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Saltdean |
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The picture set this week comes from Saltdean on the Sussex coast. Although just one place among the many that make up the suburban sprawl running for miles to the east of Brighton, Saltdean does have a character of its own. The cliffs and beach are both impressive and there are also two very fine examples of English seaside architecture. The Ocean Hotel, sadly, is now closed and being redeveloped as apartments. But Saltdean Lido remains, just about, intact and functioning (at least in summer). Queen of the Lidos, she is a glamorous lady, still full of water even though there's moss in her cracks. Long may people be able to enjoy her. The pictures in this set were taken in November 2006. |
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About the site and library |
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The picture library has 48000 keyworded images online and you can access them all from the search page. New or updated subjects include lidos, clocks, Central London, Brighton's North Laine, graffiti, windows and wigs. To explore the site, go to the information and search guide, plus the indexes of subjects, events & places and Brighton. Have a look at the portfolio and the pictures of the week series. The latter publishes ten images about a particular topic and now totals more than 2300 pictures. Then there is the picture sets page which covers specific events and places. Almost all the library's pictures are available for personal or commercial reproduction. Digital files can be delivered by email or CD and prices start from as little as £8. The pages on prices and terms & conditions give further information. Commissioned new photography is also available by arrangement. |
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Last week's pictures looked at public clocks |
| Last week's pictures took a look at public clocks. Now that everyone's got a mobile phone, there are fewer people wearing wristwatches and, you would think, even less need for clocks in public places. But there's still a lot of them around, although sadly most no longer work, let alone tell the right time. That's a shame, since we have a marvellous heritage of Victorian and Edwardian timepieces and they are a reassuring part of our urban landscape. It's also telling that in countries like Germany and Switzerland, where public clocks are remorselessly accurate, their trains and buses put ours to shame. The pictures in this set came from London, Brighton, Paris, Berlin, Shoreham and Worthing. Tempus F**it. |
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Recent pictures of the week |
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The pictures a fortnight ago came from a walk around Central London on a sunny afternoon this November and the subject was colour in London. You might not think of London as a colourful city, but it really is, especially on the bright sunny days we seem to be getting more of nowadays. The classic London colour, of course, is the red of buses and phone and letterboxes, but the spectrum is much wider than that. There is a riot of colour in advertising and shop displays, but what is perhaps most characteristic is the way colour in London stands out against the city's still essentially monochrome buildings. The urban fabric is itself becoming more colourful and, with global warming, we can expect London to look more and more bright and vivid in the future. Unless it's all sunk, of course Three weeks ago the picture feature looked at graffiti in Brighton's North Laine, the same charismatic district whose windows had been the previous week's subject. Graffiti is all over urban Britain (Manchester, Bristol and London particularly) but this small part of Brighton has street art and writing as varied and lively as anywhere. A recent clean-up by the local council has painted over many of the area's graffiti walls and there is no denying that the worst scribbling and tagging is an eyesore. But imaginative graffiti, especially if it has humour, is an attractive feature of modern street life and it would be a shame if it were completely wiped away from the North Laine. Putting art and words on walls is also a freedom for people who have something to say but nowhere else to say it. Interestingly, the first picture in this set (all photographed in October 2006) shows a piece by the celebrated Banksy that's been painted over not by the council but by another street artist. Most likely this was prompted by the recent news that Banksy is now selling his work in fashionable art galleries for huge amounts of money. It looks like his bankability could cost him his credibility. The set four weeks ago featured some windows of the North Laine, the charming and fashionable district in the middle of Brighton. The North Laine's charm is the way that homes, shops, cafes and pubs are all mixed together in a network of 19th century streets. The residents and the traders of the area have a strong tradition of individuality, though its popularity means it is now hard for anyone but the rich to either live or open a business there. But the terraced houses are a visual delight and there is great variety and character crammed into a very small area. The pictures in this set are all of ground floor windows in North Laine houses. They include three that show part of a marvellous exhibition in Tidy Street. Residents there each chose a family photo important to them and it was blown up to fill their front window. The North Laine is not yet ruined while it still comes up with ideas like that. |
