There should be a law stating that everyone has to send a picture postcard full of idle chitchat at least once a year. Forget your WhatsApps and your Emails, I'm talking about old-fashioned cards with pictures on one side and meaningless gossip on the other. Then, 120 years from now, there will be a treasure … Continue reading Postcard Law
Category: Calendar
The Churchyard
I've chosen to caption this photograph, somewhat provisionally, as "The Churchyard", because I can't remember which churchyard I was in when I took it. The photographs next to it on the strip of negatives were taken in Elland, but I don't recognise this as being part of St Mary's. I wondered whether it might be … Continue reading The Churchyard
Brighouse Fantasy
Did you ever get the feeling that you want to escape from the real world, with all its frightening developments and bizarre characters? Do you want to flee into a world of fantasy - to a time when gondoliers guided their boats through the Grand Canal at Brighouse? Fear not: your wish can come true … Continue reading Brighouse Fantasy
Elland Power
Looking back at this photograph, which I took nearly half a century ago from Blackley Road and looking down over Elland, I’m reminded of how the power station used to dominate the landscape. When I took the photo, the power station was relatively new - the official opening took place in 1961 - but it … Continue reading Elland Power
Britannia’s Leafy Crown
It's a photograph I have taken time and time again over the last half century: Britannia sitting atop her eponymous buildings in Elland. During the 1970s and 80s, the scene was stark - stone, soot slate and a few brave saplings. By 2016, when this version was taken, vegetation was in charge and Britannia wore … Continue reading Britannia’s Leafy Crown
Albert
I took this photo of my father around the time I was doing a photography course at the local Tech. We were studying lighting, and the homework was to produce a dramatically lit portrait. I achieved this with a couple of reading lights and an old blackout curtain. These days, all you would have to … Continue reading Albert
Celebration At The Rock
This is a classic image of what has always been, to me, a classic pub. It's not the closest pub to where I live, but it's my local. It doesn't have the fanciest range of real cask ales, but I'll forgive it. It's undoubtedly idiosyncratic, but so am I. My picture shows a 1911 celebration … Continue reading Celebration At The Rock
Four Characters In Search Of a Narrative
Another image from that collection of old photographs I've acquired over the years, which fall under the general heading of "Found Photographs". As usual, the questions of who, where and when must go unanswered - but that means we can make up our own stories. These are four characters in search of a narrative.
Oxford Days
A 40-odd year old photograph of me, surrounded by textbooks and typewriter, and captioned "Oxford, 1984" might suggest an involvement with some of the famed academic institutions of that city. In fact, we were simply staying with friends for the weekend, and the lecture I was writing would have been delivered in the far less … Continue reading Oxford Days
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