The New Walk Centre in Leicester was the City Council’s headquarters since the mid-70s and the twin-towers, being among the city’s tallest buildings, have been a landmark feature on the skyline all of my life. For people living and working close to the buildings, they’ve been an unsightly barrier between the streets and businesses in the area and natural sunlight.
So when plans were announced to demolish the buildings, or more accurately, put them out of their misery, there was no rush to form a campaign group to save them.
The council wanted to mark the building’s passing and an arts project was run to record the last year of the its life. Four visits were made, one  each season of the year, by a small group of photographers, painters, film makers and visual artists, each capturing the view from the 12th floor in their own way. I managed to get a spot on the final visit, on a crisp, cold December afternoon. I made a few photographs but mainly took in the views across the city from such an elevated and central location. It was fascinating and the sunset beautiful.
I envied the people who worked in the office we were shooting from and wondered how they ever worked with such distractions in all directions. I compared the outlook with my own workplace, a room with no natural light at any time of year.

The Ghost of New Walk Centre - Coffee and camera
The Ghost of New Walk Centre – Coffee and camera

My plan was to shoot ground-level views of the buildings before they came down, making notes of here each picture was taken. I’d then return and shoot the same view once the buildings were down. Being a Holga, the viewfinder is almost useless and so the alignment was only ever going to be approximate at best. For the project I used ILFORD FP4 PLUS.
Almost 5 months after shooting the first 12 shots, I wound back the film and returned to take 12 more. Between February and late June, the leaves have grown on the trees, blocking some of the original views. Where that had happened, strange ghosts of the buildings appeared in the foliage.
Here are the results:

The pictures that I like best from the set are the ones where the building is faint and ghost-like. Walking around the area now, as it is being tidied up, it’s almost how it feels; like the building’s spirit is still there…
The work produced during those visits was drawn together for an exhibition at the city’s LCB Depot. I chose to show one picture and had a couple more used as the promotional images for the show.
My involvement in the project had led me to consider how the city might look without the buildings. Their position meant that they stood at the intersection of several streets, at the end of many sight lines. The streets that were blocked would be opened up for the first time in more than 40 years. I thought about how I may be able to capture this photographically.
I could of course set up a digital camera very accurately and shoot before and after shots, presenting them side-by-side or even overlaying them. The idea of shooting double exposures on film seemed to suit my style a little more, and the idea of using a Holga inspired by a feature in Black and White Photography magazine.

Thanks for reading!
~ Barnaby Nutt

Share your knowledge, story or project

The transfer of knowledge across the film photography community is the heart of EMULSIVE. You can add your support by contributing your thoughts, work, experiences and ideas to inspire the hundreds of thousands of people who read these pages each month. Check out the submission guide here.

If you like what you’re reading you can also help this passion project by heading over to the EMULSIVE Patreon page and contributing as little as a dollar a month. There’s also print and apparel over at Society 6, currently showcasing over two dozen t-shirt designs and over a dozen unique photographs available for purchase.

Similar stuff on EMULSIVE

6 responses to “The Ghost of New Walk Centre aka double exposures on ILFORD FP4 PLUS”

  1. Interesting take on the idea. Love the ghost building hovering between worlds.

  2. Lovely images, and a wonderful use of double exposures.

  3. Wonderful idea. Your bio is a hoot.

  4. Great idea, and the imprecision and softness of the Holga actually helps make it work.

  5. Lisa Burke Photography Avatar
    Lisa Burke Photography

    What a fantastic idea. Nice capture. They have a distinct mood which a more clinical digital rendering would lack.

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from EMULSIVE

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Discover more from EMULSIVE

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading