Eye On Manchester blog by Aidan O’Rourke Tutor Photographer

Personal & professional diary on photography, languages, Français, Deutsch, local interest, art, music, travel and more

This afternoon I went to the Walker Art Gallery to see the Liverpool cityscape painting by Ben Johnson.

The picture has been on display during 2008, Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year.

I’d seen it on tv and on postcards, but there’s no substitute for studying it up close.

There is an astounding level of detail. The image was created using intricate stencils and spray paint. Small details were painted using a tiny brush. The painting was begun in 2005 and completed during a residency at the Walker Art Gallery in 2008. As with other works by Ben Johnson, a small team of assistants worked full time on the project.

Also on display were the artist’s cityscape paintings of Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Zurich, and architectural paintings of the Rookery Building Chicago and the Louvre Pyramid, Paris.

The paintings have a richness and precision very pleasing to the eye. And yet there is an emptiness about them. That’s because there are no people or vehicles. The artist invites people to enter the picture mentally, and add their own memories and associations.

I’m very glad I came to see it. I found much inspiration for my own cityscape photos, one of which I have been working on using the MacBook Pro. Today was the last day of the exhibition. I stayed till the gallery closed, and I was the very last visitor to see it.

It will be going on display at the futuristic museum of Liverpool History, currently nearing completion by the Pier Head.

I took the National Express coach from Manchester to Liverpool (cost 6.50 return). On the outbound trip I chatted to retired photographer Patrick Black from Poynton. He told me about his extensive photo archive, and hope to follow this up.

Liverpool Museums website

Ben Johnson artist website

Weather in Liverpool: Cloudy, mild.

The Manchester Mega-Photo, the largest photo collage ever taken of Manchester, possibly any British city, is nearing completion at Urbis.

The three hundred poster prints are being put up by hand by Urbis technicians. Initially under my supervision, they have taken the task to heart and are making an excellent job of putting up the prints.

It’s slow work and the job will end up taking probably four full days, Monday to Thursday.

The three hundred prints are being attached to the 8.5 x 4 metre display surface using double sided tape.

This is my biggest and most exciting photo project ever and I am hoping for a good response.

Many thanks to Urbis for the possibility of exhibiting this photo, which was a bit of a leap of faith.