objet trouvé 9: a gentle act explained with sinister intent

objet trouvé 8: disabled visionary device

objet trouvé 7: dialogue with a transfigured saint

 

objet trouvé 6: the hour of the angelus

objet trouvé 5: the grand inquisitor's second-best shirt

objet trouvé 4: caught by a storm in the eastern Mediterranean sea

objet trouvé 3: fratres

objet trouvé 2: the Polish hyacinth

objet trouvé 1: st Therese's false hair piece

during the life of this blog i have found numerous rusty objects whilst walking along beaches, country footpaths and even city streets

 

 i have photographed many of them in situ but others i have taken out of their found environment (my garden is filling up with rusty bits and pieces, sorry, sculptures) and photographed them somewhere else

these are my objets trouves - objects which have not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which already exist for another purpose, the idea was first perfected by Marcel Duchamp (after Picasso) who used undisguised objects that are not normally considered art materials - the most famous example is ‘Fountain’ (1917), a standard urinal purchased from a hardware store and displayed on a pedestal, resting on its side

the use of found objects was quickly taken up by the Dada and Surrealist movements – the Surrealist leader, André Breton, defined objets trouves as "manufactured objects raised to the dignity of works of art through the choice of the artist" – continuing the tradition i have also given my photographs slightly surreal titles

 

London bridges across the river Thames: 21 Hammersmith bridge

 

London bridges across the river Thames: 20 Putney bridge

 

 

one story runs that "in 1720 Sir Robert Walpole was returning from seeing George I at Kingston and being in a hurry to get to the House of Commons rode together with his servant to Putney to take the ferry across to Fulham but he ferry boat was on the opposite side and the waterman, who was drinking in the Swan, ignored the calls of Sir Robert and his servant and they were obliged to take another route - Walpole vowed that a bridge would replace the ferry."

 the Prince of Wales apparently "was often inconvenienced by the ferry when returning from hunting in Richmond Park and asked Walpole to use his influence by supporting the bridge."

 construction of a bridge was first sanctioned by an Act of Parliament in 1726. built by local master carpenter Thomas Phillips to a design by architect Sir Jacob Acworth, the first bridge was opened in November 1729, as a toll bridge, it featured tollbooths at either end of the timber-built structure.[2]

 the bridge was badly damaged by the collision of a river barge in 1870. although part of the bridge was subsequently replaced, soon the entire bridge would be demolished and in 1886 it was replaced by the stone bridge that stands today

Putney Bridge has a church at both ends: St. Mary's church, Putney is located on the south bank and All Saints church, Fulham on the north bank. the bridge is often very busy on Saturdays, when Fulham F.C. are playing at home, as this is the main way for fans to cross the river.

 in March 1953, British serial killer and necrophiliac John Christie was finally arrested on Putney Bridge.

 

London bridges across the river Thames: 19 Fulham railway bridge and footbridge

footbridge                                       railway bridge

Fulham railway bridge crosses the river Thames very close to Putney Bridge, and carries the London Underground District line between Putney Bridge station on the north, and East Putney station on the south, Fulham railway bridge can also be crossed on foot, on the downstream (east) side

 

the bridge is of lattice girder construction and 418 metres long, with 5 spans totalling 301 metres actually across the river, two further spans on the southern shore, and one on the north. It was designed by Brunel's former assistant William Jacomb, built by Head Wrightson and opened in 1889.

London bridges across the river Thames: 18 Wandsworth bridge

 

the first bridge on the site was a toll bridge built by Julian Tolmé in 1873, in the expectation that the western terminus of the Hammersmith and City Railway would shortly be built on the north bank, leading to a sharp increase in the number of people wanting to cross the river at this point - the railway terminus was not built, and problems with drainage on the approach road made access to the bridge difficult for vehicles. Wandsworth bridge was commercially unsuccessful, and in 1880 it was taken into public ownership and made toll-free. Tolmé's bridge was narrow and too weak to carry buses, and in 1926 a Royal Commission recommended its replacement.

 

 in 1937 Tolmé's bridge was demolished and the present bridge, an unadorned steel cantilever bridge designed by Sir Pierson Frank, was opened in 1940. at the time of its opening it was painted in dull shades of blue as camouflage against air raids, a colour scheme it retains. although Wandsworth Bridge is one of the busiest bridges in London, carrying over 50,000 vehicles daily, it has been described as "probably the least noteworthy bridge in London".

London bridges across the river Thames: 17 Battersea railway bridge

 

the Battersea railway bridge - properly called the Cremorne Bridge, after the pleasure grounds in Chelsea and originally commonly referred to as the Battersea new bridge - is a bridge across the river Thames between Battersea and Chelsea and forming part of the west London line of the London Overground from Clapham junction to Willesden junction
the bridge was designed by William Baker, chief engineer of the London and North Western Railway, and was opened in March 1863, it carries two sets of railway lines and consists of five 37 m lattice girder arches set on stone piers

 

quite ordinary and uninteresting