So for this project, we have to build a piece of work in a specific site located in one map area (out of 15 map spaces available in Coventry.) As each map is quite large, it is quite important to spot what areas pique your interest as otherwise you could be wondering around for ages with nothing interesting!
The first thing I noticed with all of the maps is that they are pretty city orientated, with lots of streets and roads. Thankfully they had all the names and other key facts such as businesses, schools etc which was quite handy, but nothing that made me jump out of my seat.
The first place that took my fancy is that on Bayley Lane, there is St Mary’s Guildhall, which had visitors such as Mary Queen of Scots [came to Coventry for refuge during the rising of the north, Elisabeth 1 asked the Coventarians to look after Mary] and Shakespeare (Stmarysguildhall.co.uk 2014.) Now from looking at the pictures on their Flickr website (Flickr 2014) there are various locations which are quite appealing (chapels, tables, thrones etc) in which these people did visit.
So my first initial idea for this would be to look at some slow shutter speed photography in which I would have the scenery with someone constantly moving as if to represent a ghost of someone passing through the room for example.
However, I feel that this would be a very simplistic idea as it is something that most people use with SSS, so it wouldn’t be as visually appealing. So perhaps it would be best to actually visit the inside so that I can get a better idea of what to look at.
My second idea is based off the local woods in the maps. With woods, one of the things you get is people walking through them for various reasons, so often items may be left on the ground, or tracks are left. These small things can often tell a story about what has happened in the area.
One such park is Allesley Park, originally a deer park (Coventry.gov.uk 2014) before becoming the grounds of Allesley Hall, which hosts a variety of trees and landscapes. As this ground is open to the public and has a host of attractions for families, there is sure to be an abundant of left over items.
Another park that piques my interest is Naul’s Mill Park; even though that is is much more smaller then Allesley Park, it has a large ornamental pond (Coventry.gov.uk 2014) which again may be visited from families so again its an area worth checking.
Finally another place that took my interest for this second idea is Swanswell Park and Pool. This is essential a bigger version of Naul Mill; it used to be a medieval monastic fishpond (Coventry.gov.uk 2014). Bands usually play there in the summer, so it would be interesting to see if anything has been left in the grass or dug deep in, which could provide some interesting macro shots possibly.
As of the moment, these are the initial ideas that I have at the moment, so the next step forward for me is to go to these areas to have a look around and see what exactly takes my fancy and if I can take any shots.
Bibliography:
Coventry.gov.uk, (2014) Allesley Park – Parks In Coventry – Coventry City Council [online] available from <http://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory_record/273/allesley_park> [7 October 2014]
Coventry.gov.uk, (2014) Nauls Mill Park – Parks In Coventry – Coventry City Council [online] available from <http://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory_record/334/nauls_mill_park> [7 October 2014]
Coventry.gov.uk, (2014) Swanswell Park And Pool – Parks In Coventry – Coventry City Council [online] available from <http://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory_record/366/swanswell_park_and_pool> [7 October 2014]
Flickr, (2014) St Mary’s Guildhall Image Gallery [online] available from <https://www.flickr.com/photos/coventrycc/sets/72157616209310807/> [7 October 2014]
Historiccoventry.co.uk, (2014) Coventry Now & Then: Swanswell Pool [online] available from <http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/nowandthen/swanswell-pool.php> [7 October 2014]
Stmarysguildhall.co.uk, (2014) St. Mary’s Guildhall – Visit Information [online] available from <http://www.stmarysguildhall.co.uk/info/4/visit> [7 October 2014]
Alex Taylor Photography 