The Queens Park flats in Layton have been part of the Blackpool skyline since the 60s, their Brutalist architecture was loved by few and disliked by many and
I always thought they were pretty ugly, they were also notorious for all sorts of bad things and I was continuously warned as a young girl growing up in Blackpool to stay away from them.
Must admit though, now that they are being slowly taken apart piece by piece to make way for new housing I think I will miss their ‘beton-brut’ modernism competing with the tower on the skyline because sometimes… depending on the time of day, where you stand and the light..
the ugliest buildings can be beautiful.
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Published by dmanderphoto
Dawn Mander, a Blackpool-based self taught photographer, exhibited worldwide,notably USA, Australia, Canada, Hamburg, Moscow Italy and U.K. and published internationally both in print and online. Dawn runs street photography walks in her hometown of Blackpool and gives talks at local colleges, schools and photography groups.
In 2018 Dawn was nominated for the RPS Hundred Heroines campaign celebrating women in photography and in 2019 exhibited with over 80 female photographers in the
RPS 'Representation on the Line:(Un)framing our Identities' held in Chelsea, Doncaster and Blackpool. For the latter she also executed the roles of organiser and co-curator.
Dawn continues to work on her #DocumentingBlackpool & #PortraitofBlackpool series and is currently creating and co-curating exhibitions and community art projects at HIVE Blackpool.
2021 - Format Mass Isolation Project. The Peoples Picture at Quad in Derby
https://thepeoplespicture.com/massisolationformat
2021 - Double Trouble Festival, Women in Street/ Unexposed Collective exhibition at Bondi Beach and Brisbane Australia.
2020/21 Large Scale Images printed and exhibited in the HIVEArts Blackpool Tramstop Takeover.
2020 - Rankin 2020 book contributor
2020 - Grundy Art Gallery Blackpool contributor fro #worktownghosttown online documentary series, exploring the effects of pandemic and Covid lockdown on Blackpool.
2019 - RPS Chelsea, Doncaster and Blackpool
2019 - Women in Street Double Trouble collective exhibition in San Fransisco USA.
2019 - Works shown at Millepiani collective exhibitions In Rome Italy.
2019 - Stills photographer for Farrena Films - The Other Side with Valerie Hope.
2019 - Promotional images shown at Grauman's Chinese Theatre Los Angeles, California USA
2019 - HotBed Press 20/20 print collective shown at Cube in Moscow. part of the Arrested ReDevelopment Collective Blackpool.
2019 - Publicity shots for Virgin Trains promoting travel to Blackpool.
2018 - exhibited and sold works at Manchester Art Fair.
2018 - Seaside Special Postcards from the Edge. Book Cover pub: BlueMoose Books
2018 - works exhibited at Hebden Bridge Art Fair
2015-2017. Local exhibitions in Blackpool: HIVE Blackpool, The Grundy Art Gallery,
The Grand Theatre, It's A Gallery, Shaws, The Solaris Centre, The Galleon, Barista.
Publications:
2020 - Rankin 2020
June 2015 - BLACK+WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine.
July 2015 - BLACK+WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine.
November 2016 - BLACK+WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine
2017 - The Guardian
2016 - The Guardian
2016 - Lancashire Life.
2015 - World Street Photography Book.
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Dawn Mander 
I think there is a metaphor to be found here. All that is considered ugly in life can redeem its self when given a chance and viewed from another angle… or maybe I read too much into it 😅
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not at all tam…I think the same cause when I saw these windows in the sunset last night I must admit I muttered to self ‘YES’…and thought they looked beautiful 🙂
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And there’s nothing that can’t be fixed with explosives?
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They are part of blackpool…and I for one think its a shame they will go .As a kid I remember my Mum taking me to Georgie Blackburns and the flats always loomed large over the skyline …but saying that the tenants deserve better.
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I vividly remember, as a young child, sitting at my desk in Devonshire Road Junior School and watćhing the huge concrete panels being lifted into place by crane! Then Mrs Chadwick calling me to attention, putting me firmly back in the classroom!
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