Re-photo

Denton Wharf, Gravesend. June 1985

Some more pictures taken in 1985 on the Thames Estuary in North Kent – see also To Cliffe.

Denton Wharf, Gravesend. June 1985

Denton Wharf, Gravesend. June 1985

Denton Wharf is perhaps busier now than it was in 1985 as since 1993 it has been the base for the PLA (Port of London Authority) Marine Services  who maintain the whole of the tidal Thames.  It is on the eastern edge of Gravesend and the Saxon Shore Way runs past it.  Only a few yards away was possibly the last pub on the Thames, the Ship & Lobster, an opportunity not to be missed.

River Thames and Tilbury Power Station. June 1985

Walking past towards Cliffe there were ships on their way to and from Tilbury Docks across the river, and the tall chimneys and mass of Tilbury’s power stations. Tilbury A was out of use, but was not demolished until 1999, while Tilbury B – which kept England in power during the miners’ strike, running on imported coal – only closed in 2013, after having in part been converted to burn biomass.

Sand and gravel at Cliffe. June 1985
Sand and gravel from the Thames covered a large area at Cliffe, but there were still the remains of the cement industry – there are a few more pictures in To Cliffe.

Disused cement works at Cliffe. June 1985

Disused cement works at Cliffe. June 1985

At the time I took these pictures I was working with three cameras, mainly with a pair of Olympus OM series – probably at this time an OM1 and an OM2, though later I used two OM4s. The other camera, mainly used when photographing people, was a Leica M2. Probably most or all of these pictures would have been taken with the OM1 – and the OM2 would have been loaded with colour transparency film.

I’d tried out a 70-200mm zoom lens in the 1970s, but had eventually become disappointed with its performance and by this time was working with a fairly wide-ranging set of Olympus fixed focal lengths, mainly choosing the slightly slower alternatives in the range because of their lesser weight and smaller size. Optically, the Zuiko lenses were some of the best on the market, and one friend who was a Canon user switched because he was so impressed by the results I got.

My usual set of Zuiko lenses was: 20mm f3.5, 28mm f2.8, 35 mm F2.8 Shift, 50mm f1.8 and 200mm f5. I also had one non-Zuiko lens, a Tamron 105mm which also seemed a decent performer. Most of the time the 35mm shift lens stayed on the black and white body, and most of the colour work was taken with the 50mm.

There were many things about the OM system that I liked. It was relatively small and light. As I’ve said the lenses were superb and the slower versions reasonably affordable. The control layout was better thought out, with the shutter speeds around the lens throat in a much better position than the standard dial on top of the body, and lens changing was a breeze; I still find Nikon rather a pain by comparison with either Olympus or Leica. (Fuji-X is better too.)

But the real thing I fell in love with was the 35mm shift lens. It made perspective control into a natural movement when taking pictures and I still often find myself trying to push other lenses across in the way I used to with this lens. Perhaps its only real problem was that it was a ‘manual’ lens, and although the lever for closing down the lens aperture was in just the right place, it was possible at times to forget to ‘stop down’ and make the exposure at full aperture. Although automatic exposure would probably still get exposure correct, at full f2.8 and full shift the image might not be quite crisp.

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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

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