• Framing Photos In the Cemetery

    Ricoh GRIII 1/200th at f5 and ISO 500

    In June I wrote about the wonky gravestones at the Margravine Cemetery. I photographed them to point out the way they leaned against one another.

    A few days ago I passed through it again, and this time I looked around to see whether I could frame something that took in the greenery more, and this is it.

    I still wonder about the choice of ground for the cemetery, with the way the headstones lean. The Hammersmith and Fulham local government website says that the cemetery was opened in 1868 and laid out by local architect George Saunders who designed the modest Gothic style lodges and two chapels in the Gothic style.

    You would have thought that in 1868 the technical knowledge to determine whether ground was likely to fall in and subside was already well known.

    But then I read the history of the cemetery on the website of the Friends of Margravine Cemetery and it turns out the land for cemeteries was not easy to find. It doesn’t explain why the land is so unstable but perhaps that was all that was available.

    Ricoh GRIII 1/160th at f5 and ISO 500
  • Rattle Your Jewellery

    The people standing there were obviously waiting for something or someone. I passed them on my way to Fujikina at the Stables on Earlham Street, just around the corner. Because I was in the Fujikina event and had my Fuji camera with me, I just snapped this as I passed. These people of course are nothing to do with the Fujikina event. So then what?

    Part of me wanted to know who they were. With the photo blown up on my screen I can see they work for LW Theatres. So I guess they were waiting for a well-known person or persons.

    A bit of research and I see that the company is owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

    He owns five theatres outright and co-owns a sixth so he is a significant factor in keeping London theatres going.

    Read any news article on the state of the arts in London and you will read how theatres are struggling. No wonder, with theatre tickets at £150 and more.

    One of the theatres Andrew Lloyd Webber owns is the London Palladium. The TV programme Sunday night at the London Palladium was hugely popular on the BBC for many years.

    Andrew Lloyd Webber is not the only person owning theatres in London.

    Cameron Mackintosh owns Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, which owns and operates eight London theatres, including the Prince of Wales Theatre.

    The Royal Variety Performance, 1963 was held at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

    It was televised and the Beatles were the headline act.

    My wife recently bought a book of Beatles quotes, some of which she had read to me. A quote many people of a certain age remember is this one, because a lot of prominent people were at the performance.

    For our last number, I’d like to ask your help. Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewellery.

    John Lennon,

    There’s something about the way the two men are holding their hands that makes me think that the top-down authority structure is still here sixty years later.


    Tech: Fuji X-T50 with 35mm lens, shot at 1/3200th of a second and an aperture of f2.0.

  • Fresh Focaccia

    Shot with my Ricoh GRIII, which has a wide 28mm lens, this is a crop of about 20% of the frame.

    The blue hairnets and white coats tie everything together but the main reason I like the photo is the way the women on the right are leaning forward.