Dinner Time With James Dean

Posted by Mark on Feb 22, 2012 | 0 Comments

It later transpired that James Dean's famous hunger strike had nothing to do with politics and was simply the result of a film set assistant refusing to make airplane sounds.

Inside An Old Chapel

Posted by Mark on Feb 22, 2012 | 8 Comments

Instead of standing around on the street looking to catch people unaware I decided to go for a bit of a walk at lunchtime instead today, taking in most of the city walls of Chichester. At the end I had ten minutes to spare so I stopped in at St John's Chapel – which is open and empty every day – and took a few shots; it's not a very extravagant place as chapels go and it's a little dingy inside when the sun's not shining (like today) but there's a nice feeling being around old wooden pews.

And look! Windows! You know what that means? That means I can submit this for #WindowWednesday (+#Window Wednesday) curated by +Jules Hunter, +Simon Kitcher, and +Jason Kowing.

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Portrait of a Violinist

Posted by Mark on Feb 21, 2012 | 12 Comments

What exactly is a portrait? Is it when a busker with a violin spots you with your camera and freezes for a second to allow you to take a shot without a word passing between you? I'm going to assume it is, in which case here's a submission for #PortraitTuesday (+PortraitTuesday) curated by +Laura Balc.

The violinist was very talented indeed, playing along masterfully to a recorded backing track that gave the impressions of him being part of a large orchestra or amongst the musicians attending a masked ball in pre-revolutionary France. If there was one criticism of his work it would be that his repertoire seemed limited and he'd already looped around and started repeating some of his earlier pieces within about twenty minutes.

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Charles Dickens Music Triple

Posted by Mark on Feb 21, 2012 | 0 Comments

Charles Dickens… music… triple?

Did he write any music?

No, no he didn’t. However, there’s a bit of a Dicken’s celebration taking place round about now and his birthplace, Portsmouth, just so happens to be mine too. More importantly than that, however, I could do with breaking up some of these photo posts with something different and you don’t get much more different than music videos with extremely tenuous links to the great author.

Chuck Berry – Carol
As in A Christmas Carol. Naturally.

Paris – Rainy Day in London
Can anyone say “A Tale Of Two Cities“? Thought I was quite clever here. No? Well, who asked you?

Curiosity Shoppe Band – Raspberry Beret
From Martin Chuzzlewit who liked eating raspberries and wearing berets. Honestly. Read it.

Outside the Café

Posted by Mark on Feb 20, 2012 | 8 Comments

A second submission for #MonochromeMonday /+Monochrome Monday curated by +Charles Lupica, +Hans Berendsen, and +Bill Wood because it's still Monday (for just a little while longer here) and it's monochrome. Yeah, I understand how photo themes work.

This is just a couple who were outside a small café/deli place; he stood, she sat.

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The Busker's Shoes

Posted by Mark on Feb 20, 2012 | 6 Comments

I was determined to get a pair of shoes shot today because I knew it was #ShoesMonday curated by +Laura Harding and +Olga Kafka, and it had been my intention to capture something flash and elegant, probably at the very end of a lady's leg as it swooshed through Chichester. Alas, it wasn't to be a swooshy shoe kind of day. In the end I caught this pair of Adidas supporting a busker performing some tunes admirably to the passing shoppers and lunchtime office-escapees.

Also submitted for #MonochromeMonday which has come under the curatorship (I don't care if that's not an actual word) of +Charles Lupica, +Hans Berendsen, and +Bill Wood.

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Street Corner, Beijing, 2008

Posted by Mark on Feb 19, 2012 | 4 Comments

Another shot that I never processed or uploaded anywhere, taken in Beijing, November 2008 on the old Canon EOS 350D. I do wonder why I never bothered to do anything with this before since I look at it now and think: yes, that's my sort of shot; it's got people doing peopley things and there's plenty of interest (well, to me at least) everywhere; crossed arms man, handbag-holding man, mobile phone guys, seated girls, Nike shoes, Adidas tops and sweatbands…

I've only completed looking through one day of the honeymoon photos so far; can't wait to see what else I overlooked.

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Woman, Shadows, Beijing, 2008

Posted by Mark on Feb 19, 2012 | 6 Comments

Just having a nose through some old folders this morning – specifically those around our honeymoon in November of 2008 in Asia – and I discovered that there are dozens and dozens of photos that I took but never decided to process or upload, this being one of them. Of course, I was younger and more inexperienced around photography then and probably thought that this photo of an old Chinese woman sitting on a stone plinth was no good as you couldn't see her face thanks to the shadows; now, this photo appeals to me so much more. Weird how attitudes to aesthetics changes over time.

What I would have given to not have that car in the background but c'est la vie and there's no use moaning about it now.

Submitted for #ShadowsOnSunday curated by +André Roßbach and +Daniel Graupner.

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