silent space

2010-02-01T16:22:00.000Z

Tar Barrel Rolling

In my attempt to uncover age old traditions as part of our culture I attended the annual tar barrel rolling in Ottery St Mary. This tradition dates back to the 17th Century and occurs every bonfire night to commemorate Guy Fawkes and burn the spirits of evil. It consists of setting alight wooden barrels containing tar, wood scrapings and paraffin. Once alight the barrels are carried through the streets of the town on the backs of the local men, who pass the barrel between them until it burns out. The event attracts thousands of people each year who fill the streets and square of the town creating a thick crowd that then have to avoid the burning barrels as they dart through the streets. This adrenaline filled event is reminiscent of Spanish bull running due to the collective fear and excitement of the crowd. When partaking in this event the herd like behaviour of the crowd seemed of another time, one that belonged far back in the zeitgeist of history resurrected each year

video

The final barrel upon being dropped and becoming mass of embers and smoke is surrounded by the local barrel men who lock arms and sing songs. The smog covered faces and clothing of each man lit only by the red glow of the embers and surrounded by the noise of the crowd connoted some old age ceremony. The men look almost satanic in this moment, separate from the outside world. The hoards of cameras and tourists surrounding them become indifferent to the event. It is in this space that the tradition really lives on.

2010-02-01T16:19:00.000Z

I went along to the encampment at laira bridge to ask the travellers if i could interview them and take some photographs. These travellers had cut through a fence and are illegally camped on a site just outside of Plymouth city centre. My interpretor and I walked into the camp and approached a couple of men who immediately demanded my reason for being there, upon explaining my project and asking whether they would mind if I took a few photographs more people arrived. Although not overtly threatening there was an aggressive edge to their behaviour and they became rather hostile and persuasive once they understood my request. They decided we would have to pay £100 in order to take photographs of the site, which we could only haggle down to £50. What became clear was their drive for money, as soon as the prospect of getting some cash became viable we were surrounded and told to go to the cash point immediately and asked to confirm what time we would be coming back in an attempt to secure a deal... Even the children were asking us for our cameras and wallets. It was as if some ideology of gleaning money off every person who stumbles across you is engrained at an early age.

illegal camp of Irish travellers - photographed secretly - Harry Hilliar

The interesting thing for me about this type of travellers is that they live in contradiction to the romantic notion of romani gypsies living off the land and travelling from place to place offering aggricultural labour in return for a piece of land to settle for a while. These travellers all owned brand new expensive cars and caravans, preferred concrete settlements to grass ones and had sought out an inner city dwelling as opposed to a rural one. Instead of opposing the capitalist society and seeking an alternative existance their ideals and behaviour would suggest that they are infact wholesale subscribers to the capitalist machine, driven by the lust for cash. I do not know whether these cars and caravans are the majority of their possessions or whether or not they pay taxes. I continue to try and maintain a objective opinion of each traveller I come across however the danger of calling these type of travellers untrustworthy and dishonest.

BA Dissertation Blog

2010-02-01T15:16:00.003Z

Welcome to blhal, lkjoakfjaoj

Auto-Ethnographic Study

2010-01-25T18:18:00.003Z

2009-12-07T15:40:00.001Z

Migrating people

2009-11-19T09:40:00.008Z

Human migration is movement (physical or psychological) by humans from one district to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. (www.wikipedia.com)

Why do people migrate - there are a number of different reasons why people migrate from one place to another. The need to escape from persecution through war and ethnic cleansing, extreme poverty and hunger, slavery and displacement or financial gain.

Migrant Mother 1936, Dorothea Lange

"Nipomo, Calif. March 1936.
Migrant agricultural worker's family.
Seven hungry children and their
mother,aged 32. The father
is a native Californian."

Click on link below to read the article by Dorothea Lange about her encounter with the migrant mother.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/migrantmother.htm

Net migration rates for 2008: positive (blue), negative (orange), stable (green), and no data (gray)

BBC News Article -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/world/04/migration/html/migration_boom.stm

As part of our series on global migration, BBC News Online looks at the numbers of people migrating, where they are going and some of the implications of migration.
Over the past 15 years, the number of people crossing borders in search of a better life has been rising steadily. At the start of the 21st Century, one in every 35 people is an international migrant. If they all lived in the same place, it would be the world's fifth-largest country.

'Is it possible to find a dwelling, a place within the world, while moving across it?
We are fixated with property claims and the possibility of embedding ourselves and of finding our identity in our surroundings. But if identity itself is fluid, the identity of place as much as that of ourselves, is it not natural to be in a constant state of movement rather than standing still? In a world of global exchange, perhaps we are all of us moving'.
Dean/ Millar 2005:149)

Society draws a circle. Those inside conform, and those at the edge either change or step outside to join those who don’t fit in. From the inside it can be difficult to see those on the outside, often hidden away. Invisible, yet co-existing in the same space.

In this chapter I shall attempt to uncover this distinction. To identify those who choose to live outside the constraints of society, to uncover the spaces they identify as their own, and to break down the cultural myths associated with gypsies, travellers and nomadic/alternative lifestyles. Is the dominant ideology of our society shared by such people and to what extent do they consider themselves outside of the circle?

The history of various groups hitherto known to wander from space to space. The folklore and traditions of days gone by, long forgotten to many but continued by some.

Sense of Place

2009-11-19T09:27:00.003Z

Sense of Place/

" A sense of place results gradually and unconsciously from inhabiting a landscape over time, becoming familiar with its physical properties, accruing history within its confines."
--Kent Rydon

“The land was ours before we were the land’s”
-- Robert Frost

"It is place, permanent position in both the social and topographical sense, that gives us our identity."
--J.B. Jackson

2009-11-11T15:12:00.001Z

2009-11-11T15:07:00.000Z

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2009-11-11T15:04:00.003Z

Dean, T & Millar, J. 2005. Place. NEED TO ADD PUBLISHER

Acton, T & Mundy, G. 1997. Romani Culture and Gypsy Identity. University of Hertfordshire Press.

Liegeois, Jean-Pierre. 2005. Gypsies - An Illustrated History. Saqi.

Khazanov, Anatoly, M. 1994. Nomads and the Outside World. 2nd Ed. University of Wisconsin Press.

