Category: Photography

More from the Old House

Architecture, Photography

There are so many corners of this perfectly marvellous house, here are just a few more that particularly caught my eye. A large white feather, from whose tail I know not, looks very fine resting on this old treasure box, decorated with nail-heads.
box
What dainty feet – the owner of these these faux? snakeskin shoes has left them here to make sure the ancient oak treads are not harmed by their metal heel studs, they sit here waiting patiently for her to return so that they may resume some marvellous adventure whilst protecting her feet.
shoes
The current inhabitants of this great house are slowly discovering the depths of its history, painted designs on the window reveal, buried beneath more modern plasters and a unique example of painted oak panelling recorded as having been painted in the late 16th century. Standing in the great hall feels like a walk back in time, can I hear sounds from the early days or is it all in my head?
Wall painting

Wall painting

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Lastly a glimpse into a more recent past, a cousin of the Thermos vacuum flask of my youth, which my mother filled with homemade ice-cream in summer or french onion soup in winter to take on picnics at the beach.
vacuum flask

The Old House

Architecture, Photography

On a cold night there is a certain pleasure in stepping out of a warm bed in bare feet onto polished oak floor-boards, feeling the contrast against my skin as I reach for the chamber pot in the darkness. The floor is uneven, sloping back from the window towards the centre of the house, a soft glow of the light below filtering through the gaps. It is an old house, built in 1530 they say, it has settled slowly onto its rocky outcrop at the top of a hill, a gentle slope on one side, a precipitous drop into the ravine on the other. The house creaks and moves, I am not alone here, there are rare bats who  flit silently through the shadows leaving only the tiniest traces of their visits. There are other diminutive  creatures sharing my little blue bedroom and its red framed window. Moths fly up when I disturb the covers, spiders extrude their sticky webs across my brushes left unused on the window sill. Now and then I think I hear scamperings, perhaps my brother’s dog or a mouse searching for spilled biscuit crumbs.

The fine white sheets feel smooth as satin, the crumbling blue plaster reminds me of half forgotten dusty corners from my childhood, I feel at peace, protected from the outside by the warnings of the quartet of geese. At last the sun edges in through the un-curtained window, filling the eaves with warmth and the raking light revealing the layers of distemper and plaster stretching back in time.

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At the other end of the day as the sun is setting, the last rays snatch the chance to seep through the play of leaves and leading in the window to charm me with a display of dappled fire on the rough plaster of the living room wall. The spiders have been here too but have scurried away into the dark alcove where Puss escapes for some peace.

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Filtered Light and Shade

Architecture, Landscape, Photography

A visit to the sculpture park at Chateau Chaumont brought about an unexpected delight, part installation, part sculpture, by a Japanese artist, sending misty vapour into the landscape and providing a mystical medium for visitors to explore. The carefully arranged square of water/mist jets, set high up in the trees, emits a continuous cloud of vapour for around 5 minutes at 5 minute intervals. Meanwhile the mist responds to whatever windy eddies may prevail and wanders off over the adjacent lake or hangs about making the unwary visitor damp and soggy but inspired by the soft light filtered by the mist.

http://www.domaine-chaumont.fr/en_can_can-artistes?scat=4b&expandable=1

In the mist

In the mist 2

We visited another much smaller chateau at St Aignan, where the sweeping steps leading from the church below to the chateau courtyard above provided a delightful opportunity to play with shadows and light. The balustrade of sandstone, or is it limestone, worn away by rain, catches and disperses the early evening light.
balustrade

evening sun

Chateau steps

Later in the evening during a stroll through the village, we spied on people’s windows, shrouded in gaudy lace or masked by dimpled glass. We couldn’t make out whether this was a perfectly ordinary desk with its own desk-lamp in silhouette, or a more sinister creature biding its time before taking over the world.

desk-lamp

London St Pancras International

People, Photography

St Pancras is one of those places where there seems to be a special atmosphere, it has something to do with transience, everyone who goes there is a traveller, it is a major hub for London as well as being the starting point for train journeys to the Continent.

Its full everyday from early in the morning till late at night, people from all over the world come here in various states of anxiety, excitement, anticipation and sometimes calm. People wait here for their trains, for their friends or family arriving, or perhaps like me, just wandering and observing. There are of course all the people who work in the cafe’s newsagents, tickets offices but there may also be people who come for no other reason than just to be there, perhaps they feel comforted by the noise and the bustle, or able to disappear in the crowds and feel anonymous.

Welcome Home Hug
Welcome Home Hug
Indie Musician
Indie Musician
Connecting
Connecting
Waiting
Waiting

There are two pianos, painted blue, deliberately positioned to encourage the public to sit down and play, they are well used and loved, rarely idle and played by the widest range of ages and types,it is a joy to watch – and listen.

Japanese siblings

The Photographer
The Photographer

London People

People, Photography, Uncategorized

Wandering around with a friend from out of town, I found these people and faces, so many stories in London, right on my doorstep. silhouetteboy
On the south bank of the Thames, these tourists were thrown into sharp silhouette by the brightly sunlit ship beyond.

white toecap At first I thought this man’s shoe was being highlighted by the sun but no, he is actually wearing canvas shoes with white rubber toecaps, his friend’s shadow just happens to be falling in line with the white rubber tip. The strange gesture of pointing his finger straight down, is in fact merely the gentleman getting a good grip on his walking stick, only visible by his right foot.

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I sat for some time watching the passers-by in the courtyard garden of the Victoria and Albert Museum, this young boy seemed dedicated to improving his handstand technique in the water, he did it at least 10 times, the first was good, the last ones were excellent.The little girl to the right is desperate to try but I think too scared.

pink dress

I so admire this woman’s dress style, a great lover of Mondrian and a perfectly thought through outfit, even down to the flower earrings and the pink socks.IMG_2529

I looked up and this guy was towering over me, making everyone around look so small!

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Its not often hat you see a plait this long and what a beautiful colour too.