All photographers have their favourite subjects. With some, it's wild animals; with some, it is beautiful women; some like railway engines, others like mountains. But as far as I am concerned, you can't beat a fish and chip shop. Here is a particularly fine example I came across in Southwold recently.
Author: Alan Burnett
Beat That, AI
These days, geotags are automatically added to smartphone photos along with the date and the time (and the temperature and your hat size and the state of your bank balance, more than likely). In olden days, you had to depend on penciled captions in family albums. I have no idea who these two were, but … Continue reading Beat That, AI
Melange Messing
Melange Printing is defined as the printing of textile fibres with bands of colour alternating with unprinted areas. This is one of my old photographs taken from North Bridge in Halifax, which shows Fletchers' mill. Fletchers were specialists in melange printing. I have messed with the photo so that we have a melange print of … Continue reading Melange Messing
A Funny Thought
I had a funny thought the other day whilst enjoying a lunchtime pint. Wouldn't it be odd if, after we were born, time went in reverse? Given that I was born in 1948, that would mean it was now 1871! The Franco-Prussian War is just ending, Chicago is on fire and chewing gum is just … Continue reading A Funny Thought
Industrial Superglue
I've always admired the way that builders of mills and factories in these parts were never put off by an inconvenient hill. Industrial workplaces were often almost superglued to the sides of valleys - like Crawford-Swifts on Claremount Road, Halifax in this photo of mine from 35 years ago. Commercial premises of the modern era … Continue reading Industrial Superglue
Baby Burnett
My brother sent this photograph to me the other day - in my role as "the Burnett family historian" - suggesting it was either me or him. I tried doing a facial recognition analysis based on the rest of my family photos and it suggested it was a young Aunty Miriam (which it clearly isn't). … Continue reading Baby Burnett
A Photographic Sports Jacket
Someone asked me the other day whether I had any photos of the Daily Tailors shop in Halifax - and going through my archives, I discovered I had one - or at least half of one (think of it as a photographic sports jacket rather than a suit). The photo must be one of my … Continue reading A Photographic Sports Jacket
Uneconomical
If someone had undertaken a proper cost-benefit analysis of the construction of the Settle to Carlisle railway line, it would probably have never been built. If someone had conducted a proper economic analysis of the future viability of the line when it was threatened with closure forty years ago, it would probably have never been … Continue reading Uneconomical
Mona Lisa-ish
There is something slightly Mona Lisa-ish about this Victorian portrait of an unknown woman. Her eyes follow you like a stalker, and her smile is enigmatic enough for a codebreaker. The Mona Lisa is, of course, priceless and is said to have an insurance value of over a billion dollars. The Victorian photograph cost me … Continue reading Mona Lisa-ish
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