Campervans

2009-11-11T15:03:00.004Z

The following link will take you to an online forum which shows images of a variety of different camper vans with all of the owners having common denominators - the desire to travel in their own van in (relative) comfort and in some cases style and to experience life on the road away from normality of life. The desire to escape to the great outdoors to 'rough it' is an inherent need in some people whilst others will not find it desirable at all. For them sleeping in small cramped spaces, being cold and not having the comforts of home is not an option. However if you are rich enough to won one of the vans in the images below I would hardly say 'it was roughing it'.

forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4520042...

This image was taken by Rirkrit Tiravanija

source: Dean, T. & Millar.J., 2005, Place, Thames and Hudson:London

'When I was nineteen years old I left Thailand and went to Canada. At that point, I left high school thinking that I would go into photojournalism because I enjoyed the idea of being mobile and travelling a lot. I wanted to see everything, and this was a situation that could be put me there. I wasn't ever interested in making a lot of money; I just wanted to get by. But I wanted to see everything.' (Dean/Millar 2005:155)

2009-11-11T15:01:00.003Z

romany gypsies

2009-11-11T15:00:00.003Z

Link to photos of gypsies in Romania
http://www.leafpile.com/TravelLog/Romania/Roma/Roma.htm

link to home made video of gypsy camps

http://hubpages.com/hub/Romanian-Gypsies

These lines were written by Queen Victoria in 1836: -

I know too well its truth, from experience, that whenever any poor Gipsies are encamped anywhere and crimes and robberies, etc, occur, it is invariably laid to their account, which is shocking; and if they are always looked upon as vagabonds, how can they become good people? I trust in Heaven that the day may come when I may do something for these poor people.
—
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article6611276.ece

Irish travellers

2009-11-11T14:57:00.014Z

Irish Travellers

There are about 25,000 Irish Travellers in Ireland and 1,300 in Northern Ireland.

Following link will take you to an article about Irish Travellers.

http://www.essortment.com/all/irishtravellers_ryjv.htm

Snatch - film clip showing Irish travellers - (very similar to my own experience of their behaviour)

The following links will take you to This is Plymouth website pages with regrd to other illegal gypsy encampments in Plymouth.

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/environment/Travellers-return-Estover-field/article-1428057-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Ridge-Road-Gypsy-families-given-months-leave/article-1524288-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Travellers-set-camp-city/article-1163828-detail/article.html

Image below and article in Sun Newspaper about illegal traveller settlements.

Spreading misery ... huge camp of 1,000 Irish travellers at Crays Hill, Essex

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article104007.ece

THE Sun today launches a campaign to STOP John Prescott giving the green light to illegal gipsy camps across Britain.The Deputy Prime Minister has ordered local councils to go soft on travellers camps and turn a blind eye to the shocking problems they create.But The Sun, on behalf of our ten million readers, is determined to fight him all the way.

Folklore & Tradition - Relation Between People & Place

2009-11-09T13:52:00.009Z

Another element concerning place and the relation between a physical space and its inhabitants is the culture and tradition that develop within an area. This can be based on the geographical and topographical nature of its place and the relation between this nature and those existing within it. Tradition is the amalgamation of routines, much of which consist of a relation between the land and the survival of the people upon it. England's rich history of farming and religion combined with the dependency on the land and the superstition of folklore has produced a wide array of traditions inherently linking the space and the people.

Sir John Benjamin Stone (1836-1914) photographed such folklore and traditions in an attempt to preserve what he considered to be an aspect of our culture that was gradually being forgot ton. These pictures depict age old traditions linked to harvest and superstition that are largely extinct today.

The 'Horn Dance' at Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire - visit to the vicarage, September 1899

Farm Workers at Perry Barr, circa 1990

The 'Kern Bride'

Historically gypsies and travellers would move from place to place in accordance with such traditions of harvest in order to work on the land. This benefited both the farms and the travelling communities. Today however many farms have suffered from international trade and large chain supermarkets and the demand for labour is much lower. Travellers therefore are forced to adopt other methods of work in order to survive and maintain their way of life.

Tar Barrel Rolling

In my attempt to uncover age old traditions as part of our culture I attended the annual tar barrel rolling in Ottery St Mary. This tradition dates back to the 17th Century and occurs every bonfire night to commemorate Guy Fawkes and burn the spirits of evil. It consists of setting alight wooden barrels containing tar, wood scrapings and paraffin. Once alight the barrels are carried through the streets of the town on the backs of the local men, who pass the barrel between them until it burns out. The event attracts thousands of people each year who fill the streets and square of the town creating a thick crowd that then have to avoid the burning barrels as they dart through the streets. This adrenaline filled event is reminiscent of Spanish bull running due to the collective fear and excitement of the crowd. When partaking in this event the herd like behaviour of the crowd seemed of another time, one that belonged far back in the zeitgeist of history resurrected each year

The final barrel upon being dropped and becoming mass of embers and smoke is surrounded by the local barrel men who lock arms and sing songs. The smog covered faces and clothing of each man lit only by the red glow of the embers and surrounded by the noise of the crowd connoted some old age ceremony. The men look almost satanic in this moment, separate from the outside world. The hoards of cameras and tourists surrounding them become indifferent to the event. It is in this space that the tradition really lives on.

Nomadic People

2009-11-09T12:45:00.020Z

Territories

'The politics of place are made manifest trhough different groups' territorail claims. Often people fight to amintain divided or to dissolve them completely. Others tyry simply to slip through them undetected.. These are the marks of ideology upon the earth. Some artists reflect and reflect upon these territorial battles; others explore the absurdities that can occur in the demarcation of such places. But what of those who choose to live on the land nomadically, without making a claim on it? ' (Dean/.Millar 2005:133)

"Nomadism is more than just traveling from A to B. It is everything about Travellers. I live in a house and have done so for a long time but that doesn't make me a settled person. Many country people, who call themselves "settled", may in fact travel more than some Travellers, but this does not make them nomadic. Nomadism is your whole outlook on life… Just as settled people remain settled when they travel, Travellers remain Travellers even when they are not traveling. Travellers who are not moving can, and do, retain the mindset of a nomad." -- Michael McDonagh

Nomads - what is a nomad

'....a member of a people who have no permanent home but move about according to the seasons'.... wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Nomadic people, also known as nomads, are communities of people that move from one place to another, rather than settling down in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world.

