Roddy's thoughts and pictures at the close of the day
Chronophotography - taking a sequence of images to portray motion - has been around since the mid-nineteenth century. More recently though Spanish photographer Xavi Bou has been making wonderful composite images of birds in flight: he calls them Ornithographies. My own experiments with this style started in early 2020 at the start of the COVID-19... Continue Reading →
Pep's unique style depends on the photographer circling the subject and taking images from all sides before combining them in post processing to form a composite that keeps the recognisable characteristics whilst producing a shimmering, ghostly effect. I like it because you make an image that is both distinct and indistinct at the same time: anchored... Continue Reading →
Every few years the Government does its best to wreck the legal and economic life of Makana by proposing to move the High Court to Bhisho. In the mid 1990s I assisted the fight to keep the court here with some maps and population data that showed Makhanda (what was then Grahamstown) to be the... Continue Reading →
Just before lockdown I shared a quiet couple of beers with Harry Owen and we talked about trying something new for the Virtual National Arts Festival. Seeing as we had lots of poetry and imagery between us why not collaborate? Here's a taste of what we have been working on. Aorta - Harry's unpublished poem... Continue Reading →
Towering over our townships, like a wave ready to break, was this huge cumulus cloud. Ominously pink in the late glow after sunset the top of the cloud was rising fast and, blown by the winds, looked like a crest hovering over Grahamstown's townships below. This was taken a couple of nights ago, a week... Continue Reading →
There are 70 Heritage Sites in the central parts of old Grahamstown. Take a look at the map and you will see that the 10 religious ones featured here are mostly found between the Chapel of St Mary and all the Angels (on the Rhodes University campus) eastwards through the CBD and down to Sunnyside... Continue Reading →
There are some King Proteas blossoming on Mountain Drive at the moment. Though they are not as many as last year - when they seemed to go on flowering for a very long time. As Spring gets nearer the days are getting a little longer so there's just a bit more time to photograph them.... Continue Reading →
Two of the pictures I've taken in the past couple of weeks are merged here. It's something that I experiment with every now and then and this time I've got an interesting result. The first picture in the merge is called Across the Valley. It's a shot I’ve wanted for quite a while. Taken looking... Continue Reading →
Yesterday was the bicentenary of the Battle of Grahamstown. I've always intended to visit the site but somehow never managed it. So this afternoon I took a brief gap in the rain to go across the valley to Egazini: the township based heritage site. On the way there you get a good view of the... Continue Reading →
Here's something a little different - three different takes of Grahamstown's iconic Cathedral of St Michael and St George. The first is in the antique sepia style I've been using for the Grahamstown heritage series. The second is the full colour by moonlight shot and the third is a multiple exposure fantasy. They are all... Continue Reading →
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