The Shudehill Experience

Shudehill. A combination of short notice /NY / lucy 's lovely workshops and bad weather ensured a very exclusive turn out for the trip........Ahmani and I started from top of multi-storey and wandered back through town.

As a vantage point of Manchester it is great, like the wheel but cheaper. Recommend that if any of you can go this week you should, and then just 'flaneur' back and see what thoughts and ideas you may come up with. we will get together Monday 14th

Shudehill map here:

On Monday 14^th Dec we will run some sessions to bounce ideas and identify some themes and shoots, etc. We will run these room 111. Attend either 1.30-2.45 or 3.00-4.45. please aim to make one of these sessions, bring some ideas or thoughts about where your interest are (email me if you are not going to be able to make it, but still want to be part of the production)

From this small, cold but enjoyable session, some possible starting points thoughts/ locations came from this:

Hotel reception areas /waiting areas, Very much liked Britannia (the pic with a chandelier) :

and , perhaps the best idea of the day came form Ahmani's jouney to Shudehill, with her views of Manchester through steamy bus windows:

Back streets (possibly too grim but not if treated with care and aesthetic consideration .. sunny days, carefully shot, or shoot as silhouette

Markets (not Christmas), possibly Arndale ( Longsite more authentic?) treated from customers perspective, not a branding exercise

Panarama from shudhill ( top of Hilton?) that shows the edges of the city ( the hills that surround..)

Anyway these are early thoughts to begin with. Do please start commenting and adding your own.

To recap, that on Monday 14^th Dec we will run some sessions to gather thoughts and ideas from the exercises /bounce ideas / identify themes and shoots etc. Room 111. Attend either 1.30-2.45 or 3.00-4.45pm.

Exercise 2: IDEAS!

The form in which your are being asked to consider making work will be influenced by the functional needs of the site (terminal 1 arrivals), and that it is Manchester.

• The Terminal is space, which needs to be compulsory entered, and with a captive (if not necessarily a receptive) audience.

• The city they are entering is Manchester / NW region.

The work you will be making here will not necessarily read as photographs. The effect of scale, the relationship of these images with the space, and how the audience navigates the space are things to consider.

Whilst each area or ‘zone’ has specific site issues that need to be addressed, (.ie. dark low areas , long corridors , corners leasing up to escalators, sites from which images are to be viewed or glimpsed from a distance and walked toward), the focus for this exercise will be for you to consider what themes / concepts / locations / content / and treatment , you think might be well suited, in general terms, for the terminal.

It may help if you consider that the work hybrid between a filmic sequence and the photographic still. Not a joiner nor an installation, not a film, nor a photograph, yet the work will be sensitive to of some of these.

Prompts for your creative approach:
Constructed narratives , a fragmented narrative / joiners / rewards for looking / ambiguity / playfulness / quiet humour / challenging expectation / celebrating expectation / experimental / beautiful

Prompts for content:
Blue skies /Weather /Cleaners cupboards /Horizons /Seascapes /Storyline /Constructive narratives/ Football /Arrows /guides /lines /directional flow images /Colour /City /Mood /Time /Parallels and opposite /Sunshine /Nightclub /Queues

Shoot / sketch / outline /write up your thinking. At this stage there are no wrong answers.

Deadline 11th December 2009

Exercise 1 Passenger empathy

Observe the behaviour and interaction of people when navigating unfamiliar public spaces.

For NY students as you will be coming through T2 on your return of the journey , you need to make notes of your experience will be especially relevant, as it will involve you experiencing the particular disorientation that of the air passenger may feel, from the plane, through arrivals, and immigration (NB no photos here!!) some of these may include:

Disorientation
Unfamiliarity
Language / cultural
Anxiety
Anticipation
Boredom
Impatience
Relief
Disappointment
Agitation


For Manchester locked students, you should seek out equivalent experiences of arrivals (railway /bus terminals/ tourist sites / public events etc)

Make notes through Shooting/ sketching / outlines /write up an overview your thoughts

At this stage there are no wrong answers except no answers

Deadline 11th December 2009

Project Timeline

All dates week beginning and will give you an idea of the tight time frame we are working to:

Dec 14th Concepts and test shots.
Project developing.
Locations identified. Site visits across Manchester and beyond.


Jan 4th
Shooting and further development.
Presentation of work so far to Senior Staff at Manchester Airport.

Jan 11th
Refinement of ideas, further development.
Further shooting to themes for zones.

Jan 18th
Further development and shooting to themes for zones.
Final images starting to come through to Gavin for selection.

Jan 8th(?)
Presentation to Manchester Airport and discussion on final images to be used. Curating of images by Gavin in consultation with Manchester Airport.

Jan 15th 2010
Post production. Preparation and stitching of images for the space in liaison with Andrew at Manchester Airport.

Jan 22nd
Post production. Preparation and stitching of images for the space in liaison with Manchester Airport.

1st March 2010
Production and installation of vinyl images in Terminal One
Student prizes selected by MMU and Manc Airport Group

22nd March 2010
Exhibition detail for gallery in the city to show work(TBA), Student prize giving.

The Brief

Welcome Manchester Airport Project

• To welcome and greet disembarking passengers
• To stimulate passengers visual awareness of surfaces and signage
• To provoke curiosity and delight through the use of visual imagery
• To create a focused sense of place
• To transform the interiors of built structures at the airport into cultural portals that are evocative of the city and region

Project Objectives

• To create virtual 1 :1 scale pathways and pavements on surfaces ( through photographic means) adjacent to ,and in parallel to routes undertaken by arriving passengers
• To select appropriate subject matter that enables passengers to gain a palette of experiences of specific locations and environments within the city (and region)
• To identify and record appropriate imagery that anticipates different levels of exposure to passengers as they progress through particular interiors and stages of their journey
• Identify and contact photographer/s who can fulfill the brief and enrich its products
• Create a management process that can work in concert with all parties in the delivery of the project

Welcome to Welcome ManAirpt Blog

Welcome to the most exciting project almost EVER in the world. We are going to use this as the main way in which to communicate about the Project. All ideas , questions, project updates and meeting will be posted her. Please feel free to contribute, add your comments and ideas ( with some samples of any photos). Remember if you have signed up your posts are public.