next season's retro ... i wish

charles the second frightening the children

english chinoiserie at the V and A

the old lacquer chest

lacquer and lacquer ... masterpieces from old japan

old tins

most of the victoria and albert's possessions are conserved in very low light conditions and it is hard to photograph them without a flash ( discouraged ) and/or a tripod ( forbidden )


flash makes everything look awfully cool with any icy blue sort of light so today i tried a method which is a bit like pressing your nose to the glass


i pressed the rim of the lens casing flat against the glass


this enabled me to hold the camera fairly ... but less than perfectly ... still for some very slow exposures ... but only where the objects were at a reasonably comfortable level above the floor and a suitable distance for focussing beyond the glass

file under "champagne: for the drinking of"

georgey boy

pomona lends a hand in plutarch's garden

lot ninety-nine, laydeys'an'gennermen ... as played by george formby

nothing like this old-fashioned clockwork in your argos catalogue

the dog is bored, but even the sheep are smiling

what is she reading ?

sweet and gentle

happy cranes

a masterpiece of "visual logic" from old japan

as they say in glasgow ... she's away with the fairies

and after you've hoovered ...

proust ... two down ... ten to go ... no, five, depending which way you look at it

peter porter writes about lawrence durrell in this week's tls