George Michael’s Memorial Garden in Winter

December 25, 2017 – Christmas Day – marks one year since singer George Michael died. A few days ago I went to visit his memorial garden in Highgate which is in a small green outside his former home. I had visited this garden at the height of autumn and was curious to see it in … Read more

Guitars, icons and abstracts

I was looking through my photo library and came across the shot below, which I’d taken back in 2009.  The painted guitarists are nameless, implying that they are iconic enough to recognise. There is added handwritten text summarising their persona. On the left is a representation of American country musician Hank Williams who died back … Read more

Gotta photograph that hat!

A few days ago I went for a walk to Swains Lane in Highgate to take take some pictures and try out my new camera lens. It was a lovely autumnal day. On the way back I saw  a woman leaning against a tree waiting for the bus. Her hat caught my eye, a warm … Read more

George Michael: George’s Garden in Autumn

I walked through Highgate the other day and spent some time in the memorial garden for the late George Michael who died on December 25 of last year. The garden is in the small green bordering his home on The Grove. Here are some photographs I took at George’s Garden, which is lovingly tended by … Read more

Charlie Chaplin: iconography and the immigrant

I’ve just started reading Confabulations by John Berger, who died earlier in January this year.  Recently I’ve been reading almost exclusively on my Kindle (in a space-saving Marie Kondo-like spirit) but I decided to buy a hard copy of the book – it’s small, portable with a good-sized font, and illustrated with colour photographs and … Read more

SIGNS OF DANGER

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about warning signs and particularly signs of danger and our relationship to these signs. Which signs do I notice or pay attention to?  This has come about for a couple of reasons. A few days ago a good friend remarked she was surprised that I didn’t include any … Read more

Smoking in Japan

Unlike in Britain and the USA, smoking is still permitted in bars, hotels and restaurants in Japan. However, things are beginning to change. Here are a couple of images I took in November of designated smoking areas in Shinjuku, Tokyo I liked this bilingual pavement sign seen in the Chuo ward of Tokyo, and found … Read more