ARCHITECTURE
IN ART
20.Ferrybridge,Brotherton, North Yorkshire,Eric deMaré
FORa couple of decadesafter the lastwar, the idea thatnewarchitecture, industrial or otherwise, could happily sit alongside old and ancient buildings withno great offence to aesthetic sensibilities wasastrand of thought in the architecture schools. Indeed, the goal of ahappymarriage between old and new buildings underlies much of urban planningphilosophy inBritain since 1945, indeedright up
tothepresent.As things turnedout, whenpush cameto shoveit wasoftenold buildings thatwereshoved intooblivion to makewayfor new ones. Yet in the countryside, somethingof
this old world/new world fusion became reality,as anewgeneration of vast concrete power stationssprang up across the MidlandsandtheNorth. Belchingthousandsofcubicfeetof
steamandsmoke bythe minute, with coolingtowersoften lost in cloudsof their ownmaking, Ferrybridgepower station in West Yorkshire wasa temple of the cult of concrete-in-countryside. Built in the1950s, the giant “B” station atFerrybridge was joined thefollowing decade bythe “C” station. “A”wasput up in the 1920s. It is hard toappreciate now, in atimeof
heightenedenvironmental awareness and fearsof brutalisingtechnology,but at first
thesecolossal structures werewidelyseen notasharbingersofHades but asheralds
ofhope.That changein perceptiontook place inthe1960s,probablyaround 1966 –possiblythetimethat architectural photographerEricdeMaré framedashot in his Rolleiflexof theFerrybridgemassif with achurchintheforeground. Astudent at theArchitectural
Associationinthelate1920s andearly 1930s,DeMaré,ofHuguenot andSwedish descent,wouldbecome a great photographerofBritish
buildings.At the AAhis contemporaries includedEdwin Smithand HumphreySpender, whowould alsoadoptphotography as their medium, anduseit withimmense skillandpassion. In thelate1940sDeMaré fellunder the spell of thewriterLTCRolt andthe vanishingworldofcanals, locksand wharvesthat Rolteloquently highlighted. In 1950, inabook ofhis ownon canals,De Maré coined the term“functional tradition”, aphraselaterusedfor the titleof JM
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Richards’ 1957study, akeytext for industrialarchaeology. DeMarétookmost of the photographs forRichards’book. De Maré’s Ferrybridgephotograph
soon becameone of thebestknownand most powerful images ofpost-industrial Britain. Somehave seenin the photograph thetriumphof Mammonover God; but which iswhich?Withthe skillof a Renaissanceportraitist,DeMaréhas, in a click, presented us witha puzzleas beguilingand enigmaticaslifeitself. What does the shot reallymean? Did
thephotographeractually prefer chimneys to Christ? Or isthescene awarningabout thevulnerability of notonly oldbuildings, but faith itself? Isita positive scene,or a troubled one?Hadthephotograph been taken afewyearsearlier, optimismwould havebeen thestimulus–to recordthat happy marriageof oldandnewamid English fields. Not long after the shot was taken, only oneinterpretation wouldhave beenpossible: the destruction of theworld.
Thecurrent state of playis that the
power station is losing toGod.Ferrybridge “B”closed in 1992 and hassince been demolished. “A” shut in 1976. But the church still stands. Grade II listedStEdward theConfessorwas designedandbuiltcirca 1842 by Pritchett’sof York,andcontains memorialsfrom its ancient predecessor. Confusingly, it lies in North Yorkshire, inthe hamletof Brotherton. DeMaré’s photographs wererecently
onshowat RIBA
London.Theexhibition moved to RIBA North West, inLiverpool, in June. Due to public interest, theclosing date hasbeen extendeduntil 2October. So, what doesthe picturereally mean?
DeMaré can’t helpuswithananswer. He died in 2002,aged 91. But likeallgreat artists, he’s keeping us guessing. Robin Stummer
“The Exploring Eye: ThePhotographyof Eric de Maré”,The Equator,MannIsland, LiverpoolL31EN.
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ERIC DE MARE / RIBA LIBRARY PHOTOGRAPHS COLLECTION
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