Maryon Park was the main setting for the 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni’s cult movie ‘Blow-Up’ featuring David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave. David Hemmings played Thomas, a top London fashion photographer captivated by his photographs of a murder, whilst Vanessa Redgrave is the woman at the centre of his interest. His photographs depict a murder scene… or do they? What you see, and what you don’t see, is the enigma central to the story. My photographs taken in 1998 show a park that has changed little in 32 years, the upper meadow where the supposed murder took place is a bit run-down now, but the lower meadow still has its original tennis courts used in the movie, and much of the scenery is unchanged. Beyond the courts there is a hedge now, the flower beds have been altered since the movie, and there is perhaps a little more litter around, but to be fair… a school party had just left from having a picnic when I arrived!  http://twitpic.com/photos/patricallaghan3

The entrance to Maryon Park in Woolwich, London

In a stone’s throw from the busy and bustling Woolwich Road is the peaceful and picturesque Maryon Park. When you first enter you are soon aware of the sheer eloquent calm of the place, hardly a sound, but for a gentle breeze rustling the tops of it’s many tall trees or the occasional sound of a child’s laughter. My old Mamiya camera lent a sepia tone to the pictures I was to take there in 1998, and back in 1966 it was the setting for Michelangelo Antonioni’s cult film “Blow-Up” with it’s imortal characters played by David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.