We are at a junction. Which path should we take to drive commerce and make us all as rich as Croesus, left or right?
Better make the decision soon as those lights don’t stay red forever…
Is this Street Art?
I spotted this sign at a road junction about a mile or so from my house quite some time ago. It made me chuckle and I vowed to get an image of it at some point. Today was that day, so I parked at the local church and walked along the edge of the road to get this shot. It has not been edited other than to sharpen it a little.
I cannot understand what on earth is going on at that junction. There are no sidewalks on any of the roads leading to the lights and it is a fairly busy and dangerous corner. Quite why the local authority would think it sensible to put up a pedestrian controlled light and then a no pedestrian sign is anyone’s guess.
Having “visited” the place I can only assume it is some type of Street Art, perhaps making some deep statement which I am yet to discover…
#r2bcheerful8 – Jump back in the alley
This may seem an odd reason to be cheerful but I have had a few years to think about this and here’s my theory: When Ian and the Blockheads were writing the song back in Italy following the cancelled gig they were probably bouncing ideas off each other. The fourth reason to be cheerful they chose was the phrase “good golly Miss Molly” from the Little Richard song of the same name. It seems quite logical to me that “jump back in the alley” is another reference to Little Richard’s song, “Long Tall Sally”. In this case the phrase could mean listening to the song, or perhaps the fun that Uncle John is having in the original song!
Either way, they are both a good reason to be cheerful!
52 Week Challenge: Week 40
WEEK 40: Portrait: Sitting in a Chair – Either a formal sitting portrait or a re-interpretation of this classic. Photography your subject sitting in a chair.
With the lack of willing models available to me I decided to get creative with this one. At a recent visit to MoMA in New York City I was looking through the blinds in the cafeteria and into the museum’s courtyard below. I took a couple of shots focusing on the blinds and then the courtyard and have merged them, having desaturated the main subjects, to emphasize that they are outside, yet still inside the museum confines.
52 Week Challenge: Week 47
WEEK 47: Landscape: Abandoned – Capture an image of that which others have forgotten. It may be the last image before it’s gone from us forever.
These are the abandoned smokestacks and factory buildings of a local Pennsylvanian steelworks. I deliberately focused through the chain link fencing as I think it adds a certain context to the imagery, as do the grasses growing in the yard.
Short Story – Shattered View
Shattered View
It’s been over 6 months since I shared a photo related to the 52 week photography challenge but I didn’t share the short story I wrote to accompany the photo on my website. As it has been a while since I have shared a story on this blog I thought I would post it now in its entirety:
He looked out at the tops of the houses through the shattered window. The town was quiet now that it was daylight, although even the sun seemed to begrudge showing itself this morning. The battle had been unexpected, extremely violent but thankfully localized. Oh, and weird, to say the least. When the biker gang had ridden into town like some cowboy gangsters they hadn’t expected much resistance. They’d been before and got what they wanted without much trouble from the townsfolk. They hadn’t figured on the resentment that had been building up all year in anticipation of this day and so were totally taken by surprise when the doors of the convent burst open. The looks on their stunned faces were priceless, especially from their evil tattooed leader. He thought he was tough, but when faced with shotgun-wielding nuns screaming obscenities he, like the rest, was momentarily paralyzed with confusion. That’s all that was needed, as Mother Superior had predicted. The invaders had only managed one reflexive shot in response and it went high and broke the window up in the tower. And this gray morning the gravedigger was busy digging twelve holes…
© Richard Reeve, 2016
#r2bcheerful3 – The Working Folly
Yes, I know Ian was almost certainly referring to the folly of work, perhaps as he saw it from the perspective of an artist, or perhaps, as others have suggested, as a comment to the labour strikes and conditions in late 1970s Britain when he penned the lyrics. However, my obscure interpretation is going to be a photo of the Folly Theater in downtown Kansas City, Missouri that I took one evening from the hotel window opposite.
This 116 year old theater is still very much working and started its life as a burlesque and vaudeville hall. I am sure that many people over the century have had reasons to be cheerful attending The Folly!
#r2bcheerful #r2bcheerful3
52 Week Challenge: Week 31
WEEK 31: Portrait: Street Candid – Candids on the street, show us life in your town through the lens.
OK, it’s not my town, but it is my side of the country at least, and quite nearby. I took this on a recent trip to NYC. A particularly muscular looking chap was using the reflective properties of a storefront to help his extremely strenuous workout with a resistance band. How ironic that he was stood next to a parasol advertising 100% beef…
It’s Wicked Good Fun
We were walking through Boston’s Chinatown district this afternoon and saw this happy group of locals playing a very animated card game near the paifang (gate). As it says on the back of one of the player’s shirts – it’s wicked good fun!
~Richard
searching4theshot 