The photograph shows my wife, Isobel, meeting Father Christmas in 1953. Thirteen years later, she met me. We've spent the last fifty-nine Christmases together. It's the best present I've ever had.
Author: Alan Burnett
Harvest Scene
The starting point for today's image was a 1920s photograph from my suitcase full of "found photos." It wasn't in very good condition, so I felt at liberty to "mess around with it" (the digital scan, of course, not the original photograph). I rather like the result: nothing has been added, just the colours and … Continue reading Harvest Scene
Old Halifax, Old Photographer
I can be reasonably certain of when I took this photograph looking over Halifax from New Bank because one of the other frames on the negative strip features an advert that references 1966. It is also pre-Burdock Way, and the railway lines running below North Bridge are still in place. And that means it was … Continue reading Old Halifax, Old Photographer
Artificial Towers
I always thought that the M1 going over Tinsley Viaduct in Sheffield, with those majestic cooling towers in the background, made a good photo, and I photographed it again and again in the 1980s. Then they went and demolished the cooling towers. You could still take the photo today, I suppose, but you would have … Continue reading Artificial Towers
Officer Of The Watch
Today's image comes from an album of 1920s photographs I acquired last year. The photographs seem to be German in origin - the captions are certainly in German - and they must at one time have been precious holiday photos. This particular photograph is from a North Sea cruise undertaken in 1924 and shows Second … Continue reading Officer Of The Watch
Sepia Elland
I took this photograph of the lower Calder Valley near Elland back in the early 1980s. There is no scientific reason why digital photographs should turn sepia with age, and such a transformation is normally due to some semi-smart Photoshop filter. I have not, however, knowingly used such a filter on this image; perhaps the … Continue reading Sepia Elland
Bleached-Out Brid
Bleached-out sand and shadows as black as Whitby jet. I can still remember spotting this view in Bridlington over fifty years ago and thinking, "That would make a good photo!" It did back in 1971; it still does in 2025.
Merry Gone Round
This is the children's merry-go-round outside Marks and Spencer's in Halifax. The rain was falling and the scene was sad, so I thought it could do with a little cheering up. Is it art, or is it AI kitsch? By the time I'd thought about it, the merry-go-round had gone round.
Spires And Steel
I spent most of the 1980s living in Sheffield. The decade and the location are irredeemably linked in my mind: when I think of the 1980s, I think of the decline of heavy industry and cheap buses. When I think of Sheffield, I think of the proud resistance of working class communities and the need … Continue reading Spires And Steel
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