Salome

I was reading Carol Ann Duffy's 'The World's Wife; and was reacquainted with Salome. I was struck by the contrasting perceptions of her in Duffy's poem, and two films: The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and Salome (which is based on Oscar Wilde's presentation of the same). I wonder which Salome you'll believe in?

John Steinbeck, 'A Russian Journal'

I have just read this marvellous and totally engaging book that makes me want to marry John Steinbeck and move to Georgia. Although unsure of its exact  accuracy, I would whole-heartedly recommend it.
And I found out about so much in this enchanting and lovely book. I never knew before that 'every Russian town of any size has its permanent circus in a permanent building'. I didn't know about the churches that were 'rich and oriental' with paintings which were 'very black with incense and age'. Nor did I know of, and this one is amazing, the railway in Kiev run entirely by children! Wow.

Speech archive

For those of you who want to hear the sound of people from everywhere, why don't you look at this speech archive. It is good to hear the voices of others from the world.

Smoking man

Allow me to tell you a magical story. I was walking by a shop that was covered with mirrors, so that the caught and bounced in spectrums of colour in a way that looked like it belonged on the front of a science textbook. I decided to take some photographs, but when I looked at them later, I realised just how dull the beautiful effect looked in my camera. The only interesting photograph which I had taken was of a man in the blue and silver uniform of the underground train. He was smoking quickly, with his  hand on his hip. His face had been so angry before he smoked his cigarette, but it began to calm down. From this photograph I did a drawing, quickly like the man. You, too, can share the magic of this smoking man.

Postcards

I bought these postcards at a flea market a while ago, but only decided to share them with you now. I like to look at the photographs and wonder about the stories behind them. Who were the children? Where were they from? Who made their photographs into postcards? Why?

Morocco

I realised that I never shared the photographs that I had taken in Morocco. And so, although I know it is dull to look at holiday snapshots, here are four of them (four happens to be my lucky number).

T-Shirts

Just another weird little image for the front of a T-shirt, made by me.

Dog man

I know this is a bad photo, but it's not often that you see a dog carrying a plastic bag ( Is it his poo in there?) and so I had to share it with you.

Red shift

I took this photo, and wanted to show you how good a grey day can be. It serves as the perfect backdrop for the striking red in these this image. I hope you like the photo.

More people

Walking around London once again, I was touched by these two women. They seemed so calm, and so united, that I had to photograph them.

People watching

Whilst mooching around London on a rainy day, with a camera, I took some photographs that I think are sweet enough to share. Walking in cities is way of feeding my visual greed, there are extraordinary things. And there is also beauty in the mundane.