex and an absolute goldmine for developing narrative which may draw on the history, heritage, human interaction with and subsequent ecological perspective of this unique landscape environment. Our approach will be one of developing skills around visual story telling and harnessing all of our senses to develop and tell complex stories about the landscapes we photograph and the relationships they encompass. As means to explore the photographer's own practice and develop a reflective approach to our work in the afternoon or evenings we’ll be spending time deconstructing our work, sharing our thought processes and personal reflections and challenging ourselves to consider how our approach and photographer might develop on a daily basis. Through this continual refinement and developing approach to the work you create on a daily basis at South Gare you’ll be able to return each day with renewed impetuous and a thirst to explore and see wider around this fascinating location we’ll be basing this truly unique workshop on. We are confident that across the week the way you as a photographer and creative understand your work and what you are photographing will develop markedly. Our aim across the week is to challenge everyone to step beyond their comfort zones and we are confident across the week we will all ask more questions than the answers that we gain.

You will leave this workshop with a much deeper appreciation of who you are photographically, and we see this as the start of a longer journey where you will want to explore many of the threads and unanswered questions on your personal creative journey. The residential is for any photographer, artist, writer or creative who wants dig deeper and immerse themselves in a more personal approach to their work and truly develop a deeper appreciation of a single location over a prolonged period (in workshop terms) which can be taken forward as a ‘toolkit’ as you explore the rest of your personal creative journey over many years. John Blakemore

John Blakemore began his career in the mid 1950s working in commercial photography until in 1970 he began teaching on the BA Photographic Studies at the University of Derby where he taught until his retirement. His work has been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally and is held in many collections both public and private.. He has published five monographs and is an Honorary Fellow of the RPS. David Noble

David Noble (b1952) worked as a graphic designer throughout the 1970/80s. During this period, photography as personal expression slowly evolved. After workshops with John Blakemore, Paul Hill and Martin Parr he decided to study photography full time at the University of Derby, graduating in 1993 with a first class honours degree. For over twenty years he taught on and was the course leader for the photography degree at Staffordshire University. An accomplished photographer in his own right and with a broad knowledge of photographic approaches and debates, his expertise is in developing a critical and reflective attitude to one's work. David has collaborated with John on bookmaking, the photobook and sequencing workshops. South Gare: A Brief History

The river Tees slices through the heart of Cleveland. It has been the area's lifeline to the world for centuries. At the river mouth, the man-made South Gare stands out into the North Sea like a protective arm. Often windswept and cruel in winter, the Gare can provide a pleasant walk and interesting views on a summer's day when the wind blows off the land. With mammoth ships from all over the globe gliding past, the river reflects sunlight like a glittering array of polished metal plates. On the other side of the breakwater the sea laps lazily at the foot of the lighthouse, breaking onto a band of golden sand that garnishes the coast eastwards to Huntcliff seven miles away.

North-westerly, the resort of merges with Hartlepool. Beyond Paddy's Hole where a flotilla of fishing boats huddle inshore, looking south, a concentration of heavy industry lines the river Tees. In the foreground the giant unloaders of Ore Terminal stand rigid as though afraid of getting their feet wet. Originally built by British Steel which was later rebranded Corus, they passed into Tata Steel’s hands and will perhaps find yet another owner in the Thai company SSI. The attached iron-making plant reaches out eastward, the largest blast furnace in Europe dominating the skyline. This, like the variety of chemical works and oil refineries that lay on both banks of the river, was built on reclaimed land. Heavy industry can hold an appeal all of its own, symmetrical towers, chimneys and cranes in silhouette against a dying sun in a raw cloud- streaked sky.

For thousands of years the ninety-eight mile river was left to its own devices, meandering in numerous switchbacks before eventually opening out into an estuary three miles wide where it reached the sea. There, the channels changed daily as the pattern of sandbanks shifted with the vagaries of wind and tide. The estuary bore a harvest of oysters, cockles and mussels, reaped by flocks of gulls and migratory birds while shoals of cod, plaice, sole and dab sated the appetites of a large seal colony that inhabited the rocks and sands. On the Durham side of the river the flats have been known as Seal Sands as long as man can remember, and long dark shapes can be seen basking there today. Many species of birds still visit the marshland on the Yorkshire side, now declared a wildlife sanctuary, and during the late evening or early morning numerous rabbits and the occasional stoat or weasel giving chase can be seen, although foxes are far more common. It is interesting to note the area of Redcar Golf course and the site of the now mostly demolished Warrenby was originally known as the Rabbit Warren, then Warren town, hence the village's later name. While wildlife flourished at the river mouth, each year brought increased hazards to the mariners who sailed upriver to Portrick (Portrack), Stockton and Yarm. Although Stockton lay only thirteen miles inland, outward bound ships could often take the best part of a week to reach the open sea. In 1762 at low water, the depth at the bar (where the river meets the sea) was only seven feet. The main channel, only a few hundred feet wide, ran between treacherous shoals which the wind altered and which caused strong currents around the headlands. Once inside the river, captains were reliant on pilots' skill and a fair wind. Caught in the narrow channel, it was often difficult to tack and not unusual for vessels to drop anchor and wait for the wind to change. Above Portrack the Tees narrowed. Tight bends where silt built up were arduous to negotiate, men and horses frequently hired to tow ships upstream. This problem was aggravated by heavy winter rain causing flooding, or summer drought which narrowed channels impossibly. On one bend pilots had to drive the bows of the vessel into the soft mud of the river bank to enable the stern to be swung clear. Skippers on their first visit to the Tees viewed this manoeuvre with suspicion and in some cases absolute horror. As the river gradually worsened over the years, cargo bound for Stockton was often transferred to keel boats or pannier ponies for the remainder of the inland journey, especially produce that rotted quickly. Although merchants complained about the river's condition from an early date, even suggesting improvements, not until 1808 were positive steps taken. The Tees Navigation Company was formed and in 1809 began a programme of cuts and jetty building, but their progress was always hampered by lack of finance and difficulties of collecting dues. Stockton's hopes of becoming a major U.K. port diminished in 1828 when the board of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, encouraged by Joseph Pease, decided to extend their tracks to Middlesbrough Farm where they could build staithes to ship coal from the Durham collieries. Simultaneously, Joseph Pease formed a company called the Owners of The Middlesbrough Estate who bought an initial 488 acres on which to build a new town to house workers employed at the coal drops. The first decade of the new town's existence saw only a slow increase in population, but the opening of Bolckow & Vaughan's ironworks and the subsequent discovery of the Main Seam of Cleveland ironstone at produced meteoric growth. This was reflected in the number of vessels using the River Tees. In 1851, dissatisfaction with the administration of the river led to the Stockton & Darlington Railway lobbying parliament to wrest control from the foundering Tees Navigation Company. This was achieved the following year and the new Tees Conservancy Commissioners made immediate plans for improvements. Within a year they had bought the river's first dredger and soon embarked on erecting training walls built from slag acquired from local ironworks. By 1878, after 7 million tons of silt had been dredged from the riverbed it was claimed the Tees could take as large a vessel as any other port in . The coast was renowned as a graveyard for sailing ships during sudden storms, there being no safe port. Although a breakwater at the mouth of the Tees had been discussed in 1855, it took a violent storm in 1861 when some fifty or sixty vessels were driven ashore in Tees Bay to push the project forward. On 3rd November 1863 Isaac Wilson of the Conservancy Commissioners, later to be M.P. for be M.P. for Middlesbrough, laid the foundation.

