FALLING SOMEWHERE AS RAIN

An impromptu visit to Southport beach, armed only with my iPhone and a spare hour. Without suitable footwear, I was confined to the sea wall and a thin strip of dry beach, but various apps such as FIMO, Blackie and Hipstamatic gave some satisfactoty results.

Having grown up in Liverpool, I have seen the city change and evolve over the last sixty years, developing to meet the demands of modernity and change, but each new wave of improvements or extensions seems to break across an implacable bedrock which refuses to relinquish its shape to the tides. No matter how many new buildings and constructions spring up on the seven streets, the original fabric of the yawning seaport still manages to hold fast amongst the jetsam of commerce. Near one of the Northern entrances to the main city and on the grounds of the newspaper offices, is a vast sculpture, celebrating the city’s vital role in opening up the New Worlds in the eras of exploration and trade. Erected in 2006, the ‘Face of Liverpool ’ is a massive steel lozenge perforated by a circular hole holding a steel ring like the mount for a globe. The circle serves as a frame or a portal to the Mersey estuary and the docks and the surrounding dais is marked with a message in morse code. The wh...

Costa's One of my favourite places for photography is the island of Cyprus. I have visited the vicinity of Paphos several times in recent years and always find something new to shoot. Besides being an ideal location for infra-red photography, due to the strong sunlight, it's a country with a rich history and beautiful architecture. Certain parts of the city, away from the tourist areas, are economically depressed and quite run down. Its also a well known fact that if a new building remains unfinished - ie. if the roof are still need finishing, then the owner will not have to pay certain taxes, so many of the buildings look run down, even though they are perfectly habitable. Tourism being such a mercurial beast, businesses appear and disappear rapidly, leaving shops and houses empty and abandoned, as money and interest moves quickly. Don't Tell the Bees Immediately outside the city, in the old town, the more rustic way of life is still very prevalent and flourishing in the s...