Tag: city

2018 Recap

I’ve not done this ever but I had such a productive year of photography, I decided to post some pics from this year that didn’t make it to Some Photoblog. I will also look back to some of my memorable posts from this year.

A snail, snapped not far from my neighbourhood.

City Tower in Manchester city centre. Taken by my smartphone, from the Piccadilly Bus Station. I like this angle.

Radcliffe area, near Bury, north of Manchester. Not quite the moors of Yorkshire, but still offers a great scope for imagination, as Anne of Green Gables would say.

This is in the above mentioned Bury, away form the town centre. Proper farm area, I heard cockerels and everything!

Save the best for last, this is Formby. Visiting Formby was definitely one of the highlights of the year for me. Here I am holding a pinecone, which I have actually kept and even used it in my autumnal and Christmas still life posts!

To say 2018 has been a turbulent year is not an exaggeration. The Beast of the East freezing conditions in February and March were followed by scorching hot summer (there was like four months, of no rain in Manchester and that happens, like, never). Climate change is here–so what are we gonna do about it?

Elsewhere, politically, I best not to even talk about it–but a huge shout out to Ireland, who knows how to do referendums right! (They voted in favour of making abortions legal, which is an issue I will never not feel strongly about, even when I’m dead in the grave.) I also went to two anti-Brexit marches, the second of which was attended by 700,000 people; an event I will never forget for the rest of my life.

Creatively for me it’s been the best year ever. I took over 1000 photographs between May and July, ran a dystopian series, blogged about Kindle eBooks, ducks and trees that look like Yggdrasil. Although I wish WordPress didn’t kill their Weekly Photo Challenge. That was not cool, guys.

So there it is, my 2018 end-of-year recap.

Raise your glasses for 2019 and let’s hope for the best.

Deansgate Square – New Development in Manchester

If you live in Manchester, or have visited this city any time lately, you’ll know that there is a LOT of construction work going on. New buildings are rising up in every corner of the city centre and you can’t see the sky for the cranes (well, not literally, but you know what I mean).

I’m not here to debate whether this is good or bad for the city, or the fact that the moment a new skyscraper springs up, the number of homeless people on the streets increases. I’m just here to post pictures.

deansgate square2

deansgate square1

I love how they came out on these photos–so razor-sharp they cut the air.

Some Statements in the City

Yes, I know I have already used a similar title. I like to keep a consistent theme on the blog.

These are some shots of, you couldn’t call it street art, but well, some interesting posters with political-type statements.

statements in the city1

statements in the city2

statements in the city3

statements in the city4

My favourite one is “the revolution will be cleaned by the council.” Because you know it will.

Hmm, I may just add this to Gloomscapes as a bonus post.

Gloomscapes #24

And it’s Part Twenty-Four of Gloomscapes.

Current topic–Abandoned Council Project.

abandoned council project1

abandoned council project2

It wasn’t meant to end like this. The Council announced the project five years ago. This area had been abandoned for so long; nowhere else in the city needed this more than us. We will be working with the local community, they said. Park and lots of greenery, beneficial to people and wildlife, they said. A corridor to the heart of the city, they said. Future developments will lead to links to with north and east quarter, they said. It was more than a million they were investing… then nothing happened. Where did all that money go? They forgot about us… again.

abandoned council project3

#KeepOnGloomin’

Geese in the City

Geese time!

As I said in Ducks Are Awesome, geese also deserve their own post. So here they are.

geese four

All the photographs in this post are recent, taken in the past month. Above and below are both from Salford Quays, Manchester. In the below shot, geese are feasting on seeds that a kind lady was throwing them and as you can see, some pigeons helped themselves as well.

geese food

One evening in May I went to town to take pictures and look what I spotted near one of the canals:

geese goslings

How cute are goslings?

geese family

A little family taking a swim near Castlefield in Manchester.

geese lovebirds

Love birds. They even form a heart-like shape. From the the right angle, I mean.

geese goose

All these hoomans with their cameras.

So, tell me. Do you live a city and encounter any ducks or geese in local rivers or lakes or other bodies of water?

Gloomscapes #22

It’s the weekly Gloomscapes entry, number twenty-two. And it’s another graffiti tag shot.

ohdear streetart

Oh dear…

The three dots remind me of drops of blood. Maybe that was the artist’s (writer’s?) intention. I purposely didn’t crop out the CCTV sign. Because, you know, they are watching us…

#KeepOnGloomin’

I’m thinking of posting up to 25 and then take a break. New material is needed.

I’m just wondering, anyone out there who is a fan of dystopia/post-apocalypse and likes to take pictures too, how would you depict your favourite fiction in photographs? Have you ever tried it? Let me know in the comments.