Whenever I walk along a street, I might notice something as I pass, I stop, walk back and photograph it. Here are two examples of that idiosyncrasy. At the top is the remnants of a front door step which is now blocked off. The brick work remains. The building is now flats converted from a pub on Heigham St. know as The Pineapple P.H. The bottom segment is a glass grille for a basement below. This is at the entrance (again!) of the Olives bar/restaurant at the junction of Elm Hill and Wensum St. I put the two together without much thought. Then I experimented with some opposing circles against the predominant squares. Copying the immediate background and distorting the result, highlighting the tops, I created raindrops! I know…they should be upside down in physical reality, but I preferred them as they are. Notice they’re not pear shaped.
Collision Course
The sitter (literally) in this picture shall remain anonymous at his insistence. I was in his flat having a drink, quite rudely reached for my camera. He instinctively raised his hands (and can) to obscure his face. I thought it resulted in a very interesting and well lit portrait. I said I MIGHT use it – so I have. Walking back to my flat along Heigham St., I was intrigued by the road junction with Orchard St. There was that black tyre mark, as if someone had braked into the turn, which accentuated the curve of the road and pavement. I put the cutout portrait against this image,…and it worked! I cut off the right hand armrest to expose more of the background. I also tilted the portrait to complete the composition. I finally applied a filter to give the picture some drama. I have included this image in the Graphic category simply because of the painted 20mph road sign and the other road markings.
String Theory
The ‘cliff’ you see is in fact Mosi-Oa-Tanya ( Thundering Smoke), also known as Victoria Falls. We visited the site during the dry season (late September) hence the lack of water, we even walked along the cliff edge. I have put some sail powered water pumps on the skyline. These were in Southern Australia, somewhere along Flinders Highway (B100) on the way to Elliston. There was a concentration of them in a field; I have montaged three different photos. In the trench below is a braid of rope (duplicated) which was expertly coiled by a guy named Graham who I met recently. He explained this chain Sinnet is a way to store a length of rope which can be unraveled at a stroke. What does this picture have to do with String Theory?….it doesn’t, but then again it might be everything…..
Striking 2
I’m not in the habit of taking photos in public toilets. . believe me. . , but I was struck by the diagonal sunlight on the wall tiles and the orange flooring. The orange cubicle door gave the composition added finesse. There was no one around, so I took a couple of shots. There are situations that catch my eye (or the corner of it) and this space was a good example. The redundant pair of armchairs were plonked on a lawn outside some flats on Lothian St. The angle of the sun gave them some presence. I took a few photographs from different angles. The trestle table pub benches were stacked up outside a restaurant on St. Benedict’s, which had gone bust. They were so sculptural in the sunshine, so I had to take a few photos of them. I have turned them forty five degrees clockwise, in line with the light direction. The chairs and tables aren’t comparatively sized. I applied a couple of filters to accentuate the pattern of the material on the armchairs, the wood grain and the tiles.
Configuration 3
Walking along the Promenade from Cromer Pier there is a set of steps with the whitewashed flint rampart, that takes you up to New St. and the No.1 Fish Restaurant. I stood at the bottom and liked the CONFIGURATION that was presented. It was an overcast day so the view looked monochrome. The signpost and railings seemed to accentuate the composition. I was going to put railway signals ascending the stairs, that I photographed in the York Railway Museum. I extended the sky to place some there. Then I remembered the horse and rider that I didn’t include in the picture entitled ‘Out Of The Stalls’. Forget the signals! The horse looked better! It is relatively larger than it should be. The ‘sky’ is my duvet. I applied a couple of filters to give the image. . . serenity?
Out Of The Stalls 2
The view is from the A9 road, looking towards the Cairngorms National Park. This was part of the road trip when we lost the radio signal because we were on the roof of Britain (?). There was low cloud and mist, (I darkened the sky) with the sun struggling to show. I photographed the industrial mobile staircases because together they looked surreal. They ( collective noun?) were in a storage compound belonging to D. Utting & Son Engineering, who manufacture car spraying booths on Exeter St. here in Norwich. I introduced the horse and rider as a compositional connect, which works quite well. I photographed them at the Royal Norfolk Show. They were milling about with others in a paddock, waiting to perform in a show jumping/dressage competition. The staircase took a long time to isolate from the original photo, and the picture came about (as usual) by noodling around with disparate elements and connections. Out Of The Stalls – geddit?
On Platform 3.2
The platform is at Dar-Es-Salaam railway station in Tanzania. I was with three friends, embarking on a three day railway trip to Serenje in Zambia. We were going to visit Dr. Livingstones memorial site, and eventually go to Victoria Falls (Mosi-Oa-Tunya) in Zimbabwe. The ‘train’ at platform 3 is part of a replica of George Stephensons ‘Rocket’ steam locomotive (1829). This is an exhibit at the York Railway Museum. It was built in 1935 and is credited to Robert Stephenson & Co. It has its cylinder cut away to reveal the workings of the piston. I made use of the platform support column to give the appearance of credibility. Also on the platform is the coupling and vacuum brake hose from the front of another train exhibited at the museum. The picture was, as usual, developed from vague introductions of different elements. I applied a filter to enhance the picture.
When The World Went Mad
This was the time when the Covid lockdown was implemented. I used to go for long walks, and here was the Norwich Northern Bypass. What would be a VERY busy dual carriageway was empty. Parked on the edges of Norwich airport were those and many more planes, grounded for the duration. I have introduced a couple of objects to create more confusion. The silver object is a cutlery receptacle to be found on the kitchen sink drainer. Stuck into it is a chrome spiral toast rack. I was experimenting with a ‘sculptural’ display with no plan for its use when I photographed it, just perverse boredom. The wheel (duplicated in the background) is part of a cider press presented as a decorative curio outside the Adam and Eve pub in Norwich. I created the shadows and added the sun ‘sparks’ on the sculpture. I think the world did go mad during that time. Evidence suggests it hasn’t recovered since. It’s got worse!
Ring Road 2
The snow covered view is of the A47 Southern Bypass during Covid lockdown (Feb.2021). This was during one of my walks, and is a photograph from a bridge spanning the unusually empty dual carriageway. The bridge/road is unmarked on the map but runs from Whitlingham Country Park to the Kirby Road. The Quay rings were at Yarmouth. They are embedded in the chest high parapet wall on the South Quay opposite the Great Yarmouth Borough Council building. I was looking for something or somewhere to locate the rings and eventually came across the road shot – perfect! You cannot see from this thumbnail image, but I changed the destinations on the motorway sign to read; Somewhere, Nowhere and Anywhere. I applied a filter to accentuate the wintry look.
Imperious
On the way back from a road trip to Scotland, I visited the National Railway Museum in York. It has a fascinating collection of locomotives in a very grand and fitting venue. The background in this picture is one of many landscapes I photographed in the north west of Scotland. In the foreground are two close-ups of the exhibits in the great hall, which was an engine repairshop. The coupling and connecting rods in the immediate foreground are from the steam train called the Evening Star. Beyond that is the winding engine from the Stanhope & Tyne Railway. It was used to haul wagons carrying limestone up the Weatherhill Incline to the blast furnaces at Consett. It stands in front of a huge glass window at one end of the museum. I cut away the window panes and some of the handrails. I thought the two objects fitted well together and are of course, not relatively sized. The title came at the end which I thought suited the demeanour of the image.