My Year and a few Photos

I have to end the year with a big blog post! People have commented that I haven't had a lot to say recently, and it's true. I would have liked to discuss art and photography with you, but laying floors, preparing walls and fitting baths, sinks and toilets have shut me up, plus I have the tedious chore of earning a crust. But I make no apologies for the lack of words, I've always been here for you with regular photographs and at the bottom of this page I've added a few you haven't seen this year.

Despite the work on the house, I've managed to take a photograph almost every day during 2010. The odd days I didn't take a photograph, I did a bit of drawing. I've used 5 different cameras this year. I've worn out a 60 year old Kodak Retina IIa, and had a Canon digital fall apart after 3 months use.

Because of the lack of time to pursue art, my working methods have changed. There hasn't been a lot of planning involved, most of the work has been conceptual (created on the spot). I've enjoyed the freedom and randomness, but I long to return to the routine of research, planning and prearation.

Marketing!
I could never survive if I had to rely on my business skills, and this year, for the reasons above, I gave up trying to promote my photographs. So I've been amazed that the things are still selling. I've had over 250 direct art sales, a few good agency sales, and I'm pleased to say, I've made some good friends in the creative industries who I'll be working with in the future.

Downsizing
I stopped collecting in 2010. And although I still have the desire, I've stopped buying everything except clothes, books and music (I give the books away, once I've read them). I've been accumulating cameras since 1970. As I was packing boxes of cameras, to move to a different country (this time last year), I had an overwhelming desire to dispose of the lot. In March, this year I started selling my camera collection. As of today, I've found 195 happy new owners, who I hope will have great fun using my old cameras. When a camera sells, I climb into the loft and bring another one down. Surveying the collection this morning, I estimate it will take another 5 years to empty the loft.

2010 will go down as a big year, with lots done. 2011 will be a bigger year for me! More art, travel and work. As our year runs out, I have to tell you I've enjoyed sharing this year with you. If not for you I wouldn't have typed a single word. You are my motivation. I wish you the greatest happiness for 2011, and that some of your dreams come true.

Love & Peace - Tim

Bridgette, a patient model - Tim Irving

It must be a zoo - Tim Irving

The Full English - Tim Irving

Summer Girl - Tim Irving

My Favourite Book of 2010

The Seaside - Tim Irving

Cambridge - Tim Irving

New Friend - Tim Irving

New Kennel - Tim Irving

View From My Breakfast Table - Tim Irving

Red Roof

Red Roof - Tim Irving

Boxing Day Walk

Red Head - Tim Irving

My traditional Boxing Day photo walk turned into a fiasco, nothing new there. All the sites I'd planned to photograph were inaccesible. High fences, deep snow and even a river came, between me and my subjects. I'll  be back out tomorrow, blizzards permitting.

Untitled for Christmas Eve

Untitled - Tim Irving

I'm Here for Christmas

The East End - Tim Irving (click the image to enlarge)

I'll be around over Christmas, blogging live on Christmas day. So there's every chance I'll have a photo to show you or something to say. 

The photograph above is Brick Lane in East London. Last June I had the opportunity to rent some space in the Old Truemans Brewery, to exhibit and sell my photographs. I couldn't do it at the time because the house needed so much work. But I've given it some though over the past few days, it's growing on me. So next year, maybe.

Mailman Blues

Post Office - Tim Irving

Post Haste

‘If I'm reincarnated,
I'd like to be a snail’.
So spake the postman, as
He handed me my mail.

With a snail as a postman
The service might be better
And I don't think I'd mind
The odd slimy letter.

Anon

The Corsetiere

Mademoiselle Vidaud - Tim Irving

What a Fish

The Barreleye Fish

I saw this fish on the BBC web site, and I can't stop looking at it. It's beautiful, a piece of art. The BBC are broadcasting a documentary about modern discoveries. In the last decade, scientists and explorers have discovered a quarter of a million new plant and animal species around the world. The Barreleye fish was already known as a species but only recently filmed in the deep for the first time.

