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B6: Liminality Photos

 the foreground is an arch made of woven wood, possibly burch. The arch is as tall as a person, and also about as wide as a person. Beyond the arch is a clearing. In the clearing are two chairs made of logs, with a table also made of logs. A fence post is viable just beyond those, with a little bit of grass beyond the fence line. In the distance, you can see patches of woods. Between the fence of the wooded patches a shining field. It isn’t clear what is in the field, wheat or possibly water reflecting the sunlight.

The Otherside

taken by Ember

For the project on liminal spaces, Ember took a picture of this archway, which leads from the corporate world of her office to the wild world of fields and woods.

Liminal spaces are places of transition, and this arch represents the transition from the world of order to the world of nature.

The arch also reminded the photographer of fairy arches, portals to the world of fae, and often best avoided.


A classroom. The chairs and desks are all quite short, indicating that the classroom might be for younger students. The desks are covered in boxes and crafting materials. There are boards along the walls, between the windows a whiteboard. These boards, which might otherwise be covered in displays, are empty. In the left hand corner of the room is a short book stand, and a couple of bean bags. A short run of hand made bunting runs across the ceiling, with hand made pictures on each little pendant just visible.

Transition

taken by G. Francis

This photo was taken of a classroom during its transition from one school year to the next.

This period of change between the two groups of children who will work in it demonstrates the liminality of the space.

It could also be argued that the concept of liminality is ever present in educational settings as they are often seen as means to an end or goal, an ‘in between’ place before you get to where you’re going.


A long set of very shallow stairs. The edge of each stair is painted in yellow paint for visibility whilst the rest of each stair is grey. The staircase is surrounded by a steel frame, zig zagging back and forth along both the walls and top. The walls are additionally fenced in with steel bars. Along the walls runs a pair of hand rails, one each side. Half way along, a pair of anti-bike gates, each covering a little more than half the space, making it difficult for motor vehicles to get through. The staircase continues to rise in the distance beyond them to a far wall of grey steel.

The Bridge

Taken by Mia Violet

I’ve always been oddly fascinated with bridges. They’re structures that exist entirely to provide a route from one place to another, through a location that would otherwise be inaccessible. We rarely think about how they’re cut into the landscape to permanently change how we view and traverse that area.

Most, like this one, are also open perpetually, they never close, they don’t have opening hours. Whether it’s the middle of the day or the dead of night, it’s there. An eternal piece of geography as perpetual and dependable as if it was part of the land itself.


A long hospital corridor. The corridor is empty. The floor, made of a shiny material, reflects the fluorescent lights in the ceiling, and changes from blue to cream not far from the photographer. Close to the photographer, on the left hand side, is a mural of the world,with the end of the world “Welcome” visible in multi coloured letters. The art looks like it may have been painted by a child. On the right hand side are trollies with drawers in, and beyond those chairs for waiting. The corridor branches off left and right, but goes on for a long way beyond the photographer, a wall at the far end just visible.

The Long Road

taken by Stacy Smith

Hospital corridors are the ultimate liminal space, existing purely as a passage from one place to another yet people are left occupying them for hours at a time in their own liminal passage between sickness and health.

Like many people I have never been fully healthy so we spend our lives in the virtual hospital corridor of waiting lists and assessments, hoping to emerge from the other side one day.


An open window. Visible first through the open window and then the glass of the window itself is a railway track. Closer to the photographer is green railway land, covered in overgrowth. Beyond the railway is a brick building, 2 or 3 stories tall, possibly a house. Just visible is a blue bridge across the railway, rising up from the ground to the span. The bridge has a little bit of graffiti on it. The window frame dominates the left hand side of the photo, with a sliver of a 5th of the image between the window frame and the open window itself.

The Borrowers Magic

taken by Vox Margo

Ever since I was little, it’s been a running “bit” in my family that if you can’t find something small, the borrowers have probably taken it.

I love the idea of magic, and magic that exists only in the ‘tween spaces, like a doorway, dusk, or, like in my photo, a window opening.


2 figures in silhouette. One is taller than the other, its arms outstretched. The shorter figure is likely a child, holding an umbrella. The light causing the back lighting is pointed directly at the camera and has a somewhat ethereal effect, with a purplish translucent hue. At the top the light seems to stop in a circular fashion. Along this edge the light spreads out into a spectrum, showing a pink, then yellow then blue band. Behind the light, faintly visible, it looks like trees and possibly a street with other people on it, but all much less viable.


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