Plate 31
From my book, ‘The Edge of Ruin’
Hodge Close Quarry, Cumbria
The Tilberthwaite Valley was a slate producing area from the 19th century until the 1960s. Now the disused, water-filled workings of this small valley are a haunt for divers & rock climbers. Records show that the quarry, which...

Any recommendations for other documentary photographers I can follow here who are doing really good work?

Spheres of influence: the Bauhaus’s radical female photographers – in pictures The images are famous, but the women who took them are often forgotten. An inspiring exhibition focuses on the pioneering ‘new vision’ of Marianne Brandt, Lucia Moholy and more

Spheres of influence: the Bauhaus’s radical female photographers – in pictures
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Inez & Vinoodh: ‘Taking a photograph is an act of love’ An exclusive interview with the Dutch duo celebrating 40 years as a creative couple

“From that moment on, Vinoodh started walking around and shooting different angles, different positions and moments… It became the perfect balance; we each capture different emotions” — Inez van Lamsweerde. www.ft.com/content/7c50...

Philip Castle obituary Airbrush artist who created iconic posters for A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket, as well as artwork for Pulp and the Rolling Stones

“I realised this was the technique the Pontiac artists had used. And Vargas, who did the wartime pin-ups, which were copied on bomber fuselage. So I started doing the same thing, to get the beautiful finish I had been seeking” — Philip Castle (1942–2026). www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

A Poster is seen better through London Transport : press advert : design by "Zéró" : 1937 : in : Gebrauchsgraphik März 1937 : Vol. 14, No. 3 : Frenzel & Engelbrecher "Gebrauchsgraphik Verlag : Berlin : Deutschland : 1937. This issue is devoted to advertising in London and so, unsurprisingly, London Transport gets a fair amount of coverage; there even an article by Frank Pick, the Deputy Chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board, and who is acknowledged as being a pivotal figure in British design in the first decades of the Twentieth Century. LT chose to take a full page advert in the magazine and this is it. Interestingly it is by "Zéró"; Hans Schleger (1898 - 1976) who was a Polish-German Jewish designer and artist who had been working in the UK since 1932 and who would become a naturalised British citizen in 1939. Schleger had worked in New York in the 1920's before joining the well known advertising agency Crawford's of London in their Berlin office in 1929. He did a lot of work for LT including designing the modern bus stop flag in 1936. This stylish design shows a roundel headed figure, consisting of crowds, selling the idea of LT and passengers as consumers and uses clever typography to complete the design.

A poster is seen better through London Transport : 1937 commercial advertising press advert by Zeró - Hans Schleger (1898 - 1976) who undertook much work for LT at the time. #london #transport #graphicdesign

flic.kr/p/2qEB5NJ

Perspective - British photographer Mark Neville on documenting four years of war in Ukraine A British photographer who has spent the last four years living under near-daily attacks on Kyiv has told FRANCE 24 that his nervous system has adapted to the war in Ukraine. Mark Neville says he feel...

British photographer Mark Neville on documenting four years of war in Ukraine
www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/...

South African photographer Zanele Muholi: ‘My mother worked for a white family. I remember the pools I wasn’t allowed to swim in’ The artist has spent three decades changing the face of African art, and has just won the prestigious Hasselblad award. But they say the win isn’t about them – it’s for under-represented people still ...

“Most images that were done previously by visual anthropologists, they really distorted Africa. You often find that the photographer’s name is there but the person being photographed, their name is not there” — Zanele Muholi. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Sohei Nishino | Diorama Map Venice, 2026

I could stare at this for hours. 450 rolls of film made into a psychgeographical collage of Venice by Sohei Nishino:

www.michaelhoppengallery.com/viewing-room...

Stephen Koch, 84, Dies; Champion of a Belatedly Hailed Photographer

“Peter Hujar is much better known than I am, much. But I helped make that happen” — Stephen Koch. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/a...

They are interesting to see.

Yes they are. Although not the most elegant of orchids.

Yes, took a look earlier in the week. The population is growing.

A large purple flowered, large leaf orchid growing in grassland.

A close-up photograph of an orchid flower.

It feels so strange seeing an orchid in flower in March, but here it is, a Giant Orchid (Himantoglossum robertianum) in Oxfordshire.
#WildflowerHour #SignsOfSpring

Always the sign of a good show Neil, when someone is planning a return visit.

I’m looking forward to seeing the show.

Brad Rimmer photographs the faded glory of Western Australia’s wheatbelt halls – in pictures Photographer captures what remains of the town halls of the once-thriving agricultural region

‘I have always had a soft spot for “Kuno”. I spent time at its small hospital as a boy, getting patched up by the district’s longtime GP, Dr John Radunovich... Some say that once the pub burnt down, the town gave up’ — Brad Rimmer. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Black-and-white photography by Margaret Bourke-White of a young child refugee sat on the floor, her back against a wall.

Maria De los Santos Garcia Felguera, Marta Lopez Bergson, and Lourdes Delgado discuss the photographers Greta Greep, Margaret Bourke-White, and Claudek; who documented the Spanish Civil War. Image: Spain's Loyalist Refugees, 1939, by Margaret Bourke-White. #InternationalWomen’sDay womenofphoto.com

A monochrome image of a suit of armour photographed against a dark background. The armour is richly engraved.

