Norwich Cathedral and the Close, June 2024

The close is a small village of houses within Norwich Cathedral walls.  The area is also home to Norwich School and during the day there is an influx of tourists who visit both the Cathedral and the Close. My school friend, Tim, lives in one of the Cottages in the Close.   It was a good to catch up with Tim who I had only seen once since we both left school and went our separate ways over 40 years ago.  As I wished to see the Time Horizon installation at Houghton Hall, a stop over at Norwich looked a good idea. 

Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
A typical tourist shot of the Ethelbert Gate leading to the Close.
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
So good to see the sun shinning.
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
A picturesque view of part of the Close
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
An afternoon view of the Cathedral.
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
Night view
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
Nearly time for the gates to close
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
People still around in the warm evening.

 I arrived on a glorious sunny afternoon and the Close was busy with people.  In the evening the doors are shut at 10.30pm and at around 9pm the area is relatively quiet.  The next day, I got up early and wandered around the close.  The sun was also rising in the sky and again there were several good photographs amongst the light and the shadows.  I also met Tony was sitting quietly against one of the walls with his lenses pointed up to the spire of the Cathedral.  There are two nesting peregrine falcons and the City news is wrapped up with their well-being.  Last year there were no chicks and this year only one has survived.  The picture shows Tony taking his picture and if you look very closely you can see the young peregrine bird on the masonry. I did not have my long lens so this is a digital zoom.

Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
Early Morning people
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
The gates are open. A view of the cathedral through the Erpingham Gate
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
Tony photographing the peregrine falcons.
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
Into the cloisters.
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
The sun is rising
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
Black and white view of the cloisters
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
A leading line from the Labyrinth in the centre of the cloisters.
Photographing Norwich Cathedral and the Close
Inside the Cathedral

The cloisters were impressive and I learnt that some of the Harry Potter movies were filmed in the cloisters. Also I realised that I missed several opportune views of the cloisters as I read up about Norwich Cathedral after my visit. Furthermore, I did not get the chance to explore other parts of Norwich so another visit beckons.

On a photographic note, I am finding my Fujifilm x100vi is working well now that I have set it up with a back focus button. The IBIS makes the night photography straightforward although I do have to remove the noise in Lightroom for several pictures. I have also purchased a “shimmer” for the lens and this adds an attractive effect when shooting into the sun.

Looking back into my archives and I find that I photographed Cologne back in 2019. As this is another Cathedral City, it is interesting to compare my blog postings over the years.

I also provide a link to the official Norwich Cathedral website.

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024

Art will challenge you, ask questions and generates new ideas in how you think.  As you navigate through life, art allows you to stop, think and take in your surroundings.  By asking questions, artwork provokes you to provide an answer to what you see before you.  However, there are no right or wrong answers and you must be content with your own interpretation of what you see.  Opening yourself up to the art before you, leads to increased creativity. In my photography, such opportunities lead to different inventive approaches to composing my pictures.  

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
A cast iron sculpture with Houghton Hall in the background.
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Statues in the ground in sync with the datum statue inside the Hall

Antony Gormley is an artist whose work will challenge you and ask such questions.  His metallic sculptures are modelled on his own human form and have been installed in several locations. The Angel of the North near Newcastle and the statues from “Another Place” on Crosby beach are probably his most recognisable installations.  The statue that I encounter when visiting Birmingham is Iron:man in Victoria Square.  The backwards and slightly tilted to the side cast iron figure watches over people who pass by on their way through the Square.  I have photographed iron:man throughout the years.  Another work that I often visit in London is “reflection” near to Euston Station.  In 2015, one of his statues was placed at the locks opposite the Lengthman’s Cottage, Lowsonford, Warwickshire.  This was on the occasion to celebrate 50 years of the Landmark Trust.  I do enjoy his artwork so when I learned that the art installation Time Horizon was coming to Houghton Hall in Norfolk then I knew I had to visit.

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Many of the statues were placed in the adjacent parkland.
https://www.antonygormley.com/works/exhibitions/time-horizon-houghton
Under the trees

Fortunately I have an old school friend who lives in Norwich and I availed myself on his hospitality as a base to visiting Norfolk.  Photographing Norwich is in a separate blog and shows the picturesque area around the Cathedral.  Either day or night the place has much to see and photograph.

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Statue with shadow

Arriving at Houghton Hall, I found that there was a queue to enter the property. In my nativity, I had wrongly assumed that not many people would be there.  As I waited around 20 mins to enter the carpark I now knew how popular this exhibit was.  Several of the statues were visible around the entrance and this only served to increase my anticipation about the visit.  The car park attendant told me that I had brought the weather with me and advised that I went to see the walled garden first before embarking on the rest of the sights.  This was good advice as the flower displays and the setting of the walled gardens was thrilling to behold.  There were two of Antony Gormley’s statues in the walled garden set on pedestals overlooking everyone.  

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Three ladies in red hats.

There are several areas of Houghton Hall to access and you are guided initially from the walled garden through the Stables to the Hall.  It is here that you start to encounter more of the cast iron figures many of whom are set into the ground.  Their presence is at first interesting and then as you encounter more of the cast iron figures, you begin to ask more questions about how the statues are set up.  Some are facing the Hall, whilst others have their back to the buildings.  Why are some figures buried to the neck whilst others are more exposed.  This last question is answered by the lay of the land as each figure is at the same level with the datum statue. Within the house there is one solitary figure which is buried to the hips.  This statue is the datum which is used to create a single horizontal plane across the landscape.  I found this difficult to comprehend as I took so many pictures of the statues and tried to understand the horizontal level across all 100 sculptures.  On my wanderings around the grounds, one person stopped me and asked why are the figures facing different ways.  He was perplexed by this feature of the installation.  I also noticed that people were fascinated with the details of the body and pictures of either the appendages or the buttocks were very popular with the visitors.  I took several pictures of the front and behind of the statues to work out what was the fascination.  See if you can guess why.

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Deconstructed sculpture

I walked many steps and took in as many of the sculptures that I could find.  Photographing them was fun as I attempted to capture them in their surroundings and bring the natural environment where they are placed into play.  Interactions with people was high on my list of photographs to take. This was a form of street photography where you could juxtaposition people with the surroundings.  The beautiful surroundings brought out the best in the installation and I enjoyed the contrasts between the carefully manicured lawns of the estate to the woodlands where the sculptures were in a natural woodland setting.  

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Head above ground
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Central to the horizon
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Black and white
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
In the woods
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Looking down at the datum point statue.
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Details and markings from visiting birds.
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
The Hall and Gardens covers 300 acres.
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Juxtaposition
Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Taking a break

There were many other installations present and I particularly liked the Waterflame by Jeppe Hein in the walled garden and the Axis of the World by Claudio Parmiggiani.  However there were countless others that are set into pleasing surroundings around the Hall and Gardens.

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Viewing the Axis of the World

Soon I became saturated with what I had seen and the urge to take any more photographs disappeared.  There was a long drive home but I was pleased that I had seen the “Time Horizon” and looked forward to processing all my photographs.  I hope you like my selection.  

Time Horizon, Anthony Gormley, Houghton Hall, June 2024
Selfie

Here is the official site with details of the Time Horizon.

In this blog of Lockmaster’s cottages on the canals near me, the final picture shows the Antony Gormley statue celebrating the anniversary of the Landmark Trust.