There is a lot going on in Bath, which probably explains its popularity. Only steps apart you have “baths” dating back to the Roman era, a large central church, shopping districts, and more. Walk a little further and there’s a river, plenty of places to eat, and increasingly less tourist-oriented facilities. Cross that river and perhaps walk up some hills, and the place seems quite different from the central tourist-centric zone.
Continue reading Brock Street, Bath
We spent a couple of days in the quaint English town (center) of Shrewsbury this past June. After close to three weeks of exploring Scotland and Ireland followed by a weeklong walk in the Cotswolds, we had several weeks left to visit various English towns and cities. Shrewsbury sounded like a slightly lower key stop compared to our previous stay in Bath.
Continue reading River Severn, Shrewsbury
A photograph may resonate in multiple ways and for many reasons. Sometimes the fact that it captures an interesting or important moment is sufficient, regardless of technical or esthetic quality. Or it might be about composition and the relationship among its component parts in the abstract. It might evoke a memory or an association. It could appeal on its intrinsic visual qualities — tonalities, light, color, and more. Many photographs work in more than one of these and others not listed here.
Continue reading Brick Building, Chester
I made this photograph the English town of Shrewsbury. (More about that place below.) If a photograph is “about” something, this one is about more than one thing. To be sure, it is a record of a specific spot in a particular town, a doorway to a building with a sign for “Alfred Mansell & Co. Auctioneers.”It is perhaps a record of some history, too, given the old brick walls, the weathered doorway, and the cobblestones at the bottom of the frame. But most of all, I think it is about color, the “temperature” contrast between the warm tones of partially-sunlit bricks and the very cool blues of the doorway in shadow.
Continue reading Blue Door