Many cultures have been traditionally nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in industrialized countries. http://www.answers.com/

Floating Houses
Central Viet Nam(Mid-1800s - today)

These houses are built on rafts so that the nomadic people who live in the Annam Mountains of central Viet Nam can move about freely from one side of the lake to the other. The houses are built from hardwood trees that grow slowly in the mountains. This hard wood takes a long time to rot, so it's perfect for building a house that sits in the water.
http://www.architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/people_annamese.html

Tuareg People

www.africaguide.com/culture/tibes/tuareg

The Tuareg people are predominently nomadic people of the sahara deseret. Because of their blue robes they are often referred to as the 'Blue men of the desert'. They live in small tribes of between 30 and 100 family members and have animals like goats, cattle, chickens and camels.They are a proud race of people and live mostly in the northern reaches of Mali near Timbuktu and Kidal where they tend to do most of their trading.

Each of the family members plays an important role with the women making milk, butter and clothing etc from the animals and collecting firewood. The men dirve the animals and take responsibility for trading. They sell camels and buy millet for bread making.

Drought and government policy has impacted on their way of life and increasingly many are living a more sedentary lifestyle.

Mongolian Nomads

'The nomad moves, but he is always at the centre of the desert, at the centre of the steppe.' Gaston Bacheland (Dean/Millar 2005:147)

These images were taken of Mongolian Gers and Mongloian people by Mette Tronvoll in 2003. He undertook a documentary expedition over a period of six weeks where he travelled across Mongolia from the Gobi Desert in the soputh to Khenti region in the north photographing the landscape, the nomads in and outside of their Gers (Yurts) and images of the Gers themselves. The name Ger comes from the turkish word jurte and is a round white tent and is the home of the nomades living on the steppes in Mongolia. The shape and function of this tent has stayed the same.
(Dean/millar 2005:146)

Click on the link below to go to Tronvolls archive page showing his 2005 exhibition of the Nomads of Mongoplia in Stockholm.

www.nordenhake.com/php/exhibition.php?id=55&year=2005

mongolian yurts

The yurt (mongolian: Ger) is the traditional dwelling of the nomads in Mongolia, as well as in the neighbouring countries, over to as far as in Turkey. It is a tent-like structure made from a wooden frame and covered by wool felt. A traditional yurt is very easy to collapse and assemble again, and it can be transported on no more than three animals (horses, camels, yaks). Today it will fit nicely on a small all-terrain vehicle. http://www.mongolyurt.com/

Alternative Lifestyle/escapism

2009-11-09T09:56:00.020Z

Yurt Village, Sharpham Devon - Photographs by Harry Hilliar

The following images are ones that I took whilst reseaching for this project.
This small community hidden away in the South West consists of five yurts, a wooden shed kitchen and an outside toilet and shower block. The first impressions of this space was the beauty of the location, surrounded by gardens and a large river this space seemed to epitomise the romanticism of outdoor living.

There is one permanent dweller, the other five volunteer for three months before moving on. Free living is provided in exchange for labour which mainly consists of working on the large vegetable garden within the land. This being my first exploration into such living I was anxious about whether they would be accepting of my intrusion into their space. I received a warm welcome and was surprised by the friendly positive atmosphere. The space itself was immaculate and well kept. Through conversing with the inhabitants it became evident that they were not as self sufficient than would have liked to be and were still very much involved with the commodities of modern living.
Most used mobile phones, computers and drove to neighbouring towns to buy food and toiletries. They all seemed to adopt the view of organic self sufficient living as an ideal to strive toward. The main constrain in achieving this I was informed being financial, although able to cultivate their own vegetables and keep chickens, the need for energy, namely solar power, was regarded as a vital step towards self sustainability which they held as vitally important yet were unable to afford the equipment.The irony to this settlement however was that their encampment resided within the grounds of an old manor house, which now serving as a charity and small business granted them the space in return for the vegetables gain from their labour to be cooked in the public restaurant nearby. Although they lived in relative isolation, the means to such lifestyle were enabled by the aristocrats of the past and the arrangement with the modern business today.

Communal living stay and work for keep - then move on - there are hundreds of sites in the UK and thousands wordwide.

http://www.wwoof.org/

For those people seeking to escape from the mundane way of life and who like the romantic notion of staying in a yurt there are holiday sites they can go to. They can go and stay in Mongolian Yurts and get away from it all without actually having to work for their keep.

Click on the following link to see the authentic Mongolian Yurts and other images of this 'holiday' destination. www.yurtvillage.co.uk/

Get back to nature and stay in one of our six Mongolian Yurts

Image from website

Photography of Yurt at Poundsgate, Dartmoor - Harry Hilliar

Images from website

'It sounds cliched but we felt that we really did get away from it all"
http://www.yurtcamp.co.uk/facilities.htm

Treehouses

This tree house is virtually invisible from any public path or space and exists unknown to most. The owner lives here all year round after building the construction himself. It consists of two levels, a kitchen, and a living/sleeping space. Access is via the ladder and requires some agility and branch negotiation. There is a wood burning fire with chimney and oil lamps for light. Like the nearby yurts this dwelling is only accessible via a long walk with no access for cars. Similarly the structure can be considered temporary as there are no permanent changes to the land made by its construction.

Have your own treehouse built in your own backyard...

A tall, tall, treehouse........
With the top of the roof reaching 10 metres high, and being situated in a secret location in Hampstead, we believe this is without doubt the highest (and probably the most spectacular) treehouse in London. From the top of the treehouse you can look over West London (and even look down on the arch at Wembley stadium).
The tree house itself boasts gothic doors and windows, is fully insulated and lined, has fold up desks on the lower floor and oak bunks on the top floor. There is even a toilet and basin for over-night stays!
The roof and the exterior walls are clad with cedar, but the turret at the front of the tree house is clad in copper.

Luxury treehouse.