Paris Remembered, eventually

La Mortuacienne - Tim Irving

Why do I need a book to improve my memory?
Well, I was pulled up sharp last week when I discovered 2 un-developed films from my Paris trip last August. It's very embarrassing and I'm only telling you because I know it wont go any further.

On my return from Paris, rather than send all my films to be processed, and risk losing the lot (I'm not stupid), I only sent the slide films. The negative films I left in a camera bag to be processed when the others were returned. Scroll forward 3 months and I remember the films.

I rely on lists and notes written on scraps of paper to remember things, it's very un-reliable. Until yesterday, I didn't even know my own phone number! Because I wrote it on a scrap of paper last February I never took the trouble to remember it. I've started the memory book and I'm finding the exercises difficult, but it's helped me already, I can now remember my phone number. I'm hoping to aquire a reasonable memory, it should make my life easier.

The forgotten photographs were worth the wait. I've got some nice images here, mostly cafes and shops. I'll show you a few this week.

The Memory Man

My mornings go something like this: Eat a light breakfast, drink orange juice, swallow one cod liver oil capsule (joints),  and one zinc pill (colds and flu). I walk the dog. I've walked him after breakfast every day since he turned up on my doorstep, I've never missed a day. I realised too late that I'd made a rod for my back with the walks, now the dog considers a twice daily walk his legal right.

Depending on the route we take and the people we meet, the walk can be anything from a half hour, to an hour. Post walk cleaning the white dog can take up to 10 minutes. Then I make tea and turn on the PC. (I've left out certain morning routines, but I can assure you I'm clean and presentable for the walk).

The first task of the day is to check my photograph sales. These are online shop sales, not agency sales. If I have any sales, I cross my fingers and walk to my photograph file to retrieve them. If the crossed fingers work the photographs will be in the file, but sometimes crossing my fingers doesn't work and the photo isn't in the file, this is because I forgot to replace it the last time it sold. Drat!

This is exactly what happened yesterday morning. It was an order from the US for 2 prints, one I didn't have.  Normally I would contact my laboratory, order the required print, then wait 4 or 5 days to have it delivered, but today is the last posting day before Christmas to the USA. I felt it my duty to ship out the order to arrive before Christmas and that meant an hours drive to personally collect the print.

There was an hours wait at the lab, so to kill time I visited a little cafe and had a delicious home baked roll with bacon and egg. The cafe was pleasant enough but it had odd acoustics, entering teh cafe was like walking into Phil Spectors wall of sound, but the wall was produced by 4 elderly ladies having tea and fruit cakes.

After the cafe (and to get to the point of this post), I walked into a charity shop run by  The Cats Protection League. I went straight to the bookshelves and there among last years celebrity cook books I found the 2 books at the top of the page. "Documentary and Anti Graphic Photographs" is a reproduction of a 1935 catalogue of the New York exhibition featuring Henry Cartier Bresson, Walker Evans and Manuel Alvarez Bravo. All but 2 of the Cartier Bresson Images I've seen many times before, but the 2 I hadn't seen are spectacular. There were several Walker Evans I hadn't seen before and a handful of the Manuel Alvarez Bravo that were new to me.

The other book "Once Upon A Time in Wales" by Robert Haines, provides an intriguing look at a Welsh mining community in the 1970's. The seventies don't sound that long ago, but the photographs in this book are from a time I barely remember, but the memories came flooding back after looking at these photographs. The seventies were hard times for some. Excellent photographs. The books cost £3 each.

Today I bought another book, but from a from a bookshop. 52 lessons to improve my memory. I've made a start and in lesson 1, which I completed 2 hours ago, I can still remember a tree, clock, mouse and car. That's real progress. I'll let you know how I progress.

Oblique Strategies

Today, 8am - Tim Irving

Yesterday's weather forecast promised snow, I woke up to mist! If I cared I would go crazy. All my photographs look like Christmas cards, so it's time to stop trying and do something else.

