Photography
My photography
I use photography to show something about where I’ve been or people whom I’ve met. As well as trying to see the beauty in a scene or situation, I’m also trying to convey ideas and feelings. My photography is about me and what I do, who I meet and where I go. All my photography tries to be contemporary and creative. I’m resistant to being fitted in to a taxonomy by categorisation such as “travel” or “conceptual” or “nature”. All image-making is political simply by the act of selection and hence exclusion but I am not campaigning for any particular point of view, except to try to see the positives and to live life to the full.
I use 645, 35mm and DX formats plus a handy little digital compact that shoots RAW files. I’ve experimented with non-lens photography - do ask!
I first worked in a monochrome/silver wet darkroom at age 7, helping my Father with scientific prints; I’ve used colour negative materials since age 21 and digital since 2005. I use Photoshop (Adobe) and Photopaint (Corel).
Lambley Viaduct, South Tynedale Railway
River South Tyne
Diverting off the direct route from Newcastle to Carlisle as the Tyneside rain and mist on gave way to glorious autumn sunshine up in the North Pennines. Also, the car hire company had supplied me a go-faster Corsa which I wanted to enjoy.
The River South Tyne rises in Cumbria even though it flows out to the North Sea. Its upper valley is now rural though dotted with industrial relics from the mining era including Lambley Viaduct of the South Tynedale Railway.
Great light for about half an hour but it didn’t last long, the show was over by the time I reached Hartside; Blencathra, Skiddaw and the Lakeland Fells were all hidden in low cloud.
Autumn just beginning around the Upper Pond in the Grade I listed garden of Sheffield Park, Sussex. You might notice a gap on the famous skyline on the right: the Sequoia was struck by lightning in a storm a year ago and much of the tree’s height was destroyed by fire. The tree is recovering but will never be as tall again in our lifetimes.
- Sheffield Park Sequoia - Sept 2012
- Nymans Woods
- Sheffield Park’s autumn displaySheffield Park geese
- Sheffield Park - October 2014
Fantastic day at 3842 m. altitude on the Aiguille du Midi, one of the peaks which surround Mont Blanc. The first snow of the season has fallen and was sparkling on today’s clear morning, which made the already big and impressive views just fantastic. So bright it hurts unless you wear sunglasses.
More photos: Granite and Glaciers - Aiguille du Midi, 3842 m. - Mont Blanc 1
Memories of the tropics with a run of hot evenings to eat outdoors under Terry’s banana tree in Preston Park, Brighton.
Last of the summer’s wine,
the candles are burning low.
Maybe we’ve solved the world’s problems
or simply agreed we’re all doomed.
Why not be a tourist in my own town instead of travelling for hours to somewhere that anyhow is lower on the tourist must-see lists? A bit of searching online produced a variety of lists of top ten sights of London. Here are mine as I visited my own capital city this fine first Monday in September.
This day out was a reminder that London has so many fantastic views. It does need a bit of planning plus knowledge of the tube and bus map to optimise the route and take best advantage of the direction of the sunlight. You still have to walk the miles though.
