Photography, photography

A thought-provoking visit to the local photography festival, examining rural change and disruption in a globalising world and featuring the work of both South African and local photographers. I was particularly moved by the photographs of young people on the fringes of South African society, Between Dogs and Wolves by Jodi Bieber, and - closer to home - by the exhibition by college photography students.

It's inspired me to post some of my own recent shots taken around town. Nothing to do with globalisation. Just for the pleasure of it

Behind the counter ...

Overhead ...


Message ..

Crossing the river.

Cathedral: Stonemasons' yard

Tools for restoration: wooden workbench, the block of red sandstone, a hammer and chisel. A large mug for tea.

Later I notice the man, half hidden in the shadows.

Change of Pace

My right shoulder and upper back are in a bad way. Muscle spasm and it's getting worse. Pain has started to spread down the right arm as well.

"Not more than 20 minutes at the computer without a correspondingly long break", said the nice young man who is my new remedial massage therapist yesterday.

Which means that habits will have to change. It's not work that's doing the damage. I have frequent breaks from the computer and am more than happy to take them. It's blogging, blog reading and generally surfing the net at home.

When I'm writing a blogpost I go at the first and second draft for an hour, maybe more, without moving. Then maybe a few hours, maybe a day later I might revise for another hour. If I posted the first draft you wouldn't understand a word. Neither would I. I'm not a naturally fast or ordered thinker or writer and the drafting and editing become part of the thinking process. I lose myself, my sense of awareness. in the whole deeply enjoyable, compulsive exercise. Only on closing the lid of the laptop after a marathon session do I realise that my body has been suffering. And I haven't even mentioned the lengthy delights of a wet afternoon's blog reading.

Not good. The rules of health aren't any different for me than for the rest of humanity.

At least for a while until things improve physically I'm going to experiment with shorter posts, so that I'm not fretting to get back to the computer and finish the project. I've started to investigate blogs that make a feature of brevity and it will be an interesting change of pace. More stand-alone photographs. Maybe some link posts. Blog reading for limited times only.

I'm alarmed that I've allowed things to get to this stage, in spite of regular yoga classes. I know this stuff, for heaven's sake. There's nothing new in what the massage therapist said. And yet I enjoy my online life and don't want to give it up. I need a special back chair. I need to set gentle limits. I need to get well and to treat my body kindly.

Misrule (Updated)

"It's a three day visit by the Lord of Misrule", someone who should know tells me. "All bets are off.".

He's talking about the May Fair, which has just ended. Apparently a fair has been held here in one form or another since 1100-and-something, and it almost certainly originated as a pagan celebration that the church was canny enough to take under its wing.

These days though it's nothing more than a gigantic funfair. Now I'm used to such things in allocated, contained areas - parks, fields, open spaces, whatever - generally out of town and well away from the real world of offices and public buildings. But the fair rolls into the centre of our town and just takes it over.

The main streets are closed to traffic: big wheels and dodgems, roundabouts and burger bars, candy floss and helter-skelters - often strung out the length of a road in a long narrow line - replace the usual cars. Locals grumble about the consequent traffic jams and dearth of parking spaces and even on the outskirts you hear the distant thump-thump of the music. Squeezing past the hordes of parents and excited children, the groups of teenagers, you go about your business on the way to work or shop, step over unnervingly large electricity cables and enjoy the crackling energy and excitement of it all. But there's also a jittery nervousness in the air and the noise can be deafening.




The rides start around lunchtime so the early morning is relatively peaceful. The sacred provides a backdrop to the secular.

By mid afternoon the crowds arrive and the action will continue well into the night, when things really warm up. People travel here for miles, from way across country.

"Look at the faces", says my local friend.

Rides soar above the throng of pedestrians, dwarfing the cathedral skyline ...

... just yards away from banks, solicitors offices and GPs' surgeries. Heaven knows how all this is squared with current Health & Safety legislation.

In my own life during these three days there were two unexpected events - one tantalisingly agreeable, the second less so. Upheaval and catharsis.

Maybe it's easier if you work with Misrule, or Chaos, when he comes to visit. He's not necessarily an enemy.

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Although I didn't like it for writing purposes, I've a smidgin of nostalgia for the template of my previous blog which allowed larger photographs. It's really, really worth clicking the photos to enlarge.

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Update: More photos of the fair on Flickr.

R & R

Bank holiday weekend. I've changed plans and stayed close to home, mainly out of fatigue. Intermittently I've gardened, cleaned house and pottered. The last weeks at work have been difficult. Much distress and upheaval, not involving me directly but the cumulative effect has been draining. Until recently I've enjoyed this job: the organisation's work ethos is an excellent one and the people are more than compatible. In fact they've been a gift, which makes it worse. One day the acceptance will come that this is how life is sometimes.

Early morning. In my dressing gown I take a cup of tea outside and sit on the patio. It rained during the night and the paving stones are still damp, the sky heavy and overcast. The temperature is comfortably warm: for the last few days - the first time this year - there's been no temptation to switch on the heating. Daisies and dandelions have sprung up overnight on the lawn, scatterings of white and gold, and the scent of the blossom from the next door neighbour's fruit trees permeates the morning to the point of sensory overload. I sit back and try to disentangle the threads of birdsong: blackbird and thrush are simple, the rest need work.

That evening I go to take out the scraps for the compost. The blue crocs - kept outside for garden wear - have been comandeered.

People (Updated)

Update: Gut feelings are generally a good guide. I've taken down the additional photos that were posted here and to which the first two comments refer . After overnight reflection I wasn't comfortable having them them up on the blog - just too intrusive. Maybe I'll leave people shots to others. A shame because I find humans fascinating, but I don't have the stomach for it.

I'm still very fond of the juggler though.

A solitary juggler puts in a bit of practice on a rainy day in the park. I request a photograph.