Smokers and smoking

This week's pictures are about smokers and smoking, the obvious reason being the ban coming in next Sunday on lighting up in public places in England. Smoking is a risky activity which has undeniable risks to health. But then so also are there dangers associated with drinking, eating and sex, not to mention most sports, leisure pursuits and work occupations. In  fact the greatest health risk of all, in this country and around the world, is poverty. But then we can't expect the government to outlaw that. People, rich and poor, choose to smoke even though they are well aware of the risks of smoking. Nobody chooses poverty. Choice is the mantra today of both government and business. Except, it seems, when it applies to willing devotees of the noxious weed.

Last week's pictures were about celebrity graffiti

Celebrity graffiti was the subject of last week's picture set. Forbes Magazine in the USA has just published a list of the world's biggest celebrities and, sorry to confess, I had not heard of at least a third of them. It's a modern curse, this cult of celebrity. We no longer seem able to discriminate between the famous and the infamous, the worthy and the worthless. When Jade Goody and Michael Barrymore are celebrities, what does that make the Pope ? Tony Blair is criticised for hobnobbing with celebrities, but surely he is one of the gang himself. Really significant people have often become known just by their singular name, e.g. Marx, Lenin, Freud and Hitler. So what do we have today ? Jordan. And now Salman Rushdie has just got a knighthood in that oldest of celebrity sweepstakes, the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Oh dear.

Other recent pictures of the week

A fortnight ago, the picture feature looked at fire engines. Everybody loves fire engines and small children are absolutely nuts about them. They're big and red, they make a lot of noise and, best of all, their mission is one of unalloyed goodness. Ambulances are the same, of course, but they always seem harbingers of illness and death. Police cars could be on a mission of goodness, but there's also the unavoidable feeling they're after you. Fire engines have a rich and colourful history and the first picture in this set is a good example, showing the sign on an old fire engine that was based at Brighton Mental Hospital. Large institutions and factories often used to have their own fire appliances, operated by part-time firemen. Many of these old engines have survived, maintained by enthusiasts and displayed at events like the excellent Commercial Vehicles Rally that comes to Brighton seafront every May.

The picture set three weeks ago was about contemporary cafe advertising as seen in the streets of Brighton in June 2007. There are a lot of cafes in Brighton, especially in the North Laine district where most of these pictures were taken. A stranger might be forgiven for wondering what else the citizens of the South Coast's pleasuredrome do apart from sit about sipping lattes. Nonetheless, the Brighton cafes have to attract customers and one of the ways they do this is by colourful and idiosynchratic signs and menu boards. A sustainable economy may well be impossible on a foundation of frothy cappucinos and vegetarian breakfasts, but the cafes of Brighton do look great. Better still, although the corporate coffee chains are also there in strength, all the places pictured here are independent and proud of it.

Four weeks ago the picture feature looked at Pimlico in London. Adjacent to Westminster and between Victoria and the river, Pimlico could hardly be more central, yet most of its streets are remarkably quiet and empty. Many famous people have lived here and, on the day in May 2007 when these pictures were taken, it was not surprising to see Tony Blair emerging from a health centre in Tachbrook Street. The history of the district, however, is by no means all about the rich and famous. Two hundred years ago, the public gardens of Pimlico were known for drunkenness and in the 1960s the area was rundown and full of brothels. Even now, though the elegant streets built by Thomas Cubitt are filled with exorbitantly priced apartments, there are also housing estates lived in by ordinary Londoners. Shirley Porter did her worst in the 1980s to winkle them out of the Churchill Gardens estate, but Pimlico today still has a proper London mixture, and long may this remain so.

About this site and picture library

There are now almost 50000 images in the library and they can all be keyword searched from the picture search page. New or updated subjects include smoking, graffiti, fire engines, cafe advertising, Pimlico, Worthing and ghost trains. The site has several ways to help make relevant and fruitful searches, including index pages for both subjects and events & places.  There is also a useful search guide and information page.

A good showcase of the type and range of photography available can be explored in the pictures of the week series. Published on the site since December 2001, this now totals more than 2600 images. Every week there is a set of ten pictures about a particular place, event or theme. Almost all the library's pictures are available for personal or commercial reproduction. Digital files can be delivered by email or CD, prices start from as little as £8 and there is further information on the prices and terms & conditions pages. You can also contact David Gray for quotations and availability for new photography commissions.