Out of the shadows, into focus: The case of Jane Clifford presented by Rachel Bullough Ainscough. Image: Parade Armor of the Duke of Savoy, Real Armería de Madrid, 1866 by Jane Clifford. #InternationalWomen’sDay womenofphoto.com

A large-format Polaroid portrait of Bonnie Greer, wearing a pure white dress and head scarf against a dark and contrasting background.

Brenda Bikoko’s presentation on Pia Arke and Maud Sulter's Decolonial Visions Through Photography. Image: Bonnie Greer by Maud Sulter. #InternationalWomen’sDay womenofphoto.com

A black-and-white photograph of an elegant woman wearing a large fur collared coat.

Constructing femininity under fascism: Ghitta Carell, female imaginaries and competing visual models, from Bianca Ceriani. Image: Untitled (Woman in a fur coat), c1930. #InternationalWomen’sDay womenofphoto.com

Two women stand back-to-back. Their faces obscured with an artistic blur, they wear identical red shirts.

Amongst many highlights so far. Ekaterina Skorokhodova’s presentation on Looking with a Feminist Eye: Swedish Photography and the Politics of the Gaze (1970s-1930s). Image: Annika von Hausswolff, Oh Mother, What Have You Done #008, 2019. #InternationalWomen’sDay womenofphoto.com

Women of Photography Join us to celebrate the contributions of women practitioners to the history and living present of photography.

So many fascinating talks and presentations already this morning, in the Women of Photography 24-hour conference. #InternationalWomen’sDay womenofphoto.com

‘The camera is my weapon of choice’: Gordon Parks’ era-defining shots of segregation – and those who defied it The visionary photographer captured the ugliness of racism in America, as well as the strength and dignity of those who opposed it – from cleaners in the corridors of power to Martin Luther King Jr pr...

“We are living at a time where there’s tremendous retreat from the civil rights era… this exhibit is both timely and urgent. Because it speaks to the way Gordon Parks confronted these very same circumstances” — Bryan Stevenson. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

‘Cultural monstrosities!’ The thrilling visual legacy of punk and post-punk – in pictures From bold anti-Nazi posters to an acid-drenched take on Jean Cocteau, a new exhibition, curated by writer Philip Hoare, shows how influential the DIY designs of the 70s and 80s became

‘Designer David King achieved his ambition to create “a visual style for the left” in his work for the Anti-Nazi League’. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

‘I’m dying for the day heterosexuals have to come out’: Catherine Opie and her astonishing shots of queer America Famed for having a child’s drawing of a family carved into her back, the photographer has devoted her life to queer America, from endurance swimmers to drag artists to her son in a tutu. Now she’s fin...

“While I came out of this family that didn’t want me to be an artist at all, especially my businessman father, I was surrounded by creativity.” www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Jean Widmer, Designer of Celebrated French Graphics, Dies at 96

“What seems pertinent to me is to transmit information, to go to what is essential, to express it clearly, to render it intelligible and obvious for everybody who sees it.” Jean Widmer (1929–2026). www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/a...

Women of Photography Join us to celebrate the contributions of women practitioners to the history and living present of photography.

2 weeks today we will be celebrating #InternationalWomen’sDay with our 2026 online Women of Photography conference-athon on 8th March.
Join 72 speakers over 24 hours starting at midnight on Saturday in the UK, beginning with photography of Antarctica. Registration is open and free.
womenofphoto.com

Really interesting, sharing my thoughts on the book production process with @gmotophotos.bsky.social, alongside Michelle Sank and Lottie Davies, commissioned by Peter Dench and Amateur Photography magazine.

Motif - a journal of the visual arts : number 2 : Shenval Press : London : 1959 : front cover : designed by Robert Stewart. Motif magazine was published the by Shenval Press in 13 issues running from 1958 until 1967 and was editied by Ruari McLean. Shenval was run by James Shand (1905 - 1967), a complex figure, who ran the business whilst being happier amongst London's bohemian community - it allowed him to issue alongside Motif three other influential publications on design and typography; Typography (1936 - 39), Alphabet and Image (1946 - 48) and Image (1949 - 52). Issue 2 in February 1959 appeared with these bright and breezy silk screen bindings designed by Robert Stewart. This, the front cover, shows a crescent moon in connection with the sun on the back cover. The crescent moon, in very bold abstract form, has a blue face looking towards the sun (on the back cover) - spiky rays emanate from the leaft, back, side in shades of red, green and blue. The title appears bottom left.

Motif - a journal of the visual arts : number 2 : Shenval Press : London : 1959 : back cover : designed by Robert Stewart. Motif magazine was published the by Shenval Press in 13 issues running from 1958 until 1967 and was editied by Ruari McLean. Shenval was run by James Shand (1905 - 1967), a complex figure, who ran the business whilst being happier amongst London's bohemian community - it allowed him to issue alongside Motif three other influential publications on design and typography; Typography (1936 - 39), Alphabet and Image (1946 - 48) and Image (1949 - 52). Issue 2 in February 1959 appeared with these bright and breezy silk screen binidngs designed by Robert Stewart. This, the back cover, is dominated by a bright red sun, with face, along with many varied rays emanating outwards.

The covers to Motif 2, Feb. 1959, from silkscreens designed by Robert Stewart showing the sun and moon. Motif, a journal of the visual arts, ran from 1958-67, issued by the influential Shenval Press under the complex personality of James Shand. #graphicdesign #art #sun #moon

↘️ flic.kr/p/2oUdoco