I have a dream and I need your help
This particular wee project has been shelved for the duration of winter. Watch this space for details of when we will be doing in in the new year.
Background blether
I first came across this picture in 1985. I was working for the Carlisle Archaeological Unit as an Archaeological Cartographer helping to record all the historical sites of North Cumbria. We had a photographer working for us who, in the first week of being there to test his darkroom facilities, found an old negative and printed a copy. It was this picture: Rosemary Lane in 1905 showing presumably some of the regulars of the King’s Head. You can clearly see the window that's still there, which now looks onto the lane and bookshop, below the lamp.
This is a better quality version below, but cropped a bit
Since i wrote this i was absolutely bowled over when John (soon to be Ripper) gave me a copy of the above pic. It is obviously taken at the same time (some people -and the pooch- appear in both) and i had absolutely no idea it existed. Thanks ripper!.
One of the team, John ‘The Radical Scum-Buster’, drew over the first four or five figures and turned them into caricatures of each of the team. I was third from the front, the one with the bowler, and wore a denim cut-off, tootle scarf and an Afghan Coat –classy, eh? As new workers came the picture was added to and soon most of the main characters in shot had been ‘updated’.
The picture had pride of place in the office and when the survey finished in 1987 I nicked it.
I didn’t really start to drink regularly in the Napper until the late 80’s and then often thought about the picture and the people in it. It then appeared in a book called ‘Carlisle in Camera’ around this time, which I bought.
I can’t remember when I first thought about re-creating it but it must be going on 20 years now. I never got round to it, as there never seemed to be enough like-minded individuals drinking there who I could persuade to do it, but to do it PROPERLY.
Then the Chums came along.
Here’s my idea.
- I want to get a picture taken that will be part-celebration of OUR King’s Head community and part-homage to the original picture.
- I don’t want to simply recreate the picture, so no fancy-dress costumes etc, but to do a ‘version 2.0’ as it were.
- I want it to capture a slice of pub-culture in the 21st Century, a snapshot of Carlisle now as the original has become of Edwardian Carlisle.
- I think, for example, women should take the place of some of the men.
- We should wear what we normally wear as those in the original clearly are.
- If possible I want to replicate the pose, the stance and even the expressions of the main figures.
- It doesn’t need to be a faithful like-for-like shot. I can’t think of where we can legally get a toddler, for example, so we could replace it with, say a bag of groceries (Evil Mike might be the one for this).
- We can forget about the kids to the right of the group, but a dog would be good.
- To do it will require about 12 people willing to pose and a photographer. The right photographer is vital as they will have to get all the poses as close as possible and all at the right time and also shouldn't be a regular Chum. I'm thinking about Donald - Now Ian has a posh camera he might fancy it
- The majority of posers should be Chums but if one or two aren’t it won’t matter.
- It needs to be done when the town is quiet. It may take a lot of setting up and we don’t want anyone else in shot, also holding a pose can be difficult in front of a audience.
- Also it needs to be done in daylight.
- Both of these could be achieved by doing it on a Friday Club, or even better a Sunday Club after 5:30.
- We will have to choose who's who. I want to be the one I was in the print I had (third from the left). Other places can be taken simply by letting me know and also why might be useful. Resemblance to the chosen figure should play some part in this.
- I think Paul B. should be fifth from the right as he seems to have a Paul 'stance' somehow.
- I’m sure there are other things we need to work out but those are the most important ones. If you want to take part or you can think of any ideas, post it on the relevant comments strand HERE
So...who’s still up for it?