Coming up with new ideas is difficult, but I'm not happy if I continue to plough the same field even it it's making money. I know of several techniques to change track, one worth mentioning that I've used with some success is Oblique Strategies. It sometimes comes up trumps.

Oblique Strategies is a set of cards (subtitled over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas). They were created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt during the seventies. The cards are mostly used by musicians to generate new ideas, to break free of cliches. I can assure you that Phil Collins has never used Oblique Strategies, but David Bowie, David Byrne and Bryan Ferry are adepts. It's a bit like I Ching for musicians. Thinking about it, I Ching would be very useful too!

I have an original pack of Oblique Strategies, but there's an on-line version with same dilemmas that you can try here. Just pick a random card and think about it, within the context of your work. If it doesn't work, pick another card. If it does work, let me know.

Ink Drawing

Ink Drawing - Tim Irving

It's difficult to motivate myself during this cold snap. Fortunately, at this moment in time, I'm carefree. The temperature outside is minus 5 and clear, the sun is shining. Yesterday's weather forecast promised me mist. I woke up early to photograph in the mist, pulled back the curtains, and was greeted with.... Nothing! Not even a scotch mist.

The great thing about living on a small island is that we all suffer together, 50 odd million of us. It's hard for me to get anxious about not getting out with the camera when 1000 cars were abandoned last night, becasue of a snow storm. Until the country warms up I'm drawing and photogaphing indoors.

After my morning chores, walking the dog, earning a living etc, I finished drawing a portrait. It's based on a pencil sketch I did in 1993, I've done it again, in ink (that's it above, next to the cold tap). Now it's finished it can go in the loft. If I live long enough, or experience another cold spell, I might one day do it again, in oil, on board.

Snowed In

The United Kingdom has come to a halt! The snow has caused chaos on roads, railways and the second largest airport in the country, Gatwick, has suspended all flights. Schools have closed and the entire population has been advised not to make unnecessary journeys. The government has called for an enquiry in to why the country ceases to function when it snows. I'm certain they've held similar inquiries in the past, winters aren't a recent phenomenon.

Winter Roses - Tim Irving

I've been out and about and I've done a couple of longish walks, but it's too cold to take photographs. It's too cold to take my hands out of my pockets.

I was looking out of the kitchen window this morning, pondering the jobs that should have been done in the garden, and believe me, there's plenty of work out there. Plants that should have been moved to a sheltered spot before the snow, bulbs that should have been planted weeks ago, the list is a long one. In my un-tidy garden, the roses should have been pruned in late summer, but they weren't. The flowers died months ago, and the stems are woody.

The dead roses are my subjects until the thaw. Taking the photographs has turned into a ritual. I wrap up in several layers, go into the garden and have a good look at them, then I take a photograph and come back inside. I'm doing this 3 or 4 times a day as light and snow change the scene. They do look dead, but because I'm studying them very closely, I can see a beauty in them and I can't wait to get out there with them. I'm very pleased with myself that I didn't prune them.

Gone Fishing

No Fishing - Tim Irving

My View

The View From My Window, 11.50am

The Hedge

The inside of a Hedge - Tim Irving

The leaves have almost gone for this year and the countryside looks a little barren and tired. To add interest to my walks, and to find some new colour combinations to the photos, I've been looking deep into hedgerows. If you see a man wearing inappropriate footwear, with his head in a hedge, stop and say hello, it could be me! (if it's not me, you could have a problem).

Part of my walk takes me on prehistoric pathways which were ancient when the Romans arrived. The hedges either side of these pathways are between 2000 and 4000 years old. They are a mixture of hawthorn, blackthorn, holly, beech, oak and ash. It's hostile inside the hedge, millions of thorns to scratch and stab. I wear gloves and push the camera in front of me and hope for the best.

Low Contrast

Ground Cover - Tim Irving

Traditionally, there is a perfect time (the Golden hours), for taking photographs. It lasts for one or two hours (depending where you are and the time of year), after sunrise and one hour before sunset. At these times, the sun is at a low angle and shadows are exaggerated, intensifying contrast. The colours also seem more vibrant during these hours.

