Welcome to the Website of Alan Burnett: writer, blogger, collector of old photographs, and devotee of all things pointless and inconsequential.
The Nature Of Reality And The Digital Dilemma
This “image” (I’m not sure what to call it, I certainly didn’t paint it in the conventional sense) is based on a photograph I took in Sheffield in the 1980s. As far as I remember, it was the junction of Old Street and Broad Street, but once all the filters and shenanigans have done their worst, it looks more like Bell Street. Bell Street isn’t real, but neither is the image. Is any image? Discuss.
Keep readingYes, It is Me
What finer representation of 1950s Britain can there be? It’s the summer holidays and the family’s annual week at the seaside (in this case, Bridlington in Yorkshire). The weather is such that…
South Yorkshire Allegory
This is a photograph I took at a Yorkshire Miners’ Gala parade in the early 1980s. Given everything that’s going on at the moment, I suppose you could say it’s allegorical -…
Postcard Law
There should be a law stating that everyone has to send a picture postcard full of idle chitchat at least once a year. Forget your WhatsApps and your Emails, I’m talking about…
The Churchyard
I’ve chosen to caption this photograph, somewhat provisionally, as “The Churchyard”, because I can’t remember which churchyard I was in when I took it. The photographs next to it on…
Brighouse Fantasy
Did you ever get the feeling that you want to escape from the real world, with all its frightening developments and bizarre characters? Do you want to flee into a…
Elland Power
Looking back at this photograph, which I took nearly half a century ago from Blackley Road and looking down over Elland, I’m reminded of how the power station used to…





