Vans with attitude

Nobby makes a delivery in Brighton in September 2005 (image 2632-20)

The subject of this week's feature is vans with attitude. Ten pictures of vans (the first is actually a converted hearse) that illustrate the ability of the humblest commercial vehicle to strut its stuff on the street. Not so much a case of Van The Man as Man! The Van!.

Flowers last week

Flowers for sale was last week's picture subject. We'd just had Mothers Day (bouquets), not long before was Valentine's Day (roses) and the first signs of spring (daffodils) were well upon us. Some of the pictures come from Gunns florists in Brighton (Sydney Street and Castle Square). It is one of the best - and friendliest - flower shops in the country. Of course there is the environmental cost of flying them all around the world, but buying flowers is still one of life's nicest and more harmless pleasures. This set's pictures were taken in Brighton, London, Paris and Dieppe.

Cars in colours, Chinese New Year and funfairs have been subjects in recent picture sets

Two weeks ago the picture set looked at cars in colours. Henry Ford famously said customers could only have his cars in black, but that was a long time ago and now you can buy Fords in any colour you like. That said, it's surprising how muted seems the palette of most cars on the road today. All those silvers, greys, pastels and, yes, blacks. Perhaps it's something to do with insurance companies, who identify certain colours (notably red) as carrying greater risk. But there are still plenty of colourful cars - in Brighton there seem as many shades of car as hair colour - and this feature showed ten good examples.

February was the month of Chinese New Year, the subject of the feature three weeks ago. The images came from London (1983, 1984, 1985 and 2005) and Brighton (2008). Chinese tradition ascribes each year to one of a cycle of symbolic animals and we have just entered the Year of the Rat. Such years are said to be propitious for wealth, but also strongly associated with aggression, atrocities, plague, pestilence and death. Good new for rats then, unfortunately !

Funfair lettering was the subject four weeks ago. There are longstanding traditions in the world of funfairs, for all their modern neon-lit attractions. The lettering and signage on their rides and vehicles still follows an old vernacular style - often ornate and always colourful. You may also like to look through the selections in this library for amusement rides, Carter's steam fair  and funfairs in general.

Over 50000 pictures now available

The picture library offers more than 50000 images and they can all be keyword searched from the picture search page. New or updated subjects include vans, flowers, cars, Chinese New Year, funfairs, animal outfits, beach rubbish and animal sculptures. 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 over 2900 images. Each week brings 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.

Sign in the window of a 24-hour shop in Brighton in March 2008 (image 2752-56)