My flat has a history of bees. Every summer, I have a few bee weeks, where every day I find a new bumblebee somewhere, behind the tv, in my closet, etc. This is the first one of the year. I haven’t opened my windows in days. Where are they coming from? Are they living in the walls?
Posts by Duncan Petrie
A bumblebee on the carpet, drinking honey from a big black spoon
This is a bee I found under my sofa. She had some honey and was on her way
Thinking less, doing more, telling people I like their work
And not letting the things I want to share rot away in drafts
I think the solution is to say things anyway. At worst, the internet is a place to keep my things. At best, someone comes along, every once and a while, and I get to say hello
Another reason I don’t post much is of course that it feels like I’m screaming into the void. I’m not really screaming, though. There’s a romance to screaming into the void. Whatever I’m doing is quieter, less glamorous. Piping up into the void. Thinking aloud into the void. Mostly, just watching
It’s interesting that for some people, the internet has wildly opened up their lives, given them community, made them new friends, but for others, it’s made them more anxious, more perfectionist, less willing to say anything at all
Maybe for some it’s done both at the same time
But of course perfection is impossible, and returns do diminish, and I’m always more satisfied anyway when I think less about things, when I share something spontaneously
One reason I don’t post much is because I want everything I post to be perfect. The thing about Online is that it tricks you into believing you *can* be perfect, that you have as much time as you want to edit and polish and reedit, that you can keep approaching perfection, and returns never diminish
Sounds silly but I do want to share more, and share things that aren’t as polished. I’m definitely online, I just don’t participate, and I want to get better at that
I made a new years resolution to be more online, and so far it is not going well!
The shadow of a street lamp on a cinder block wall. The edge of the shadow is greenish and fuzzy.
The shadow of shrubbery on a cinder block wall. A drainpipe cuts the frame, the same color as the shadow
A wall in two lights #photography #film
An analog photograph of the English Channel as seen from the train. The horizon is sharp but the waves are blurred by the speed of the train. The sea is dark, scattered by rain and cloud-broken light.
This is the sea as seen from the Great western railway service to. penzance. calling at. newton abbot. totnes. plymouth. liskeard. bodmin parkway. par. st austell. truro. redruth. st erth and. penzance. This train has. eight. coaches
#photography #film
Photo of Robert Macfarlane and Horatio Clare on stage at the book launch of “Is a River Alive?” They are very far away because Duncan (photographer) is sitting in the nosebleeds
Photo of the cover of Robert Macfarlane’s new book, “Is a River Alive?”
Good talk good book! (I assume, I’ve read about 10 pages)
I loved your talk! Super inspiring. The live coding was great, I love the idea of using slides in the browser as a place to demo. Great way to end the day. I hope your meeting goes well
But they were all incredible!
And the last talk, by @katiefenn.bsky.social
In a shocking twist of dramatic irony, Duncan finds himself writing alt text about a photograph of a slide about alt text. Ekphrastic Poetry as Alt Text, reads the slide. Alt text can be vivid, dramatic, a verbal as well as emotional representation of a visual work.
I only managed to take a photo of the first talk, by @lolaodelola.bsky.social
Had a great time yesterday at #AllDayHey in Leeds! Now it is time to make things
Analog black and white photograph of bare, spindly trees leaning over a fast, shallow stream in the New Forest National Park in the UK.
And this is where that water is running.
Analog black and white photograph of the reflection of bare, spindly trees on the surface of a fast, shallow stream in the New Forest National Park in the UK.
This is what the water in the new forest looks like.
Horizontally blurred photograph of the North Atlantic at dusk.
Except for this one. This one’s a little wonky.
Horizontally blurred photograph of the North Atlantic at dusk.
Did some horizon blurs for the first time in a while and was surprised be how even they are. On my digital camera, I used to have to take loads to get a few good ones, but all three of them on this roll of film turned out pretty ok I think
Horizontally blurred photograph of the North Atlantic at dusk.
Scans came back! Horizon in Falmouth, Cornwall.
#film #photography
Analog photograph, half cut-off by burn line, of eleven chimneys in front of a big blue sky
First frame of a new roll of film. I climbed out my window to take the throwaway shots and wound up with this. I know it’s cliche to keep the burn line but I like that the color of it matches the color of the chimneys
#photography #film
This is incredible
I think of a personal website as a sort of digital bedroom, where you can decorate the walls and put your favorite books on the shelves and invite people in to show them who you are
I hope so! Everyone should have a website I think. Even if people mostly just look at your instagram, having a website requires you to step back and figure out how to curate your work, which is really valuable and something you aren’t forced to do on social media
A cmyk screenprint of a photograph of a pebble beach. There are three tufts of sea kale growing on the otherwise empty beach. The pebbles are yellow-orange and the sea kale is green and the sea is green and the sky is blue and flecked with clouds.
Another cmyk screenprint, this time of a photograph I took at Aldwick Bay, near Bognor Regis. Those three green clumps are sea kale. Whenever I tell anyone I went to Bognor Regis they look concerned and ask me why, but I thought it was nice
#cmyk #photography #screenprinting #bognor #westsussex
Hey! Is the in person still available? I’d love to go
Yeah websites should close at dusk I think, like parks. But there should also be a way to sneak in after dark to look for frogs or snails or whatever