Welcome to the Website of Alan Burnett: writer, blogger, collector of old photographs, and devotee of all things pointless and inconsequential.
Leave The Faces Well Alone
All lovers of old photos are faced with endless decisions about artificial intelligence: when to use it, how much to use it, and whether to use it al all. Don’t ask me for answers – you have to make up your own mind. I do have one rule myself: I tell whichever AI bot I’m using to “leave the faces alone”. Otherwise, you not only get significant facial changes, but also faces that look as though the were cast just yesterday. AI…
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Another Wall
Another photograph of another Yorkshire stone wall. This one is far more recent, however. It is also in a very different part of Yorkshire. This was taken in the north of the…
In Halifax
I’m pretty certain that this photograph – taken well over 50 years ago – was taken somewhere in Halifax. It has all the necessary ingredients: an overgrown, stone-cobbled lane rising up a…
A 1916 Girl
On the back of this sepia portrait of an unknown girl is a studio stamp that states: “W Buckley, Portrait Specialist, 28 August 1916, Regent Square, Blackpool.” There is something quite beautiful…
A Heated Basin
We are living through record heatwaves here in the UK at the moment, experiencing temperatures that make you want to find a cool stretch of water and take the plunge.…
A 1907 Poke
A “Facebook Poke” is defined as “a digital nudge or virtual greeting used to get a friend’s attention.” The equivalent 120 years ago was a postcard – sent, as it…
The Swinging Sixties
The summers of my youth, when the most avant-garde experience might have been listening to a trad-jazz combo in the park. And if the sun was shining, they might even…
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