Christ Almighty you have no idea about the shite that is the local train service. Don’t think that the one you see here is pictired trundling happily onto the platform — instead it is hanging there, just for arbitrary reasons. Not only that, but it’s the first train out of Hebden into Manchester for some hours. The giuy’s face says it all. In the end I didn’t even bother.
Another day spent almost entirely in my office at home, working, and not emerging until after the sunlight was mostly gone. The Friday market in town was still open at this point, though only just, and I’m sure this guy is considering packing up his clocks and jewellry and calling it a day.
I go monochrome here simply because it feels right for the shot and it stops the bright green stripes at the top dominating it. It is not a ‘Black Friday’ reference. I hate that bollocks, in fact: especially because, as various recent conversations about this marketing wheeze have proven, virtually no one in the UK — consumers, retailers, the media, anyone — actually understands the derivation of the term. Be honest — do you know where it comes from? (American readers don’t get to answer this.)
This scene has been seen a few times in Manchester city centre recently. All the bollards you see here are decorated with little golden bees, the bee having been adopted (I think fairly recently) as the symbol of the city. And it’s some bloke’s responsibility to go round and repaint them now and again. Actually I think they’re doing a pretty good job, but it must be hard on the knees.
Another one of my Palaeography classes in the John Rylands Library. We have moved from Hogwarts (the old reading room) upstairs and into the new seminar room, with tape still on the windows. Checking out the manuscripts themselves is always the best bit, and they need to be ready, and cared for — would that students got to sit on such comfortable-looking cushions.
One of the rare cases where I tag a photo as ‘black and white‘ but not ‘monochrome‘. I like the generally muted tones of the shot but the high contrast of the dress makes it stand out. And not just for that reason, either. Whatever she’s getting ready for, I hope it’s important.
My mediocre kit is never going to take crystal clear photos in very low light, even if I do crank the ISO setting up to 1600 or whatever. But here, the lack of clarity is just the point. Surely the gentleman to the left is about to emerge from some horrible transformation and begin consuming human flesh. Although in the end, he recovered, and we all got on with watching the evening’s entertainment (Tom McRae, as it happened).
Second photo in a row of the next person along the platform, but this was an utterly random moment that could not be resisted. Somehow this bodes well for the rest of the week. The blog’s second, and my third, trip to Berlin.
Am I pleased allowed to say someone is a nice shape, without this being a salacious observation? Because this person definitely is.
With this photo, Stockport, the 11th place I depicted on this blog back in October 2011, finally relinquishes its title as the most-ignored-place-since. The accolade now passes to Dunsop Bridge. I know you care about these things, as do I. Overall, 477 different locations have appeared on here — a neat near 1/10 ratio — and I’m sure you already care about the carefully-maintaned stats.
I like this photo, so am using it for today, though it’s one of those occasions where I can’t really think of anything much to say about it. We’ll just leave it as it is.
With a storm bringing down a number of trees across the north of England, I was obliged to sit on buses for some time today, instead of getting the train. But never mind. This is one of those shots that I like just because of the way the light has fallen, particularly on her face. The little signs dotted around the place — well, those are just the visual litter of the modern world.
Being 42 