Can it really be sixty years ago that I took this photograph! I can still remember walking down the harbour and liking the curve of the rope and thinking “that might work”. No, it was only yesterday, surely. Only a moment ago. Only a lifetime ago.
Author: Alan Burnett
Sheep
In praise of photographic accidents. I'm not sure what went wrong when I took this photo - perhaps the sheep moved, perhaps I didn't have the camera set up right. Those serendipitous angels of image-making stepped in and left me with something pleasing in a woolly kind of way.
Same Streets
I think this was somewhere in the Potteries, but it could have been any of the triptych of locations - West Yorks, North Staffs, South Yorks - I spent the first half of my life in. The same streets, the same chimneys: but the same pride in hard work, the same social solidarity.
Courageous Development
Fifty years ago I was living in London, working in politics, and spending my spare time attempting to capture a photographic record of all the old London Breweries, most of which were in their final years as working breweries. The sites - like the site of Courage's Anchor Brewery pictured here - were in prime … Continue reading Courageous Development
Hashtag Halifax
It's Week 2 of my "1001 Photos I Took Before I Died" series, and where better to start than the iconic Dean Clough in Halifax. Smoke, steam, muck and noise: the hashtags of mid twentieth century Halifax.
Frost And Fog In Fixby
Frost and fog in Fixby. The mist gradually leaches the colour away leaving far fewer than fifty shades of grey.
Reflections On A Javelin
In these days of global production chains and robotised manufacturing, it is difficult to believe that there once was a car manufacturing factory on the outskirts of Bradford. For a brief period of time, about 75 years ago, the Jowett Javelin was the Tesla of its day. Now we reflect on its glory days in … Continue reading Reflections On A Javelin
George
I've no idea who George was. His photograph was part of a batch of family photos collected by my father's cousin Ivy and then eventually passed down to me. Whoever he was, he was a handsome fellow. It is the photograph, however, which is the star here, a photograph that must be the best part … Continue reading George
Market Street, Halifax
Market Street, Halifax : A rare colour photo of mine from the 1960s (I couldn't normally afford colour film and processing). Zoom in and you can rediscover long-forgotten shops and long-demolished buildings. And the man in the bottom right corner deserves a photograph of his own.
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