Cross Street and Blossom 2002

Jamie: 28th Dec 2005 - 10:16 GMT

All in good time my good man. Hey i have a bunch of your old photos too.

Jamie: 29th Dec 2005 - 21:27 GMT

It was/is. Barry is there at the moment and is taking photos of how it looks now. When i lived there it was mainly half abandoned buildings, used mainly as storage for local businesses nearby.

Samantha: 3rd Jan 2006 - 14:26 GMT

Wow, I love this photo. you have captured an almost elegant beauty in that disused place - love the interplay between the pink of the blossoms and the different tones of grey and blue-grey - the wire and wall and all that. You can't beat the Irish light- all that water vapour in the air!

elaine: 3rd Jan 2006 - 15:02 GMT

well put. i am told the japanese have a word for beauty in decay. it is a lovely photo

jeeff: 3rd Jan 2006 - 18:11 GMT

using the JEDI (poets.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/jedi) i couldn't find the word, but i found some other interesting ones on the subject of beauty:

kyakusenbi (n) beauty of leg lines
kyoukasuigetsu (n) flowers reflected on a mirror and the moon reflected on the water's surface/something that is visible but having no substance/the subtle and profound beauty of poems that cannot be described in words
keikoku/keisei (n) beauty/siren/courtesan/prostitute
hanahazukashii (adj) beauty such as to put a flower to shame
tsukiwoawaremu (exp) to enjoy the beauty of the moon
kokushokumusou (n,adj-no) (a woman of) unparalleled beauty/(a woman's beauty being) matchless throughout the land
bijowohaberasu (exp) to be waited upon by a beauty
ryuuryokukakou (n) red blossoms and green willows/beautiful scenery of spring/natural beauty/beauty of nature

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 3rd Jan 2006 - 19:29 GMT

On beauty and decay: I was sent a poem from a book by Toyohiko Kagawa, called Songs From The Slums. He grew up and worked around the Kobe slums of Japan and was thrown in prison as an agitator at one time, the stars shining through his iron bars are his only friends in one poem.

SHINKAWA

One month in the slums
And I am sad,
So sad
I seem devil-possessed,
Or mad.

Sweet Heaven sends
No Miracle
To ease
This hell;
The careless earth
Rings no
Alarum bell.

But here there are slippery streets, which never are dry;
They are lined with open sewers, where rats come out to die;
Tattered paper doors stand wide to winds that beat;
The houses are all of a reddish black, like the hue of stale whale meat;

Filth on the flimsy ceilings, dirt in the musty air;
Elbowed out of their crowded rooms, people are everywhere;
All night long they crouch in the cold, huddled on broken benches,
Where there's never a moments lifting of the heavy offal stenches.

The painted idiot girl
Upon whose back
Vile pictures
Were tattooed
In red,
Will never lure men to her den again,
She is dead ...

You ordinary folk
Upon the hill,
To whom
The slums are vague,
Listen and tremble
As I scream to you,
"SHE DIED OF PLAGUE!"

I must be done with thoughts like these!
The raindrops patter slowly from the eaves;
The fire beneath my half-boiled rice is out;
I hear the rising roar of ribald shout
That bring the evening to Shinkawa Slum.

I don't know about you but I feel about 100 times better than the dead-from-plague tattooed idiot prostitute.

elaine: 3rd Jan 2006 - 20:02 GMT

i identified heavily with her. whenever people talk about how they would have been this or that in the past, i just know i would have been a drudge or a painted idiot girl

when will this 'bah and humbug' lift?

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 3rd Jan 2006 - 20:59 GMT

I'm feeling a bit "devil-posessed," too. But the first sunny day will make us both happier. Until then, a cup of tea and a decent book should tide us over.

GGP: 29th Mar 2006 - 21:37 GMT

i had not seen this before. great colors and composition--wonderful low-tech and so full of texture. those 2 trees--not just the pink, but the upward-sloping green--are lovely.

Carltan : 10th Apr 2006 - 02:11 GMT

yea...you people kinda sum up what i was thinking...i've never been to ireland although i am scottish and irish...when i go there it better not look like that ( i kno it doesnt) ANYWAY i wanna see more pics my friend....bye

Jamie: 11th Apr 2006 - 02:54 GMT

Well.. yeah... It does look like that. I mean it's a real photo. Not doctored in any way. I fail to see your point. But in any case there are plenty more photos and commentary on the subject of northern ireland here on citynoise if you're interested.

Ruairí: 22nd Jun 2006 - 13:11 GMT

Hi Jamie

Just wondered - what area of london are you from?

I am originally from Lisnaskea but live in London now.

I have had the idea of going round to to your neighbourhood and taking photos of the homeless, the drug addicts used needles lying in the streets, the dog shite in the streets, the run down/deprived/derelict/boarded up/burnt out buildings, the phone boxes with hundreds of prozzies call cards, the graffiti, newpapers snippets concerning the 30+ stabbings that took place in London on New Years Eve 2005/2006 alone!!

