Lux Fine Photography: March 2011

Thursday, 31 March 2011

No. 11

Not a real tree, but a tree of remembrance in the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Berlin. I liked the interplay with the shadows and light on the wall.

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

I used to travel over Hayward's Hill and past the Pauatahanui Inslet to Kenepuru every day - which to be honest is a lovely drive. These trees were about half way up the hill. I liked the arc of the branches.

Monday, 28 March 2011

The Folley

This folly is on the way to Shepshed from Loughborough. It looks very peaceful and would be rurally idyllic were it not for the gentle hum of the M1. Every time I go past it on the double decker bus I think that would make a good photo, from that height. Unfortunately I am no where near that height, but I still think it looks good.

Friday, 25 March 2011

Flutterbies, Natural History Museum, London

They were just kinda cool. Because some things just are.

Tuesday, 22 March 2011

Yay! Spring is finally here!

I haven't seen a Spring since April of 2009 due to my globetrotting habits and just bad timing. So this year I am determined to have a lovely Spring and blistering hot Summer even if I have to go somewhere on the Algarve to do so!

Sunday, 20 March 2011

Willis St, Wellington

Out walking home late one Friday night, down Willis St towards Lambton Key, I looked up and stopped took a photo and continued on my way. This is one of the photos that the original was lost with the HD failed.

Friday, 18 March 2011

Southbank, London

The Southbank is full of things to do and places to be, including being eyeballed by the friendly merry-go-round guy. The Southbank is touristy, but when the Thames is lit up like a christmas tree its very pretty! They do good Italian food as well, even if the wait was excessive.

Thursday, 17 March 2011

Happy St. Patricks Day!

I took this in 2009 at the St Patricks Day Parade and Market in Cork, Co. Cork. He had a lovely wig and didn't mind posing for me either. It was a nice day out with so many people on the Grand Parade and no showers, even a little bit of sunshine!

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

The River Liffey (An Life), Dublin

I visited Dublin last March - freezing cold but lots of interesting things to photograph. I really liked the River Liffey reflections - of which I took a number of pictures. This one I played with a bit - I like it tho'.

From Wikipedia:

"The Liffey (An Life in Irish) flows through the centre of Dublin. The river was previously named An Ruirthech, meaning "fast (or strong) runner". The word Liphe (or Life) referred originally to the name of the plain through which the river ran, but eventually came to refer to the river itself. The Liffey rises in the Liffey Head Bog between Kippure and Tonduff in the Wicklow mountains, forming from many streamlets. It flows for around 125 km (78 mi) through counties Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin before entering the Irish Sea at its mouth at the mid-point of Dublin Bay, on a line extending from the Baily lighthouse to the Muglin Rocks.

The earliest stone bridge over the Liffey of which there is solid evidence was the Bridge of Dublin (on the site of the current Fr. Mathew Bridge), built by the Dominicans in 1428, which survived well into the 18th century. This bridge with four arches included various buildings such as a chapel, bakehouse and possibly an inn and replaced an earlier wooden bridge (Dubhghalls Bridge) on the same site. Island Bridge (a predecessor of the current bridge) was added in 1577. With the development of commercial Dublin in the 17th century, four new bridges were added between 1670 and 1684: Barrack, or Bloody Bridge, (the forerunner of the current Rory O'More Bridge), Essex Bridge (Grattan Bridge), Ormond Bridge (O'Donovan Rossa Bridge) and Arran Bridge. The oldest bridge still standing is the Mellows Bridge, (originally Queens Bridge) constructed in 1764 on the site of the Arran Bridge, which was destroyed by floods in 1763. The first iron bridge was the elegant Ha'penny Bridge built in 1816. The newest bridge is the Samuel Beckett Bridge opened in December 2009. A suspension bridge, it swivels to allow river traffic to pass."

