As I’m sure you know I am a member of OneLandscape Photography Community, and each month we are set a challenge by Chris Sale, or leader. Well in actual fact Chris asks group members to suggest ideas, and this month it’s my turn. In my 2024 Project of the River Mersey i came across graffiti on the motorway bridge. As i pondered the composition it struck me, is this art, or is it an eyesore? That is a very subjective judgement I think, but the more I thought about it the more i thought it would be a good idea for this months group challenge. So is it Art or an Eyesore!! It is all about the images and thankfully the group accepted the challenge with good grace and a number of the members had ideas immediately.
This is the Halo, it sits on a hill above Haslingden in Rossendale, Lancashire. This is part of a commissioning from Rossendale Council for various artists to create art that helps regenerate parts of this area, where once it was used for another purpose and was lying unused and unloved. There are others in this wider geographic area, that form the collection. It’s a steel construction and at night is lit up by various LED lights. My visit on Friday was around lunchtime but the weather was dreary and dull. You can just see a glimmer of better weather in the distance, which as it happens is over Manchester.
I decided to look for compositions from various different angles, on all sides of the Halo. There isn’t much directly near it, but I did find these slabs on the floor, and used them to add some foreground, not the most engaging i grant you but its good enough for the test shots that this series are all about.
The structure in the foreground in this image ha a dual purpose, its some kind of storage unit, along with displaying some details about the “Halo – Panopticom” to give its full title. Lovely stone structure is much better than the more modern materials that are used and i think looks great when its weather beaten like this particular unit is.
The walk up from Haslindon Town Centre whilst being uphill, it’s not too arduous. Even me with my full bag and Benro tripod with the big geared head managed to walk up without having to stop too many times. The official website says there’s no parking at the site, which technically there isn’t. However, I did see quite a few cars drive up and past and one person even stopped and got out to walk a dog.
When you step off the road onto the path leading up to the Halo, there are the usual sights, the path made by the council, and the path made by the walkers. The image above is from the proper path made by the council, and is compacted sand (i think). This is the view you first get when walking up. Not unusually there is an electricity pylon, as well as a telephone mast, all common sights on landscapes up and down the UK. Especially the ones near town centres.
When you get up close to the structure you can see that there are lots of LED lights strung across the construct of the sculpture, this means that it does light up, every night, I’m assuming. I think another trip in the evening is on the cards to capture this “interesting” structure all lit up. Watch this space.
All the images were taken with my Sony Alpha7 IV, with my 16 to 35 ZA Sony Lens.