Beware of the dog

Sign seen in Islington in December 2004 (image 2581-102)

Beware of the dog is the subject of this week's picture set. When seen on warning signs, despite an apparent concern for the safety of the passer-by, these words are rarely intended to be friendly. Rather strange, you might think, when dogs are said to be "man's best friend". But maybe not. The poor mutts are vilified in almost every common phrase or saying about them. Think of "dirty dog", "dog days" and "dog's breakfast". Not to mention "the dog's bollocks" or, an even grimmer prospect, the contemporary outdoor leisure activity known as "dogging". Beware of the dog indeed.

Last week's pictures featured Wakehurst Place in October

Last week's picture feature looked at the autumn delights of Wakehurst Place. This former country house and park in Sussex is part of the Royal Botanical Gardens, along with Kew in London. It contains a glorious collection of trees, plus the Millennium Seed Bank, set up in 2000 to preserve as much as possible of the world's plant species. October is a particularly good time to visit Wakehurst as there is such a variety of autumn colour in the leaves, both on the trees and fallen on the ground. Twenty years ago the gardens were badly hit by the big storm of October 1987, but careful replanting has now more than made good the damage. This site's picture library has over 250 images of this remarkable and lovely place and you might also like to see the earlier picture set on Wakehurst Place 1982-2002.

Chichester, bakers and shoe shops in recent sets

A fortnight ago, the week's pictures came from a recent walk around Chichester in West Sussex. It's a very comfortable, rich, safe place that hasn't seen much by way of disruption or excitement for the best part of a thousand years. Small in size (under 25,000 residents) but a city on account of its cathedral, Chichester has a largely unspoilt centre that is full of fine Georgian and Victorian buildings. Like so much else of "heritage England", this is somewhere that is great to look at, but almost certainly really dull to live in.

After the preceding feature on shoe shops, the pictures three weeks ago continued the retail theme with a look at bakers. The Bible called bread "the staff of life", but there's a whole lot more in bakery windows than simple sustenance. Apart from bread, which now comes in infinite variety, there are all those buns and cakes, pies and rolls, biscuits and muffins. The price of bread has recently shot up, even in the big supermarkets. Marie-Antoinette is famous for saying, during a much earlier episode of food price inflation, "Let them eat cake". Nowadays it's more likely to be "They should try the brioches". The pictures in this set were taken in England, Wales and France.

Shoe shops were the subject four weeks ago. No special reason beyond the fact that the library is strong on retailing and there is continuing coverage of many different types of shops and shopping. Shoe retailing has a long history and great variety, from bespoke bootmakers to cheap-and-cheerful market stalls. Footwear fashion ranges from the fetishistic to the fuddy-duddy traditional, from fuck-me heels to green wellies. Trainers, notoriously, come in countless brands and styles but all end up producing the same singular and awful smell. There are shoes for every conceivable occasion and taste and the shops and stalls that sell them are equally diverse. The pictures in this set were taken in Brighton, London, Birmingham, Cambridge and Ardingly.

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 dogs, Wakehurst Place, Chichester, bakers, shoe shops and scooters. 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 2800 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.

Pumpkins on display outside a farmhouse in West Sussex in October 2007 (image 2744-25)