The Capela Dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) in Evora, Portugal was built in the 16th century alongside the church of St Francis by a Franciscan Monk . The bones are those of approximately 5000 monks collected from the cemeteries around Evora and brought to this chapel. He wanted to prod his fellow Brothers to reflect on the fact that life is transitory. Over the entrance is the famous warning “We the bones that are here await yours”. A chilling thought?
The Cadiz Museum on Plaza de Mina is well worth a visit. It is a veritable treasure trove of Roman and Cartheginium objects, Phoenician Sarchophogi and art – and I enjoyed all of that. But what I really enjoyed was a display of old string puppets, several with original backcloths. Displayed in dimly lit glass cases they left few options for photographing. I used my Nikon D700 set at 800 ISO and itted with a Nikon 50mm lens with the exposure set at 1/80 sec at 1.4mm. The shallow depth of field achieved has given them a surreal quality I am very happy with.
Black and white photographs rely more on the content and ability to communicate than the visual presentation and attraction of bright colours. Composition, lighting and perspective are the key ingredients of a good image. Have I achieved that? You are the best judge.
It was a bitingly cold winters day in 2008 when we visited Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration and extermination camps. I had a pretty good idea of what to expect but not how the ensuing visit would make me feel or the memories that would stay with me.
We entered Auschwitz 1 under the infamous arch and were greeted with the words “ARBEIT MACHT FREI”, (work sets you free). As foreboding as Auschwitz 1 is with it’s fences and barbed wire, sentry towers and blocks of brick built prison buildings it did not prepare me for my visit to Auschwitz 2 – Birkenau.
On a Sunday in October the Judges and Barristers of the Western Circuit (High Courts from Lewes in Sussex to Taunton in Devon) attend a service in Winchester Cathedral. This colourful annual event attracts the great and good of Winchester, the Lord Lieutenant and Sheriffs of Hampshire, the Dean and Bishop of Winchester and others. I have photographed the event on four occasions, the first by invitation when Christine Hamilton’s (wife of disgraced MP Neil) brother was the most senior Judge attending. In 2009 Sir Igor Judge, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales was there. One of the Sheriffs of Hampshire is Alan Tichmarch, gardener, author, TV personality and friend of the Prince of Wales!
For centuries people have gathered at Stonehenge to see in the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice. Once the pursuit of Druids and Pagans it now has far wider appeal. Since English Heritage, the custodians of the stones, relaxed access up to 25,000 revellers now spend the night partying there. The Druids and Pagans are still there together with the Buddhists, Hari Krishna’s, new age travellers, local youths and visitors from around the world. For me the thrill of the Solstice are the wonderful people.
Every three years the Hindu people of India flock in their millions to participate in the Kumbh Mela and to bathe in one of the sacred rivers at four holy locations. It is said that a dip during the Kumbh Mela takes humans out of the circle of life and death and into a state known as Mosksha. 2010 was the turn of Haridwar, in Uttar Pradesh state (220 kilometers from Delhi), where the River Ganges rushes from the foothills of the Himalayas onto the plains and the first opportunity for mass bathing! This year an estimated 70 million souls took part during the 3 months of the festival, with 15-17 million bathing in and around Haridwar on the holiest day, Shahi Shan, Wednesday 14th April.
These portraits are in my “signature” style. They are all a montage of two images combined with Adobe Photoshop software. They have been exhibited in local and international exhibitions, some as prints and some for digital projection. They have also featured in club and inter-club competitions where they have been very successful. In competitions several have been awarded maximum points. The Shepherd has just (May 2011) been judged the Digitally Projected Image of the Year at my Photo club, Winchester Photographic Society.
This is my Royal Photographic Society Associate Panel. The images were captured during two visits, in 2006 and 2007, to Pashupatinath near Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the annual Hindu Shivratri Festival, also known as the “Night of Shiva”. This festival celebrates Lord Shivas first night with Pavarti. Pilgrims queue for hours to enter the temple with their offerings of Bael leaves (from the Bengal quince tree). They fast all day and participate in an all night long vigil in and around the temple. Also included are four images taken in the old folks refuge known as Panch Deval (five temples) located close by. Attracted to the festival are many Sadhu (holy men) who spend the days meditating and smoking cannabis. Whilst all this is going on the funeral ghats are busy with cremations and mourners throughout the day and night with acrid the smoke from the funeral pyres hanging in the warm air.
