Islamic art shuns the depiction of living figures, whether human or animal, partly to avoid any suggestion of idolatry and partly because it is believed that the creation of living forms is Allah’s prerogative. Instead the emphasis is on geometric forms as well as calligraphy and abstract floral motifs.
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Bodie – a town so lawless that in 1881 it was described as ‘a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion’ (a quote from the Rev F M Warrington in the State Park brochure) Bodie is a former gold mining town, now a ghost town which, as the state park website says, has been ‘preserved in a state of arrested decay’. It looks largely as it did when the last residents left, its buildings still furnished and stocked with goods, offering a unique glimpse into the past. In a recent post about our California trip, I…
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The choice between colour or monochrome for a photo is a very subjective one. Some people simply don’t like black and white photography, seeing it as old-fashioned, unnatural and unnecessary. Why remove the colour from a scene, they ask, when we see the world in colour. Why show things as less vibrant, less varied, less colourful than they really are?
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When I was (much) younger I used to marvel at older people saying how quickly time passed, but now I see that they were right! It’s hard to believe that another year is over, when it seems as if it’s barely begun!
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Planning our California itinerary was a bit like playing join the dots! There were plenty of places we knew we wanted to go to, sights we wanted to see. The great national parks, the giant redwood trees, the Pacific Coast and inland landscapes. Once those were plotted, we had to find the best routes between them. But what is best?
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Travel is a luxury, one not everyone can indulge in. Those of us who have the resources and health to be able to indulge have a responsibility, I feel, to value the experiences it brings us. One way I try to do this is by capturing those experiences through my photography and through this blog.
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The people who live in some houses do literally ‘live in colour’. Blues, pinks, yellows, reds – or even all of them at once! While we do have some cheerfully painted houses in the UK, they tend to be the exception, and even then, pastel colours are usually preferred over brights. But in other parts of the world, it seems, the brighter the better.
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In the US they are store fronts and in the UK we call them shop fronts, but whatever you call them they can be attractive / bizarre / interesting / or most often, just dull. We barely notice the dull ones that we see every day, so when we come across one that isn’t it is bound to stand out. No wonder many of us stop to take a photo!
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If you visit a city only to see its famous sights, you are missing out on much of what makes that city what it is. The people who live there may do so against the backdrop of its grand buildings, iconic monuments, parks and so on, but for the most part those things are of secondary importance to their daily lives. If you want to really get to know a city you need also to observe those people.
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In 1914 a volcano in north eastern California, Lassen Peak, blew its top. Its outbursts continued for three years but it now lies dormant, at the heart of the national park that bears its name. Much of the park is wilderness, but a road runs north to south through its western section, giving access to many trails and vista points.
