Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Share #1 Posted January 6, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation I Tower of London, London, Greater London, UK Leica M9, Voigtländer Nokton-M 1:1.5/50 mm ASPH., iso 160 Old buildings and new skyscrapers surround the memorial installation and overlook the volunteers, who throughout the summer are coming from all parts of the United Kingdom, and are tasked with placing the ceramic poppies. The installation, which is now turning to continue along the north side of the Tower of London, profoundly demonstrates the “Blood Swept Lands” part of the installation’s title. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation I by Leica Jay, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #2 Posted January 6, 2015 Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation II Tower of London, London, Greater London, UK Leica M9, Voigtländer Nokton-M 1:1.5/50 mm ASPH., iso 160 As more volunteers take part, an assembly line takes shape. Each poppy and its ground stake must be removed from the packaging, and then all pieces are taken over to the line of volunteers who are placing each one into the ground in a precisely determined pattern. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation II by Leica Jay, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted January 6, 2015 Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation III Tower of London, London, Greater London, UK Leica M9, Voigtländer Nokton-M 1:1.5/50 mm ASPH., iso 160 The work can be painstaking; along with working close to ground level one has to make sure that the ground stake is not only placed deep enough to be secure but also be vertical. You can see the beginnings of how the edges of the installation will have an ebb and flow look, to match the “Seas of Red” part of the installation’s title. And notice how the volunteer in the upper right is momentarily taking a rest and using her phone’s camera to capture a close-up of her work. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation III by Leica Jay, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted January 6, 2015 Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation IV Tower of London, London, Greater London, UK Leica M9, Voigtländer Nokton-M 1:1.5/50 mm ASPH., iso 160 Visitors to the Tower of London whilst the installation was displayed had many vantage points to observe the poppies and the volunteers. At the top of the image you can see a crowd looking northward towards the thousands of poppies already emplaced along the western edge of the moat. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation IV by Leica Jay, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted January 6, 2015 Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation V Tower of London, London, Greater London, UK Leica M9, Voigtländer Nokton-M 1:1.5/50 mm ASPH., iso 160 A river of poppies fall from Legge’s Mount, on the northwestern corner of the Tower, towards a line of volunteers working steadily onwards. The white boxes contain the poppies and you can see the ground stakes piled up in the wheelbarrow, ready to be passed out. The placement plan has poppies placed at different heights to reflect a wave-like dimension to the installation. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation V by Leica Jay, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted January 6, 2015 Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation VI Tower of London, London, Greater London, UK Leica M9, Voigtländer Nokton-M 1:1.5/50 mm ASPH., iso 160 A portion of what will total 888,246 memorial poppies that will eventually fill the moat and surround the Tower of London, each poppy representing a British military fatality during the First World War. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation VI by Leica Jay, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #7 Posted January 6, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation VII Tower of London, London, Greater London, UK Leica M9, Voigtländer Nokton-M 1:1.5/50 mm ASPH., iso 160 A half-arch of poppies reaches up to hang over the main entrance bridge to the Tower of London. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation VII by Leica Jay, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted January 6, 2015 Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation VIII Tower of London, London, Greater London, UK Leica M9, Voigtländer Nokton-M 1:1.5/50 mm ASPH., iso 160 Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, in front of Legge’s Mount, Tower of London. Notice the scuplture of the medieval archer up on the top of the Tower’s battlements. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red; WWI Remembrance Art Installation VIII by Leica Jay, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedi996sps Posted January 6, 2015 Share #9 Posted January 6, 2015 Jay, a great set of images. It looks like you were able to get down into the moat area to take some of these? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted January 6, 2015 Share #10 Posted January 6, 2015 Lovely. The most complete coverage (and explanation) I've seen of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted January 6, 2015 Share #11 Posted January 6, 2015 Thanks Jay - these are terrific. This is the best memorial I have yet seen to the horrors of WWI. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #12 Posted January 6, 2015 The major art installation, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, installed at the Tower of London, marked one hundred years since the first full day of Britain's involvement in the First World War. Created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, 888,246 ceramic poppies progressively filled the Tower's famous moat between 17 July and 11 November 2014. Each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war. The poppies encircled the iconic landmark, creating not only a spectacular display visible from all around the Tower but also a location for personal reflection. The large scale of the installation was intended to reflect the magnitude of such an important centenary and create a powerful visual commemoration. After the memorial ended on 11 November, all of the poppies that made up the installation were sold, raising millions of pounds which were shared equally amongst six service charities. I visited the installation on 9 August after approximately 25% of the poppies had been installed. The installation started on the southwest corner near the main entrance of the Tower proper, and was working its way north along the filled-in moat. Even though the numbers of poppies emplaced so far was but a fraction of the total, the view that I faced once I emerged from the Tube station and saw the Tower and poppy installation was an immediately visceral, graphic, and chilling reminder of the horror of war and the damage which was done to the men of the United Kingdom (and all nations) over the 4-plus years of the First World War. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share #13 Posted January 6, 2015 Jay, a great set of images. It looks like you were able to get down into the moat area to take some of these? Ali, no, I was not fortunate enough to have credentials to allow me to access the moat area. I was up on the outside walkways with all the hoi polloi, fighting for a view. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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