Echoes and reflections in photography

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I enjoy photographing quite ordinary scenes. There’s always something that makes them special. It could be colour, light, or interesting shapes.

I took the first picture because of the red and yellow on the noodle van. I liked how the colours reflected in the puddles on the pavement and the way the autumn leaves echoed the red.

A truck selling noodles (Halal Chinese and Thai). The truck is red and yellow.
Location: Bexleyheath shopping centre in Greater London

I took the second picture because I liked the pairing of the sky and car park. They both looked flat and vast and filled with light-flecked grey.

The roof parking area of a multi-storey car park. Grey clouds in the sky and puddles on the tarmac.
Location: Car park at Bexleyheath shopping centre

I have always liked old brickwork. The wall and arches in this picture are likely to be from the 19th century. I took this photo through a train window because I liked the curves of the bicycle racks against the curves of the arches.

Bicycle stands next to a brick wall and arches on a train station platform.
Location: Crewe

Charity gift ideas for Christmas

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This year, I’ve been shopping for Christmas gifts in the online stores of national charities. It’s the first time I’ve focused my Christmas shopping efforts on charity shops. I wish I’d tried it sooner.

While their product ranges aren’t as extensive as Amazon’s, they do give the impression of being thoughtfully curated selections. And because buying from these shops sends money to good causes, it adds a layer of meaning to the gifts.

The photo below shows a detail from a unisex Christmas jumper sold by the RNLI. In its 202 years of existence, the RNLI has saved many thousands of lives in the seas around Britain and Ireland.

I like the combination of maritime elements and Christmassy snowflakes.

A close-up photo of a patterned jumper. The pattern shows lifeboats, snowflakes, anchors, waves, and life preservers in a repeated pattern.

The two bags in the photo below come from the Red Cross’s online shop. The shoulder bag comes from Nepal and is made of recycled sari material. The tote bag was made from fabric offcuts in Ghana.

A shoulder bag with a sari pattern on the left and a tote bag with an African pattern on the right.

I also bought a package of red fabric squares from the Red Cross. They’ve been upcycled in England from donated clothes that weren’t suitable to be sold as garments. If you know someone who likes sewing, it’s worth telling them that the Red Cross sells a whole range of colours.

A clear plastic bag of red fabric off cuts

I usually find gift shopping quite stressful at Christmas because it’s a lot all at once. Browsing through charities’ online stores has made the experience far nicer.

RCA webinar on editorial design

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I enjoyed watching this Royal College of Art webinar about editorial design in “the post-reading era.” Jeremy Leslie (of magCulture), Astrid Stavro, and Adrian Shaughnessy shared their experiences and observations in a conversation and then answered viewers’ questions.

They gave examples of their favourite books and magazines. If you watch the video, look out for the Anne Frank book. Its designer used a clever layout to represent the teenager’s experience of hiding from the Nazis.

They also spoke about people turning to beautifully designed and fact-checked printed objects as a kind of escape from AI products.

I was particularly struck by one speaker’s story about design choices that didn’t do justice to a writer’s words. It reinforced that the visual appearance of a page can make or break the reader’s experience.

I’m not an editorial designer myself. I’m an admirer, interested in editorial design from an art historical point of view. However, watching this talk did encourage me to buy a couple of books about magazine making. I will try making my own magazine, just to see what it feels like.