View From St Thomas's

Those of us who spend our lives looking at pictures of old Halifax have a range of potential dating pointers: Is Square Church still a church, or just a spire? Is the Queensbury railway line still in place? are there trees on Beacon Hill? I think this photograph of mine was taken in the 1960s, but I can't be sure. One possible clue - whether St Thomas's, Claremount still has a tower - is of little use, as I took the photograph from the churchyard.

Frightening

 

Artificial intelligence took one of my photographs of North Bridge and Burdock Way in Halifax and did this with it. It's frightening. The problem is, it's frighteningly good.

Green Change

 

Whenever I revisit one of my old photographs, I can never resist the temptation to seek out a modern view of the same scene to see what has changed. With this view of the junction between Northowram Green and Land's Head Lane, I assumed it would be much the same, but I was surprised by the number of changes that had taken place. You can check it out yourself by taking a walk through this lovely village or, failing that, by taking a look on Google Street View!

THIS IS BRADFORD

 

Green Clough

 

I took this photograph of Dean Clough in Halifax back in 2017. The profusion of green vegetation provides a date stamp: fifty years earlier, the buildings would have been the same, but the occasional sooty dandelion would have been the only plant life to survive. To be honest, nine years later and the scene will be far less green as the effects of the current heatwave and drought take effect. For a time, however, it was Green Clough rather than Dean Clough.

Happy Birthday Roger

A photograph taken in a Bradford back yard more than three-quarters of a century ago. It features me sitting on my mother's knee, watched over by my brother, Roger. Next Monday would have been my mother Gladys's birthday. Today is my brother's birthday. Happy birthday, Rog - see you in December.

Bronzed

 

We got a new Prime Minister yesterday. We've had quite a lot of them lately. Back in the old days, once you had finished with a Prime Minister, you erected a bronze statue to him or her. These days, that might be a somewhat extravagant use of bronze. Here's wishing Andy Burnham luck in his endeavours. My photo for today is of the statue to the redoubtable David Lloyd George. 

The Sprinting Photographer

 

This is another of my Sheffield photos from when I was living in the city forty years ago. I was obviously much younger then because I was able to sprint out into the middle of a dual carriageway to get the shot - and live to tell the tale many decades later.

You Decide

Is this real, or is it fake? As someone who has spent much of his life taking black-and-white photographs, I don't think I'm a good judge of what's real. Is it art, or is it computer-generated slush? Who knows? Who cares? Is it pleasant to look at? You decide.

 

1980s

Another photograph from my Sheffield series, taken back in the 1980s. The cars scream the 1980s. The background - slowly fading into a post-industrial emptiness - weeps the 1980s.

 

Just Imagine

So I said to AI, "Here's a picture of Halifax's old Piece Hall Let's imagine, just for a second, that one of the world's finest singer-songwriters, James Taylor, was over there in the corner singing. Can you show us what that would look like?" This is what AI came up with. Clever thing, AI. Brilliant singer, JT.