Monthly Archives: February 2017

Cafe Culture 4

The new Square at Cambridge Station is at last nearing completion – visitors to the City might then experience some delight rather than dismay as they step outside.  Cafes and so on are coming with the Square to animate the … Continue reading

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Proust on Photography

‘Proust himself was deeply ambivalent about photography and its interference with the emotional “truth” of a memory-infused observation, writing that “a photograph acquires something of the dignity which it ordinarily lacks when it ceases to be a reproduction of reality … Continue reading

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Horningsea Stories

An empty table and chairs, an extinguished candle, an abandoned canoe.  A picture prompting stories, as innocent as a Famous Five adventure or as scary as Deliverance.  A picture I like, just a shame it’s unsharp, and not in a … Continue reading

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Fenscape 27

Near Baits Bite Lock on a dour February morning.  Eights on the river, coaches  cycling on the towpath; trains clattering along the tracks to and from Cambridge; a constant drone of traffic from the A14.  Dabchicks diving silently; long-tailed tits … Continue reading

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Why Photograph?

George Mallory is famously quoted as having replied to the question, ‘Why did you want to climb Mount Everest?’ with the retort, ‘Because it’s there’.  The same logic might be applied to photography.  Why photograph this tree?  Because it’s there, … Continue reading

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Beechwoods – The Past That Lingers

Buried somewhere under this tangle of brambles is a three sided wooden bunker.  What was it for and why has it been abandoned?  In the March 2007 issue of Black+White Photography Anna Bonita Evans writes about the photography of Patti … Continue reading

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Ephemera Revisited

I’ve posted 129 entries under Urban Ephemera since the first on 18th October 2010.  Visiting Cherry Hinton Hall on Saturday I saw a couple of things – a summer litter bin and an empty paddling pool – that reminded me … Continue reading

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Mannequins – A Strange Parade

I’m surprised to discover that my first posting under Silent Figures was as long ago as December 2010 and there have been 68 subsequent entries.  In October 2016 I wrote that I was making progress with a photo book based … Continue reading

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Beechwoods – Deformity

What is the cause of this strange deformity?  It looks as if the tree has been bound with cables at some time, possibly to brace another tree, but that seems rather unlikely give the natural management regime in the Beechwoods.  … Continue reading

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Peter Marlow – Cathedrals

To see Peter Marlow’s exhibition ‘The English Cathedral’ in Ely Cathedral yesterday.  It features all 42 English cathedrals.  Marlow’s strategy was to shoot the same perspective using the natural light of dawn.  Technically extremely accomplished and an eloquent exposition of … Continue reading

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Cafe Culture 3

On 6th February I mentioned some favourite cafes in Trieste and Prague.  I’ve looked at negative files from visits in 2003 and 2004 and found that, however much I liked the coffee, I made little effort to photograph the café.  … Continue reading

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Cerberus

‘In Greek mythology, Cerberus is a three-headed watchdog who guards the gates of Hades. In Norse mythology, a bloody, four-eyed dog called Garmr guards Helheim. In Persian mythology, two four-eyed dogs guard the Chinvat Bridge. In Philippine mythology, Kimat who … Continue reading

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Down Hall, Abington Pigotts

The  Gatehouse, Down Hall, Abington Pigotts. Early 16th century; timber-framed.  Listed Grade II*.  The formal listing description is an exemplar of the language of heritage conservation:  ‘Substantial timber-frame, close studded with curved tension braces in each bay. Bullnosed jetty joists … Continue reading

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For Sergio Lorrain 2

‘The door opened.  Awoke in the eternal, beauty.  Slowly, vertical, horizontal, with infinite care; attention, organising forms, as when entering water, or the sun,..enter the devine.  You have crossed time, into the new, (into the now); life is renewed. .. … Continue reading

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Cafe Cuture 2

My post of 3rd February and a discussion over coffee at Balzano’s on Saturday got me thinking about cafes that have stayed in my mind.  At the top end of the scale for style are Café Florian, Venice, Café Slavia, … Continue reading

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