February 2017 – Nick Watkins Photography

Collectors Anonymous

I was scanning other blogs a few days ago when I stumbled across a blogger who has admitted to collecting photos of temporary barricades for over 30 years. He then goes on to describe in detail their material, form and function, just like one might describe other aspects of our built environment.

Last month, I posted my first collection of doors, and I was surprised to discover how many other “door” enthusiasts there are out there. Maybe we are all collectors of “things,” as well as thoughts and ideas, and it is just a matter of what we keep to ourselves and what we are willing to share with others.

Cee Neuner also runs a weekly Odd Ball Photo Challenge, which may provide an outlet for bloggers to share some of their “oddball” collections. My images in today’s post are provided in that vein, although I don’t confess to having collected any of these items on an ongoing basis. More by accident than by intention.

cobc-transitory-collection-cw — Transitory collection of items deposited along a footpath

cobc-temporary-barricade-cw — Temporary barricades

cobc-fire-safety-connection-cw — Firehose connection with a high degree of difficulty

Doors of southern France – Part 2

colour print, photography

This is the second half of my collection of doors from southern France, and this week’s contribution to Norm’s Thursday Doors.

We begin with another door from Narbonne – this one more institutional than the doors included in Part 1. Someone has gone to a lot of work to preserve the finish on these two wood doors. The two gargoyles are also quite well preserved.

d4-french-office-door-cw — Office door in Narbonne

The glazed door is from a hotel in Avignon. The glazing and the opened door make this entrance much more inviting than any of the other doors – but then, for a hotel to be successful, this is a good feature to have.

Avignon is well known as the site of the Pont d’Avignon, located on the Rhone River. Several popes resided in Avignon in the 14th Century, and parts of the city are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, making it a popular tourist attraction.

d4-avignon-glazed-door-cw — Hotel door in Avignon

The third door is from Les Baux-de-Provence, another historic village in southern France. Baux is a hilltop village that has been inhabited for thousands of years. There are typically more tourists than villagers in town on most days.

d4-baux-de-provence-door-cw — Old door in Les Baux-de-Provence

The largest set of doors in my French collection belong to the Church of Saint-Trophime in Arles. The church is well known as a good example of Romanesque architecture – note the round arch above the doors – as are the sculptures on the portal.

saint-trophime-church-cw — Church of Saint-Trophime, Arles

Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: Perspective

photography, Weekly Challenges

Stairs are my subject matter this week in my submission to Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge this week. Stairs and staircases are full of diverging and converging lines when you are looking down on them.

I took these photos recently in the TTC subway system in Toronto. I have a colour version of one image on my Flickr site as part of my “Entries and exits” album. These stair views also remind me a little of an MC Escher print, except that these are real stairs and not surreal.

cbwc-perspective-february-2017 — TTC Spadina Station – Walmer Rd. entrance

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge: Signs

photography, Weekly Challenges

I couldn’t help but post a few images in response to Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge. The opportunities certainly are limitless! A common theme in my selected images is falling or going downhill.

Driving a car in another country can be challenging. Especially when you are driving on the other side of the road, and on narrow roads, such as in the Lake District in NW England. When I first saw the traffic sign in my first image, I had no idea what to make of it. Watch out for low flying motorcycles overhead?

I still haven’t got it all figured out. There’s a hill ahead – got it. There is no red diagonal across the round sign, so it looks like it’s OK to do something, but what is it?

This second image is from Ireland. The message is quite clear – the earth is flat and if you get too close to the edge you will fall off.

I am sure that there is a good reason for placing this sign here. Ireland can be a very foggy place, so if you can’t see very far ahead when you are driving down this road, maybe you would be in danger of falling off the end of the jetty. It probably happened to someone – hence the warning sign.

My third image is taken from a walk along the coastal path in Cornwall. We have done a lot of walking on footpaths in England, but the message on this sign will certainly motivate you to keep on the straight (not usually) and narrow (most of the time).

I hope that you enjoy these photos – please feel free to add your comments and suggestions.

Doors of northern Spain

colour print, photography

The images in this series were collected on a walk on the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. They were taken at various locations between Roncesvalles and Santiago de Compostela.

The scallop shell motif is one of the waymarkers that is used along the Camino. The scallop shell is said to be a metaphor, representing the routes starting at various locations throughout Europe and leading pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, where the tomb of St. James is located.

In the first image, I found the shell appeared above the doorway and as a decorative item on the actual door.

camino-door-1-cw — Old door and windows with shutters

Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: Glass

photography, Weekly Challenges

When you think about glass, what is the first word that comes to your mind? Something like “fragile” or “broken”, quite likely. Maybe second on your list is “cleaning” or “washing”.

For Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge for this week – Glass – I have chosen architectural glass as my subject matter.

Many new high rise condos have been built in Toronto recently, and they typically have glazed curtain walls, so there is lots of glass everywhere you look. The following is a photo of a lone window washer – there is no shortage of dirty windows for him to clean.

One of the features of this image that I like are the contorted reflections of the surrounding buildings. Who said that windows are perfectly flat?

cbwc-glass-february-2017 — Window washer, Toronto, Ontario

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