Life Observed

Here we are in Stockbridge, near Andover. A small, ancient and perfectly formed little market town. It is home to many a Gallery and sports shop, plus several pubs and hotels. It used to be plagued by the main A30 traffic passing through but that is now carried on the A303, so the pace of life has slowed somewhat. I suspect you need to be well heeled to buy a house amongst the fly fishing community... However if you do pop in, try to visit Houghton Lodge nearby. A very pleasing prospect.. Spotted: This excellent bear, almost 5 feet tall, stands guard outside a fishing tackle shop...

I try to take interesting pictures with some impact. Don't we all? However from time to time I aim the camera at an everyday subject: Many of these boring images get deleted and are gone forever, but I wonder if perhaps we should be photographing the nondescript and recording it.  The following examples are boring images that time has made special. Let me explain: Here is a view of Christ Church College meadow , off St Aldate's in Oxford.  I took this picture forty years ago, and it must have been one of my earliest slide films.  It is poor quality and I should have done a better job, however what makes this boring picture special is that this view doesn't exist any more. One by one these splendid great trees died or were blown down. Eventually they were all felled and they started again. The overhanging branches and shade are gone, and it will be 2070 before you will get a picture like this again.. Here's another example. This is Dorchester ...