News that the Site Gallery is closing after Xmas is another blow for any sort of cultural activity happening in Sheffield’s so-called Cultural Industries quarter. Oh there is Spearmint Rhino, the empty National Centre for Popular Music but not much else. I’m not sure converting everything into “business units” is such a good idea. Sometimes making the most money per square metre is not the answer. Photography and Video Editing suites may not make huge amounts of money but they train people up and give them the freedom to express themselves in other ways rather than the balance sheet at the end of the financial year…

Apparantly the site gallery started off when a group of friends rented a shop in Walkley where they set up some developing facilities. Eventually it grew to what it is today but talking to certain people it seems that the corporate site has taken over from the artistic side which is a shame… Well maybe someone will start something off from scratch, but in this world of digital photography they will have a hard time (not me!) convincing people that old-school methods are the way forward! It all depends on the environment in which you wish to use them. After losing 150 digital photos, I’ve realised that although the box in the loft is probably not the best way to store photos – the only thing that will destroy them is a fire. Whereas with digital a whole host of things could go wrong. I make this plea: Backup everything you have digitally before it’s too late. Cos when you’ve lost it, it’s gone for good…. and when you suffer from data-loss you will realise how annoying it can be.

Finally the long awaited transformation of this site will be taking place over an indefinite period of time. I finally (after many months of being computer-less), bought and built a computer. Finding the time to actually do anything with it is another story.