Back to blogging

Wow, I'm rubbish at blogging at the moment! Really must make more effort. Once I'm on maternity leave I'll have days of nothing stretching before me (well, weeks at least) so I'll get back into it then. And I promise not to blog too much about babies. Maybe just a little.

Four weeks to go at work (12 days and counting, definitely counting...). It's always crazy busy now there are only four of us in the office, so it'll be nice to be able to switch off completely for a few weeks before the baby comes along.

I should probably be planning all sorts of fun activities for me and Logan while we're still just a threesome but frankly he's better off in nursery three days a week than stuck in the flat all the time with a grumpy sleepy me!

I do have a few projects for him though, that we can carry on after the baby's born. In the last few months he's taken a real interest in cameras, and we've got a collection of pics he's taken on my phone on the way to nursery, and ones he's taken on his camera while we're out and about. I'm going to get a scrapbook and help him stick in photos of all his favourite things and places. Hopefully, eventually, the new baby will feature!

Ouch

I've been a bit pants at blogging lately, apologies, busy busy busy at work! I'm even there on a Sunday, which is always a bit weird.

It's quiet so far, so I'm doing a bit of archive searching for the From the Archive column that runs on the Guardian's leader page. I love searching through the old papers (online of course, using the lovely digital archive), you always find interesting nuggets.

Like the photo above, from March 1950 - I hated cross country at school but I don't remember it being quite so extreme...

The genius of Walker Evans

I did a module on American art at uni and I remember being fascinated by the photos Walker Evans took of people living in the dust bowl during the depression, as part of the government's Farm Security Administration and his work Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (buy it here).

I bought a book on him from the Tate Modern months ago but just got around to reading it, and his work was about so much more than those well-known images - he took brilliant street photos, including a series on the underground with a hidden camera, and found hidden meaning in graffiti, signs and all sorts of everyday objects (the one above was taken at Coney Island). Something to aspire to! I wish I could be that good.

A book out this month takes in Henri Cartier-Bresson's work too, another personal hero. Straight to the top of my Christmas list.

@ The Washington

Photos by Logan

Logan got a tutorial in how to take photos from Jo CW at Dave's birthday bash yesterday. He needs a bit of work on the composition but at least they're (almost) in focus...



Daddy!



Fizzy pop



The birthday boy



Brooky

Still life with fruit

Is this a coot or a moorhen?

I can never remember which is which. Anyway, I took this when we took Logan to see the ponds at Hampstead Heath, after a lovely lunch with Isabelle and Lauren at the Freemasons Arms on Downshire Hill (overpriced and a bit pretentious considering it used to be a bit of a dive, and nothing like the "country pub" they claim to be, but very welcoming nonetheless).

I'll put some more pics up on Flickr tonight.

Dave's birthday bash @ Junction Tavern

I know, I know, this could be a photo of absolutely anyone, but you'll just have to trust me that Dave M (who my husband insists on calling Filmstar Dave) is on there somewhere. I don't like the flash dammit!

Flickr as global photo archive

Just came across this Flickr initiative, The Commons, on their site. I remember there was a bit of buzz when it launched last year, then I forgot all about it.

In partnership with institutions like the Brooklyn Museum, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian and the Imperial War Museum, Flickr hosts their photographic collections (where copyright has expired); any Flickr member can tag or comment them, adding their own level of metadata and context in the process.

There are some truly impressive shots - these penguins are sooo funny - and, even taking into account the predictably juvenile comments of some users, it's a vital resource for saving our historical photos for future generations.

Ooh, and happy fifth birthday Flickr! You rule.

Project 365

I've finally got round to starting my own Project 365 on Flickr. For the uninitiated, the idea is you upload a photo every day for a year; it's kind of a photo diary of your everyday life.

I meant to start in January, but I forgot until about the 13th and I had too many holes in my photos to make it worthwhile. Then I meant to start on 1st February, but I only remembered yesterday so it's going to run from Feb 2nd instead. A bit random but nobody says it has to be organised!

So far no photos of Logan, something of a miracle...