It's one of those images you can't categorise: part photo, part impression, part memory. Look closely and you might spot some stone, some cast iron, some concrete, and a fair amount of vegetation added for taste. Look closely, and you might even spot Halifax.
Month: August 2023
The Grocer And The Body Builder
This postcard was with a collection of photographs handed down to me from the family of my fathers' Uncle Albert (Albert Burnett 1884-1963). It is, in fact, both a photograph and a postcard - the use of "real photographs" to create postcards was common in the early year of the twentieth century. The photograph shows … Continue reading The Grocer And The Body Builder
Colouring My Life
Kelvin Flats, Sheffield 1984 : Having just scanned this negative of mine from way back when I have this strange urge to get some coloured pencils and start colouring in the different shapes and patterns. I need some colour in my life.
The Event
Back in 1973 my new job with the GLC meant that I was anxiously watching river levels in London, but that was not the case for 50 years ago today. On that day I was travelling north on a train along with many of my London-based friends, back to Halifax, and back to a rather … Continue reading The Event
The Lead Up
I’m not sure if this was exactly 50 years ago, but the photograph dates from around that time. One clue is that I have lost the beard (it was never a very good beard) I had in the earlier part of the year. Three months earlier I had left University and moved down to London … Continue reading The Lead Up
Desktop Calendar : 9-11 August 2023
“There can be no reason why man should not make towns liveable and healthy …. Just as much subject to the beneficent influence of bright sunshine, fresh air, flowers and plants as the country”William Hesketh Lever “Land For Houses, 1897” A grand day out at Port Sunlight on the Wirral Peninsula which included a walking … Continue reading Desktop Calendar : 9-11 August 2023
Headscarves And Unwashed Spuds
I took this photo 50+ years ago. I never printed it, it somehow didn’t seem worth the paper. From a technical point of view, it hasn’t improved with time, but it has become more resonant. It speaks of the past - of headscarves and unwashed spuds.
Desktop Calendar : 6 – 8 August 2023
It's quite rare for early photographs to feature people in their working clothes. Whilst working people had their photographs taken, visits to photographers' studios were occasions when you wore you "Sunday best". I don't know what the origin of this particular photograph was (other than it was taken in the Oxford Electric Studios in Cardiff) … Continue reading Desktop Calendar : 6 – 8 August 2023
Halfway To Paradise
You’ve got to have a certain sense of humour to name a street “Paradise Street”. You might just get away with it with a row of mansions overlooking a sun-drenched beach in the Caribbean: but not a back street in Halifax. But who knows, a house to live in and a cobbled street to park … Continue reading Halfway To Paradise
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