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There are certain buildings which never fail to get my photographic juices going. Sometimes that’s down to the architectural lines; on other occasions it’s because of the way the light falls within the space. The Museum of Liverpool falls into both these categories, and when we visited last November I found some new angles on a space I thought I’d already explored pretty fully.
Photos taken 21 November 2024
Towards the end of our April holiday in Yorkshire I had a few frames of film left in my pinhole camera so naturally I took it along with me. Our day out in Scarborough seemed like a good pinhole photo opportunity so I brought along my mini tripod and an open mind and kept my eyes peeled for scenes which might work from a low point of view.
Down at the harbour…
Getting up close and personal with a selection of ropes from boats moored at the harbour.
Steps not in use…
A worm’s eye view of the lighthouse.
Photos taken 25 April 2025
It’s become a bit of tradition over the years for me to visit the seaside on Christmas Eve, usually with one of my pinhole cameras in hand, and in 2024 I did exactly that. The Sussex coastline isn’t know for its drama, and on this particular day I had a double dose of calm in that the tide was out and it was misty too - no dramatic crashing wavescapes for me!
One lovely thing that West Wittering does have though is some sand dunes and I couldn’t resist featuring the marram grass in some of my photos.
There may not have been many folks using their beach huts, but the owners of this one were getting in the festive spirit.
There’s always time for a slow motion selfie…
Photos taken 24 December 2024
When I was a student I often used reading week as an excuse to make the most of cheap morning tickets for the cinema to catch up on films I wanted to see - a decadent luxury I haven’t enjoyed since then - until this week! When I discovered that I Am Martin Parr, a documentary about photographer Martin Parr was showing at the Picturehouse in Cambridge I booked up for an 11.15am showing and it reminded me of my student days.
Martin Parr is particularly known for his colour photography, but the film included some of his gritty monochrome photos from his younger days in Hebden Bridge too. Around Cambridge the sun was out much of the time, so I decided to go black and white for the rest of the day, exploring the city centre, seeking out curious scenes and beautiful light.
I could have cropped out the solitary leg from this image, but I decided that leaving told more of a story - as thought the cyclist was chasing her out of his lane!
Why did the pigeon need a bicycle?
Caught in the spotlight
Mind the stripes…
I can’t resist a cute dog and these two were both looking very alert as I bent down to photograph them.
The light along Senate House Passage was interesting and as I waited to catch the shadow of a cyclist in the pool of light this little girl came skipping along, without a care in the world.
I finally caught my cyclist, and captured the shadow of the man behind him with the spoke of his wheel too!
Photos taken 25 February 2025
After a long break I finally found time for some more slow photography last month. I wanted to catch an exhibition of pinhole photography at the Barbican Library so I used that as an excuse to take a leisurely stroll around the City of London, as I was already in the area. I started off in Whitecross Street, where I found a miniature street scene painted on the side of a telephone exchange box - a city within a city.
Continuing down the street I found a collection of street food stalls which smelt delicious (shame I’d already had lunch!) and some interesting street art too.
From there I just followed my nose, heading wherever took my fancy, through the tunnel at the Barbican, around Smithfield Market and down to Holborn Viaduct where I admired the regal looking lions.
After a stop for coffee near Hatton Garden I eventually emerged onto Holborn, where I discovered an impressive red brick Victorian complex of buildings at Waterhouse Square. Walking through the square I wanted to photography the huge arch and wondered how long it would be before a security guard came and told me I couldn’t use my tripod. Fortunately I was able to set up and shoot swiftly and got away before anyone spotted me!
It was getting pretty breezy among the tall office buildings, so I took the opportunity to include some of the nearby trees in my photos, adding a sense of movement among the static architecture here and also around St Paul’s Cathedral.
Opposite St Paul’s stands One New Change, a striking glazed building, with a view of the Cathedral framed by two walls. I’ve shot this scene before, but couldn’t resist having one more try!
Finally, with one frame of film left, I ended up at the junction by the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange. Here I chose my spot carefully and waited patiently for a passing bus to add some movement to my final image.
Photos taken 21 August 2024
Last month we enjoyed a day out at the Nene Valley Railway - nearly a year after my last visit. It was a beautiful sunny day and that, combined with the old school mode of transport, seemed to call out for a monochrome look.
Photos taken 17 August 2024
While I was in Portsmouth last month for the Big Film Photowalk I took a second a camera with me, loaded with black and white film, to shoot alongside the Rollei 35S I had loaded with Kodak Gold. This second camera is my all time best bargain when it comes to buying old film cameras - a Yashica Electro 35MC which I bought on eBay for the princely sum of £11.40 including postage! It works perfectly and has a lovely sharp f2.8 lens.
Rather than repeating the images I took in colour I kept my eyes open for scenes which better suited monochrome, like the silhouetted figures above.
Lazing on a sunny afternoon…
One of the stranger sights I saw - a rocking horse abandoned on a street corner!
Photos taken 29 June 2024
Passing through the cloisters of Chichester Cathedral this afternoon the sun was filtering through the arches and I decided to make use of it for some contrasty monochrome photography, catching some of the visitors moving by with a slow shutter speed.
Photos taken 18 July 2024
During our holiday in Derbyshire in April we ventured across into Cheshire to visit Jodrell Bank, home to the third largest steerable space telescope in the world. I’ve driven past the site before and was eager to see this astonishing piece on engineering at closer quarters.
The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell and the largest of the three telescopes on site is named in his honour. It’s so powerful that if someone were to make a mobile phone call from Mars it would be able to pick up the signal! As a result, anyone who comes on site is asked to switch off their phone (or put it in airplane mode) as the signals from it could disrupt the telescope’s sensitive work. This made for a very quiet day and it was refreshing to see people going about without their eyes glued to their phone screens!
The visitor centre on site, which has a cinema and a large space explaining the telescope’s history and the work done at Jodrell Bank was also very striking. It’s a modern, circular building and this slit in the side lines up with the sun perfectly on the longest day of the year.
I spent quite a while capturing the lines and light sculpting the interior….
Click on any image to see it enlarged.
Photos taken 21 April 2024
When I received my Ondu 6x6 Rise pinhole camera I asked if Elvis Hallilovic, the maker, might be able to include one of his 3D printed grids. This enables me to divide the film frame up into thirds, using each of the camera’s three pinholes to expose them. It took me a while to find an opportunity to use it, and even longer to finish off the roll of film, but I recently scanned my developed negatives, excited to see the results.
For some of the photos I simply opened all three pinholes at ones, creating a triptych which shows slightly different slices of the same scene, as in the photo above. For others I made three separate exposures of different but related scenes, as you can see below. Some of the slices worked better than others but I’m sure this will improve as I become more used to framing up the top and bottom pinholes.
After my visit to St Mary’s in North Stoke (above) I headed down to the beach at Climping where I created this seaside triptych.
The next photo is a slice of hotel life, taken while I was staying in Somerset in February. Again, I’ve slightly mis-framed the top slice, but I like the effect this creates.
Another themed triptych - this time different perspectives on one of the fountains at the Barbican in London.
The Barbican’s architectural lines also offered some great opportunities for the triple layered effect, including on self portrait by the stairs. All I need to do now is figure out where I might use this effect again - watch this space!
Photos taken January to June 2024
