As well as running his own large format print business, stroon, Garry Lomas is also an accomplished photographer. Here I showcase a set of his photos depicting a very familiar subject to me: Stockport railway viaduct.
Partly to exclude modern elements of the environment and partly for creative effect, he has copied and mirrored sections of the viaduct horizontally and vertically, as well as enhancing the sky.
Using an extreme wide angle lens gives a distorted and surreal take on a familiar subject. Looking directly up inside one of the arches, the viaduct is almost unrecognisable. Again he has flipped a half section of the viaduct vertically, and added a sky from elsewhere.
The image of the viaduct and factory building uses selective colour, something I have mixed feelings about, but the effect here is eye-catching. The blue sky and red brick are heightened by increased saturation. This contrasts with the factory building at the bottom with its sawtooth roof. There is a conflict but an interesting one.
The two views at the bottom taken from the bridge to the west of Mersey Square show the extreme distortion caused by the wide angle lens. The wide field of view takes in the viaduct, factory buildings and the top of the bridge with its weather-beaten textures.
I’ll be featuring the work of Garry Lomas again soon. Find out more about stroon’s canvas printing service on the stroon website and also ‘Like’ the stroon Facebook page!
