Five famous people

Here we are again on Friday taking part in Amy's Five on Friday. This week I've been trawling the photo collection for some sculptures of famous people.  Be warned - I have enough of these to make it into several "Five" posts so you might get more in the future.

Meanwhile, let's start with someone you should recognise, even if I got the light very wrong and he's little more than a silhouette in this shot.

Sorry to my overseas readers if this guy isn't familiar to you but his name was Eric Morecambe, and he was half of a comedy duo who were very famous from the 60s onwards in the UK.  In actual fact his name was Eric Bartholomew, but he took his stage name from his home town, Morecambe in Lancashire. And that's where this statue stands. That's Morecambe Bay in the background.

Another comedian - Tony Hancock. You don't really get the full effect here but the sculpture is sheet steel and the image is created by holes of various sizes drilled into it to let light pass through. (Much like an old print plate.) You don't get the scale in this shot either. But the plinth is big enough to sit on. It's in Old Square, Birmingham, close to where he was born. Hancock was known for his dry humour and comedy programmes on TV and radio. Remember The Blood Donor?

Even if you recognise this work you might not realise why I've included it among famous people. Much of Antony Gormley's work is based around nude figures similar to this. The photo is one of the Another Place installation on Crosby Beach near Liverpool. He's one of hundreds of cast iron figures standing looking out to sea. You might be more familiar with his Angel of the North, another - much bigger - cast iron figure, this time with airplane wings, that stands by the A1 near Gateshead. Whatever the size, these Gormley sculptures are actually self portraits. He bases all of these works on his own body. Hence its inclusion as somebody famous!

Famous, but not real. This stands near the gate of Nottingham Castle and tourists flock to see it. He's not one of my favourites. Raised on Errol Flynn movies, I find this child-like face bears no resemblance to the image of Robin Hood I have in my imagination. The locals seem to like him though, and his arrow frequently disappears during student Rag Week.

This chap sits on the quayside in Bristol, contemplating a long sea voyage. I don't know how accurate a portrait it is, but it represents John Cabot, explorer and navigator, who is credited with discovering parts of North America in the late 15th century during the reign of Henry VII. That's how they came up with the name Newfoundland. He's life size, and on a good day you can share a seat with him while you sip a takeaway coffee from the Arnolfini Gallery behind him.

Now please go and visit Any's blog at Love Made My Home to see what other people are sharing this week.