• White marble carving of an elephant and various people
    Colour,  Sunday Stills,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: does white exist?

    Peer at a white flower and you’ll observe nuances of different shades. The same in a white sky, even a field of snow. Light and shade play tricks with the eyes and white turns to grey, to blue, to cream. Perhaps that’s why, when I started to search my archives for ‘white’ images to share for this week’s Sunday Stills challenge, I found the purest whites in manmade objects.

  • Plane in a blue sky
    Sunday Stills

    My (photography and blogging) year in review

    It’s fair to say that 2021 wasn’t quite the year I thought it was going to be when it started. Back in last January we were anticipating a possible return to ‘normal’ at some point during this year, with more freedoms and more travelling. That did happen to some extent, but only ‘some’ extent. Never mind, we’re still here and we’ve managed to have a pretty good year, all things considered.

  • View from above of large square with market stalls
    Culture & tradition,  Morocco,  Sunday Stills

    Day into night in the Jemaa el-Fnaa

    Sooner or later it seems, all paths in Marrakesh lead to the Jemaa el-Fnaa. The name (sometimes spelled Djemaa el Fna or Jamaa el Fna) means ‘Assembly of the Dead’ in Arabic; but a visit here suggests life in all its vibrancy. To call this the city’s main square doesn’t begin to do justice to it. This is a meeting place, a shopping centre, a performance space, a happening. It is surrounded by restaurants and cafĂ©s, each with a roof terrace to offer a ringside seat from where to observe all the action, but better by far to get immersed…

  • Two cups of coffee
    Food & drink,  Sunday Stills,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: cosy coffee breaks around the world

    Sometimes it seems as if Starbucks is taking over the world. Wherever we travel, apart from in North Korea of course, we come across branches of this ubiquitous chain. But we don't go in. Even at home it’s a place we choose to avoid, preferring to support our local independent coffee shops. And when we travel the same rule applies. Even in Seattle, the birthplace of Starbucks, we refused to visit the first ever branch in Pike Place.