For many years I used the Golden hours as an excuse not to take photographs. If it's a toss up between getting up at 5am or staying in bed, then I'm afraid the bed wins. Living and working in Spain caused problems because the light was so intense and contrasty that I had to obey the rule of the Golden hours. In the summer, I started work at 7am. By 9am the light was too strong and the contrast was overpowering.

Now I'm in northern Europe, I'm working in flat even light, and I'm enjoying the experience. I've been looking at a book I have, paintings by Gwen John and I'm working on making lower contrast, less saturated images with a limited palette of colours. The low light forces me to work with my lens wide open, which reduces the contrast further and produces the blur that you see in the photo above.

Golden Crabs!

Golden Crab Apples - Tim Irving

Owning new brogues has made me competitive for the first time in my life. I'm beginning to despise the these shoes, but I wont let them beat me.

The brogues and I called a truce over the weekend. I had to soak them in water for a day, then I stuffed newspaper inside them and let them dry slowly. I've walked in them this morning, just a few hundred yards, to buy milk and a loaf, and they were OK. I can't relax while I'm wearing them because all my attention is focused on my feet, but they didn't hurt me. It's too early to celebrate, I'll walk a little further in them later.

I didn't have a car over the weekend and had to walk a long way (5 mile round trip), to photograph the fabulous red crab apples. The apple tree is in the middle of a field and after weeks of wet weather it's very muddy. I tackled the job by doing the long walk in trainers, taking a pair of Wellingtons (wellies are very comfortable, but I thought 5 miles might be too much),  together with my camera in a backpack.

The walk was uneventful, but I was disappointed to find the apples, that I'd seen on Friday had all but vanished, most of them were on the ground. I did what I could, which was 3 photographs, then walked around the edge of the field to see if there was anything else of interest to save the day. Within 5 minutes I saw another crab apple tree and I could see a dozen or so, little golden spheres against the dull watery sky. Ooooh, yes please, Mother Natures gift to little Timmy.

I showed this photograph (it's a slide actually), to my TV, minor celebrity neighbour this morning, and asked him to think of a title. Without a hint of irony, he said "Golden Crabs".

Breaking in my new shoes

Giant Deer, Skull and Antlers - Tim Irving

My Grandfather was a wise man who had a solution for most of life's problems. I remember him telling anyone who'd listen that "New shoes should stand in water before you wear them". And, "Salt is the cure for an open wound". There were a few other gems, but I'll save them for another blog post, maybe a Christmas Special. Not surprisingly I didn't heed too much of his advice, but I was heeding it as I was nearing the end of a 4 mile walk last night.

I say walk, but in truth the last mile was a limp, or maybe a skip, but either way it felt like a long mile. I'm the proud owner of a new pair of brogue shoes. Over the past week I've been carefully breaking them in by walking short distances, like to the car, or, to the bottom of the garden, and during this period I did believe the transition from all synthetic "New Balance" to all leather brogue would be easy on my feet, but last night I had a rude awakening.

The pain, which is excruciating, comes from the shoes rubbing the top of my toes and I can't see how things can improve, unless I cut a hole in them, make brogue sandals. So, I'm going to take my Grandfather's advice and soak them in water overnight, then dry them slowly over the weekend.

While the brogues are drying, I'm getting up very early on Saturday, to photograph a country park where I've seen the brightest red crab apples. I'm hoping for a misty morning with a few drops of dew to test my waterproof/splashproof/dustproof, camera.

A New Camera

4pm, Thursday - Tim Irving

I bought a new camera today with features that I've never needed until now. It's waterproof, or at least damp-proof.  I have a hat, a warm coat, a pair of wellingtons, and now a waterproof camera. No more excuses because of the weather.

I didn't really want another camera, but circumstances forced my hand. I had a bit of a scare last week, I'd been out all day and it was very cold and damp. I was about to take what was my 12th photograph of the day when the camera, a Contax G2, refused to focus. The problem didn't last long, I went to a cafe for a cup of tea and to thaw out, I removed the lens, then re-fitted it, and the camera performed as normal. It hasn't missed a beat since, but then I haven't taken it out on a cold day since.

