The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

I attended a UCAS (British university system) conference in Birmingham in mid-February 2014.  All my Scottish and British friends warned me about Birmingham . . . be careful.  The conference, and my hotel were out near the International Airport, so I took a train into the city center.

I enjoy taking trains in Europe, even commuter trains.  It's a great way to travel.  I arrived at the New Street Station and wondered what I would see when I popped above the surface.

What I found was a grey and drizzly day . . . and a very pleasant walking street.

Beyond the clever and tasteful commercial redevelopment, I found public spaces filled with monumental art and sculpture.

Scattered about Victoria Square were many of the giant Sphinx-like creatures in stone.

Lovely metal sculpture . . . disintegrating in the weather . . . my favorite symbol.

Statue of The Explorer, my favorite.

High on the steps of the City Hall.

Victoria Square, Birmingham.

More monumental statuary and the Birmingham Council House on Victoria Square.

A terrible day for photography . . . but very beautiful public spaces and the Birmingham Town Hall (on left).

The Birmingham museum blocks.  I was very impressed with the museums here.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

There was a fine exhibition of Photorealism on at the Art Museum.

The brand new Birmingham Library.  In the digital age. Good.  The headless man (far right, bottom) was also interesting.

The old lady herself, Queen Victoria.

Alternating sunshine, clouds, drizzle, and rain for both days I spent in the city center.

There is a lot of nice architecture in Birmingham.

There was defiantly a police presence, and CCTV everywhere.

I took a shortcut through a galleria and was greeted with this amazing ceiling.  Thanks.

One end of New Street had old buildings and Victoria Square, the other end had The Bull Ring Mall. The urban planning here was excellent, the mall blended in seamlessly to the town.  They had not put a huge mall in the suburbs to suck the life out of the city center . . . they had integrated the mall into the city.  Outstanding.

I don't know if this is a franchise or not, but I loved the name.

You won't see these in Aberdeen, or in London for that matter, so it was nice to see these old friends.

I went in the Birmingham mall, known as The Bull Ring, and looked up to see a panoramic scene of the whole mall reflected in the ceiling.  Nice detail.

Although not technically a scholarly approach to learning about a city, I often find that a music store can lead me to certain understandings.  The Metal section was by far the largest section in the HMV store.  Stray from the Path indeed!

Panels of chrome cladding on the train station creating these wonderful distorted reflections.

I took many photos of this reflective surface.  This one is amazing.  I love the window in the middle of it all . . . a real window, that is.

Birmingham's Church of St Martin was at the far end of The Bull Ring.

England has had the wettest January since records were kept . . .  as evidenced by this coating of bright green moss on the Church of St Martin.

I love this style.

Facing the cathedral was the Birmingham Selfridges department store.  Also interesting.

Before I went to Birmingham I Googled it to see what there was to do.  When I lived in London in the late 80s my apartment was near a canal (Camdentown), so I took a walk to see if I could find the boat docks for a canal tour.  Along the way I saw several fine theatres and performance halls, here reflected.

I saw this poster on the wall of the concert hall . . . PLEASE, PLEASE let there still be tickets available for the Edinburgh show on May 17th!!! Robert Cray is one of my favorite blues artists.

On my way to the canals I passed this statue.  Early industrialists (including James Watt) looking over some plans or blueprints.  I wondered what they would have thought of the cheap Lowest Bidder Archeceture building that frames their statue.

Birmingham was one of the world's first industrial cities.  The Industrial Revolution began here.  Right here.

Although they did not keep my favored development style, dilapidation and decay, the canal side area was nevertheless tastefully redeveloped.

The dray horse paths have been developed into walks servicing shops and restaurants.

It might be fun to live in one of these canal houseboats.  A bit damp, I would imagine.

Some of the canal boats were very beautiful.

I paid a few pounds and joined six other tourists for a short one-hour tour up a canal.  Fun.

The canal paralleled a train line.  It is a strange feeling going through a tunnel in a boat.

A commuter train.  I waved at the train and ALL the passengers waved back.  A magic moment.

Our canal tour turning around spot was this 'canal boat camp ground' -- people stayed here for a week or two before put-putting up the canal to a new destination.  Hmmmm, this might be a retirement plan . . . .

A favorite photo: a man fishing in a Birmingham canal . . . in a tunnel.

Approaching another tunnel, I quickly snapped this photo.  I did not realize what a good shot I had until I got home and looked at it.  Amazing light reflecting off the canal onto the man's face and ceiling.  Nice.

Some sections of the canal had wild graffiti.

I guess If I grew up in a 6X6 room in one of those flats in the background, I might become a graffiti artist too. 

Fortunately, I was able to indulge my love of unmaintained walls . . . Wall History Portraits I call them. 

I had a pretty good Birmingham burrito in the canal walk area, then walked back downtown where I encountered this busker bank playing red hot raz-a-ma-taz on the street.  They were very charismatic and the crowd loved them.

When I came out of The Bull Ring it was getting dark.

The lights were on the cathedral . . . .

. . . the streets were damp and glowing  . . . .

. . . and everyone was heading home or to the train station, like me.  I enjoyed my couple of days in the Birmingham city center.