Brave tourists set against grey sky - # 08/217

I don't approve of these little tricks with clever editing software. But I couldn't resist using it to put over the vision of these brave souls in their rain coats sitting down to an "al fresco" lunch. Suddenly we have been forced to remember why English life is generally lived indoors, or else engaging in really extreme adventure sports e.g. like trying to beat the Australians at our national game of cricket. The weather this year....to be more precise "the cloud conditions".....is truly awful. Nothing but thick grey cloud for weeks on end. Often it does not rain. It's just utterly dull. But when it rains; it rains!!!!

Perhaps the second half of September will be kinder. Normally it is a wonderful time of year in England: calm and warm and sunny with a special tangible quality in the atmosphere.

Tourists arrive in Richmond - # 08/74

Spatial transposition at the speed of thought - # 90

I like the way that my shot of the bus stand advert for Gdansk in Poland shows the Polish Street (with a very un-Polish red head??) alongside the Richmond scene of people waiting for their bus. One suddenly thinks - "Where are we, exactly?" I am absolutely delighted to see the Poles promoting themselves like this. It's a very new departure 17 years after the collapse of communism. I'm a great fan of the country - and a piece of Chopin on the record player is a true delight.