It’s now actually 1.30am and I have finally finished writing a piece of text about Nicola Fosters lecture last Wednesday. It has taken me about 5hours but it has been a worthwhile activity.
Now what I really did today was sort out the whole camera obscura thing. I spent a while doing some desk research, making some calls etc and then I set up an online page where I can store all the info I collect.
Eventually after lunch I cycled into Bournemouth on my quest to visit upstairs in the Cafe Obscura. Before I went I’d read 4 really scary reviews of the place on Trip Adviser so the idea of making a film started to be dreadful.
I imagined myself Louis Theroux style being thrown out before I even started. I braced myself.
First i thought I’d have a look for the plaque as mentioned by the librarian at Bournemouth Library. I walked around and around. Noticed some bike racks which I noted for future use, but no sign of the plaque. I tried to imagine the place 12 years ago and began to wander over to where there was now a litter bin and a grit bucket. Sure enough in between the two was the plaque!
Crazy?
Anyhow, now that I found the plaque I had to move on to the next step which was to enter the cafe and attempt to go upstairs. I was nervous. I wondered about hiding the camera in my bag but in the end I decided to bite the bullet and just go right in there…
Wha’d’ya’know? It’s perfectly acceptable to go upstairs. i even celebrated with a beer!
The waitress said they have to close when it is busy because it takes too long to go in the lift upstairs with food and drinks. i suggested having an event with bottles of beer and a buffet – no need to be going up and down.
Anyway she left me to it. I inspected the ceiling and the view to the clock tower which houses the infamous camera obscura. You couldn’t see much but at a stretch there was a lens, mirrors and if you strained your eyes a mass of accumulated cob webs.
I had my beer, took a few pictures and thought about how easy this had been. And if it is closed in the summer then maybe this is a good time to work on fixing it?
Next step – find out who designed it and how it looked way back then.
