[ d u n g c a r t d o t c o m ]A place for the stuff that leaks out of my head

In A Roundabout Way from duncmc via flickr.

There isn’t much happening in the way of inspiration at the moment so here’s one from the archive. One of my most popular photos on flickr, depsite the mundane subject matter. This is the footbridge near the Daltry Street flyover on the Clive Sullivan Way in Hull. The blurring may not to be everyone’s taste but it was required to give more focus to the subject.

Chim Chim Cher-ee! from duncmc via flickr.

I took a short walk up from St Andrew’s Quay towards the old go-kart track. I thought it would be a challenge to stick with the 135mm prime, but nothing really inspired me. This was taken looking south across the river. Mostly processed using Photomatix. With a long lens on the camera the long shots are just too obvious – more effort required to see things differently.

On The Trail from duncmc via flickr.

Something a little different to the stuff I normally post. At 6.45pm tonight the Hull Freedom Trail left Victoria Square in Hull for the city’s twin town Freetown in Sierra Leone. The mission is to deliver five 4×4 vehicles to aid agencies working there to reunite victims of human trafficking, many of them children, with their families. In the process they also hope to raise awareness of modern day slavery.

This is vehicle L200 Number 4 “Hannah More” (each of the vehicles is named after a famous abolitionist). The journey will last three weeks and takes the trailblazers down through Europe, via Gibralter to north Africa. Across northern Sahara and down the west coast of Africa to Sierra Leone. Each of the five vehicles is manned by local people – some from the business community, some are specialists (medics, mechanics, etc.) and some are young people from some of the more deprived areas of Hull.

That‘s my wife looking out of the rear passenger window. She is on the trip as a nominated driver and one of official photographers. So for the next three weeks I wil be fending for myself as a temporarily single parent. The worst of it is that she’s taken my 10-22mm lens with her – well, it’s the trip of a lifetime innit.

You can find out more about the Hull Freedom Trail at www.hullfreedomtrail.co.uk. The team will be posting a blog daily when possible, and there will be video diaries and photos going up regularly. Legendary cameraman Claudio von Planta (who filmed Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s Long Way Round and Long Way Down) is on the trip, and he will be posting short episodes along the way as well.

MySpace users can also check out www.myspace.com/hullfreedomtrail and there is also a dedicated group on FaceBook but you have to be a FaceBook member to get access to that one.

Another shot from tonight’s departure event for the Hull Freedom Trail. TV presenter Helen Philpot took to the stage under the big screen in Victoria Square and interviewed various team members who are on the journey, as well as keeping the public abreast of what was going on. Here she is seen speaking to Philip Dean who helps to run the St George Foundation in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The foundation reunite street children with their familes, and currently rely on four clapped out motorcycles for transport. The Hull Freedom Trail will donate one of the five Mitsubishi L200 vehicles to the foundation when they arrive in Freetown in three weeks time. This will make a huge difference to Philip’s work.

Claudio von Planta filmed the event, and as the convoy left Victoria Square tonight for the ferry it was flanked by motorcyle outriders from Rotary International. The lead rider carried Claudio as pillion and he will be joining the five vehicles for the three week journey.

Rubber Rings from duncmc via flickr.

Another from the former go-kart track on St. Andrew’s Quay in Hull. It is now derelcit and overgrown, and place with an incredible atmosphere. These tyres were used as track markers and they make for some intriguing sculptural forms.

A Thorny Issue from duncmc via flickr.

A corner of the derelict go-kart trak at St. Andrews Quay, Hull. The river lies just beyond the wall.

Open & Closed from duncmc via flickr.

I‘ve shot it before and I’ll shoot it again. The crumbling Scott Street bridge in Hull, a grade II listed building which is too costly to repair (£5M) or remove (£125K), and is maintained in its state of dereliction by Hull City Council at a cost of £500 per year.

Dashing Across The Road from duncmc via flickr.

I seem to have let things slip and it’s been a while since I posted. Last week the Hull flickr crowd met up for a walk around the Wincolmlee / Bankside area of the city. I wasn’t too hapy with the shots I took at first, but having started to work through them in Photoshop they seem to be shaping up quite well. This is one of the surprises – fairly bland image in the camera, but a bit of tonal work has really brought the sky to life.

Lock To The Dock from duncmc via flickr.

The view along Albert Dock in Hull, looking west from the lock gates at its entrance. HOTA’s lifeboat training facility can be seen to the right and the towers of the Humber Bridge are just visible in the distance if you know what to look for.

Albert Dock & Tower Blocks from duncmc via flickr.

Hull’s Albert Dock taken from the “footpath in the sky” – the public footpath that runs across the shed rooves by the dockside. The orange lifeboats are part of the HOTA (Humberside Offshore Training Association) facility. The four suspended over the quayside are for practising ship evacuation drills, and the one at the top of the yellow tower is used to train for oil and gas rigs.

The buildings directly behind are the Odeon cinema (left) and the Ice Arena (right). The tower blocks of Great Thornton Street can be seen on the skyline to the right, with Hull Royal Infirmary just left of centre, and the two blocks off Porter Street to the left of that.

More detail can be seen in the larger version.

Deep & Distant from duncmc via flickr.

Shot from Island Wharf in Hull looking across the entrance to the Humber Dock basin (which leads to Hull Marina), with Victoria Pier beyond and the Deep looming in the distance. That’s the River Humber to the right.