A series of medium format photographs by Michael England, documenting the decommissioning of the coal-fired power industry. Carbon transfer printing by Bob France, with hand -ground coal recovered from Fiddler’s Ferry power station in Warrington.
The coal was ground to make the black pigment which forms the images which were made using a very early photographic technique called carbon transfer printing, a process invented by Alphonse Poitevin in 1855 and practiced throughout the 19th and into the 20th century.
The prints are not merely reproductions from the film negatives, but are expressive in their own right, the carbon is visible, visceral, its texture can be felt and seen, the images move, fade and crumble in the same way that the subjects of the pictures are vanishing, lost to decommissioning and demolition in the period since the photographs were taken.
Michael’s photographs, stem from research project, The Landscapes of Post-War Infrastructure, directed by Professor Richard Brook (Lancaster University) and Professor Luca Csepely-Knorr (University of Liverpool). The project considers the landscape design heritage of reservoirs, motorways, power stations and their respective surroundings, as well as the changes to leisure and community as they are demolished and developed.
Michael England is a practising multi-disciplinary artist who works extensively in film, graphic design, photography, animation, installation and live audio-visual performance. An anomaly in the digital age, his online presence is deliberately limited. He has worked with some of the world’s leading electronic musicians, including 808 State and Autechre.
His work has been shown at the ICA, BFI and the Barbican among other venues. He has performed internationally in 28 countries including at Sonar, Atonal, Unsound and Dark Mofo. His most recent commission was with AFRODEUTSCHE for Manchester International Festival. He is also a lecturer in filmmaking at SODA.
Showing at the modernist, 58 Port Street, Manchester M1 2EQ from Friday 21st July
