Randazzo is the nearest town to the summit of Mount Etna, lying on its northern slopes. Its architecture reflects its location. Many of the older buildings here are constructed from the black lava stone from Etna, giving them a very distinct appearance.
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This beautiful hilltop town on the east coast of Sicily is understandably a magnet for tourists. Sitting high above the coast in the shadow of (very) active Mount Etna, it has everything you might hope for in such a town. Vistas of both sea and mountains; ancient ochre-coloured buildings glowing in the Sicilian sun; great restaurants and quality shopping; narrow lanes and bustling squares lined with cafés for people-watching; a small but beautiful cathedral; and to top it all an ancient Greek theatre still in use today.
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Once upon a time all photos were black and white. With the advent of colour photography we had a choice and many of us make that choice according to subject matter. Others meanwhile prefer to stick only to one or the other medium. But some subjects are naturally black and white.
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These traditional balconies are found all over Malta. Their origins go back to the Arabic architectural feature of a muxrabija. This was a wooden frame which screened the window space completely. It allowed a person on the inside to observe all that was going on outside, whilst not being visible to anyone in the street below.
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I seem to have a ridiculous number of streetlight photos! And their varied and interesting shapes and designs lend themselves to black and white photography. I find it surprising how many variations are possible in the design of something so relatively simple and everyday!
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Today London is a huge metropolis, but it wasn’t always so, of course. It started as a small Roman settlement on the north bank of the River Thames, Londinium. In 200 AD a wall was built, surrounding and protecting the city. Over the centuries it grew and grew, but that Roman town remained at its heart, the original City of London.
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As in so many other places around the world, Catholicism was introduced to the Philippines by Spanish missionaries and colonisers in the 16th century. It played a crucial role in shaping the country's culture, values, and social structures during the colonial period and beyond. But it wasn’t all one-way traffic.
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The magic mirror in the Snow White fairy-tale always told the truth when asked, ‘Who is the fairest one of all?’. And a good mirror will always give a true reflection. But how interesting is that, photographically speaking? Isn’t it more fun to play around with distorted reflections, whether in mirrors or any other surface?
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The colonial city of Vigan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for good reason. It is one of the few Spanish colonial towns in the Philippines to remain relatively intact. Its unique architecture fuses native Filipino and Oriental building styles with more typical colonial Spanish features.
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What is it about Paris that has so captured the imagination of artists and writers over the years? Is it the light, the architecture, the culture, the way of life? I am not sure, but I know it has captivated me too.
