In his poem 'To Autumn' John Keats describes the autumn we all know and love, with lingering warm weather and bountiful harvests. But he also celebrates later autumn days, when winter seems just over the horizon. Both have their beauty.
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It was the advent of the Great Western Railway in the mid nineteenth century that led to the scattered villages of Ealing, Gunnersbury and Pitshanger merging into unbroken residential areas, centred around the new station in what is now Ealing Broadway.
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The mass production of inexpensive steel in the mid 19th century made it possible for urban planners to bring to life the idea of skyscrapers. And it all started in Chicago. The method had been tested in Liverpool, England, on the five storey Oriel Chambers building. But it was in Chicago that the capacity of steel to support taller buildings was first exploited.
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Contrast must be one of the most used words in photography. Usually we are talking about the lighting conditions for an image; the contrast between the light and dark areas. Sometimes it can be hard to balance these, if the contrast is great.
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As one of my abiding memories of Chicago will be of the architecture, especially the variety in age and style of its skyscrapers, I can’t help but agree with Frank Gehry. He said of the city that, 'Chicago’s one of the rare places where architecture is more visible'.
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Everywhere you walk, every place you go is full of art, explicit or hidden! If you can see them, you will be the richest art collector and your memory will be the richest art gallery! [Mehmet Murat Ildan, Turkish playwright]
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Perhaps because I grew up during the Apollo programme, I have always been fascinated by our nearest celestial neighbour (and come to that, by all that we see, or can’t see, in the night sky). I’ve never invested in the gear needed to photograph more distant objects but I can and do try to capture the moon whenever I can.
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I have long been fascinated by the roofs of the far east. The ornate figures that line the top edges if a Chinese roof. The intricately carved end tiles of a Japanese temple roof. The delicately painted beams that hold them up. And the steep temple roofs of Indochina.
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I think we all hope our words will mean something, and many of us hope that our photographs will too. Paula’s Pick a Word challenge gives us a chance each month to consider her words and pair them with our photos.
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September has been a lovely month, in several ways. The weather improved considerably compared to July and August, with a mini heatwave at the start of the month. I had two fantastic trips abroad and some fun activities closer to home too.
