Angel of the north

The wonderful Angel of the North sculpture by Antony Gormley seems to have a recurring presence in my life. I live 180 miles from it but have travelled past it on the A1 countless times. I have also had reason to photograph it on many occasions starting way back in 1995 as a model in the artist’s studio. Here is a cutting I recently found. The story mentions probable planning objections but thankfully these were overcome. A wonderful sight from the road, it’s much better viewed stood beneath as I am doing in one of the shots below. Last year I photographed the angel on behalf of Morrisons supermarket  as part of a guerilla marketing campaign which proved………controversial. I’m not putting the picture into this post as some people get ever so upset about it but you can search it easily enough as it appears on The Guardian, ITN and Daily Telegraph sites. The angel has also become something of a shrine. Stand at the southwest corner of the site and you will see makeshift memorials on young trees. Incidentally, the flash-lit figure is of me using a radio remote to trigger the 20 second exposure on the camera whilst firing a flash from the ground behind me.