Tuesday, 15 March 2011

No. 8

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Blarney Castle Guard Tower, Co. Cork

Sometimes just looking up gets you a good picture. This is me standing in the middle of the guard tower of Blarney Castle, Co. Cork, and looking up. I had dodge the drizzle but that was all good - not so good for weather for wearing jandals though.

From Wikipedia:

"Blarney Castle (Irish: Caisleán na Blarnan) is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland, and the River Martin. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446. The noted Blarney Stone is found among the machicolations of the castle.

The castle originally dates from before AD 1200, when a wooden structure was believed to have been built on the site, although no evidence remains of this. Around 1210 A.D. this was replaced by a stone fortification.[1] It was destroyed in 1446, but subsequently rebuilt by Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, Lord of Muscry.

The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty. During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites.

The castle was sold and changed hands a number of times before being purchased by Sir James St. John Jefferyes. Members of the Jefferyes family would later build a mansion near the keep. This house was destroyed by fire however, and in 1874 a replacement baronial mansion - known as Blarney House - was built overlooking the nearby lake."

Saturday, 12 March 2011

Royal Festival Hall, London

The way this building and others on the South Bank were lit up was very cool. I just liked the pretty colours in the night sky. The South Bank is pretty touristy even on chilly nights. Still the lights passed the time while waiting for the bus to arrive.

From Wikipedia:

"The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected (in April 1988). The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs the majority of its London concerts in the hall.

The foundation stone was laid in 1949 by Clement Attlee, then Prime Minister, on the site of the former Lion Brewery, built in 1837. The original plan was that Arturo Toscanini would conduct the opening concerts, but he was unwell, and the inaugural concerts were conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Adrian Boult. The hall was the venue for the 1960 Eurovision Song Contest, hosted by Katie Boyle. The first general manager was T E Bean who contributed greatly to the early success of the Festival Hall.

The hall's design is unashamedly Modernist, the Festival's commissioning architect (Hugh Casson) having taken the decision to appoint only young architects. It was designed by Leslie Martin, Peter Moro and Robert Matthew from the LCC's Architects' Department; Martin was just 39 when he was appointed to lead the design team in late 1948. Martin designed the structure as an 'egg in a box', a term he used to describe the separation of the curved auditorium space from the surrounding building and the noise and vibration of the adjacent railway viaduct. Sir Thomas Beecham used similar imagery, calling the building a 'giant chicken coop'.

The building was substantially altered in 1964 by adding the foyers and terraces to the river side of the building and more dressing rooms to the rear. Alterations to the facades facing the river removed the playful Scandinavian Modernism of the building's primary public face in favour of a plainer and hard-edged style. The building's original entrance sequence was much compromised by these changes and the later additions of raised concrete walkways around the building to serve the neighbouring Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and The Hayward, built in 1967/8 and also part of Southbank Centre.

The building underwent a substantial renovation between 2005 and 2007 led by Allies and Morrison Architects aimed at improving the poor acoustics (which Simon Rattle said made performers 'lose the will to live'), production access and flexibility of the auditorium and the general quality of fabric, entrance spaces and cafe and the layouts of the foyers. The interior of the concert hall space was almost entirely intact until this re-modelling, which saw its stage canopy and walls rebuilt in plainer more rectangular forms. This was carried out in the face of opposition from conservationists, led by the Twentieth Century Society. While musicians report improvements in their own experience of the acoustic from the stage perspective, some audience members report disappointment that renovations have failed to improve the acoustics of the hall, largely due to conservation imperatives which are noted by the acoustic developers."

Wednesday, 9 March 2011

The Clothing Agency, Nottingham

I saw this abandoned building while I was sitting on the bus and made myself go back and take a picture. I liked the colour, the unloved peeling paint, the obsolete phone number and missing letters.

Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Hong Kong Airport

I love Hong Kong airport. It's just so freaking massively huge - the first time I landed here I was so jet lagged I spent the entire time wandering around trying to find the post office box. I found it on the journey back - it was at the other end of the building - go jet lag! But seriously, I love this building - even at 3am - the architects did well here.

