What, December already? For one reason or another, this year I've ended up stalled on a number of projects that were intended to end up as Blurb books (angels, lost gloves, chairs in odd places, Twyford Down, etc., etc.). Partly because I keep adding photographs – people will keep dropping gloves (230 so far), and abandoning chairs (just 95 to date) – but also because the bookmaking and picture editing urge that has usually delivered two or three books or magazines a year just didn't seem to get up a sufficient head of steam to get things rolling. But I thought I'd better not let 2025 go by without putting something new on the shelf, so I have quickly put together a magazine of some of the photographs of Twyford Down I've accumulated over many years of walks there.
This is not so much a carefully designed and sequenced book as a portfolio of thirty-two images selected out of 300 or so. I really like these Blurb magazines, as the quality is the same as the photo-books but they are much cheaper (I'm charging £10.50 for the magazine, and £5.99 for a PDF download). I don't actually expect anyone to buy one – no-one ever does – but it's easily the best way to preserve something of one's work for posterity to stumble across and wonder, did this man have nothing better to do with his life?
So here is a mini preview of the magazine, with a link to my Blurb bookstore:
I have also put it as a PDF flipbook onto Issuu, which is much the best way to see it, and here is a mini preview of that. To go to the full-screen view, click the four-arrow device in the centre:
As always, any comments are welcome, not least as this magazine will probably become the basis of a more extensive selection in book form. I'm already having second thoughts about that brown cover, for a start...
11 comments:
Some nice pictures in there Mike. Interesting that you chose the square aspect ratio, which happens to be my favoured one.
Thanks, Stephen. Yes, I often choose to crop square, (a) to get a second crack at composition, (b) to impose a certain uniformity (although this can get boring), and (c) to compendate for my addiction to cheap cameras and lenses that are soft, etc., towards the sides...
Mike
Definitely an attractive location. I can understand its draw. Are your photos from both sides of the cut? That's not obvious from where I sit.
Kent,
Nearly all are from the Twyford Down (east) side of the motorway cutting. It's a very varied landscape, including agricultural fields, an ancient trackway known as the Dongas, some scrubland, a gold course, and a valley at the south end that is wooded. Counting from the front, nos. 4, 30, and 31 are from the St. Catherine's Hill side (west) looking across. Nos. 1 & 2 are looking along the motorway from the south. No. 32 is looking across towards Twyford Down from the Itchen Navigation water meadows, and the final one is a close up of the memorial stone seen on the front cover.
Mike
That should be "golf course", obvs...
I'm guessing a "gold course" would have been picked over a couple of years ago.
Thanks for the geography deets.
Heh... Funnily enough, detectorists do pick over the fields to the north of the gold course when they've been ploughed over. Romans seemed oddly prone to dropping loose change about the place... Lack of pockets in togas, I expect.
Mike
Nice pics! Found this blog when looking for the meaning of optics, stayed for the pleasant art. Hope you are well, Mike!
Thanks, Kristin n -- "the meaning of optics" brought you here? Interesting... That might help explain the constantly high hit rate on the post "The Optics Thing"!
Mike
Yes, Google seems to like that article a lot it seems :) I suggest you could rewrite the end paragraph of that article to funnel these people to see more of your latest work or something similar you've written that they might be interested in! Saying this as I'm a junior content marketer. Alas, your art is great. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, again, Kristin n -- I'm assuming "Alas" is a typo for "also"? I don't mean to inspire despair in my readers... ;)
Mike
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