Part of my working method as a travel photographer is to load up my mountain bike with equal amounts of camera and camping equipment and set off for a visually promising locale. On one such outing I pitched my tent in a remote Midlands wood at dusk, and soon found myself in a very bizarre and dangerous situation – listening to someone digging a grave in the night.
Thumbnail sketches of the five most popular philosophical theories that respond to the conundrum of pictorial representation – how a bunch of lifeless pixels on screen or dots on paper (or paint strokes on canvas, or pencil marks on sketch pad) can show us things in the real, or even fictional, world.
On a gleaming nickel-plated bus, in 99-degree heat, I set off for Thailand’s northeast, beyond the Dong Phaya Yen mountains. I needed a release from the distraction of Riley’s professional snooker hall, where the girls hand you a rake with attention and bring cold beer on a nod. To get away from the hundreds of sandwich boards promoting trekking agencies that littered Chiang Mai’s crowded streets. To go beyond February’s Flower Festival. Being a romantic, I wanted to wander in Thailand’s small and mysterious places … and sleep in a house on stilts.
In the early afternoon, anticipating the wondrous chaos to come, flamenco dancers, card sharks, geisha girls, parrots, unicorns and starfish people started to emerge from the shadows into the sunny streets. You name it; they were there. And the overarching theme seemed to be: the brighter the better. …
Stalking dragons in the City of London is a serious affair requiring patience, a sharp eye and keeping your wits about you. Unlike many other tourist subjects, images of dragons rarely offer themselves up to the camera neatly poised against a powder blue sky.
The Victorian public’s thirst for photos of the famous was not very different from our own 21st century appetite. The Victorians had no paparazzi – because camera shutter speeds were too slow – but most of the artists represented here were well aware of their audience and understood the importance to their careers of getting their image out there.
Jim is the real deal: photographer, author, graphic designer, philosopher and fresh water captain – all rolled into one intrepid spirit.
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