If you want to have a luxury treehouse built follow the following link

http://www.highlifetreehouses.co.uk/

War and the Landscape - Afghanistan - Paul Seawright

2009-04-09T16:16:00.018+01:00

War and the landscape

Looking at the effect that war has on places and spaces. How natural beauty is destroyed by man made devices. Natural erosion to valleys and the landscape takes hundreds of years but a bomb can change the landscape in a matter of seconds. The desecration to the earth and the scars that are left behind will take hundreds of years to heal over. In the meantime we are left to wonder why.

Paul Seawright - Afghanistan

Paul Seawright was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to visit Afghanistan during 2002 after much of the devastation had been unleashed on the country. Avoiding the trappings of an exorcising vision, best typified by the photojournalist's portrait of Afghanistan as a spectacle of ruins, his series of pictures are spare, subdued, understated and quiet.

Seawright's responses to the terrain of the destroyed and heavily mined desert landscapes of Afghanistan, both draws upon, extends and reworks the distinctive aesthetic the artist had established through earlier photographic work, made first within his home city, Belfast. In war-torn Afghanistan, Seawright is less concerned with the visible scars of war, but instead the hidden malevolence of its landscapes (www.kunstaspekte.de/index)

Seawright photographed these shell cases in Afghanistan to show the viewer the aftermath of war and to make the viewer think about what took place in this valley. Much like that of Fenton (below) the valley is littered with empy shell casings but whilst Seawright chose to show only the aftermath this was a choice that Fenton himself had not control over- he was censored by the government and therefore his images could not show actual death.

Roger Fenton, The Valley of the Shadow of Death. Crimean War
Fenton took this image during the Crimean war in 1855

The similarites in the images is obvious.. but the overall effect is the same ..the thought of what took place,the hundreds of littered bomb cases - reminiscent of skulls - this eerie silent space like that of the image above taken some hundreds of years apart serves to show us that humankind will still continue to cause desturction not only to themselves but also to the places and spaces where they live.

Room, Afghanistan,

Derelict, empty, silent space

Another image by Seawright but this time showing the inside of a room that has been struck by a bomb – a place and space that was once a home – a build environment which should have been a safe haven, but now empty derelict and almost certainly hiding terrible secrets.

Columns, Afghanistan

What sort of building once stood here…again we are left with the
question what was the purpose of the construction. Large columns left as
crumbling wrecks similar to that of deteriorating and eroding ant hills, which succumb to the natural elements..except what caused this destruction was man made.

War and the landscape - Bosnia - Simon Norfolk

2009-04-09T15:52:00.007+01:00

Simon Norfolk - Bosnia

Bleed by Simon Norfolk .

A river running red with blood! This is a site of a secondary mass grave where the bodies of thousands of murdered people lay hidden. The red water is caused by oxidization and appears to be the blood of those who were massacred during this conflict. This is a beautiful and surreal image which is both beautiful and haunting

War and the Landscape - Afghanistan - Simon Norfolk

2009-04-09T15:51:00.027+01:00

Simon Norfolk

Simon Norfolk a photo journalist turned landscape photographer chose to photograph the aftemath of war - the devastation and destruction of the landscape in both urban and rural areas. He says

'These photgraphs form chapters in a larger project attempting to understand how war, and the need to fight war, has formed our world: how so many spaces we occupy; the technologies we use; and the ways we understand ourselves, are created by military conflict'
www.bldgblog.com.

Norfolks photos reveal half-collapsed buildings, destroyed cinemas, and unpopulated urban ruins...... http://www.bldgblog/

Afghanistan, Simon Norfolk

Once a beautiful building, now riddled with bullet holes, a desolate empty and lonely place.

Norfolks imagery serves to remind us of mans power to create and then to destroy. What would have taken a long time to construct took minutes to destruct...a place that was once a hub of activity and housed many now nothing more than a shell with nothing more than dirt and rubble as its occupants.

The following link gives further information on Norfolk and his work. http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/warphotography-interview-with-simon.html

King Amanullah’s Victory Arch built to celebrate the 1919 winning of Independence from the British. Paghman, Kabul Province."

Another image of a building destroyed by warfare.This time a magnificent archway that was built as a monument to celebrate independence from the British .. a bit ironic considering it was the British who helped to destroy it.

Norfolks huge colourful plates show the

devastation and destruction left behind on the

landscape and the environment, ruins of once majestic building and places that were once a source of livelihood. This image was taken in Afghanistan and shows the mangled remains of what was once a place of work, residence or worship… an image which leaves the viewer wondering not only about its purpose but at mans ability to destroy.

Another image showing the bombed out shell of a building. The circular structure symbolic of huge rings of stones from the past, smilar to stonehenge, which were used as places of worship or sacrifice. This structure however is not an ancient relic from a past people it was once a building which provided a livehood of a modern people and is now a ruin caused by modern man. ..the ruin of a livehood and a way of life.

For more images follow the following link

http://blog.camera80.ro/simon-norfolk-afghanistan-chronotopia-chronotopia -chronotopia

Burned out and blackened flats - this image is

similar in style to the work of Andreas Gursky.

City Scapes

2009-04-09T15:44:00.014+01:00

City Scapes

Cities are places that are full of life and activity. They are not for those who seek peace and quiet. Cities now house a huge range of cultural and ethnic groups and are great for those who want non stop entertainment and business.

New York

The following information gives you an outline of what an
amazing city New York is.

New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment. As host of the United Nations headquarters, it is also an important center for international affairs.

The most beguiling city in the world, New York is an adrenaline-charged, history-laden place that holds immense romantic appeal for visitors. Wandering the streets here, you'll cut between buildings that are icons to the modern age – and whether gazing at the flickering lights of the midtown skyscrapers as you speed across the Queensboro bridge, experiencing the 4am half-life downtown, or just wasting the morning on the Staten Island ferry, you really would have to be made of stone not to be moved by it all. There's no place quite like it

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-191501980-new_york_city_vacations-i

Dubai

Dubai at night

Is this a mirage in the Middle East? Seemingly out

of nowhere emerges an ultra-modern city in the middle of

a desert. Dubai City is currently undergoing an

unbelievable transformation right in the heart of the Arab

world. www.ssqq.com

This fast growing amazing city is full of unusual buildings and currently the tallest in the world is under construction.

