Under the rainbow?

This is a location I’ve photographed a number of times – it’ss part of the network of pedestrian tunnels below London St. Pancras and King’s Cross stations in London. All my previous shots (apart from one I took on my phone) have been in black and white, as that was always the film choice I had with me when passing, but this time the camera I had with me was packing a roll of Kodak Colorplus.

Despite the colours, it’s still a location that works well in monochrome thanks to the contrasty lines and shapes, but the rainbow hues of the lighting make colour very worthwhile too.

I can imagine people passing through here on their way to Westworld. 🙂

Pentax Espio 140M & Kodak Colorplus.

Taken on 10 July 2019

Greco Brothers

One of my odd shots of nothing much in particular or, as I see it, a beautiful image of a box of ice-cream cones. I seem to have a penchant for this kind of ephemera. Most people would just pass it by but I like to think that, sometime in the future, it will provide a small piece of social history. Plus I like it as a photograph too. There’s no accounting for my taste!

The Olympus 35 RC has rendered the detail wonderfully. If I look at the full resolution scan I can read the writing on the British Standards kitemark at the bottom right of the window.

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 21 July 2019

Beside the jets

An impromptu shot I grabbed while walking back to the car with my wife last weekend.

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 21 July 2019

Rare and Racy no more

Rare and Racy was a second-hand book and vinyl records shop that traded on Devonshire Street in Sheffield. It had been in business for as long as I could remember (in fact it had been trading since long before I was old enough to visit – since 1969 in fact). It wasn’t a place I frequented all that often, but I went in on a number of occasions and it was a real treasure-trove of stuff – filled with interesting shelf-lined nooks and crannies and every inch of free wall-space covered in photographs, artworks and other ephemera. The outside building was also decorated by a range of interesting street-art pieces by local artist Phlegm.

Sadly, the decision was taken by the local council to re-develop the row of building in which Rare and Racy (and several other quirky independent shops) were located and, despite a large public outcry and a petition signed by 20 thousand people, it ceased trading a year or two back. So far there is little sign of any re-development work having begun, and it’s a sad sight to behold now. Given the homogenisation of the high street in Sheffield (and across the country), with ubiquitous and interchangeable chain-stores taking up ever more space (plus the invevitable decline in footfall as a result of online shopping), it’s a crying shame that independent retailers that can bring a sense of interest and diversity to our city centres are not given the opportunity to thrive.

I remember a time when visiting another town or city would be a bit of an adventure with a whole array of shops, bars and restaurants that were completely different to what you had at home. But it’s now increasingly the case that most places are just the same set of retailers arranged in a different street layout.

So, here’s a photo of Rare and Racy as it looked last weekend, and if you want a bit of a virtual look inside as it was a few years ago, here’s a video.

As an aside, I’ve only noticed today just how tall the girl at the left of the image is! Either that, or the couple at the right are small!

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 21 July 2019

Odd acoustics

The annual Tramlines festival took place in Sheffield last weekend and so I went for a walk around the town centre on the Sunday morning. I ended up taking very few photos of subjects directly related to the festival, but there were a number of other related events taking place around the town centre too. As I walked through Barker’s Pool I saw a bloke sat on the City Hall steps who I though might make for a nice subject. As I was sizing up the composition I heard the sound of approaching music and turned around to see a pair of decidedly unusual bicycle-mounted instruments approaching, so I took some photos of them instead.

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 21 July 2019

Sleeping in the bookshop

This chap was having a sly forty-winks in the bookshop right next to where the photo books are. I’m not sure how asleep he actually was because he opened half an eyelid when I first walked past him, but then, sensing no threat, he let his guard down again, so I pounced and took the shot!.

Thankfully the 35 RC just makes a quiet click when the shutter fires. I’m not sure I’d have taken it had I been carrying an SLR or something. 🙂

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 21 July 2019

Concealed weapon

If you look at today’s photo carefully you will see that the kindly (or scary, depending on your disposition) looking plastic butcher is actually holding something in his right hand. It’s mostly concealed by the sheet listing the prices for some of the sandwiches on offer, but is, in fact, a meat cleaver.

It’s an innocent enough thing for a butcher (artificial or otherwise) to be carrying – it is, after all – a tool of the trade. So it’s probably just me, and a diet of horror / slasher movies during the 1980s, that provokes all manner of dark imaginings whenever I see it. The cleaver doesn’t have blood stains, at least it didn’t last time I passed when it was visible, but who knows why he’s carefully hiding it from view? Best not get too close…

Boo!

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 21 July 2019

A path through the barley

When thinking of a title for the picture shown today, I was forced to find the answer to that age-old question that has puzzled our species for so long: Is it wheat, or is it barley?

Turns out it’s barley. The main visual differentiator, so I’ve learned today, is that barley has a long beard (the bristles that protect the kernels). So there you have it.

Anyway, here’s a photo of some wheat barley.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 20 July 2019

Returning to old paths

Back in January 2018 I took this photo. I liked the location, and the area it was taken (the Moss Valley to the southeast of Sheffield) is a very pleasant agricultural area criss-crossed with footpaths and narrow lanes, and dotted with pockets of woodland. Although I’ve re-visited the Moss Valley a few times since then – albeit not as often as I’d have liked – I’ve not returned to the place where the linked photograph was taken until this weekend just gone.

Today’s photograph was taken on the same footpath as that shot, although just a little further down the hill. The main difference between the pictures is the height of the crops in the field through which the footpath cuts. In the previous shot the field shows nothing but early signs of growth, while in the recent shot, the crop (I believe that it’s Oilseed Rape) is almost ready for harvest. Had I ventured here a couple of months ago it would have been in full bloom and presented itself as a sea of vibrant yellow. Maybe I’ll return for that next year.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 20 July 2019

Photography is fun(icular)

Yesterday’s photo had the Grand Hotel in the background and here it is again, albeit much closer this time, providing the brick backdrop to the funicular station.

The funicular railway here was built almost 15 years after the hotel, opening to passengers in 1881, and it still serves residents and visitors to this day. There were originally a total of five funicular railways at the resort, but there are only two still in service today: the one here (the Central Tramway), and another on the south cliffs (aptly named the South Cliff Lift). Another between these two (the Saint Nicholas Cliff Lift, just the other side of the Grand Hotel) is still in place, but the bottom station is now an ice-cream parlour while the two carriages are fixed in place at the top of the incline and make up the Saint Nicholas Cafe.

The other two were in the North Bay area of the town. The North Bay Cliff Lift was closed in 1996 and has been dismantled and placed in storage, while the Queen’s Parade Cliff Lift appears to have had a somewhat ill-fated lifespan, being subject to runaway cars, accidents and mechanical failures until a landslide eventually caused it to close for good in 1887, just nine years after it opened.

There are various meandering pathways to and from the seafront for those who don’t wish to ride in style (or some seriously imposing sets of steps for those of a sturdy disposition!).

Pentax Espio 140M & Kodak Colorplus.

Taken on 13 July 2019