I could go on.......

Northern Ireland has had it's problems. Most places have, but N.I. has the second lowest crime rate in western Europe - Not a bad record considering we've just released hundreds of murderers back onto the streets and that we have our annual riot season every summer.

If one murder happens in N.I., it's broadcast throughout the world because, chances are, it was sectarian. So many people are killed in London that they rarely make it onto the local BBC news.

The pictures you have shown on this website do not reflect a fair image of Lisnaskea or its' history. Did you bother to get your arse to the library in Drumhaw that also has a small museum highlighting how Lisnaskea came to exist over 500 years ago?

I know you took most of the photos back in 2002 and that a lot of redevelopment has taken place since then that you have not seen.

Cross Street, that you refer to very often (and where you lived) was built in the 1800's. You can almost tell how old it is by looking at the door in 1 of the photos that seems 1 ft too short. I visit Lisnaskea about 5-7 times a year and, what looks like the "fly tipping site" has not been tipped on for over 20 years - slack council to blame I suppose.

Its just that you have taken shitloads of photos of 1 street that only measures about 60m in total. Your photos give the impression that the whole town is like this and would be more at home on the Gaza Strip.

Lisnaskea has seen many factories close down and the work from them moved to Belfast, India, South Africa and the like. Because of this, the town and the county as a whole are heavily reliant on tourism. Since the cease fires, there has been a huge drive to promote tourism in the Province and 15 odd photos of a 60m street in decay do not help Lisnaskea's cause

If I have time, I will take photos next time i'm there - should be in a few weeks and if you let me know where you're from Jamie, i'll take a few snaps of the urban decay round your neck of the woods

Ruairí

Jamie: 22nd Jun 2006 - 13:41 GMT

I'm not from London, Ruairí. What gave you the impression that i did? I live in Lincolnshire. I wholeheartedly agree that the pictures i have shown on this website do not reflect a fair image of Lisnaskea or its' history. I never imagined that anyone would jump to such an assumption. These are merely photos of the street on which i lived at the time, and were a study of urban decay. It's a subject which I and many others here share an interest in.

I am also aware that the area has been redeveloped. A guy called Barry, a Lisnaskea boy from NYC posted some photos from his recent visit showing some of the redevelopment along with some other places which remain eerily similar.

I'm sorry if my photos have offended you in any way. They've certainly caused more than their fair share of controversy over the last four years. Barry posted some nice photos of Lisnaskea from a more traditional perspective which i had hope would help redress the balance a little. But i think it's perhaps slightly melodramatic to suggest that a few photos on a website could affect fermanagh's tourism industry, don't you. I must say, to anyone reading this; visit County Fermanagh, it's a lovely place. The lakes. The rollling green hills. The friendly locals (no sarcasm intended, they really are friendly) it's Northern Ireland's lake district, or so they say.

But, by all means come to Lincolnshire and takes some photos. Take some photos of Horncastle's seedy underbelly, and take some photos of skea next time you're there and post them here. This website is all about experiencing places for other people perspectives. During my time in Lisnaskea, my perspective was one of focusing my photographic attention on the urban decay i saw around me. it was something that fascinated me, visually speaking. I did not take photos of the awe inspiring countryside, the lakes, the rolling hills or mountains and post them here because that's not what citynoise is about.

Let's see how you see Lisnaskea. We'd all be very interested to see your photos.

Jamie

EmAManda Light-of-Day: 11th Oct 2006 - 09:04 GMT

I got here because I googled "Songs from the Slums" and truly enjoyed this picture. The contrast between the items we create as a result of our human civilization and the beauty and gentle simplicity of nature, as personified by the pink-blosomed bush, made for a lovely composition which also has the capability of generating further inquiry and creative thought.

As a result of this photo and all the comments,I also went on to explore sites about Lisnaskea and County Fermanagh. Thanks you Jamie and all who commented. What a delightful sojourn. :-)

tracy clark nee leonard: 23rd Aug 2007 - 12:39 GMT

ive just found out my dad was born and lived on this street for years he was born 1925. how kool is that.

pete. r: 17th Sep 2007 - 19:20 GMT

im from lisnaskea and i really enjoyed the photos, i have always dismissed that place as a shit hole only good 4 gettin pissed up drinkin bottles of buckfast on a summers eve, i do suppose i'll now see it in a new light as a place of post modern beauty. thanks jamie, you've opened my eyes. i may add an empty bucky bottle r 2 to the area jus to make it look lived in. hope others appreciate wot im tryin to do, p.s ruairi, [sorry i cant find a ' to go over the i],chill man, ur a bit highly strung, if i see u about skea takin snaps i'll know wot ur up 2. goodluck

Jamie: 12th May 2008 - 21:18 GMT

dammit pete! it's people like you who used to cost me an arm and a leg in pucture repairs and replacement tyres ;)