The Rubys - An up and coming band is one that I slowly approached over social
networking site Twitter, after seeing them live at Manchester HMV Ritz back in
December.
I loved their sound and turned around to a girl friend of mine and
said ‘I’m gonna work with these guys’ - Fast forward a month or so and Dave
Earlam aka The Bat Ruby (Drummer, The Rubys) and I were discussing locations
for a photo shoot.
The guys didn't want a typical northern grimy location - I began
researching into whats in and around Manchester. Having been away for the best
part of a year travelling, I came back with a different perspective on
Manchester and was keen to find hidden gems that would be perfect for this
shoot to pitch to the guys. You appreciate whats around you a hell of a lot
more when you haven't been around it for a while - everything is the same yet
so different.
Some how - I came across The Portico Library. I arranged a meeting
with the lovely Emma. When I went by to see the library - I was surprised to
see where it was - for the sheer fact that I had walked past it heaps of times
before and never noticed it!
Have you seen Disney’s Beauty and the Beast? You know the Library
Belle has all to herself at the castle? Yep, The Portico Library reminds me
very much of this!
I was blown away by how quirky the library is - the smell, the feel,
the look of the library - it tells a story even just by standing in there. Such
a stunning library with so much personality. The interior has been well
maintained and the stacks upon stacks of books - piled high to the ceilings -
it’s such an atmospheric place.
Fast forward another few weeks and the shoot was about to take place
- The Rubys were super excited about the venue - it definitely doesn't have the
typical northern look and feel after all! We were at the library for a few
hours, and then shifted outside and hit the streets to get some shots on
location. We got some great shots and The Rubys were happy with the results.
So happy, that the shots have been used on the album artwork for their new
album - ‘Limelight Paradise’ . You can have a listen and buy the album over at http://the-rubys.bandcamp.com/
- Head on over!
As a photographer - the place is perfect - so many different angles
to shoot from, multiple rooms to work with, plenty of natural light, so quirky,
and so many props to work with ( with permission of course! ) Not only that,
but since it’s bang right in the middle of Manchester, there are surrounding
areas which can be of good use in a shoot. So you can get various different
feels to different shots.
This is what Dave from The Rubys had to say about the venue.
"The
Portico Library is a literary 'Time Capsule of Cool' hidden away on the busiest
of Manchesters' streets.
We
found it like silence looking for sound; a clash of isolation centred in the
chaos of Piccadilly.
The
atmosphere bled into our photographs; split-second shards of frozen time caught
in a timeless environment of books with leather-worn looks, furniture with
overtures, taxidermy with history.
Unique
is an over-used term, although we found the Portico to be just that,.....just
not in the obvious sense. It has character that doesn't overpower, a richness
which did not make us look poorer, a pride of vision that didn't put shame in
ours.
Artists
and Photographers know the power of a good location, and in the Portico, we
felt that we were passing through the history of the Library. Melville stared
at us from across the bookshelves whilst Rambeau waited patiently.
There
are few locations in the world that will give you the same sense of time
standing still, to the point where the hours on the clock had no Meaning; at
the Portico, we found Meaning, Relevance, and Elegance bleeding from every
fissure."
PSHIKOTRA Photography : www.pshikotra.com
Blog : www.pshikotra.wordpress.com
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