For more information and photogrpahs on how this city is being build take a look at the following link.http://www.ssqq.com/ARCHIVE/vinlin23dubai.htm

More images of famous cities in the world - all reknowned for their beauty, lifestyle and culture.

Cape Town - a fast growing city built around the base of Table Mountain.

London

Paris

Rome

All these cities have famous places and sites to visit - Paris and the Eiffel Tower, Rome and the Vatican, London - Buckingham Palace.

2009-04-09T15:42:00.008+01:00

Andrea Gursky

German artist Andreas Gursky is best known for his billboard-sizephotographs that inhabit a space between painting and photography,landscape and human concern, animate and inanimate. He often placeshis large-format camera at a high-angled distance from his subject,creating images that suggest mapping stills from outer space orcyber-technology. Sometimes computer manipulated, his images ofcorporate architecture, environmental contemplations such as pebblyearth, and mass groups of people freeze-framed mid-motion oftenreference the geometric forms of Minimalist Art and the "allover"quality of a Jackson Pollock painting. Our eyes dance across hisdense, often slightly abstracted images, which display strong formalelements as they blend relationships between nature, culture, andtechnology. He is particularly concerned with capturing motion andcreating a moment of stillness in that space.
http://www.123helpme.com/preview.asp?id=46442

The following images are photograhs taken by Gursky
showing the way of life for many people. They are large fine art prints
showing architecture but incorporating geometric design and
patterns.

Public Spaces: Architecture and Landscape

2009-04-09T15:37:00.010+01:00

Public Spaces and Public Places

What is a public space and why is important to
have them.
Definitions of public spaces

A public space refers to an area or place that is open and accessible to all citizens, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants discriminated based on background. Non-government-owned malls are examples of 'private space' with the appearance of being 'public space'.
Public Space has also become something of a touchstone for critical theory in relation to philosophy, (urban) geography, visual art, cultural studies, social studies and urban design. Its relevance seems to become more pressing as capital encloses more and more of what were thought of as 'commons'. The term 'Public Space' is also often misconstrued to mean other things such as 'gathering place', which is an element of the larger concept.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_space

I have included a number of images of some of the most famous buildings in the world which are public places. they are also some of the most innovative designs.

Lyon Railway station, France - shaped like a swooping hawk

Sydney Opera House, Australia - shaped like shells

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain - shaped like a ship

Burj al Arab, Dubai - shaped like a billowing sail
These iconic buildings are used for public enteratinment, transport and pleasure.

Whilst researching I found this site which list a lot more public buildings and monuments around the world. http://luciensteil.tripod.com/katarxis02-1/id30.html

Robert Smithson

2009-03-23T20:06:00.008Z

Robert Smithson: Corner Mirror with Coral

The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 270
Smithson's three mirrors in a corner create a structure both lucid and elusive: as each mirror reflects the space around it, it multiplies the reflections in the other mirrors, creating an image with the symmetry of a crystal. Mirrors appear often in Smithson's art, as do fragments of the natural world—here, there are pieces of coral piled in the angle where the mirrors meet. Smithson also combined mirrors with heaps of sand, gravel, and other rocks, matching nature's brute rubble with its precise visual twin. (The delicacy of the lacy pink coral is unusual in his work.)

The pairing of matter and reflection corresponds to another duality:

on the one hand, unshaped shards of stone or reef; on the other, art,

culpture, and the indoor space of the gallery.

One of the earthworks artists of the 1960s and 1970s, in other pieces smithson manipulated the natural landscape, sometimes simply and temporarily, through mirrors, sometimes drastically, with a bulldozer. Corner Mirror with Coral relates to his "Non-Sites," indoor works containing substances from an outdoor site elsewhere. Both cerebral and powerfully material, his art shows a fascination with entropy, the tendency of all structures and energies to lose their integrity. In this work a perfect form—the mirrors make three sides of a cube—is made illogical and illusory, for the coral seems to float in midair.

London

2009-03-23T15:07:00.009Z

This was a trip to london with some friends during February and I used the time to take some architecture shots as London has so many more interesting buildings/places to photograph.
This images shows the juxtaposotion of old and new - the old buildings lining the street leading down to the new high rise modern office block. I like the how the buildings frame the building in the distance giving a sense of the old heralding the new.

Derelict buildings fascinate me - what was their previous purpose, why are they now abandoned? Old buildings made of red brick and full of architectural design features became redundant with the rise in modernism and with new factories and warehouse being built many companies moved buildings with updated technology and space. This left many beautiful old buildings left to deteriorate and fall down or be pulled down. This happened a lot but now more and more of these buildings are being preseved and turned into state of the art appartments.

This unusual building is one of the very old ones that because of its unique shape and position managed to stay in use

.

I really like the shape/design of the glass created on this building, like a giants steps.

Smithson is also interested in derelict sites. This is a former industrial site which has fallen into disrepair and neglect. What was its purpose - was it a factory - why did it become abandoned.? Again the questions of what and why - again possibly it could be due to a number of factors - possibly lack of business, economic decline or the need for more modern facilities.

Surreal Landscapes

2009-03-23T13:10:00.016Z

Surrel Landscapes

Link to Robert Smith and Land art video - how the jetty was constructed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTx4Pp4aPXA

Robert Smithson's monumental earthwork Spiral Jetty (1970) is located on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Using black basalt rocks and earth from the site, the artist created a coil 1,500 feet long and 15 feet wide that stretches out counter-clockwise into the translucent red water. Spiral Jetty was acquired by Dia Art Foundation as a gift from the Estate of the artist in 1999.
http://www.spiraljetty.org/

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/land-art.htm

Although this is an inspirational piece questions could be raised about the pollution in the water and the effect that the jetty had on marine life and the ecological system. Nature normally changes itself over a long period of time where the impact of change on the environemnt is slow and absrobed through the process or through natural disaters which cause drastic changes to a place or space which can have a detrimental effect. By creating such large pieces of land art it is certain to effect the natural process of things.

Whilst undertaking a recent project about surrealism I was experimetning with changes in the landscape and was looking to create images which could be linked with the aftermath of destruction or devastation due to fire or nuclear fall out. Using photoshop to manipulate the images I was able to change the environment thjat I had photographed without actually causing any major destruction to the naturally beautiful place.