This is the first time ever, I've had a camera malfunction. I'm not sure if this is luck or the fact that cameras are incredibly reliable. In defence of the Contax, it's over 20 years old and has never had a service.

I justified the purchase because the house restoration is coming to an end, and soon I'll have get back to taking photos on a daily basis. I've forked out for a new (old), camera in the hope that I'll take at least one profitable photograph a week throughout the winter.

Charles Darwin's Fish

Darwin's Fish - Tim Irving

I do like a good museum! Over the past few weeks I've been searching for, and exploring some of the less well known museums and galleries within a few miles from home. They've proved to be a good source of images for me and an excellent way to spend a day.


My last visit was to the Museum of Natural History at Cambridge University, where the photograph above was taken. It's a glorious place where a few hours can pass in a flash. It's quiet, the temperature is just right, the toilets are clean and photography is allowed. Added to that it's in the city centre so I can nip out for lunch.

This fish (Gerres oyena), was preserved and returned to Cambridge by Charles Darwin between 1831 and 1836.

The Beach Dog

Beach Dog - Tim Irving

Judging by the comments, my post modern photography isn't going down well with the beloved clients. But I've got plenty of film in my pocket and a new pair of shoes on my feet. So, is this moody enough for you?

Another Whale Post

Wright Whale Vertebrae - Tim Irving

Moby Dick

To the Whale - Tim Irving

Travelling On

Musician - Tim Irving

We had a bit of a storm last night, lots of rain, big gusts of wind but no great drama. It's still drizzling outside but the forecast is good for tomorrow. I'll venture out later to buy a few items for my secret project, or it will forever remain a secret. The weather is the number one topic of conversation of every person living in Britain. Both the dog walkers I met this morning greeted me by looking to heaven before telling me that "it should brighten up for the weekend".

The number two topic of conversation is foreign travel. This is a small island with very mixed weather and we're all looking to escape. I'm no exception, I'm plotting my exit as you read this, the destination is India with the excuse of photographing festivals and street performers.

The View From My Window at 4pm

My View at 4pm today

For no good reason I took this photo at 4pm today. I should be on a beach photographing sand dunes and grasses, but the weather has turned for the worse, it's very cold and there are warnings of gales. So until I can get out and about, I'll share this view with you.

Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Heaven - Tim Irving

The autumn colours are to the photographer what Stairway to Heaven is to the guitarist. I didn't want to take it, I just couldn't help myself, I can't see anything else at the moment. But I have an excuse, I took the photograph to test an old camera with film.

Losing One Hour

3pm - Tim Irving

Last Saturday (October 30th), the clocks went back one hour in Great Britain, I'm wondering if this happens anywhere else in the world? The benefits are, that it's light one hour earlier in the morning, but of course it's also dark one hour earlier in the evening. It's totally dark here at 5pm.

For me it's a problem, I can't bring myself to rise one hour earlier. I have until 3pm to take photos, then it's dark. Of course it gets worse until the end of December, then it slowly gets lighter again.

After 8 years in Spain the sudden lack of light is a shock to me! I'll have to adapt, and for now I'm thinking of coastal scenes. Monday morning (not too early), I hit the beach.

Day of the Dead

Andalucia, Spain - Tim Irving

Madrid, Spain - Tim Irving

Seville, Spain - Tim Irving

Trick or Treat or What!

They found me!

Autumn Colours

The Golf Course - Tim Irving

Autumn drives me mad! It's a glorious time for rich hot colours on cool damp days. But I'm never entirely happy with my autumn photographs, I never have been. Yesterday my dog walk took me on a path that borders a small golf course. On my side of the path it's like walking through a deciduous forest. The light is filtered by the canopy and the floor is covered with ferns and mosses. There's an old hawthorn hedge that keeps the walkers and golfers apart, so from my side of the hedge the view of the course is restricted.

