Monthly Archives: August 2018

Fen Landscape 35 – Cottenham

Saturday 25th August 2018.  This morning walked along Cottenham Lode from Cottenham to Rampton, between Little North Fen and Great North Fen.  Sunny and breezy; candyfloss cumulous clouds over fields of russet linseed and bleached blond barely-harvestable barley.  At Rampton … Continue reading

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Talking Pictures 5 – Hurn & Jay

David Hurn and Bill Jay argue that time is embodied in one of the fundamental principles of photography: ‘The exposure is made, and the image is frozen in time, at exactly the right moment’ (Looking at Photographs, 2000).  Time is … Continue reading

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Snettisham

22nd August, trip to RSPB Snettisham with J.  Overcast to start with, brightening later, mild and breezy.  Low tides had left the estuarine mud to be baked into a reticulated tawny shore by endless days of sun.  A rare chance … Continue reading

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Gothic House, Cottenham

‘A couple must pay more than £1,100 in fines and costs after letting a Grade-II listed building fall into a dangerous state of disrepair. …. Franco Basso and Katherine Fleming failed to carry out essential repairs on the dilapidated 17th … Continue reading

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Ipswich Encounters

‘To Ipswich with Roy [Hammans] and Dave [Runnacles].  Street photography nearly got me into trouble.  First. A woman took exception to me photographing her on Westgate Street – I didn’t respond and just kept on walking.  Second, after taking pictures … Continue reading

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Agapanthus

The agapanthus derives its name from two Greek words: agape, which means love; and anthos, which means flower. Together, the agapanthus is the flower of love. In the traditional language of flowers it meant ‘love letter’.  Maybe this flower suggests … Continue reading

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Anglesey Abbey – Re-imagined Images

Lord Fairhaven’s work to create a great garden in the uninspiring Fen-edge landscape at Lode was something of a magnificent obsession.  Pevsner describes the grounds as ‘embellished by much statuary skilfully disposed’, an eclectic classical collection gathered on the Lord’s … Continue reading

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Talking Pictures 4 – Bill Jay

My photographic education continues: a copy of On Looking at Photographs – A Practical Guide, David Hurn/Magnum in conversation with Bill Jay (Lenswork 2000), has arrived from St Louis.  In the introduction they say: ‘Its purpose is to suggest how … Continue reading

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Talking Pictures 3 – John Szarkowski

Yesterday’s post suggested that Szarkowski’s Looking at Photographs is still relevant to the way we discuss photography, but that’s not to say that everything has stayed the same.  He treats all photography as conceptual before the introduction of dry plates … Continue reading

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Talking Pictures 2 – John Szarkowski

It’s 45 years since John Szarkowski’s Looking at Photographs was published.  I wonder how many photographers read it now (or any other critical texts on photography for that matter)?  I think he still has a lot to offer, his take … Continue reading

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Clouds

‘Clouds were a particularly good subject for an artist like Coburn [Alvin Langdon Coburn 1882-1966] who sought the broad poetic view of things.  Granted that no two clouds are the same; nevertheless, their meanings (except to farmers and meteorologists) were … Continue reading

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