Category: Calendar

Antiquity And Modernity

I seem to remember - although it was almost sixty years ago - I was trying to capture the contrast between the antiquity of the statues in People's Park, Halifax, and the modernity of what was then Percival Whitley College in the background. Now the bits of that building that remain within the shell of … Continue reading Antiquity And Modernity

Torre Del Grimsby

Many famous public buildings in both Europe and America have been copies of the wonderful 14th century Torre del Mangia in Sienna, Italy, but one of the most surprising perhaps, is the Grimsby Dock Tower. The 19th century tower was built to accommodate the 30,000 gallons of water required to power the hydraulic machinery in … Continue reading Torre Del Grimsby

Capturing Etruria

Old strips of negatives can be wonderfully evocative because they provide context as well as individual images. This strip of 35mm monochrome images of mine dates back to the early 1970s when I was at university in Keele and would frequently escape the rigors of macroeconomic theory by wandering the byways of the neighbouring five … Continue reading Capturing Etruria

Atlas

You know what it's like to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Here's Atlas - courtesy of Elisabeth Frink - just outside the Weston Gallery at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Yesterday, the February sun shone down and all of a sudden so much of that weight was taken away.

Monochrome Home

There is something about old black and white photographs - the way they flatten and simplify scenes; the way they mask so much and reveal even more. I'm sure we saw scenes in black and white as soon as we looked through the viewfinder back in those days - we had monochrome eyes. Colour was … Continue reading Monochrome Home

An Excursion To Burslem

We all have ways of passing the hours; exercises in pointless occupation that relax and revive our troubled minds. I like to wander through my old negative albums trying to track down where I took photographs half a century or more ago. Today's excursion on Google Earth took me down Newcastle Street, Burslem - fifty-four … Continue reading An Excursion To Burslem

Ring O’Bells

I took this photo of the Ring O'Bells pub in Halifax over 50 years ago. You can tell it's old, not because its a black and white photo (there are filters that can fake that), nor because the building is old (it's even older now). It's partly the signage - or lack of it - … Continue reading Ring O’Bells

A Portrait Of Lena

Dear Lucy, Just a card to wish you many happy returns of the day. I had not got a proper birthday card so I thought perhaps you would like this as well. It is not a very good one but you can see who it is. I remain yours sincerely, Lena Bush.

Gladys, Albert And Cat

There is, of course, a famous 1971 Hockney painting entitled "Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy". My photograph predates that by a good 35 years and is entitled "Mr and Mrs Burnett and Cat". The two main subjects are my parents, and the photo was probably taken in Bradford in about 1936. Coincidentally, Hockney was … Continue reading Gladys, Albert And Cat