my sole obsession finally I feel it fading walk me home ...and walk away sole obsession suddenly a different shading walk me home ...and walk away /// mi única obsesión por fin siento que se desvanece acompáñame a casa ...y vete única obsesión de repente, un matiz diferente acompáñame a casa ...y vete
lyrics from /// letras de sole obsession, nation of language
*images made with nikon f5 and nikkor af-s 35mm f/1.4 g lens, ilford delta 400 film*
if there’s anything more important than my ego around, i want it caught and shot now
― douglas adams, the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy
i am
all these things
growing
struggling
learning
i am
none of these things
(insert list here)
i am
like you
and you
and you
and (yes),
you
i am
a
work in progress
watch this
space
to learn
who
i
am
all bunched up inside
blowin’ in the wind
reach for me
what lies behind
overflowing with emotion
bursting out
call my name
phone home before it’s too late
palm me off
birthplace of hope
discarded memory
barking up the wrong tree
three energetic bodies
potted delights
*all images made with nikon d850 and nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 e ed vr lens, during a meditative walk along the (partially flooded) south bank of the thames on sunday, 30 march 2025*
Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in
― Robert Frost
(Sometimes)
This city is where I live, as to where my home is, that’s a moot point.
Random shots on a cold autumnal day in Salamanca.
A practice shoot for a portfolio I am planning, over on salamancastreets.
*All images made with Nikon D700 and Nikon AF-S 50mm 1.4G lens – a blast from the past*
Give me a land of boughs in leaf
A land of trees that stand
Where trees are fallen there is grief
I love no leafless land
― A.E. Housman
At this time of year, I tend to drop my vinyl copy of The Doors’ Waiting for The Sun on the platter and listen to Summer’s Almost Gone.
It is 7 October, after all.
Except, on this specific 7 October, it was 31C, in the afternoon. Not particularly autumnal.
There are some signs, in the photos (below), of the change in season. Some.
In other news, I have signed up for NaNoWriMo, so, from 1 November, and until 30 November, I will be attempting to write 50,000 words, and hoping at least some of them will make sense we will see what we will see…
If you are interested, I have tried writing here before…
Musings, very sporadically, out in the midday sun.
Random thoughts (or poems if you stretch a point) from lockdown in Accra in April 2020, am thinking of publishing these.
My first sustained attempt to write anything, Dark Side Thursday.
WordPress Writing 101 back in April 2015.
Be seeing you…
*Images made with Nikon D850 and AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8E FL ED lens*
You always own the option of having no opinion.
There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control.
These things are not asking to be judged by you.
Leave them alone– Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
It has been a long time since I posted here actively, or at all, and I do keep promising to remedy that.
For several years these pages, and others, have sustained and inspired me through difficult times.
So, with no promises, I’m back for a moment, perhaps longer.
The images which follow were captured on a walk on Saturday, 30 September. The skies were a deep blue, the temperature was around 33C and some, who saw my related posts on Facebook, asked where I was. The answer was not Australia, or somewhere in Africa, as some reasonably surmised. No, I was a short walk away from home in the province of Salamanca, on the last day in September. The dusty red paths a testament to the reality of climate change.
There is no particular theme or message in my photos.
They are simply what caught me attention (again) on a well trodden path…
It is good to write and shoot again.
*all images made with my fujifilm x100f and its fixed 23mm f/2 lens, minimally edited in Lightroom with Fujifilm’s luscious velvia profile*
about christmas
russian shell(s)
ukraine hell(s)
about christmas
freezing cold
forgotten old
about christmas
homeless (not) hopeless
clueless politician, regardless
about christmas
behind closed doors
lie (closed) minds
about christmas
how much, is enough
for you
for them
for us
let's talk... about christmas
exposed
spotted
spirit (me away)
not just for christmas
not the pandemic
do you feel lucky?
palmed off
face off
caged dreams
lack of intimacy
you looking at me?
where are all the little people?
no, on reflection
closed (for christmas)
*images made with Fujifilm X100F with fixed 23mm f/2 lens*
Hurry up, hurry up and wait
I stay away all week and still I wait
I got the blues, please come see
And now we welcome the new year
full of things that have never been
― Rainer Maria Rilke
New trees, new hope, a pair of robins, a family of blackbirds and assorted wagtails have made their new home amidst the olive grove (well, there are now two such trees). Nature has shown that even a brief respite from the toxic side products of human endeavour pays (green) dividends.
Let’s hope ‘we the people’ can now renew and heal as we transition to a new year, working together to heal differences and put aside toxic divisions.
(newly planted) olive tree: 1/200s, f/8.0, ISO 64
(newly planted) magnolia: 1/200s, f8.0, ISO 64
(precocious) prunus: 1/200s f/8.0, ISO 64
(ready for new residents) White House 1/200s f/8.0, ISO 64
*All images made with Nikon D850 and AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E VR lens with limited edits in Lightroom*
Clear as a bell and an echoing shell
Clear as a pane of glass
I realize, I can’t revise
As clear as a big blue sky
Through and through it all
– Doom or Destiny, Blondie
Locked down in Accra.
Oh, is it doom or destiny?
Watch this space, especially as Ben and the WordPress Discover team are back in town.
Stay safe!
*all images hand crafted with iPhone 11 Pro 4.25mm f/1.8 lens*
andy townend 