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Gallery: monochrome portraits and street shots
It won’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows this blog that I enjoy street photography and also taking more formal portrait shots of some of the people I encounter on my travels. It will also be no surprise that I enjoy playing around with editing. I especially like experimenting with monochrome, which can work well with characterful faces.
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A wander through Getsemani
Historically, Getsemani is the area of Cartagena where African slaves lived during colonial times. The Spanish had imported them (after they’d killed off most of the native population) to build their fortifications: the city walls and the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. They were housed here, outside the city walls, away from the grand homes of the soldiers and merchants who controlled it.
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Gallery: the wheel turns and turns
Wherever I’ve been in the world I have of course found wheels. Simple cart wheels, bicycles and motorcycles, and of course cars, most of us rely on wheels to get around. Maybe wheels are yet another example of the many things that unify us, despite our cultural differences?
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Colombia, History, Lens-Artists, Monday walks, Photographing Public Art, Street art, Street photography
Finding peace in Medellín
How do you find peace in a city rife with crime and violence? During the 1980s and most of the 1990s Medellín had the reputation of being one of the most violent cities in the world.
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Gallery: a February selection (2023)
February is my least favourite month! That’s why we often choose to travel somewhere warmer at this time of year. Consequently, I spent well over half of February in colourful Colombia, and the remainder in wintery London, so you can guess what the majority of my highlight photos from this month will have been taken!
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Exploring the temple town of Manakamana
I can never resist the opportunity to ride in a cable car. So when our tour company suggested that we break the long drive from Chitwan to Bandipur with a ride up to the temple at Manakamana, I agreed immediately. It would be a chance to see a different side of Nepal, I thought. And it was, but not quite in the way I had imagined.
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Gallery: the old town of Dhulikhel
Paved streets gently wind uphill, lined with brick houses three or more stories high. Every door, every window is surrounded by exquisitely carved wood. Locals sit chatting, their day’s work over, or watch from an upper window.
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In Kathmandu’s Durbar Square
In the heart of Kathmandu is a cluster of ancient temples, places and open spaces, known as Durbar (meaning royal palace) Square. This UNESCO World Heritage site was badly hit by the earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015, but no amount of damage could destroy its unique atmosphere. And today much has already been done to restore it to its former glories.
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Gallery: a stroll around Thamel
Everyone will tell you that Thamel isn’t the REAL Kathmandu. It was once backpackers central, and today is home not only to hostels but to increasingly smart hotels. But between the tourist-focused delights is enough local colour to demonstrate that you are indeed ‘a long way from home’.
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Gallery: fleeting moments in Indochina
Our visit to Indochina was only just over two years ago, yet in some ways it feels like a world away. A world barely touched by Covid, in which we didn’t question our ability to travel. Took it for granted, perhaps? Looking back at my photos I wonder why we didn’t realise that the disease already causing deaths and chaos in China would spread to engulf the whole world. Were we like ostriches, our heads in the sand? Or was it such an alien concept that we couldn’t envisage it?
