Clash of Construction
A city centre walk around Belfast brought me to Royal Avenue,, where classic Victorian architecture clashes with garish modernism. This example stands out…
Fujifilm X-T50 F=18mm, f/5.6 @ 1/60th sec, on ISO80.
Caught a moment of calm, just off the hustle and bustle of Belfast’s busy Royal Avenue, a homeless street person, lost in the pages of a book, challenges our perceptions, reminding us that not everyone in those circumstances is there because of illiteracy or wasted opportunities, or substance addiction. For the photographer, such stories can be found everywhere, even in the most unexpected places.
The Fujifilm X-T50 captured this seemingly contradictory slice of life.
Continue reading Street Stories: A Book in the Chaos of BelfastIn the heart of Mount Vernon estate, a powerful mural stands as a poignant reminder of sacrifice and bravery.
This tribute honours the fallen heroes of the 1st World War, especially those who served in the 36th Ulster Division. A story of courage, loss, and remembrance, echoing the voices of those who gave everything for our freedom.
Let us never forget.
Captured with the Fujifilm X-T50
One of the growth sectors, it seems, in Northern Ireland, at least since the so-called ‘ceasefires’ of the 1990’s has been ‘Troubles Tourism,’ where visitors to the city are given guided tours of relics of the troubled past pf the region. You can book a ‘Troubles Taxi Tour’ from around £75. Hotels, travel and holiday companies and cruise ships are including Troubles Tourism in their itinerary offerings. Visitors take open-top buses, coaches, bicycles and walking tours, looking at the locations of riots, bombings and shooting, photographing political murals and of course visiting the infamous Belfast ‘PEACE LINES’
July 29th 2005
It was a reasonably good day, meteorologically, warm and not raining for a change, so I suggested a trip to Belfast might be a good way to put in the day, – after all, I’m meant to be resting this week… And with me went Janette, my long suffering wife, and the Nikon FM3a.
So we caught a train at Antrim Station. If you’ve visited here, and never used Northern Ireland Railways, you should put that right on your next visit. The trains are modern, clean, warm and safe, and best of all, they are mostly on time! Not bad from a state owned company!
It must have been around 2005 when I visited the home of Belfast artist Denis Johnston and viewed some of his paintings. Denis lives in Belfast and was a member of the same church as me at that time, and so I would have visited him on occasions, but on this particular visit he showed me some of the art he had showed on display in an exhibition. The imagery was stunning, with amazing technique and beautiful scenery. Yet my eye was continually drawn to one particular painting, and I couldn’t resist expressing my admiration for it. It wasn’t a beautiful landscape or an amazing sunset or mists rolling across a lake, – it was a small section of Regent Street in Newtownards, with a pedestrian crossing and a big dark shadow, and some old, and entirely unremarkable buildings. Thousands of people must walk past it every week. Yet I couldn’t take my eyes off it! Why? Just because it made me feel that I was right there! It had a ‘sense of place!’ It told me about the place, gave me a sense of ‘belonging’ to it, drew my mind visually into the picture.
Here it is:-
Continue reading Capturing a Sense of PlaceSt Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church, Bryson Street, – situated just off the Newtownards Road, in loyalist Ballymacarret, – East Belfast.
I deliberately picked out the flag in colour. (I’d followed my usual practice of shooting in RAW/B&W Jpeg)
The Ulster flag, flying outside the church, and the wire fence between the road and the grounds perfectly illustrate the divisions and tensions that exist between the two communities that live in the area.
Bushmills, Co.Antrim – our annual visit to the small Northern Irish town famous worldwide for its whiskey…
Situated in an entry and behind some houses off the Main Street of Bushmills, this derelict building is currently owned by a community group, who intend to restore it for community events.
Continue reading Black (& White) Bush!Our seemingly annual trip to Derry/Londonderry (So good they named it twice?) or ‘Stroke City as it became known during the era of the late Gerry Anderson, the legendary (should that be ‘legend-derry?) famous BBC Radio Ulster broadcaster and entertainer. Where was I… Oh yes, our annual trip to Northern Ireland’s second city saw me taking a wander, with the Fujifilm X-T5, around the city centre, namely Guildhall Square and Waterloo Place, and then later round by the Craft Village. I’d walked the famous walls many times, and somehow that day I just didn’t have the energy to struggle up all those hilly ramparts. So, – city centre it was, while my so-much better half went to explore the big shops to be found in the city.
It was bonfire season in East Belfast, – early July, so an opportunity to make an image of kids building a pyre, with the famous Belfast cranes in the background.
This image was made with the Nikon F100 camera on Rollei RPX25 film, processed in FD10 for 5 minutes, and scanned for digital viewing. Digital processing in Lightroom using one of my favourite presets.
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