Standing Room Only
I'm glad I was on the south side of the street under the shade of a tree; waiting for a bus is not something I would have enjoyed under the full blast of the sun and with the humidity levels with which we've recently been doused. Still, nice to see that some of the older people have been sensible in the recent heatwave; many of them are now down to just the one cardigan and coat over their shirts, vests, and thermal undervests. For #BenchSaturday curated by +Rainer M. Ritz. Google+: View post on...
Birthday Girls
"Look, Ethel! I've got flowers for my birthday!" "Oh, how lovely Clarissa! I've got a compact, digital camera for mine." "Flowers are more traditional." "Indeed they are, although they'll die soon." "But they smell nice now." "My camera has that new camera smell." "My flowers look very pretty." "I can take pictures of things that look very pretty and keep them forever." "The stems of my flowers taper to fine, sharp points." "I don't really see that that's a good thing to… my eye! My eye! What the…! Clarissa! No! Stop!" It was quite a fight. #StreetPics Google+: View post on...
Gangs
In 1979 a movie about gangs in New York was released called The Warriors and it's fair to say that it's a damn fine film. Watch it if you never have. Consider that an order. The only problem with The Warriors, however, was the impact it had on British lives; cities suddenly found themselves festooned with gangs copying some of the outlandish groups portrayed in that particular flick. Chichester wasn't immune to the effect and it still harbours a few die-hard cadres to this day keen to keep the movie dream alive. Today was the annual Gang Day in Chichester where the various gangs try to recruit from the members of the public in broad daylight; the police look the other way – there were none around for the first time this week – and hardly anyone gets slashed with a razor in return. I didn't join but I did get talking to this trio who are members of a reasonably well-known outfit known as The Fluorescent Fellows. On the left is Brazilian Alan (on account of his similarity to UEFA Cup winner with Ipswich Town in 1980-81, Alan Brazil); in the middle is Vest O'Hanrahan (that's his actual name and not a reference to his clothing choice); and on the right is the gang's enforcer, Geoffrey. Google+: View post on...
Girl By The Wall
There was a girl by the wall across the road from where I and my colleague were sitting in a little bit of shade while he ate his lunch today. She looked cool. Not in the temperature sense since there was none of that going on (it's been mighty hot is what I'm trying to say here) but rather in the in-her-own-world, don't-care-about-anything sense. I wanted to take a picture of her but there were a few things stopping me: firstly, I didn't want to upset her cool; next, I don't really do that whole shooting people while they're looking at me schtick; finally, girls are dangerous. However, a bus that briefly pulled up and blocked the view endowed me with a sudden sense of bravery. As it moves off, I thought, I shall snap a shot quickly and she'll never realise! And even if she does… well… how much harm can a girl really do anyway? And that's how I got this picture and spent twenty minutes of lunch running away and fending off an attack with a handbag. I think she had a brick in it. What was she carrying a brick for? Google+: View post on...
Chichester Police Officer
My first encounter with a British police officer (or constable – I didn't check) asking what I was photographing today and it felt a little less tense than when his American counterpart did the same last year; my empirical evidence to date indicates that a smile and the lack of a deadly weapon on the hip makes quite a difference. I'm not sure what was going on in Chichester today; there were two pairs of policemen who periodically stood and looked around or wandered off down one of the four main streets in the city centre a couple of hundred yards apart. Towards the end of our lunch break it just so happened that we were parked under Chichester Cross mere yards back from one of the pairs of officers. As we perused the people passing through the precinct (that's enough alliteration from me now) a woman approached us and asked what we were waiting for; apparently she'd mistaken the presence of the police and some scruffy paparazzi as indication that something important was about to occur. I conceded that this was not the case. Just after that, though, one of the officers turned around and came and asked what we were photographing. It was an interrogation of sorts but it was done with a smile and he bought my story about photographing people hook, line, and sinker, never once realising we were decoys for the illegal camel trading that was taking place while his back was turned. Lucky for us the other pair of policemen were looking the other way too. So thrilled was I by the outcome that I just couldn't resist asking the officer to strike a pose for posterity at the conclusion of our shady goings-on and this shot is the result. An early submission for #PortraitTuesday curated by +Laura Balc as well as a second submission of the day from me for #MonochromeMonday curated by +Charles Lupica, +Hans Berendsen, +Jerry Johnson, +Manuel Votta, and +Steve Barge. Google+: View post on...
Bridge At Mottisfont Abbey
I've not felt particularly photographically-inspired recently – I blame everything and everyone else but me – so when I spotted that Mottisfont Abbey near Romsey in Hampshire was showing the Patrick Lichfield polaroids in an exhibition I decided to pop along to see it yesterday to see if the creative juices would start flowing again. It was very dull. The weather, that is. The photographs were superb and I can't recommend going to see them enough; wonderful to see the test shots alongside some of the finished articles and even better trying to identify the various celebrities in the snaps. That Lichfield chap: he was pretty bloody talented. But back to the weather: yes, that was dull and made everything feel flat so it somewhat offset just how good the exhbition photos were, which is a shame. There wasn't even that much of interest in the walled garden. The house itself was still as nice as I remember and the Whistler room is particularly impressive; I'm very pleased that the National Trust have relaxed their rules on photographing inside (Whistler room and exhibition were only off-limits areas) so overall it's a great place to visit. So, in summary: go see the Lichfield polaroids if you get a chance, I'm not feeling particularly inspired at the moment, but I figure I'd better post at least something just to force myself not to take too long a break. This is one of the bridges passing over – I think – the River Test which runs through the grounds of the abbey. Submitted for #LeadingLinesMonday curated by +Pam Chalkley, +Jakob Nilsson, and +CJ Sros as well as #MonochromeMonday curated by +Charles Lupica, +Hans Berendsen, +Jerry Johnson, +Manuel Votta, and +Steve Barge. Google+: View post on...
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