It was my Birthday yesterday and as usual I took the day off work and Emma and I went for a wander around town. Emma bought me some of the Impossible Colour film for my Polaroid. It’s a bit of an expensive luxury and I definitely have a love hate feeling towards the stuff. Here’s two shots I took yesterday. They haven’t developed properly and the chemicals have started to blister but I quite like them – there’s something quite nice about the imperfections.
Last weekend was a “re-introduce myself to my family” weekend which involved lots and lots of driving, coffee, chats and meals. The occasional dog and cat bothering too.
Friday down to Bath (Corsham/Box really) then down to Bristol IKEA with Mum then onto Weston-Super-Mare to see Grandma, then further down the M5 to Brean Down way to see Granny then back to Corsham to see Dad then next day back over to Bristol to see Nat, Cath and family. Around 450 miles of driving, one nail in a rear tyre, one engine light on and plenty of stops at motorway services. Think we’ll space it out a bit more next time. As usual a few photos were taken, all have been sent off to Photobox to print and put in my shoe box but here’s a few I like. Rest of the shots are on Flickr.
Tesco, Weston-Super-Mare. One of the only colourful things I could find to take a picture of.
Dad’s cat whilst we were on the way out to the pub – she even has her own chair.
Grandma’s House – nothing has changed here for years which is perfect.
Sweet shop in Weston-Super-Mare, next to Diva’s premiere strip club and a chip shop.
The GRAND PIER. Burnt down a few years ago, now resurrected. Used to come here with my Grandad and ride the train up and down the long run to the fun fair at the end.
Nat, with my old D70. Hope he learns as much I did from it. Bit knackered but still just about works.
A conversation about cats and their whiskers ended up with this scene demonstrating with plastic forks. Elsa made a far better model than I.
Relaxing day with Emma. Not much happening, some reading, a walk and some camera fiddling. Love it. Not in the office tomorrow so nice and relaxed.
Sat seems to be my only day off at the moment so has becoming fairly precious. Not much photography but working hard on a project at work and been in every Sunday for at least six or so weeks so I’m trying tomake sure I actually do something rather than just sleep or look at the internet. Hopefully its all over now (after Thursday night) and I can start to get my life back a bit.
So we went into town to quickly grab a look at the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize at the National Portrait gallery. I’m still amazed that it’s another ginger girl with ginger animal. It’s getting beyond a cliche now. At least there weren’t any massive vaginas to stand in front of this year. It was set in a tiny gallery and rammed with people which made the whole experience pretty grim. Maybe I’ll go back during the week sometime. I really liked a couple of the shots but I was pretty disappointed with some of them. I guess I’m not a photography critic though.
After that we headed out to the Royal Academy with the aim of seeing the Russian Constructivist exhibition – again too many people with a massive queue. So we had a look at the Tatlin’s Tower in the courtyard and then went to the ICA for a couple of drinks. Good chats with Ed and Emma and then home. All good.
Last Sat Emma and I ventured out into town to catch the last day of the Edgar Martins exhibition at The Wapping Project – Bankside. So glad we made the effort to go as the work is simply extraordinary. Emma also wrote a few words which I won’t repeat here but suffice to say she’s far better at the words than I am.
The work is rather neatly summarised by Robin Wilson over at the Architects Journal.
..perspective views onto monumental turbine halls, ‘portraits’ of specialist station equipment, control panel displays and empty waiting rooms with potted plants, alien, isolated, yet flourishing in these sterile environments.
It was great to talk to the gallery owner and understand some of the technical details behind them. All shot on 10×8 view camera with up to and hour long exposure also with selective flash added to fill in dark spots or balance overall lighting. The effect is one of an almost painterly like hyperreal quality where shadows don’t always exist. There also seems to be an amazing sense of perfection in the spaces that he’s working in which is constantly engaging when stood in front of the enormous prints. Some of the images feel timeless, or 70′s or even slightly futuristic. It’s hard to really get a handle of their context. Fascinating but ultimately too expensive to afford a print. I came away with a £30 book of his which is just as enjoyable.
This is my mate Gav. He’s gone and left me and decided to go off round the world for a year instead of living the rat race in Bath and furthering his property empire. Must admit that I haven’t seen him much this year which makes me feel pretty guilty – especially when I saw him at his leaving do. So when he gets back I’m going to give him a massive man hug (as it makes him feel awkward) and go riding with him and spend some time catching up. You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone I guess.
He even posted me a birthday card before leaving – my birthday is about 8 weeks away!
Happpy travels Gav! Looks like you’re off to a good start.
