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Amy Darbyshire

A Sunny Winter Morning at Mowbray Park

I started my day off by having a lovely 10-minute walk over to Mowbray Park and Sunderland Winter Gardens to explore the area as I wasn’t too sure what was here. Back in 2014, I visited the Winter Gardens for a project I was doing for my art GCSE and had a quick walk around Mowbray park, but I have no recollection of anything that is here, just flowers.


Location of Mowbray Park

While I walked around the park I discovered lots of memorials that documented time in history of famous people from Sunderland that made a difference. There were also World War II memorials, a bandstand, a water fountain, art sculptures and statues of notable people from Sunderland. It was interesting to find out that all the structures were not the originals, as the original statues and structures were melted down for weapons in World War II, as they had been destroyed by German bombs. This is the place to visit if you want to learn more about Sunderland and the history it has to offer.


It was such a beautiful day to photograph the park as the sun was bright, warming the scenes up as well as creating interesting shadows through my images. While I was photographing each subject, I was trying to find and use unique compositions that I hadn’t seen before in other people’s photographs. I tend to look on Instagram before I visit a place to see what sort of images other people had taken to see if I can find inspiration or to see if I can produce images that no one has taken before. I knew before I got to the park I wanted the reflection of the Inter Gardens in lake with the walrus in the foreground, but with my own take on this composition. I don’t want to copy what someone else has done, but I will take small things and combine them with my own ideas and style to create something even better. For example, the photograph I took of the drinking fountain, I positioned the camera in a way the sun would shine through the gap at the top of the fountain, which I have never seen anyone do before.


Overall, I had a wonderful time visiting Mowbray Park and viewing everything it had to offer. I was able to explore my creative side as I experimented with lighting, composition, framing and editing throughout this photoshoot. I would love to visit the park again without my camera to take in the beautiful scenery and enjoy it in the moment. I recommend visiting here for a daily walk as there is so much to explore and learn. Kids can even have fun here as there is a playpark designed around Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, where the book was inspired by the connections Carroll had with Sunderland.


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