Shops have always advertised themselves. I mean, they have to, don’t they? All advertising is text, and looking at how texts change over time is as good a way as any of understanding social change. This juxtaposition caught my eye: the shapes, the textures and the words themselves.
Until recently this was a field. Now, see for yourself. Soon, it seems, this will be “Heather” (sic); touted on the nearby advertising board as “Original Housing for Modern Lifestyles”, which is as bland and meaningless a piece of blurb as I’ve ever read (tell me just what will be ‘original’ about it all, and we’ll start from there). By the time they’re done I guess they hope someone will still be able to afford to buy them.
“Green” is definitely the dominant theme on this shot, and the general soft-focus vibe also in evidence has been applying to all shots taken since my most recent attempt to stop the zoom lens from conking out saw me bring some WD-40 to bear on it two days ago. It’ll dry out eventually. The combination seems to work for this shot; the whole place feels very lush at the moment, alternating bouts of sun and shower are making everything grow most enthusiastically. Which is a good thing, I guess.
Anyway that’s enough Hebden Bridge, for now. Time to go somewhere else.
A profoundly uneventful Easter Sunday saw me barely even leave the bedroom, let alone the house. Well, I’m allowed days like that now and again (it would have been chaos in town, anyway). For photographic purposes it was helpful that the sun was shining, illuminating the lettuce leaves on the windowsill rather pleasingly. I’ll go out tomorrow.
The garden doesn’t produce vast amounts of food — believe me, self-sufficiency in vegetables is something we are a long way from achieving (though for a few weeks each summer we manage better with fresh fruit). But when edible products do emerge, they get used. We haven’t had fresh peas and beans for years.
Having not been to campus since 5th April I decided I should show my face. Duly did so, and now won’t be back there until, probably, 26th June. Well, I am on study leave. Two things have emerged since my last visit: first, all the leaves on the trees, second, the encampment raised in protest against what is happening in Gaza. I assume the leaves will still be there in June. The tents, who knows?
Well, it was quite nice for a day or two. It didn’t last. This picture was chosen for today, in part, because Clare insisted I not use the one of her putting on her slippers, but nevertheless this does epitomise the day.
A lush scene for Christmas Eve, particularly after yesterday. The cemetery on top of Balgay Hill in Dundee was a real discovery of the day. Just one of its memorial stones is pictured here but this is a huge necropolis, backed by the Firth of Tay, the hills on the far side of which are just visible here. A very un-Decemberish shot, but that’s why I’ve picked it. For tomorrow, Happy Christmas…
Until last week this seemed to be a perfectly functional car park — and Hebden Bridge town centre certainly needs such amenities. Christ knows what it’s going to turn into from this point. And yes, it’s still cold.
Photographically I still mildly regret not looking out of the window at about 3am on the morning of 2nd August last year and seeing this building aflame. This picture is taken from my house so we’d have got a good view: as it was, I did smell the burning and hear a distant alarm but once my subconscious had determined that none of this was coming from our living room, or similar, I went back to sleep and missed the opportunity. Never mind. The rebuilding is under way, as you can see. I like the green on this shot, which is what caught my eye in the first place.
Being 42 