This series of images are meant to interpret new life coming from devastation and the clear blue water is meant to symbolise fresh start.

This image is similar to that of Smithson who photographed the effect that the spiral jetty had caused in the water. The pollution was caused by the stones which coloured the water red.

My surreal landscapes are inspired by by both Robert Smithson and Simon Norfolk http://www.habitusmag.com/index.php?id=41&section=article

Bill Brandt and Bill Viola

2009-03-12T13:29:00.015Z

Bill Brandt

Bill Brand is brillliant Surrealist mainly using the female form. For the era that he was working on these images they were rather ground breaking. He took a series of images using a wide angle lens which showed the human body in unusual spaces and places. The images taken from different viewpoints showed the body as elongated and distorted loosing all sense of scale and proportion. Brandt was interested in shape form and scale. He was looking at the relationship between the human body and natural shapes and forms as well as distortion. Angle and camera viewpoint helped to create the body into abstract shapes which look to large for their environment or part of the overall composition.

When Brandt photographs outside, he takes his nudes to a whole new level wherein body and earth blend into one, fingers become stone and limbs are in unison with the landscape
http://www.faheykleingallery.com/featured_artists/brandt/brandt_09.ht
Link to article on Brandt

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/features/photo_focus/brandt/biography/index.html

Underwater photogaph of my own feet. The close up and underwater magnificationhas created a sense of distortion and disportionate scale.

Two photographs by Brandt showing distortion and unusual scale using feet.The first images shows what appears to oversized feet in a small room and the second shows how a foot has been used to blend into the environment and becomepart of the overall compositon of the beach.

I captured this image of another student who was relaxing in this silent space with the idea to show that even those that can hear can experience the silence of being underwater and that the use of hearing and voice is not necessary to feel comfortable in a place.

Bill Viola

Bill Viola is an artist best known for his video installation work and Viola’s video installations are total environments that envelop the viewer in image and sound— http://www.billviola.com/biograph.htm

The link below gives a detailed description of Ascension 2000- which explores human emotion and the part that water plays when you are submerged.

http://www.billviola.com/pm_viola_eng.pdf

See Bill Viola - An Ocean without a shore on you tube - link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTakwOpWqG4

Bill Viola created a film in which he is encapsulated within a small confined underwater space - http://www.bbc.co.uk/photography/genius/gallery/ray.shtml

This is a self portrait captured underwater lying on the bottom of a swimming pool. Within this image I am exploring my natural and comfortabe existence underwater. To me being underwater has no alternative affect on my senses. I am unable to hear and have no veral language above water so I am at home in a silent underwater space.

Bill Brandt

Within this image Bill Brandt is experimenting with scale but I am looking at the relationship here of the ear - and sound - and the silence of being underwater to the noise and sound of the sea. A link between silence space and that of tranquil space. It is said that the sound of the sea is calming and relaxing but having never experienced that I am unsure as to what it sounds like. I do have an infinity with water and find that when I am near it , on it (surfing) in it ( swimming) or under it (diving) I am totally at home and do not feel out of place - a sense of inner calm and tranquilty - a sense brought about by feeling rather than by hearing - my silent space.

Brandts images which were a distortion of the human scale in an environment lead me
back to land and that of images that I have taken on my travels and my deisre to always place myself ( or should I say my feet) within an image showing a distortion of scale, persective and reality.

The above image shows the London 'gherkin'and I took the image by lying down on he ground and raising my legs. If is a distortion of reality and truth and could also be viewed as a reflection .
My desire to create images like this came about on my travels when I felt the need to be creative using local landmarks or iconic buildings. The intention was to produce an illusion or surreal viewpoint which showed the relationship between the human form and that of the build or natural environment.

Utopia and Dystopia

2009-03-12T13:02:00.007Z

What is Utopia and Dystopia

Utopia
The following is a description of what Utopia is -

Utopia is a name for an ideal community or society, taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempted to create an ideal society, and fictional societies portrayed in literature. "Utopia" is sometimes used pejoratively, in reference to an unrealistic ideal that is impossible to achi

eve, and has spawned other concepts, most prominently dystopia.
The word comes from Greek: οὐ, "not", and τόπος, "place", indicating that More was utilizing the concept as allegory and did not consider such an ideal place to be realistically possible. The homophone Eutopia, derived from the Greek εὖ, "good" or "well", and τόπος, "place", signifies a double meaning that was almost certainly intended. Despite this, most modern usage of the term "Utopia" assumes the latter meaning, that of a place of perfection rather than nonexistence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia

Lots of people dream of living in a Utopia - where everything is perfect. In a fantasy world this may be possible but most certainly not within the real world.

The opposite to Utopia is dystopia -

Dystopia is a negative utopia: a totalitarian and repressive world

A place where no one would really chose to live...

This image is an example of a city which looks like it would be a nightmare to live in. High rise buildings that look like you would be a prisoner in your own home. No greenery, no life.

Sacred Places

2009-03-12T13:00:00.018Z

Sacred Places

Sacred places around the world have been a mystery for centuries. I have listed below a few interesting sites plus weblinks to many more.

I am fascniated by these ancient sites and wonder what they were used for and how they were constructed. some stones re so huge and without the use of modern technology and machinery it is amazing that they were able to be moved.

