Breakfast on the Orient Express – ruined in the darkroom

As I  have previously mentioned, I haven’t used a 35mm camera for years. I took my old, trusty Pentax K1000 with me to Venice on the Orient Express and took some black and white shots of the train…. The images below are of breakfast on the Orient Express, which is served to passengers in their cabins.

I  processed the film in the darkroom at West Buckland School. I’d remembered most of the processing guidelines I’d learnt in the 1970s and I had a foolproof instruction sheet, with timings for the Ilford HP5 (400 asa) etc. – nothing could go wrong.

Half way through processing the film I noticed a chink of light coming in from below the door – the film was ruined but here are a couple more photographs that might be interesting?

Travel – 35mm images go wrong in Venice

View to St Marks Square

This gallery contains 4 photos.

I haven’t used a 35mm camera for years. I recently decided to take my old Pentax K1000 with me to Venice. I took some great black and white shots from our hotel window, looking out over the Grand Canal towards … Continue reading ?

Travel – 35mm images go wrong in Venice

I haven’t used a 35mm camera for years. I recently decided to take my old Pentax K1000 with me to Venice. I took some great black and white shots from our hotel window, looking out over the Grand Canal towards St Marks Square.

I got the film back to the UK and processed it in the darkroom at West Buckland School. I’d remembered all the processing guidelines I’d learnt in the 1970s and I had an instruction sheet with timings for the Ilford HP5 (400 asa) etc. – nothing could go wrong.

Half way through processing the film I noticed a chink of light coming in from below the door – the film was ruined but the results were interesting – maybe?

The images above are taken from a bedroom window of Palazzo Vendramin

Palazzo Vendramin is a 15th-century residence linked to the Hotel Cipriani through an ancient courtyard and a passageway lined with flowers. It houses 16 suites and rooms with sweeping vistas over the gardens and across to St Mark’s Square.

Portland Bill

I love the photograph above of my Grandma and Grandad, it was taken at Portland Bill by my dad in the late 1960s or early 70s.

Portland Bill is a narrow promontory of Portland stone and has three lighthouses which were built to warn shipping about the surrounding strong tidal race and shallow reef.

The most recent lighthouse is the distinctive red and white striped Portland Bill Lighthouse, which was built in 1906 and is 35 metres (115 ft) high. The photograph is taken in front of this beacon.

The Battle of the Somme

During the First World War my grandfather found himself as a cook, responsible for the well being of his comrades. The meager rations that the army supplied needed supplementing by scavenging. Often he went on ‘raiding parties’, sneaking into French farms, pilfering this and that. He once found himself in a Frenchman’s dovecote. This was nearly his final mission. The farmer gave chase and then leveled his loaded rifle at him. He wasn’t really proud of his thieving but as he explained, it was war and his mates were hungry. One of his most poignant tales was about a march to the ‘front’. In the hedgerow Sam spotted a ham bone which had a bit of meat left on it. They got to the frontline and as the history books tell us conditions were appalling and the rations were low. Sam remembered the ham bone, and on the march back retrieved it from the hedge to use in the next stew.

The Battle of the Somme between 1 July and 18 November 1916 took place on either side of the river Somme in France – this was where Sam was wounded and lost an eye. He spotted a German sniper who unfortunately spotted him first. He was wounded and his commanding officer suggested that he remained at his post to give his comrades a better chance to fallback, promising his family a medal for his sacrifice. I’m not sure what he said but he was invalided out of service and was treated at Guys Hospital in London, where they patched him up and cosmetically made a fine job. Apparently this damaged eye was assisted by a rabbit’s nerve.(?)

The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the war; by the time fighting paused in late autumn 1916, the forces involved had suffered more than 1 million casualties, making it one of the bloodiest military operations ever recorded. Read more…

An Exmoor landscape I painted a few years ago. #painting #landscape

Oil paint and household paint on board

I went to Paignton to visit my old mate Garry – above my bed was an Exmoor landscape I painted a few years ago.

My original idea for producing a series of Landscapes was to follow the Monet concept and paint the vista at a given time (so the light, shadows etc. are time specific) – I changed my mind and gave myself a time limit of 90 minutes to complete the six landscapes indoors.

The image above was from another series I did – after the exhibition Napalm Exmoor National Park.

In Memory Of – is it a network art piece?

InMemoryOf – possibly one of the bigest (art?) projects I have ever been involved in…

29THMarch 2000, InMemoryOf sign a strategic alliance deal with the National Association of Funeral Directors (UK). This alliance allows the members of the NAFD easy access to the services of InMemoryOf, allowing their clients to place on-line obituaries and memorials as a part of their funeral packages.Alan Slater, NAFD’s chief executive, said “We are all aware of the tremendous Internet explosion, and the NAFD has been approached by numerous companies offering on-line services relevant to our industry. We were particularly impressed by what Peter and Mark had to offer, because of their empathetic approach to the needs of our members and their clients. We believe they will uphold the high professional standards that the NAFD requires, as well as offering a discreet service that will be beneficial to the bereaved.”

Mary Jane Bright 1902 – 1980

When Mary was in her teens she was aprenticed to a chemist in Sheffield, travelling by train every day from her home.

She was the woman behind the scenes in their grocer’s shop, where they were famous for their home made ‘ice lollies’. People still remember them for their delicious treats, which they made from ‘Tizer’ and other bottles of ‘pop’.

She was a ‘Spiritulist’ by conviction, with local business men and tradesmen alike knocking on her door for advice and guidance, and her ‘messages’ influenced deals and life changes all around her. The respect she had was far larger than her diminutive size. Read more