HOMAGE TO 'EQUIVALENTS' I have loved watching and photographing skies all my life. Now Alfred Stieglitz created what he said were works that could express pure emotion, paralleling the artist’s own inner state. “Through clouds [I wanted] to put down my philosophy of life—to show that my photographs were not due to subject matter—not to special trees, or faces, or interiors, to special privileges, clouds were there for everyone—no tax as yet on them—free.” Clouds for me remind me of the massive but delicate balance of the atmosphere that is just one of the things that keeps us alive and also makes me wonder what's beyond them in deep, deep space. I do not claim to be near Stieglitz's photographs but here are some of my favourite cloud formations. These were taken on a Panasonic Micro 4/3rds body using various Schneider M42 lenses and on a Leica M9 with various lenses.
The Achievements of Bletchley Park Introduction. Following the most enjoyable weekend with the Leica Fellowship in Hinckley we decided to take a detour on our way home to revisit Bletchley Park, which we haven’t been to for about 15 years. This unique and fascinating museum tells the story of British intelligence gathering during World War II and is full of literally incredible stories of intellectual and organisational achievements that made a significant contribution to the Allies beating Nazi Germany. It also set the foundations for modern intelligence operations and was the birthplace of electronic, programmable computers. This is an incredibly complex story of human endurance, mathematical and crypto-analytical brilliance and organisational development that created a large, complex operation that only came into the public domain as the rules imposed by the Official Secrets Act were relaxed with the passage of time. Many employees went to their graves holding thei...
It's a long time since I used this Blog so it's time to fire it up again. Anyone in Manchester during August 2017 should visit the Art Gallery and see the wonderful Shirley Baker exhibition.