Sacred sites are the most loved and visited places on planet earth. Since prehistoric times they have exerted a mysteriousattraction on billions of pilgrims from every region and religion. These holy places have the power to heal the body,enlighten the mind, and awaken the soul. Anthropologist and National Geographic photographer Martin Gray spent 25 years as a wandering pilgrim to study and artistically photograph nearly 1000 sacred sites in 80 countries. This web site features Martin’s sacred art photographs and shows the location of sacred places and pilgrimage shrines around the world

http://www.sacredsites.com/

http://www.sacredsites.com/pages/explore.html

http://sacred-sites.org/wordpress/

Easter Island

It is one of the most isolated islands in the world but 1200 years ago a double-hulled canoe filled with seafarers from a distant culture landed upon its shores. Over the centuries that followed a remarkable society developed in isolation on the island. For reasons still unknown they began carving giant statues out of volcanic rock. These monuments, known, as "moai" are some of the most incredible ancient relics ever discovered. The people of Easter Island called themselves the Rapa Nui. Where did they come from and why did they disappear? Science has learned much about the enigma of Easter Island and has put to rest some of the more bizarre theories, but questions and controversies remain. Explore this site to get the latest information on the island's history and current research.http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/Easter_Island/index.html

http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/chile/easter_island.html

Stonehenge

Mystery surrounds this 5,000 year old monument in the

centre of the World Heritage Site. Visit this prehistoric

South West site and decide for yourself whether

Stonehenge was a place of sun worship, a healing

sanctuary, a sacred burial site, or something different

altogether! An awe-inspiring family visit, Stonehenge

is a powerful reminder of the once-great peoples of the

late Stone and Bronze Ages. Erected between 3,000

BC and 1,600 BC, a number of the stones were carried

hundreds of miles over land and sea, while antlers and

bones were used to dig the pits that hold the stones.

Modern techniques in archaeology, and the series of

recent digs, have helped to shape new theories about

the stones, but their ultimate purpose remains a

fascinating and enduring mystery http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.16465

Fantasy cities

2009-03-09T14:18:00.015Z

Fantasy Cities

Comic book places like Metropolis (Superman) and Gotham City (Batman) are huge sprawling cities which are a mix of unusual buildings constructed of different shapes and designs.

A metropolis is usually a significant economical, political and cultural center for some country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications

Gotham City is a fictional city appearing in DC Comics, and is

best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of

residence was

first identified as Gotham City

More images at

http://www.surrealplaces.com/cities/cities.html

How to create Fantasy landscapes and cityscapes

2009-03-04T16:23:00.011Z

I found this book in the library - (ISBN 978-2-940361-96-0) its great for creating fantasy landscapes and cityscapes for anyone who is interested in surrealism. It is basically a step by step guide on how to work digitally and produce amazing places which don't exist in reality but do within the realms of dreams and fantasy and escapism from normal places . A Utopia

Max Ernst

2009-03-04T12:19:00.005Z

Max Ernst was a German artist who lived in France. He was a Surrealist who created works which were large scale and featured places and landscapes which were surreal using a number of different techniques including collage, assemblage and frottage. ( a technique which included rubbing textures onto paper etc with pencil of charcoal).

Frottage, which realizes the surrealistic principle of 'psychological automatism' ERNST.

I like this work because it is so strange and creates an illusion of fantasy and escapism.

http://www.abcgallery.com/E/ernst/ernstbio.html

Frottage, which realizes the surrealistic principle of 'psychological automatism',

Unusual architecture

2009-03-04T12:02:00.006Z

Unusual Architecture

This complex in Mitaka, Tokoyo has been designed with only one purpose in mind: to keep octogenarians constantly alert within the confines of their own Electric Kool Aid apartment.
According to the designers, The Reversible Destiny Lofts have been designed under the philosophy that comfort makes you grow old quick, and that the elderly need to be kept on their toes by having physically challenging interiors.
Lopsided floors force the resident to maintain a good sense of balance , strangely located light switches insist we feel around for the light, whilst small veranda doors will ask you to crawl and bend to enter.
Hey, while we’re designing $750,000 apartments based upon keeping the elderly on their toes, why stop there? Electrical sockets that belch acid! Floors that break away, plummeting those who tread upon them into holes filled with used hypodermics and razor wire! Ceiling fans that periodically descend to decapitate those underneath them! It’s like Battle Royale for geriatric housing.
Japanese Apartment Block - Tokyo [The Cool Hunter]

http://www.roxanneardary.com/blog/strange-unusual-houses-buildings/es-buildings

http://www.wired.com/table_of_malcontents/2007/02/lsd_inspires_ja/

This underwater hotel, slated to be finished in 2010.A 7 story hotel will open in Istanbul, Turkey. This might start a whole thread of new underwater hotels and maybe even fork out to new underwater cities.Visitors to Istanbul will soon have a chance to view the most spectacular ocean views on the planet. A seven floor, seven-star hotel is being built underwater on what was formerly a tobacco factory. There will be exhibition halls, and restaurants, and all rooms will be sea facing.

To view more unusual hotels and locations click on the link

http://www.crazyjunkyard.com/tag/ice-hotel/

Contemporary Architecture

2009-03-04T11:56:00.005Z

Contemporary Architecture

Buildings with complex and innovative designs are being constructed all around the world, in particular in the middle east where buildings are reaching new heights. These amazing buildings are becoming desirable homes amongst the very rich.

Designed by New York-based architects, Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture of Asymptote, the construction of Strata Tower in Abu Dhabi just begun and scheduled for completion in three years. This 24-stories tower will be the tallest building in the Al Dana precint at a height of 160 meters.

Dubai Towers, Istambul

Another innovative design with twisted skyscrapers spiralling upwards.

http://istanbulmetro.com/?cat=2

Neo Surrealism

2009-03-04T11:23:00.005Z

I found this website on neo surrealism which I have added a link to.

http://neosurrealism.artdigitaldesign.com/modern-artists/

The fact that the artist has created a building on a ship creates a sense of place even though the dead can't go home. This is a very dark image which creates a sense of fear and entrappment in a inescapable place. Silent and eerie.

Title: Flying Dutchman Phantomdescription: According to folklore, the Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship that can never go home. The Flying Dutchman is typically spotted from afar, sometimes glowing with ghostly light. The most famous Ghost ship in fiction, a ship crewed by the not living.

Title: The Sand Castledescription: Most castles, from the earliest times, followed certain standards of design and construction. Many early castles and certain later ones were nothing more than simple towers. The tower houses of Britain and England are an example of this type.

This image evokes good memories of sandcastles on the beach and holidays, a place where families go to relax and have fun. It gives a sense of neutality!

However the dark brooding skies could be a message that perhaps all is not what it appears!!

