Category Archives: Blue Rope

Blue rope is ubiquitous. It moors boats, it marks boundaries, it secures covers. Taut, sagging, coiled; it is used, it lies discarded. It’s a visual thesaurus blueness, azure, forget-me-not, sky blue. It ages to almost white. Synthetic, let’s say nylon. What happened to the natural hues of flax, hemp and cotton? Why not red, green or yellow? Who makes it and where? It materialises when we are not watching.

Prayer Flags

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Brian

These warning tapes flapping in the breeze are reminiscent of Buddhist prayer flags.  Yellow symbolises the element earth and the east; horizontal flags, are called Lung Dar.  Prayer flags should always be still and it is considered disrespectful if they … Continue reading →

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Emmaus

Posted on March 28, 2018 by Brian

Seven bags of clutter to Emmaus today, books and boots, ornaments and tapes and so on.  An amazing place, ‘working as a community, sharing a life where everyone is treated equally, and living in harmony with dignity by helping those … Continue reading →

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Craquelure

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Brian

I came across a new word recently, ‘craquelure’.  It is the fine pattern of dense reticulated cracking formed on the surface of materials, especially paintings, either as part of the process of ageing or of their original production.  Where it’s … Continue reading →

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Blenheim Blue

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Brian

Blue rope at Blenheim Palace.  Well, what other colour would a Duke use?  Perhaps a radical gardener slipped on the red dog collar. Photo: Blenheim Palace, March 2018

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Nothing Lasts

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Brian

According to Leonard Koren, wabi-sabi can be defined as, ‘the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of traditional Japanese beauty and it occupies roughly the same position in the Japanese pantheon of aesthetic values as do the Greek ideals of beauty … Continue reading →

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Brighton Wrap

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Brian

My photo book A Piece of Ephemera included 15 photographs of urban wrappings, from bridges to mannequins and statues to whales.  This one didn’t get through the editing, probably a mistake, if only because the contents of these curious parcels … Continue reading →

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Blue Rope and Red

Posted on November 11, 2017 by Brian

‘“I am at war with the obvious,” William Eggleston has said, and he set out to prove it by showing the everyday and the ordinary is a startling new light.  More than any other photographer in recent years, Eggleston has … Continue reading →

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Blue

Posted on September 23, 2017 by Brian

Blue sky, blue sea, blue rope. Blue is often associated with depth and stability, symbolising trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.  Blue may also mean being rigid, deceitful and spiteful, depressed and sad, self-righteous, superstitious, too conservative, … Continue reading →

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Blue Tether

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Brian

Blue cord is used to tether a bunch of willow whips soaking in the moat at Oxborough Hall.  The willow will be used for weaving. In close up the cord becomes a river meandering in a steppe-like green landscape. Photo: … Continue reading →

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Milton Country Park

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Brian

I’m slowly beginning to get to know Milton Country Park.  Away from the big lakes there are quiet corners where vegetation runs down into water unruffled by wind.  Looking at this corner Henry David Thoreau and Walden Pond came to … Continue reading →

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Blue Rope – Two Blue Buckets

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Brian

I bought a copy of Two Blue Buckets – Photographs by Peter Fraser (Cornerhouse Publications, Manchester, 1988) this week.  I remember seeing it at the Cambridge Darkroom when it was first published, but it didn’t resonate with me then.  At … Continue reading →

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Green protector

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Brian

Photo: Meridian Golf Club, Comberton, Cambs, February 2014

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Blue Rope Heaven

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Brian

Anglesey Abbey: open for the very popular snowdrops and winter walks; keeping visitors away from the sensitive wet areas has created a blue rope heaven. Photo: Anglesey Abbey, February 2014

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Colour Blind

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Brian

Are crabs and lobsters colour blind?  Are they concerned only with the bait that’s in the trap? Photo: Overstrand, May 2013

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Seaford

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Brian

Photo: Seaford, April 2013

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