Exhibition: Seen Through A Glass Darkly
The idea that what we see is not what is really there is a haunting one. Have we misunderstood everything? Do we see what others see? In this exhibition I explore the mystery of the limits on our perception and the idea that perfect beauty exceeds our visual capacity. The book at the heart of […]
The Rainbow Faith of Fairford
I wasn’t that enthusiastic about visiting Fairford Church. I thought I ought to see it, as I knew it contained a full set of stained glass. But in pictures, the stained glass looked rather boringly didactic; endless rather featureless faces. Luckily, I happened to be passing on a trip to the Cotswolds. I was wrong. […]
The Forgotten English Vision in the Garden – inspiration from Medieval Mary
Photograph copyright G.Plumb, Virgin and Child in a Hortus Conclusus, Eaton Bishop A young girl in a garden, surrounded by high walls. A strange idea came upon me last year to track down images of the Virgin Mary as depicted in stained glass. This forgotten English vision of Our Lady in a ‘hortus conclusus’, […]
Time to go Star Gazing…
A postscript: I’ve just been sent a press release for a star gazing package at La Samanna in the West Indies. http://www.lasamanna.com/web/omar/packages.jsp What a perfect experience for a honeymoon. La Samanna is one of the Orient Express hotels, so I think you can take it as read that it will be utterly fabulous, even though I haven’t […]
Dolphin
Wheee! Here I am!Squealings, smiling,I happy am! They arrive.Powerful, curving, archingPeerless predators flanking our boat. Back on my tail, come with me, come with us,we had some fish. Wheee!Curving through the water, swish,Come with meee. Let’s have fun!Hello, you, I love you, kiss!Bubbles, wash, swish,It’s easy! Hey! Hoooo! Rakatakataka! Preeep! Work hard, play hard, play and work at the same […]
From Madeira, with love…
Phew! Life has been fun, but crazy of late. Just back from a fantastic trip to the gorgeous isle of Madeira, where I was researching for a story for a certain magazine, photographing landscapes for the tourist office and swimming with these little guys! Well, big guys. They weigh about 180 pounds. And they are […]
St Paul’s from the Shard – glimpses of a heavenly city?
I hope you’ll forgive me for only a tenuous link to brides and weddings today, in that both the Shard and St Paul‘s are pretty fabulous wedding venues (why not both?). Recently I visited the Shard with my son and had a little play with my camera. As you might expect, it’s a pretty fabulous […]
A Cambodian Runaway Nymph Bride
A very strange thing happened to me while I was in Cambodia. I was exploring the grandiose, ancient temples of Angkor Wat when I met an apsara, a nymph. As I was looking at an exquisite stone statue, it came to life before my very eyes. She sat up on her pillar, blinking in the sunlight. […]
A Visit to a Magic Island
You might be forgiven for thinking Song Saa doesn’t exist.Floating secretly off the undeveloped coast of Koh Rong, Cambodia, it is as if your subconscious dreamt a very lovely dream and it actually came true.Upon arriving at Sihanoukville our driver spent a good while hunting for the boat before eventually handing us over to a sleek speedboat […]