Even on a recent March weekend, where the days hit a perfect 75F degrees at the height of California’s spectacular superbloom, the locations that make up Desert X – an ambitious art biennial that stretched for dozens of miles throughout Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley…
Category: Places
Ghosts of Humanity
Turn off Seafield Road onto Marine Esplanade, past the sewage plant’s entrance, and you quickly come to the edge of the Firth of Forth. A wide expanse of water with the glittering lights of Kirkcaldy on the other side. There’s a grass walkway here, sandwiched between the treatment works’ chain fence and the sea wall, that leads down to the edge of what then becomes Portobello beach…
Leith Walk on Lockdown
Set out on your government-approved once-daily walk. Go in the evening; fewer people present, less necessity for the awkward dance whereby you slip past one another on a narrow sidewalk, one of you spilling out into the road to keep that space, maintain that gap…
Turn, Turn and Turn Again
I used photos in these two series as prompts three days in a row. The first two days were pure joy. Facing the third day, though, I couldn’t imagine finding the task easy. What else was there to see? I realized that I just didn’t want to face the photos in the same order…
A Londoner Rides the Clockwork Orange
It’s a relatively little-known fact that London isn’t the only city in the UK to have its own underground railway system. Glasgow does too. We took a Londoner for a ride around the network and noted their perceptions…
The Hidden Relics at Alton Towers
More than 2,000,000 people visit Alton Towers each year, travelling from all over the UK to experience the biggest theme park in the country. Of that vast company, only a small number ever venture into the Gardens, and then usually only to cross from the Dark Forest to the Forbidden Valley in search of more …
Decoding Signage at the Leeds Bradford Airport Hotel
This single, run-on, car crash sentence is posted prominently at least a dozen times. It appears on trees, on lamposts, bolted to walls. One copy of it, a little faded and rusty, is even tucked away amongst the bushes. It is clear that a great deal of time and energy has been expended in the crafting and installation of this sign. But what does it mean…
NEWSTREETSTATIONSIGNALBOX
It might be the first thing you see as you arrive, or the last thing before you depart. You might not notice it at all. It lurks, semi-submerged, at the far end of the platforms, only its top half ever exposed, marking its own corner at Navigation and Brunel Streets: NEWSTREETSTATIONSIGNALBOX…
A Stroll Through Ocean Terminal
Most will be quick to dismiss Edinburgh’s Ocean Terminal as a mediocre shopping centre… but within its walls there are still phenomena worth observing. This guided walk examines some of the most prominent of them…
Remembering Camelot
During its almost 30 years of operation the Camelot theme park in Lancashire had the slogan “The land of great knights, and amazing days.” Visitors could ride a selection of flat rides and rollercoasters, play games and buy snacks at battlemented stalls, and watch knights both great and not-so-great battle it out in the jousting arena…