Monday, 7 March 2011

Place de la Concorde, Paris

We had ran to catch a hop on hop off bus and spent the last hour roaming around Paris on it. Because we were late to the bus we were waved up to the top floor and told to pay when we came down. When we came down we went to pay, only to be told 'no I have finished for the day', and briskly walked off the bus. And then there was a lovely vibrant sunset over the Place de la Concorde and all the surrounding areas.

From Wikipedia:

The Place de la Concorde, is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. In fact, in terms of area, its 8.64 hectares (21.35 acres) make it the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. The Place was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in 1755 as a moat-skirted octagon between the Champs-Élysées to the west and the Tuileries Gardens to the east. Decorated with statues and fountains, the area was named Place Louis XV to honor the king at that time. The square showcased an equestrian statue of the king, which had been commissioned in 1748 by the city of Paris, sculpted mostly by Edmé Bouchardon, and completed by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle after the death of Bouchardon. The stone is made of a combination of lime and blue stone.

At the north end, two magnificent identical stone buildings were constructed. Separated by the rue Royale, these structures remain among the best examples of Louis XV style architecture. Initially, the eastern building served as the French Naval Ministry. Shortly after its construction, the western building became the opulent home of the Duc d'Aumont. It was later purchased by the Comte de Crillon, whose family resided there until 1907. The famous luxury Hôtel de Crillon, which currently occupies the building, took its name from its previous owners; it was the headquarters of the German High Command during World War II.

During the French Revolution the statue of Louis XV of France was torn down and the area renamed "Place de la Révolution". The new revolutionary government erected the guillotine in the square, and it was here that King Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793. Other important figures guillotined on the site, often in front of cheering crowds, were Queen Marie Antoinette, Princess Élisabeth of France, Charlotte Corday, Madame du Barry, Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Antoine Lavoisier, Maximilien Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just and Olympe de Gouge.

The guillotine was most active during the "Reign of Terror", in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed. A year later, when the revolution was taking a more moderate course, the guillotine was removed from the square. The square was then renamed Place de la Concorde under the Directory as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the French Revolution. It underwent a series of name changes in the nineteenth century, but the city eventually settled on Place de la Concorde.

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Intervention #1, Marieke Van Diemen

This installation is by Marieke Van Diemen and this was the first European Art Museum I ever visited and it is still memorable. The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam was just wonderful and had a perfect number of visitors when I went there - very few. It was the first time I saw a Rodin, and I stood there transfixed and wanted very much to touch it. I restrained my self, but enjoyed all the lovely, preciouses very much.

Friday, 4 March 2011

Tom Waits, Glitter and Doom Tour, Dublin 2008

It took us an hour to walk to the venue which was at the other end of Phoenix Park in a big circus tent. The gig was sold out and all were early and awaiting Mr Tom Waits - who never tours but found himself on the Glitter and Doom Tour in 2008. It was Dublin so it started raining as soon as we arrived at the Gig and didn't stop the whole time - turned out that the tent leaked a little, but no one cared because Tom was amazing, really, really amazing and we were sitting front and center, four rows back. We had to walk back to the hostel where we were staying and we got soaked to the bone and then I flew back out to England early next morning. It was so worth the detour from Krakow.

From Wikipedia:

“Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." With this trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music, Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona. He has worked as a composer for movies and musical plays and as a supporting actor in films, including Down By Law and Bram Stoker's Dracula. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his soundtrack work on One from the Heart.
Lyrically, Waits' songs frequently present atmospheric portrayals of grotesque, often seedy characters and places – although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional ballads. He has a cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters despite having little radio or music video support. His songs are best-known to the general public in the form of cover versions by more visible artists: "Jersey Girl", performed by Bruce Springsteen and "Downtown Train", performed by Rod Stewart. Although Waits' albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries. He has been nominated for a number of major music awards and has won Grammy Awards for two albums, Bone Machine and Mule Variations. In 2010, Waits was chosen to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.”