It’s the nearness that astonishes me. Mythical names. Biblical names. Names that possess an otherworldliness that separates them from reality. And yet there they are now, right before my eyes as I survey the landscape. Jericho, Jerusalem. Across the Dead Sea, close, but just beyond reach. On the drive down from Amman, the driver, Mohammed, had pointed out those other, more modern names, that spark a different, more tormented recognition. Ramallah, The West Bank. I stare at the barren, hostile looking strips of land, places known to me only from television screens and news. Can this desolate landscape really be [...]
Sunday afternoon and the sky is overcast and threatening. July, and the rain is going to pour again for yet another day. But I’m restless. All this weather imposed containment, in the middle of summer, makes me jittery. To hell with the elements. I need to get out. I need to run. Anyone who runs will know the score. Barely ten minutes in and muscle, sinew, shoulders, neck, thought, worry, tension. All unfurl and loosen as the flow and the tempo, the movement take over. I head around the island, the charcoal sky no longer a threat, simply a background. [...]
I love the way nature can catch you by suprise and force you to stop and take it in. These patterns in the snow, caused by the wind, fascinated me the moment I saw them. This photo is in The Guardian as part of the World Forum On Enterprise And The Environment exhibition at Oxford University. Woohoo!
During my time in solitary confinement in the bottom of a Victorian prison I had time to reflect on the conditions of those people around the world also in solitary confinement, also on remand, in conditions that are more difficult than those faced by me. Those people also need your attention and support. Following the statement from Wikileaks founder Jullian Assange upon his release on bail yesterday, it is worthwhile reading Glenn Greenwald’s harrowing report in Salon detailing the torturous and inhumane confinement of Private Bradley Manning, the alleged source of the embassy cables and the notorious Iraq Apache helicopter [...]
I’ve seen many photographs of Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences and it’s always the beautiful compliment of architecture and engineering that strikes me. The two can often oppose one another, but this work had always seemed, from photographs at least, to have achieved a respectful balance, perhaps due to Calatrava’s own mastery and understanding of the two disciplines. And indeed, when you first wander around it’s this technical precision that captivates. The symmetry, the natural forms, the sheer futuristic, shimmering whiteness of the place. It is truly a marvellous sight. Once the architectural amazement has subsided however, an unexpected [...]
She only ever plays a few notes. The sounds so small and weak you have to stop and concentrate to hear them. But most people simply walk on by. Amid the hubub of the street, her music goes unheard, drowned out by the incessant din of life. Sometimes you’ll catch a passerby throwing a glance in her direction, confused by this girl who sits on the ground playing an accordion that seems to make no sound. If a few cents are thrown her way, then it is out of sympathy, rather than appreciation for the music. Because those same few [...]
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