This photograph dates back to my Sheffield days in the 1980s - days of grey and white and miners’ strikes. I’d probably just got off the bus, and as I skated down the ice-covered streets, I stopped to record the scene.
Ivy Rose
This is a photo of my father’s cousin, Ivy Burnett, probably taken in Birmingham around 1910. It bears the mark of the Hamnett Studio of Bristol Street, Birmingham, and records show the studio was active at that address between 1908 and 1912. Ivy was born in Birmingham in 1908, so 1910 seems like a good … Continue reading Ivy Rose
Busy Elland
I can't be exact about the date, but I suspect it was around 1969 or 1970 when I took this photograph. It looks as though I was standing in the grounds of what later became the Barge and Barrel pub, but back then it would have still been the Station Hotel. My photograph captures a … Continue reading Busy Elland
Stone Doubles
Isn't AI wonderful? You can ask your favourite AI assistant to convert a selfie into a stone carving like the kind found on the walls of a medieval church. Alternatively, you can take a walk around Selby Abbey and discover that someone has already done it. Aren't medieval stone masons wonderful?
Skye Sky
A random dip into my archives brings up this photograph I took twenty years ago during a visit to the Isle of Skye. Despite the undoubted beauty of all those greens, browns and blues: the shot still seems to work better as a black and white picture. Your imagination can then paint it in whatever … Continue reading Skye Sky
Wedding Bells
I am attending a wedding this weekend, and I have dusted off my camera so that I can take photographs of what will be a splendid family occasion. It will continue a long tradition: I took the photographs at the wedding of the groom’s grandparents, and also at the wedding of his parents. Today's photograph … Continue reading Wedding Bells
History Preserved
My photograph dates back to the 1960s and shows the Mobil petrol station on Winding Road, Halifax. The garage was built on the site of the Old Crispin Inn, which dated back to the 1840s. That inn was itself built on the site of an even older Crispin Inn, a famed meeting place of local … Continue reading History Preserved
Sowerby Bridge Station
I must confess that I don't remember the old Sowerby Bridge Station, although I'm sure I must have seen it before it burned down in the late 1970s. If this picture-postcard view is anything to go by, it was a rather grand affair - certainly in a different class from the functional, minimalist building that … Continue reading Sowerby Bridge Station
Cut And Paste
I created this image of Halifax back in 2018, so it is definitely pre-artificial intelligence. Perhaps it's artificial pseudo-intelligence, as it was created by repeatedly pressing Photoshop buttons without any plan in mind. Nevertheless, the result - a collection of buildings, old and new, grand and gruesome - seems almost as if they have been … Continue reading Cut And Paste