Opening ceremony in the Smith Art Gallery Brighouse of my friend Mike Bentley's photographic exhibition (After the Flood) chronicling the dismantling and reconstruction of the Grade II listed Elland bridge destroyed in the Boxing Day flood 2015,
Mike started photographing the dismantling of the bridge thinking he would possible get a few shots for the photo club competition, this then escalated into an obsession,100 plus visits to site and in excess of 2,500 images taken,
the Halifax Photographic Society has close links with Calderdale Council one of the members mentioned Mikes work and after showing some of the images to the communications office the idea of an exhibition was born, construction company CPC Civils Ltd, Calderdale Council and the Canal River Trust funding the exhibition and opening ceremony.
the project manager was approach at the bridge opening by a local resident who said you have spent 5 million pounds on it and it looks the same as it did, he said that's what we spent all the money on just trying to achieve that, all the original stonework was painstakingly removed and replaced, the local resident was still not impressed.
@annied Thank you for finding the time to comment Annie, Mike was never allowed into the site complex and took all the shots from outside the security fencing:)
@onewing Thank you for your comment Babs, Mike was not welcome at first but after a few visits the workmen tended to take him for granted/ignoring him which was exactly what he wanted:)
than is a wonderful outcome for Mike and a lesson to us all.. thanks to his tenacity the wider community now has the chance to see and appreciate his work.. and the work of the crews who actually rebuilt the bridge..
i'm rather glad you've highlighted this.. i will make sure to get myself along there to see his work..
Btw, a rather good group portrait Peter..
@quietpurplehaze Mike did get some verbal abuse to start with but he stuck to his task of creating his own personal record of the works, he has created a beautiful photographic record for all to see:)
@jorlam Thank you for your interesting comments Jorlam, Mike took all his photographs from areas around but not inside the construction site, it was only towards the last 6 months of the construction that they accepted his presence with a camera, its well worth a visit, the exhibition is in Smith Art Gallery and Public Library, known as ‘The Rydings’, on Halifax road, Brighouse HD6 2AF runs until the 11th November so you have plenty of time:)
August 14th, 2017
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i'm rather glad you've highlighted this.. i will make sure to get myself along there to see his work..
Btw, a rather good group portrait Peter..