Art / Photography
Different perspectives on Bristol
Talking cranes, flame throwers and a backstage visit to the Old Vic… Canon offered Bristol’s instagrammers a different perspective on the city with its first #CanonBristolMeet.
Bristol’s igers take regular trips around the city’s most photogenic spots, snapping shots of the most iconic and obscure views they can find, and they jumped at the opportunity for an all-expenses paid trip around some of the city’s less usual spots. Canon’s Instameets team travels around the country taking instagrammers on tours around their cities. This was the first time they’d done one in Bristol and the team seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the igers.
We met at the top of the M Shed, where Canon representatives – who clearly know they have the best job in the world – lent out expensive looking cameras. Tripods – also expensive looking – lined the balcony and the organisers pointed out some of the landmarks, including Cabot tower, Bristol cathedral, and the Planetarium, before letting the big group loose on the view.
“The fact that the cranes move is pretty amazing, because you go down to the docklands in London and everything is static and old, whereas down in the docklands here everything is alive and things are happening,” pointed out Richard Wolfe, Canon’s PR man.
Next up was the Old Vic, which celebrates its 250th birthday this year, where Andrew Stocker, the theatre’s Duty Manager, waited for us. The igers were just meant to take shots of the gilded Georgian interior but the tech rehearsal of King Lear ran over, so we got to have a preview. We sat in darkness in the gallery while the aftermath of a battle scene played out below us.
Once the actors had gone through their last bows, the photographers were allowed to swarm all over the stage, taking photos of the props, the old machinery and the view of the rest of the theatre. Andrew showed us some of the old sound effect equipment that they still use, despite all the mod cons the sound producers have to play with, swinging a long wooden cylinder filled with dried peas and lentils and making it rain for minutes.
Blandine Blanchard (@blonieb) loved it. “The highlight was definitely the uniqueness and the really exclusive privileges. Showing my family back in Australia the 250-year-old theatre was so very, very cool and unique,” she told Bristol 24/7.
Rachel Varley (@blue_eyed_perspective), who’d swapped her 600D for a borrowed E056D for the day, was also impressed.
“The Old Vic was incredible, I’d never been in there before and there’s all that history. It was incredible to watch some of the performers as well,” she told Bristol 24/7.
She goes on the instameets to be inspired by her fellow photographers, but said that she’d enjoyed the secretive aspect to this meet.
“It’s great, so much fun. I had no idea all the different things we’d be doing. Everything’s been an exciting surprise,” she said.
We were especially surprised when they left the theatre to find an old red bus waiting to take us to the next mystery destination. It took a while to persuade us to board the bus instead of taking photos of it.
Cirque Bijou, based in the Aardman studios, had something a pretty spectacular fiery photoshoot waiting for us. A woman dressed in a glittering pants suit got strapped into a flamethrower and strode into the centre of the room. Narrowing her eyes at us, she stuck her arms in the air and shot two-metre high flames from her wrists. Standing in different poses, for long enough for even those of us using i-phones to get a good shot, she filled the room with orange light while flames burst out behind and in front of her as well. She was followed by a man waving sparking batons through the air, spreading lines of flames through the air. It was hard to stop staring long enough to snap some shots.
“I loved the fire bit, I wish we could stay longer!” said Laku Davies (@lakudavies). “It’s been brilliant, I wasn’t expecting most of what we did. The lady was obviously my favourite, but I won’t know if I’ve got any good shots of her until I get home and look through all the pictures I’ve taken,” she added.
The group spent the journey back comparing photos and swapping instagram handles. There’s a prize for the best photo so the instagrammers were keen to get home and search for the winning shot, but not before stopping off at tearoom where cake and coffee were laid out in artistic piles for people to eat – and photograph.
Jess Siggers (@porthjess), who helps run the igers, was satisfied. “It’s been a great day. My favourite bit was the Old Vic, and having free access to something that you wouldn’t usually get a chance to see, but also the performance… It was easy to get distracted and forget you were supposed to be there to be taking photos,” she said.
Read more: 9 winning images of Bristol
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