The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is a group of nineteen astronomical instruments built in 1734 by the Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh, the founder of the city. But if when you think of ‘astronomical instruments’ we are visualising telescopes, or maybe small handheld devices, think again! These are dramatically large structures, most far taller than a person.
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Early in the 8th century the then bishop of York, John, founded a monastery. When he died in 721 his body was buried in a chapel of the monastery’s Saxon church. In 1037 he was canonised and his monastery, and the town that had grown up around it, became a place of pilgrimage.
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Can anyone honestly assess for themselves which are their ‘best ever’ photos? I know I can’t! The best I can do is choose photos that I personally love and am proud of.
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Bright, cheerful, serene, warm, comforting … Words that capture the appeal of the colour yellow. And in this particularly hot Northern Hemisphere summer it’s good to be reminded of the positive qualities of yellow when perhaps some of us feel we’ve seen too much of it! Here in London we have not only bright yellow sun but also yellow grass in our parks and yellowing leaves on the trees.
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Oddly, while I find my own aging appearance less than appealing, as a keen street/candid photographer I’m often drawn to older people. And especially for monochrome photography. The character in these faces really suits that medium; or does the medium suit the character?
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Every first-time visitor to London, I suspect, has Westminster Abbey high on their must-see list. Fewer however make a point of visiting nearby Westminster Cathedral, the city’s central Roman Catholic place of worship. And that’s a shame, as the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, to give it its full name, is striking in appearance and has an interesting history of its own.
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From earliest times people have always found cause for celebrating, perhaps because we are naturally social beings. From big festivals bringing whole communities together to small family events, we like nothing more than to gather and mark special occasions.
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Although Angkor Wat is the most famous sight in Angkor, it is not the only one by any means, despite the fact that the two names are often used interchangeably. Angkor in fact means ‘city’ and Angkor Wat the ‘city temple’. But there are over a thousand temples, ranging in scale from mere piles of rubble scattered through rice fields to Angkor Wat itself.
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If you look at a map of England you will see that Hull, or Kingston upon Hull to give it its proper name, is rather out on a limb. Lying on the Humber Estuary its location so close to the sea has resulted in a history shaped by sea-going trade and shipping.
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Travelling teaches us that people around the world have more in common than we sometimes realise. People everywhere laugh, cry, worry, and hope for the same basic things. And when good things happen, we celebrate. There are small family celebrations: a new baby, a wedding, a birthday. And then there are the celebrations that bring people together on a much bigger scale. A national holiday, a religious festival, a sporting success …
