John Davies, Metal recycling, Widnes and Fiddler's Ferry Power Station, Warrington 2010
Dawno nie zaglądałem na stronę Johna Daviesa, dobrych kilka miesięcy. Tymczasem pojawiła się na niej informacja o nowym, rozpoczętym właśnie projekcie angielskiego fotografa, który zatytułowany jest (?) „Metal Recycling”. No i pierwsze zdjęcie, jakie go zapowiada, każe spodziewać się kolejnej świetnej serii. John Davies w mistrzowskiej formie (można by powiedzieć, jak zawsze). Poniżej autorski opis przedsięwzięcia:
This photograph is part of ongoing research by John Davies into the impact of waste disposal, landfill sites and recycling plants in North West England. The image was first published in the Financial Times Weekend Magazine on 8 January 2011 (click here to view the FT feature Britain: what lies ahead?) with additional extended text below:
If you were passing through the magnificent steel arches of the 1950's Runcorn Bridge over the River Mersey towards Liverpool on a freezing afternoon in December the plumes of steam from the Fiddler's Ferry coal-fired power station would dominate the skyline. Over the bridge into Widnes a mountain of scrap metal comes into view. On top of this pile of recycled steel is a St. George's flag. The flag, now a little thread bare, was erected during the summer to show support for England's football team in the 2010 World Cup.
The site of this metal processing company and surrounding areas are planned to be cleared in the next few years to make way for the new Mersey Gateway project. The Chancellor, George Osborne, recently gave the government's commitment to provide funding for the new toll bridge over the River Mersey. Construction for the 6 lane road bridge is due to start in 2012 with the new landmark bridge opening in 2015.
The new bridge will span the railway line which carries six 1000 tonne train loads of coal a day when the power station is at full generating capacity. In the 1980's British coal was exported from Liverpool docks all over the world - now the railway delivers coal from Merseyside docks imported from South America and elsewhere.
The graded piles of steel are destined to be transported to Liverpool docks where they are likely to be exported to China, melted down and reformed into fridges and other consumer products available for sale in British shops. It's now easy to imagine that tubular steel imported from China might be used to build the new Mersey Gateway Bridge.