Glad to not be at work today but rather in Cambridge hanging out with Emma’s Mum & partner, Snoopy the dog and Emma of course. Sunday was a bit of a write off as I seemed to lose all energy and then spent most of the day sleeping. Anyway, lots of good food and a walk with the dog so all good. A few photos below and also a quick video of Emma throwing the ball for snoopy. He’s mental for that ball, it’s like crack to him.
Popped out briefly yesterday for a walk around the park rather than sit in front of the computer and edit photos. Nice to get some fresh air at last. We went for a bit of a stroll then relaxed at the cafe in the middle of Peckham Rye Park for a bit. Glorious sunshine and we just sat there watching the world go by with our coffee. So nice having the sun on my back and occasionally taking a photo. Also great to use my camera for pleasure rather than business.
I’ve been meaning to write a few words about this for a while now but other things have been preventing me, work, work and more work really.
Graham, Matt and I recently went away for a few days to reacquaint ourselves with our bicycles and each other. The idea being that we would ride some “dusty trails” as the subject of Graham’s email. I was pretty sceptical seeing as the summer had been fairly poor, however a plan was formed. Early start on the Thursday for a ride at Cannock Chase, then head over to do Llangelda on the Friday and finishing with a natural trail over at Long Mynd on the Sat with a drive back to London that evening to spend Sunday with our respective partners.
Our first port of call, Cannock Chase, was surprisingly good. I’ve heard it mentioned many times over the years on the various internet forums I used to frequent. It’s a firm favourite of many people living in the middle bit of the country apparently. It turns out that choosing a week day to ride there was a very smart decision as it was still busy even on a Thursday. We were all pretty impressed with what they’d managed to achieve there with two small hills and a lot of effort in terms of trail building. You never felt you were climbing then descending like Whites at Afan but it flowed a lot more. Just one constant trail which felt great. There were parts which were like an enormous BMX track mixed in with the tress. And surprise, surprise it was dusty! I was having so much fun that forgot to take any pictures of us riding. Still here’s Matt & Graham posing on a rest stop.
We ended up staying in a very reasonable little bunkhouse which was a short walk over the fields to a fairly lively little town. Here’s Matt & Graham on their way through the fields. This photo could have been perfect if they’d just held hands for a brief moment.
We also met a few friends on the way who came running towards us when we approached their little enclosure. A good night in the pub as well as a feed in the local curry house and back through the fields for a good sleep.
Next day we hit up Coed Llandegla for a trip around the Black Run which always satisfies. Again, amazingly dry and flowing. Hardly a soul about on the trails even though the car park was busy. I think we’d all warmed up from the day before and things were a bit faster. Some serious grins at the bottom of some of the runs. Again, I as having so much fun I didn’t take my camera out but Graham did get this shot of me on the berm at the start of the first fun bit. Proper lean on it and all!
Image © Graham Jenks
At the end of the trail there is a small skills and drops area as well as a fun little pump track. Here’s Matt showing how it’s done. Looks easy from the video but it’s hard work not pedalling and just pumping through it, especially when you’ve just ridden 25k off road.
Rather than spend another night at the curry house we had an improvised BBQ and fire outside the bunkhouse. Being the aspiring middle class tossers we are we managed to find an array of posh BBQ treats rather than basic burgers. Just look at that feast.
We also had an additional guest join us for the evening, Jenga, the campsite dog. And what a sweetie. She wasn’t after the food but just a stick or two to be thrown and all of us were happy to oblige. Back into town again to the same pub which was even livelier on the Friday. We also went past a round bowls pitch being used which I’ve never seen before. They play across the pitch which all looked very odd but plenty of people getting involved.
Next day was a natural trail from an old issue of MBR which Matt had researched. I’ve long been a fan of the trail centre since I’ve had access to a car and longer travel suspension forks. You’re almost always guaranteed a decent ride whatever the weather and there’s often a cafe at the end. However it was great to make a return to some of the natural stuff. I definitely regretted the removal of my inner ring on the front. Fine for trail centres but a bit grindy for the open moorland around Long Mynd we were riding. Lots of exposed and fairly barren landscape with a few fairly decent climbs.
Once we’d got all the climbing out of the way we managed to lose the trail slightly around an airfield at the top. Fortunately a friendly local rider got us back on track and we were treated to a spectacular tight single track descent. Narrow as hell and rocky, root and very twisty. Also with a drop to one side and a few section where the trail was washed out we were all pretty pleased with the end result. The climbing was forgotten at this point. A bit of a slog back to the car along a road (we may have missed the last bit) then back to London.
What a weekend! Thanks to Matt & Graham for organising.
Image © Matt Noble
Read MoreNice to have our friends Nat & Cath in London for a few days and their amazing children Caitlin, Elsa and now Joe too. Spent some time in Peckham Park in the sunshine with them all relaxing. Amazing how smart kids are. Fascinating to watch and engage with.
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