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A View of Sheffield

A picture is worth a thousand words

View of Sheffield by photographer Adrian Wynn is a stunning collection of pictures documenting the huge changes that have taken place within Sheffield over a ten-year period, between 1982 and 1992.

Adrian recorded these changes as he looked down on the city from his job as a professional roofer. “When you are on a roof, it does give another kind of perspective. It’s surprising what a difference it makes”, Adrian said.

The 100-page book, containing both mono and full colour pictures, charts the most dramatic of these changes is the transformation of the industrial heart of the city, which can be seen through pictures of the Brown Bayley steelworks and the Atlas works awaiting demolition in the 1980’s.

The pictures contrast a city in decline and a city on the rise. A poignant example of which is a picture portraying the 19th century steelworks buildings on Broad Street and Blast Lane eclipsed by the part completed arch of the tramway viaduct in 1993.

Wynn uses pictures of Orgreave at the beginning and end of this time frame in order to emphasise the huge industrial changes that occurred within such a short space of time. In the earlier picture, Orgreave is a bustling hive of industry, becoming a derelict wasteland in the later picture.

The book is however, not just a story of doom and gloom as Wynn also examines the beginning of economic recovery and urban regeneration which can be seen through the views of Beighton in 1987, showing houses being built and the newly created Crystal Peaks.

The collection documents the beginnings of the Sheffield that we recognise today. There are pictures portraying the development of Ponds Forge, Don Valley and the Cultural Industries Quarter, as well as the Supertram network and Meadowhall.

The pictures are so beautifully shot that they require very little explanation and they tell a poignant tale of the history of Sheffield’s landscape, as Wynn says, ‘the pictures themselves tell a story’.

This beautiful book is not only a collection of sensational photography but tells an important story about the change and development of a city.