Surrealism - Man Ray

2009-03-04T10:34:00.007Z

Surrealism

Surrealism is an artistic movement and philosophy that first gained popularity in the 1920s. Initially, surrealism was an offshoot of Dadaism , which posited that traditional art should be replaced with anything "anti-art" and triumphed the ridiculous, the absurd, and a basic disregard for form. Andre Breton was the initial proponent of surrealism in literature and the visual arts. Much of his emphasis was on accessing the unconscious, as viewed by psychiatrist Sigmund Freud. Surrealism was a reaction to the philosophy of rationalism, which many felt had caused, through the Industrial Revolution, the disaster of World War I.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-surrealism.htm

Surrealsim had a great effect on me because I then realised that the imagery in my mind wasn’t insanity. Surrealsim to me is reality. John Lennon

Man Ray

Solarised images
of the female form - creating a surreal body which takes on the persona of a metal object, silver and unreal .... he makes people look as though their faces are of aluminium. They become sort of sleek and metallic like the mascots on the front of those rather swish, fast cars. They become these super-people, also slightly inhuman, slightly robotic." (Mark Haworth-Booth, Photo-historian) http://www.bbc.co.uk/photography/genius/gallery/ray.shtml

Man Ray sought to create a Surrealist vision of the female form and began to utilize such photographic techniques as solarization, dynamic cropping, over enlargement and over development in an effort to create a dreamlike effect in his artwork.

His use of the Rayograph helped him to create a new, profound look to his photography, stressing the importance of light and shadow rather than the object itself. These camera-less images created by placing objects on light sensitive photographic paper and then exposing the paper to light assisted Man Ray in the creation of his visual poetry.

quote.... http://www.manraytrust.com/Pages/bio_manray.html

Links to information on Man ray

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/surrealism/Man-Ray.html

Underwater Images

2009-02-09T15:14:00.003Z

Here is another example of surrealism in a space very familiar to me.

Here are two shots, solarised and normal. i quite like the effect it gives off as the light reflects through the bubble.

This was actually a little difficult as having air in your lungs and trying to sink to the bottom is very difficult, so with the help of my mate Troy, who held me down with his foot to get me on the bottom for the shot. He also took this picture, this as a 'directed self-portrait'.

Within this image I was experimenting with creating an image which was powerful in subject matter as well as the surreal and un natural effect that is achieved throug the use of solarisation. My body has taken on a metallic sheen and the black background is a spacelike deep dark void where I am floating weighless and eternally - deep dark silent space..

underwater

2009-02-09T15:01:00.000Z

These are images taken by the artistJun Nguyen-Hatsushiba highlighting the plight of the fishermen and bicycle taxi drivers in Vietnam. Both modes of work where struggling to survive in the countries rapid social and economic climate.

I particularly like these images because i am extremely at home under the water where the only form of communication is visual.

Solarization and Architecture

2009-02-09T14:36:00.002Z

Looking at space and places ..

I am interested in architecture both old and new and buildings are the subjct of many of my projects. These are some images that I took for a recent module and using the technique of solarisation I set out to manipulate and change the imagery to become surreal urban visions of what something futuristic might look like.. I am interested in the effect that this creative technique has on the visual elements of my work. My main focus is the shape and form looking at unique features, angles and expressive qualities of a building. These are further enhanced by the use of specialised creative techniques to prodice visually stimulating imagery which have a dreamlike and surreal quality. I am drawn to the sculptural qualities of buildings and structures and their place within society and the purpose of the space and how it can be transformed into something altogether unreal

Sense of Place -What is it?

2009-02-02T13:27:00.003Z

Hello to all friends, family, colleagues and students Iwelcome you to my blog space to create an open discussion about my work as a student photographer.

This isnt just about my images, but also about me as a person, so feel free to comment on whatever you see and also whatever you dont see. If you have any info relevent or even not so relevent send it my way.

All info posted will go towards my contextual studies: Sense of place/identity.

So ..What is a sense of place - how do we define it - is it just that a place or is it something else- is it a defined spot or is it an attachment that we form relating to a memory, emotion or evidence of something, some place some where - a belonging...

Below is an encyclopedia defintion of a sense of place ..

Sense of place
The term sense of place has been defined and used in different ways by different people. To some, it is a characteristic that some geographic places have and some do not, while to others it is a feeling or perception held by people (not by the place itself). It is often used in relation to those characteristics that make a place special or unique, as well as to those that foster a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging. Others, such as geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, have pointed to senses of place that are not inherently "positive," such as fear.[1] Some students and educators engage in "place-based education" in order to improve their "sense(s) of place," as well as to use various aspects of place as educational tools in general.
Geographic place
To understand sense of place, the geographic concept of space needs first to be defined. Geographic space is the space that encircles the planet, through which biological life moves. It is differentiated from "outer space" and "inner space" (inside the mind). One definition of place, proposed by Tuan, is that a place comes into existence when humans give meaning to a part of the larger, undifferentiated space. Any time a location is identified or given a name, it is separated from the undefined space that surrounds it. Some places, however, have been given stronger meanings, names or definitions by society than others. These are the places that are said to have a strong "Sense of Place."
Cultural geographers, anthropologists, sociologists and urban planners study why certain places hold special meaning to particular people or peoples. Places said to have a strong "sense of place" have a strong identity and character that is deeply felt by local inhabitants and by many visitors. Sense of place is a social phenomenon that exists independently of any one individual's perceptions or experiences, yet is dependent on human engagement for its existence. Such a feeling may be derived from the natural environment, but is more often made up of a mix of natural and cultural features in the landscape, and generally includes the people who occupy the place. The sense of place may be strongly enhanced by the place being written about by poets, novelists and historians, or portrayed in art or music, and more recently, through modes of codification aimed at protecting, preserving and enhancing places felt to be of value (such as the "World Heritage Site" designations used around the world, the English "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" controls and the American "National Historic Landmark" designation).
Placelessness
Places that lack a "sense of place" are sometimes referred to as "placeless" or "inauthentic." Placeless landscapes are those that have no special relationship to the places in which they are located—they could be anywhere. Roadside strip shopping malls, gas/petrol stations and convenience stores, fast food chains, and chain department stores are often cited as examples of placeless landscape elements. Even some historic sites or districts that have been heavily commercialized (commodified) for tourism and new housing estates are sometimes defined as having lost their sense of place. A classic description of such placeless places is Gertrude Stein's "there is no there there". (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_place)

I will post images and articles relating to sense of place and hope that you will join in. So get posting....Cheers Harry