As I walked around the path I could see the odd glimpse of the trees on the course and with each glimpse I was tempted to get the camera out. But the longer I looked the more obvious it becomes that I already have a similar photo from last year that I'm not entirely happy with, in fact I've got hundreds of these photos going back many years, and I don't need any more, they don't make me happy.

Then I came to a gap in the hedge which opened up to the view above. A few inches from me is a branch of a tree, it's very dark and covered in moss (you can't see it). I focused on the tree, then I turned the camera to the view above and took the picture.

I shall keep this picture, it's not bad, but I would killed to have had a golfer in the scene.

Agfa Rondinax Developing Tank

Agfa Rondinax

This box contains the love of my life, an Agfa Rondinax. The Agfa Rondinax is an extraordinary gadget that allows me to develop film anywhere and anytime. I could for instance, develop my films as I smoke a pipe, while on a family camping holiday like the man below. Now I have a Agfa Rondinax, the world is my oyster.

I bought mine off Ebay, it arrived today, in new condition, I'll be developing a film later.

Agfa Rondinax in use

But I'm getting ahead of myself here and I should explain how this device will make my life easier. Film needs to be developed in total darkness and this is done in a tank. But first you have to load the tank with your film, in the dark. Since I was 14 years old I've used a standard developing tank to develop my films. This is a light proof cylinder containing a spiral. You go somewhere dark, remove the lid of the tank and take out the spiral. Then you remove the film from its cassette, or spool, trim the end with scissors and thread the film (which feels like it's several miles long in the dark), onto the spiral. Finally, screw the lid on tight before turning the light on. The rest of the process you do in the light.

The ritual of loading film in the dark, is comical and uncomfortable. My own technique involves doing it under the bed covers while kneeling next to the bed. You want to to be under and out as quickly as possible, it gets hot down there. Usually everything goes smoothly, but sometimes there's a hiccup. A common problem is when the spiral is damp from a perevious session or, having damp, sweaty hands. The slightest damp and the film sticks and won't load smoothly. On a hot day hiccups can keep me in the kneeling position for longer than I'd like.

Here's where the Agfa Rondinax comes into its own. I can now do the loading in the glorious light! No more kneeling. I put the film in the machine, wind a knob and it loads the film onto a spiral, automatically. It even has a thermometer built in so I can keep an eye on the temperature of the chemicals, bliss.  This machine is not new, it's been around for over fifty years, so you may be wondering (like I am), why it's taken me all these years to get one. The answer is money, for many years I couldn't afford one. But now I can, and I'm very happy.

Untitled Portrait

Untitled by Tim Irving

A Zoo

Swimming to the Sky - Tim Irving

You have to practice your craft. Preferably daily with set hours. If not every day, then two or three days a week. As a painter you'll waste reams of paper, as a photographer you will produce thousands of worthless photographs, not to mention the time and effort spent.   

I've had an idea for several months that I should photograph a flamingo. I've done several drawings, played with colours and I know it will work, but I just can't find the right location. Today's zoo was no exception. After a long drive I find good flamingos, insanely peachy pink, but in the worst setting possible. Never mind, I console myself with a sea lion.

The Joy of a Cheap Lens

Clacton Pier - Tim Irving

This photo is from a roll of film I've had in a camera for what seems like years. The camera is a 1946 Ensign Ful-Vue that I loaded at the start of the summer, and finished 2 weeks ago. I like this photo! In a world where fast auto focus and HD is becoming normal, a dodgy lens can make refreshing change.

The Other Cycling Photograph

Tour of Britain - Tim Irving

Here's the other photograph from the Tour of Britain Cycle Race. It's not bad considering my fumbles. October and November are good months for cycling as many clubs around the country are holding hill climbs. Hill climbs make it easy for a photographer, because as the cyclists struggle to reach the top they almost come to a standstill, in fact some do come to a standstill and end up walking. They're easy pickings for the predatory photographer, I can even take my time fumbling and still get the shot. There's a nice audio slide show featuring a hill climb here.