Thursday 26th September 2024, 12.40pm (day 4,781)
For the first time since 13th December last year — I give a lecture in Manchester. Most of the recipients look happy enough at this point (perhaps because I wasn’t talking).
This year’s newbies
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
High-contrast gear
Wednesday 25th September 2024, 10.35am (day 4,780)
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.
Gig crowd (or, the zombie apocalypse)
Tuesday 24th September 2024, 8.55pm (day 4,779)
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).
Market Street
Monday 23rd September 2024, 11.25am (day 4,778)
Back home: from Berlin on a Sunday morning to Hebden Bridge on a Monday one. At least I got out of the house today. This is a standard shot but the comparative lack of traffic was appealing. The sign to top left, less so, but I tried to make it look less obtrusive.
Friedrichstraße station, Sunday morning
Sunday 22nd September 2024, 7.35am (day 4,777)
This being one of the world’s great party cities, I am sure there were a reasonable number of Berliners who were comfortably still on their Saturday night out at 7.35am: but I will never be a person like that again. Personally, I was on the way to the airport. It’s been a good and potentially transfomative trip.
The River Spree, at Lübben
Saturday 21st September 2024, 12.20pm (day 4,776)
Took myself on a day out into the countryside, specifically to the little town of Lübben, which lies about an hour’s train journey south of Berlin, further up the River Spree. Here, the river breaks into a series of creeks and canals, on which, today, a substantial number of tourists were floating around in either a self-propelled manner or on Venice-style gondolas, only piloted by gruff-looking East German types. But let’s go with this person-free shot, instead. One has to be pleased with the colour contrast here.
Der Mäusebunker
Friday 20th September 2024, 4.40pm (day 4,775)
Formally this used to be the “Research Institute for Experimental Medicine”, which I am sure is quite as sinister as it sounds, so its being more popularly known as “The Mouse Bunker” does show that Germans indeed possess a sense of irony. It’s a masterpiece of brutalism, anyway, of which no one picture can do justice but you’ll get a better impression looking it up online. It’d be nice if the white ball of the street lamp wasn’t there, but otherwise, the light will certainly do.
The keynote gets ready
Thursday 19th September 2024, 10.45am (day 4,774)
Conferences are not the most exciting arena photographically, but at least this photo proves I am here to work — or at least, to listen to the outcomes of other people’s work.
Humboldt University
Wednesday 18th September 2024, 5.55pm (day 4,773)
Amongst various (acknowledged) perks of my job I get to visit some world-renowned seats of learning, and the Humboldt University of Berlin is definitely one of the elite. Scholars who have worked here include Einstein, Schopenhauer, Marx, Weber, Hegel, Planck and von Braun, and if you haven’t heard of at least three of those, you need to do some more reading.
There is something terribly autumnal about this shot, even if it was 25ºC and extremely pleasant in Berlin today. But here we are, mid-to-late September, and I suppose it’s an inevitability.
First photo from this trip to Berlin
Tuesday 17th September 2024, 4.55pm (day 4,772)
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.
Being 42 