Electricity became viable, a new revolving flashing light was installed, visible for ten miles. The new breakwater fulfilled its intention. Contained and guided, the river scoured its own bed. Coupled with a steady dredging programme, the depth at the mouth increased dramatically.

After 115 years of continued improvement the Tees Conservancy Commissioners were dissolved in 1967 when the Tees & Hartlepools Port Authority took over administration. They continued the dredging programme, further deepening the river, also constantly reclaiming land to snatch back almost 6,000 acres which have been put to good use. A measure of the Authority's success can be gauged by remembering those early days when 100 or 200 ton ships struggled to navigate the river, when today 150,000 tonne bulk carriers regularly berth at the Redcar Ore terminal. Now, under the management of PD Ports, the Tees is maintained at some 14 meters deep at the entrance, and over 15 meters at the Fairway buoy, river traffic amounting to over 40 million tonnes of cargo a year.

Source: Article by Chris Scott Wilson via http://www.chrisscottwilson.co.uk/south-gare-3/4550454590

South Gare: Photographic Opportunities

Although on arrival and at first glance South Gare can seem like such a complex location and making sense of it photographically will seem like a real challenge……. If photographers take the time to get to know the place and a sense for the atmosphere, they will soon find telling the story of this unique place becomes much easier.

Indeed, the Gare is the perfect location to approach when wanting to explore the power of working in a series of images or a project. Looking to develop a narrative and flow between images to get under the skin of the place, it’s history, it’s heritage, it’s social context and its uncertain future.

We find most photographers and artists we work with want to return again and again to explore the various fishing ‘holes’ of Paddy’s, Guys and Powder, the vast sweeping beach and dunes to the south side juxtaposed by the silent and eerie industrial area around the former Redcar Blast Furnace Steel Works. There’s even the steadfast community of fisherman who operate out of the Gare and maintain their close-knit community amongst the fisherman's huts.

One thing for certain, although difficult and challenging the Gare is one of the most rewarding locations to photograph and make a connection to. Each photographer can tell a different story and make their own associations to this unique location which with care and craft can lead to a well made and developed photo essay or mini project.

The area is vast, and we will help the photographers explore a different area or aspect of the Gare through their own methodology and way of working be it experiential or creative, reactive or immersive. Through our single location approach we will be immersing ourselves in this place to explore and find the images we are driven to create as our own individual responses to the Gare. ACCOMMODATION IN MEALS INCLUDING DINNER ALL TUITION INCLUDING HISTORIC LUXURY HALL / AT THE WATER WHEEL INN EVENING IMAGE REVIEW LODGE (EXCLUDING LIGHT LUNCH) SESSIONS, REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND WRITING

PRINTING & SEQUENCING LUXURY 9-SEATER MINIBUS FULL GUIDED KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR WORK ON THE TRAVEL DURING OF SOUTH GARE RESIDENTIAL WORKSHOP INCLUDING ICONIC AND LESSER KNOWN PHOTOGRAPHIC AREAS

FULLY INSURED PUBLIC FULLY ACCREDITED ADOBE PRINT & PAPERS LIABILITY & PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION TRAINER SUPPORTED BY FOTOSPEED INDEMNITY

PRICE £1485 PER PERSON DEPOSIT OF £495 TO SECURE DATES: 21ST – 28TH SEPT 2019 6 FULL DAYS, 7 NIGHTS ALL TRANSPORT ON THE SINGLE ROOM OCCUPANCY PLACE DUE ON BOOKING (ARRIVAL: 5PM SAT 21ST – 8PM WORKSHOP INCLUDED FULL BALANCE DUE BY WELCOME DINNER 30TH AUG 2019 DEPARTURE: 10AM SAT 28TH)

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