Category Archives: monochrome

Shifting Sands

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 Tracks in the sand - Sea Palling, Norfolk, UK

I’m currently going through a phase of wanting to get ready for my Norfolk trip, even though I’m not doing it this year. Last year I made the decision to give Norfolk a break, the project would have a creative interlude for 2010, and come back fresh and reinvigorated for 2011. I will miss it though, which is not surprising considering that I’ve been doing it for five years on the trot. Time for a break me thinks. Last year, I got the feeling that I was becoming… er… too familiar with the place. Although it was hugely tempting to return this year, I’m going to stick by my decision of 2009 and do something else this year…. something very different - I’ll be helping film a vampire movie  in Whitby.

My Norfolk  project came about in 2004, influenced mainly by a photographic book called Northumberland by John Tordai. The book was part of a series, although I only recall ever seeing two books, where a photographer would pick a county they knew and photograph it. Tordai had been raised on Tyneside, so naturally, he chose the beautiful county of Northumberland. Sadly I can’t remember the name of the other photographer, or the exact county that the book was shot in. I do remember though that it was a county located in the south of England. I thought it a fantastic idea to do a long-term photographic project and that made me decide to shoot a project of my own.

My Norfolk project differs in one major respect to the books. I have no links to the county. I like the idea of coming to a subject fresh, just once a year for (and at) a certain period of time. I could do a similar type of project here in my home county of North Yorkshire, but for the moment I’ll stick to photographing the delights of Norfolk. How long will this project last? Initially when I started I thought ten years but I’ve decided to remove any time restrictions. It’s ongoing and ends when it ends. I’ll miss visiting this year but the break is needed.

Back to basics

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Pebble beach -Sheringham, Norfolk, UK

So the UK has had it’s election and the winner is…. well no one really. All of the political parties suffered from a terminal case of mistrust, apathy and a longing for change from the public.

To say that no-one won might be wrong. This could be the start of a process of changing what’s wrong with the country’s political system which, quite frankly, is rather out of date. Maybe the UK public finally won.

The next few days will be interesting….

Wicker Work

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Wicker artwork on Salthouse beach, Norfolk, UK

As you may have noticed, I’ve altered the look of the Darker Skies blog. There are a few improvements in the works that will be added over the summer. More details about that coming up in the April podcast due for release in the next week.

Sadly, there is no visit to Norfolk this year, however, i do intend to visit again next year. I do have a trip planned for this year to a rather lovely part of Britain… it’s just when I’ll do it that needs to be sorted out.

Tenth Photo

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100th Bomb Group memorial museum control tower - Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk, UK

I was recently ‘tagged’ by my friend Kat to take part in a little photo game where you pick the tenth photofile and talk about it. Here is my contribution taken from the Norfolk collection that has been sat on my computer for years… literally. 

The tenth photograph was taken at the 100th Bomb Group museum at Thorpe Abbotts on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. In the late 1970′s , a team of enthusiasts decided to renovate the old airfield tower and turn it into a memorial museum dedicated to those 100th Bomb group aircrews who were killed in action. The museum is run by local volunteers who tell the story of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) at Thorpe Abbotts. It is a place to remember. 

The photograph above was taken on the top of the control tower looking out over where the runway used to be. Although agriculture has gradually crept back onto the old airfield, the tell tale signs that this place was a hive of activity seventy years ago are still visible. Maintenance areas can still be seen and a  large section of the old concrete runway still exists, so it’s not hard to imagine the roar of aircraft taking off to attack targets in Europe. The airfield would have been a noisy place back then, but now it’s one of the the most peaceful places i know.

The overall feel of the place is ghostly. The only sound is the wind, with maybe some birdsong in the background. A star spangled banner flutters and flaps on a flagpole, as a permanent salute to those long gone. The very young faces of the lost aircrews stare out at you from the photos in the museum’s beautiful chapel. Their youth is overwhelmingly obvious as they stand proudly in front of their B-17s. The photos reflect lives cut short a long way from home, sacrificed for a better world free of Nazism.  I can’t think of a more fitting memorial than the actual control tower that many crews would have looked at as they taxied for takeoff. I love the museum, the atmosphere, the history and the old airfield. For me, this photograph captures all of that.

Out and about

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 Old wooden pallet

The photograph was taken using my Kiev 60 Russian 6×6 camera that i take out every now and again. The camera is heavy, rather clunky and totally mechanical. No batteries needed at all. Great fun to use if you like getting back to basic photography every now and again.

A few more photos from my ‘out and about’ series will be added over the next few days. 

Moving Pictures

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 Winter in the fields – North Yorkshire, UK

I have so many ideas abot my new podcast that it’s hard to work out where to go with it. The first one will be audio but i’m really tempted to alternate between audio and video making six of each. Although i could do these video episodes using a phone, i think my life would be made far easier by investing in a small camcorder. The one i have my eye on is around £95 and would be perfect for recording video podcasts, after all i’m not making Gone with the Wind.

Speaking of video, very soon i may be returning to an old college of mine. The college has a certain technical suite that we would like to use to complete the vampire film ‘Christian’. To say that technology has moved on from when myself and the film’s director Matt were there would be an massive understatement. Just the ability to distribute work onto the internet is a massive leap forward. Back in our day, distribution relied on how many VHS tape copies you could produce.  It involved a lot of hard work, time and the visual quality was questionable at best. VHS video and reel-to-reel audio tape seem so last century now. I think it’s going to be a strange experience going back.

I envy what students have to work with now. If anything, technology has only helped to increase creativity. It’ll be interesting to see what they do produce.