Signs of Spring so far

Weather-wise It’s been a cold March and miserable, rainy and dull early April. I can hear the wind howl as I write this post. This was the scene on a waterlogged Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath on April 1st : The following photograph looks as if it were taken in black and white – it was … Read more

Photographs inspired by earrings

I’ve always loved earrings. I feel like I’ve forgotten something if I go out without earrings, as if I’m not fully dressed, so tend to wear some form of ear embellishment every day even if it is just tiny studs. I was only allowed to pierce my ears when I was well into my teens … Read more

Some Images from Venice Carnival 2018

I’ve just returned from spending five days in Venice at the tail end of the Carnival season. It’s great that my husband loves Venice as much as I do; we both feel it’s our second home and that the five days just flew by. Upon arriving at Marco Polo Airport I saw a charismatic guy … Read more

Life in Death: Emerging from Winter to Encounters with Buds & Florals

The other Thursday the weather was crisp and dry so I decided to seize the day and pop into Kew Gardens.  Here are a series of pictures I took of buds against the dappled light; I think they are pussy willows:     Here’s a landscape format version where the diagonals suggest to me a … Read more

Dolls, Teddies and Transitional Objects: Some Images of Transient Attachments

Looking through my late father’s old photos I came across some vintage studio postcard images of extended family members that caught my eye. I liked the props – the doll and soft toy: Again from my father’s collection here’s a photo I really like of my first cousin Ruth – dating approximately from the mid … Read more

Gotta photograph that hat!

A few days ago I went for a walk to Swains Lane in Highgate to take take some pictures and try out my new camera lens. It was a lovely autumnal day. On the way back I saw  a woman leaning against a tree waiting for the bus. Her hat caught my eye, a warm … Read more

palm trees: unseasonal representations

I was looking through my photos of a California road trip taken earlier this year and came across this image of a lifeguard hut on Santa Barbara beach: I started thinking about other palm tree imagery I’ve photographed; not in saturated Ibizan sunsets but palm trees in more monochromatic settings. I looked back through my … Read more

Ghostly mannequins

I took some pictures in Camden recently of reflected facades and shadowy figures which were actually mannequins, though I like the ambiguity of not quite knowing whether the shadows are of humans or not: I started thinking about another image I’d taken in New York, a  store in the process of being decorated had mannequins in … Read more

Japan: tradition and modernity in popular culture

I recently saw an advert on the London Underground from the Japan National Tourism Organisation who have launched a campaign entitled Japan – where tradition meets the future and it reminded me that I’d been meaning for a while to write a post on this very theme. I wanted to examine this theme using images … Read more

Facades in Rome: old and new signs of culture

A few weeks ago I visited Rome after a gap of many years.  I had wanted to revisit for a while, especially after seeing contemporary films set in Rome by several of my favourite Italian directors: Nanni Moretti, Gianni di Grigorio and Paolo Sorrentino. I was immediately struck by the architecture and monumentality of Rome, but … Read more