This is my Royal Photographic Society Licentiate Panel, the first level of Distinction of the society awarded for competence in practical photography. To demonstrate the range of my ability my panel includes, portraiture, landscapes, low light and close up work.
This was my second visit to Worthing for Birdman, it’s hard to believe a year has passed since my previous visit. I prefer to attend on the second day, Sunday, for the Kingfisher Class as this is when crazy, fantastic people dress up and jump for charity. Unfortunately this year one brave soul was injured and needed hospital treatment.
Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ, is a Catholic celebration held in May or June every year. A “moveable” feast, the exact date is determined by when Easter falls in that year.
On a beautiful early Summer day we drove to the whitewashed mountain village of Zahara de la Sierra. a compact little place of originaly Moorish houses sitting beneath the old Nasrid’s castle on the hill above. After Holy mass in the 18c village church, the Sacred Host, secured in a silver monstrance and carried by the parish priest, is processed through the streets proceeded by young girls in their white communion dresses scattering rose petals on the grass covered streets.
The annual Feria and Fiesta in Marbella starts on a serious note with the Romeria de San Bernabe. It’s not the greatest show on earth but typical of many such events held throughout Spain.
This one day event is held twice a year in the normally tranquil town of Stow-on-the-Wold in the Gloucestershire Cotswold’s, attracting gypsies and travellers from throughout the UK with a few travelling from Ireland. History has it that an abbot petitioned for the fairs in 1476, The charters were granted for May 12th and October 24th – the fest days of Saints Philip and James and Edward the Confessor and these dates are still used today. I spent the day there met some very interesting folk and learnt a bit more about Gypsy culture and traditions. Enjoy the photographs.
South Park Street Cemetery was opened in 1767 for the employees and families of the East India Company and early colonials. Tropical illnesses and problems at childbirth were the main causes of death and many of the young wives interred were not long off the ships from England, lured no doubt by the promise of a luxurious lifestyle with a gallant and well heeled young officer. Many tombs are in the shape of massive neo-classical pyramids, pavilions, obelisks and pagodas and the names on the tombs are a veritable “who’s who” of the time. See photographs taken there in 2008.
Sunday is always Children and Family Day at the Notting Hill Festival. Come and see the fabulous youngsters all dressed up for the occassion and teenagers with energy to spare!
Between 1909 and 1970 over fifty schooners, barges, and Severn trows were beached on the banks of the river Severn near the village of Purton in Gloucestershire in England in an attempt to stop further erosion following a severe storm in 1906. The vessels were tugged from Sheerness docks nearby on the Spring tides and pushed up onto the bank creating the largest boat graveyard on mainland Britain.
The annual “Birdman” event is now held at Worthing on the West Sussex coast in Southern England, a few miles along the coast from it’s previous home at Bognor Regis. This post consists, mostly, of photographs of the “lovely loonies”, the courageous folk that dress up and throw themselves off the elevated pier into the English Channel to raise money for their favourite charities. God bless ‘em!
In the heat of the Costa del Sol, just a few kilometers back from the holiday beaches Marlene and Steven Byrd are working tirelessly to save an endangoured species – The Giant Donkeys of Andalucia. Despite listing them as a “breed in danger of extinction” both the national goverment of Spain and the local government, the Junta de Andalucia, refuse to help both financially and in any practical way. Read about their heroic struggle against the odds and see photographs of these beautiful animals.
Someone said you should try everything once! I am not so sure about everything, but when I had the opportunity to buy tickets for the fifth and last day of the first Ashes Test Match to be held in Wales I just could not refuse. Fifth days can be a disaster, exciting or may not...
© 2011 Tony Smith’s Festival and Travel Photography
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