The world at the bottom of every pool

“Why, if we can get back to our own world by jumping into this pool, mightn’t we get somewhere else by jumping into one of the others? Supposing there was a world at the bottom of every pool.”

C.S Lewis - The Magician's Nephew

 

I've sometimes had a secret fantasy that one day when passing by a particularly clear watery reflection that I would jump in and instead of emerging soaked I would continue to fall directly into another world, one of fantasy and magic.

Of course its just a fantasy but when I set out recently to take photos its something I bore in mind as I scoured the streets looking for puddles that reflected the world around me.

Its been raining non stop for the last week and the UK is groaning under the weight of all the water that has poured down upon the streets.

Out of all this bad weather however came the most amazing opportunities for photography as black and gold patches of water stretched across its lanes.

And though it was challenging, through patient effort I was able to create a number of images that reflected this fantasy. A series of photos which hinted that the depth of these reflections held something more. At a world at the bottom of every pool.

The witches fingers

Hampered by a series of delays when it came to my blog posts and inspired by the cold and stormy weather out my front door. I decided to head outside to explore the effects that could be captured when the trees had lost their leaves.

The effects were rather eerie, thin branches reached across the sky seeking to claw the moon from the horizon. Tangles of branches caught on fire under the glare of golden neon light.

Sometimes the tangle of branches almost seemed to become a series of veins and arteries that threaded their way through the body of the night.

It was a eerie time to be photographing these witches fingers reaching across the night.

The streets are paved with gold

 I hadn't felt the creative bug in a while but walking home it had been raining and seeing the colour of the sky and the lights reflecting on the streets had me itching the reach for my camera.

With the rain and wind creating an evocative dance of shadow and light I was able to take shot of lights that paved the night in gold. Turned rivelets of water running down a wall into lava and created a whirling dervish of dancing branches.

Hello Thailand

Have decided to make this a travel blog as well because well why not?

Two days ago I flew into Bangkok after just 3 hours sleep, after spending the first half of the day in some kinda of zombie like state I finally managed to pull myself together and after getting to know a few people at our hostel we headed out for a look around the city.

Bangkok like most asian cities I've been to smells like a weird mixture of sewage, home cooking (wafting from the various stall venders cooking their wares) and smoke from various cars. The next thing to hit you is how western it all looks, people on tablets, mobiles, using internet and every stop a seven eleven. This however is punctuated by moments of exoticism such as a local boy dance band performing on the street or flashes of gold, orange and red from the various

shines and temples that litter the city. Overhead electricity lines stretch like spiderwebs and through the street brightly coloured taxis, tuk tuks and moterbikes dodge and weave
around each other.

With my new friends we headed to a large market place on the edge of the city and walked down what seemed to be a never ending line of shirts, watches, paintings, statues and sarongs. After doing a fair bit of shopping we sat down to enjoy fried chicken with a deliciously spicy sauce.

After a night of getting to know some of my fellow travelers better we headed out to visit the famous reclining buddha, a staggeringly huge moment found just over the river from where our hostel was located. Set in one of the most impressive complexes you wander past fierce taoist status, flame licked buildings and brightly mosaic spires to reach the budda himself. Lit in an unearthly orange light the gold and serene figure was staggeringly large taking at least 10 minutes to walk all the way round. Round him people poured coins into various pots that lined the temple giving the impression of someone pouring huge amounts of rice into a metal pot.

Anyway thats enough from me today, will update you all with more soon.

Beauty in the strangest places

 When I do photography I love to find details in ordinary objects that can be photographed for (hopefully) spectacular effect. Whether it be reflections in puddles, the light from street lamps, or leaves on a road way i''m of the opinion that beauty can be found in some pretty strange places, you just have to look for it.

Such was the case with these photos, where drizzle, water droplets and frost turn car roofs and windscreens into scenes from a sci-fi movie.