Fake Memoir

Exploding Flowers

January 5, 2021 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

I’ve been asked more than once about what I consider to be my favourite post so far. It’s hard to remember them all and besides, I’m uncomfortable selecting let alone rating my own stuff. Perhaps Dream might be the most satisfying favourite or recently, I enjoyed writing Time Reverses. I also enjoyed being the lead in the story of failing to get a good shot of the moon in Sea and Light, only to get a better shot than I could have imagined. Who knows, perhaps readers might one day tell me their favourites?

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Monochrome Choice

January 4, 2021 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

No matter what I read or see of the great monochrome photographers, whether it be Ansel Adams or Edward Weston or Michael Kenna or Edward Steichen or perhaps Donn McCullin or Vivian Maier, I don’t seem to learn enough to be satisfied with my own efforts. These people are some of the greatest proponents of their arts but sometimes their superb work undermines rather than inspires. I think these are normal but sometimes very frustrating limits on our aspirations. As I was taught when I had motorcycle racing aspirations, if you see someone in your mirror that wasn’t there last time you looked, give way, because they are better than you.

Foreground West Pier Dun Laoghaire.
Background decommissioned Pigeon House.

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On Feeders and Dots

January 2, 2021 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

I made some notes this morning as I was having my coffee and granola. I’d been thinking about today’s perihelion before I was diverted. The sun, if you see it, is five million kilometres closer than it will be in July though it’s not much closer than it was yesterday or will be tomorrow. So don’t expect it look any bigger.

I looked out my window and this is what I saw this freezing cold morning.
I needed a 400 mm zoom to share the charming goldfinches and solo siskin with you.

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New Year’s Shot Noise

January 1, 2021 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

The New Year started loud in these parts. We could hear the coastal citizens of Dublin Bay responding to the passing of 2020. We could see what they were doing. The shores seemed to erupt with fireballs of fireworks and the enthusiasm of Vesuvian volcanoes. We could hear the crumps and susurrus of the more local whizz bangs. But it was the distant, sometimes silent explosions of shape and colour that stole the night. Our midnight viewpoint suggested the show was near Poolbeg: a professional welcome for the new year?

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Book of My Year

December 31, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

Despite the challenges, I consider myself to have been very lucky this year. I have lots of reasons to be cheerful. One of these is that I have reliable sources of book recommendations. So many people have made such excellent book recommendations that have I haven’t yet read them all. And the lockdown is the primary reason I was able to read as many as I did.

New Year’s Eve 2006 *The Last Stand* (Leinster Rugby beat Ulster).
It was the last game in Landsdowne Road before the stadium was demolished.
Remarkably, Johnny Sexton is still playing top flight rugby.

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Gallery: 25 2020 moments

December 30, 2020 by Simon Robinson 1 Comment

I’ve selected twenty five images from among the many that I took this year. And I’ve chosen one as my favourite. I told its story here on Christmas Day and the picture makes me smile every time I see it. And it’s not even a proper photo, four months after the initial idea, it’s a cropped snap from an iPhone. That’s surely reason enough to make it my favourite from the 305 days of this journal.

*Picasso* (crop) by Liz Brooke Ward after *Picasso* by I7 after Pablo Picasso.

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Fake Memoir

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