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At a pond with a fountain and nothing but mallards and gulls. A guy started throwing bread to the ducks and as the gulls flew through the mist of the fountain there was a nice rainbow colored background.
So I made the best of a crappy situation and got a few shots like this of a bird I would not normally photograph.
Having spent the morning at Sandringham the passengers for the Royal Scotsman arrive by road to be picked up by the train. at Watlington.The Signalman tells the tour leader the train has left Kings Lynn!
At my mom's wedding. My daughter, Chloe and I. #flybywedding September 12, 2015 at 11:49AM flic.kr/p/zmWcDm
Taken at the 16th Court Dance Festival Cracovia Danza (2015) during an interlude of workshops in the Villa Decius building. Kraków, Poland
The Dublin-Belfast Enterprise train is pushed across the River Nanny at Laytown by locomotive 206 with a low evening sun behind.
Nikon D800 and 70-200 mm F 2.8 lens photoshoot of beautiful redhead Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess with Pretty Blue Eyes and wavy blond hair.
Here is some awesome video I shot at the same time as the stills with the Sony Alpha NEX 6 camera with the 16-50 mm power zoom kit lens for nex6 e mount cameras bracketed to my Nikon D800:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYfDWw7w1uk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ8v2zzItis
Combine the shallow-depth-of-field with Sony NEX-6 latest face-tracking auto focus, and you can see how the moving video keeps the model's pretty blue eyes in focus, while blurring the background! The Sony Alpha NEX 6 has much better bokeh than the cameras I have been using! :)
She was tall, thin, fit, toned, defined, and beautiful! Pretty blue eyes and firery red hair!
Modeling the Gold 45 Revolver(TM) Gold'N'Virtue(TM) Bikini!
Nikon D800E Photographs of a Beautiful Sandy-Blonde/Brunette Swimsuit Bikini Model shot with the new Nikon D800 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens.
Shot in both RAW & JPEG, but all these photos are RAWs finished in Lightroom 5.3 ! :)
May the HJM Goddesses guide, inspire, and exalt ye along yer heroic artistic journey!
All the Best on Your Epic Hero's Journey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
Modeling the black & gold "Gold 45 Revolver" Gold'N'Virtue swimsuits with the main equation to Moving Dimensions Theory on the swimsuits: dx4/dt=ic. Yes I have a Ph.D. in physics! :) You can read more about my research and Hero's Journey Physics here:
herosjourneyphysics.wordpress.com/ MDT PROOF#2: Einstein (1912 Man. on Rel.) and Minkowski wrote x4=ict. Ergo dx4/dt=ic--the foundational equation of all time and motion which is on all the shirts and swimsuits. Every photon that hits my Nikon D800e's sensor does it by surfing the fourth expanding dimension, which is moving at c relative to the three spatial dimensions, or dx4/dt=ic!
The books behind the pretty goddess on the Malbu bluff and surfboard are The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, Homer's Iliad, Homer's Odyssey, Shakespeare, and Herman Melville's Moby Dick! My favorite books! Will have some video of the pretty model reading them beside a campfire soon.
They're all collectors editions! My books cost as much as my surfboards!
And for those who always ask, I shoot in RAW! Always! :)
At my mom's wedding. My daughter, Chloe and I. #flybywedding September 12, 2015 at 11:49AM flic.kr/p/zuoeLj
Such a grey, dull day. But had to get Mwtw out so went along the coastal path at Bettisfield. One look at that mud and she was back on the leash......
At 12.00 noon on Christmas day residents of Calella gather on the beach and make a dash into the sea three times. It's a wonderful happy tradition.
(further information and pictures are available by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Cathedral of St. Pölten
The Cathedral of St. Pölten
Apse
The Cathedral of St. Pölten (also cathedral of the Assumption) is a cathedral and since 1785 the cathedral of the Diocese of St. Pölten. Until the dissolution of the Augustinian Canons monastery of St. Pölten in 1784 it was the abbey church. The building appears despite well-preserved late Roman core a baroque building.
History
General view of the monastery of St. Pölten from 1653, still with the now demolished Parish Church on Cathedral Square
Predecessors
The origins of today's monastery of St. Pölten (St. Hippolytus) and thus of the cathedral date back to the period around the year 790. During this time it is said that the brothers Adalbert and Otakar from the Tegernsee monastery founded a daughter house in St. Pölten. The Benedictines also brought the Hippolyt relics to St. Pölten, from which the modern name of the city is derived. Since 828 the monastery was in possession of the diocese of Passau. The from there outgoing missionary activity can be supposed in the Great Moravian Empire, the church on Pöltenberg in Znojmo is suspected to have been founded from there.
With the invasion of the Magyars around the year 907, the monastery was almost completely destroyed. Only after the Battle of Lechfeld in 955 it was rebuilt. The first written mention of the monastery is found in 976 in a charter of Emperor Otto II for Bishop Pilgrim of Passau. Under Bishop Altmann of Passau it was in 1081 converted into an Augustinian Canons monastery and from then on it bore the patronage of St. Peter, in the 12th Century the high altar was the SS. Stephen and Hippolytus consecrated.
Today's church
Around 1150, a three-aisled church without transept church with twin towers was built as West plant (Westwerk), which was, however, already generously rebuilt 1267-1280 after a fire. This church was consecrated in 1228 by Bishop Gebhard in honor of the Virgin Mary ascension into heaven (the Assumption) that Patotrozinium that the Cathedral till today carries. In 1512 there was a devastating fire in the city, thereafter the North Tower was demolished and never rebuilt.
Today's figure of the cathedral emerged in the 17th Century. After a fire in 1621 the present diocese building was designed in the early Baroque. The last high point in the history of construction experienced the former convent under provost Johann Michel Führer. He was thrilled by the high baroque splendor of neighboring residences as Melk Abbey and found in the in the city living Jacob Prandtauer a like-minded partner. The planned reconstruction should expand the diocese building to a second floor and the exterior view of the church should become a three-tower ensemble (similar to the Seitenstetten monastery) with the existing tower at its center. This plan was not fully implemented, mainly because Führer burned the candle at both ends and the monastery was nearly bankrupt when he resigned in 1739. In addition to the spacious redesigning of the entire interior, especially by Daniel Gran and Bartolomeo Altomonte, only the tower was raised and fitted with a new dome.
1784, the monastery was abandoned by Joseph II . On 28 January in the following year the building became diocesan seat (cathedral) of the newly established Diocese of Sankt Pölten on the basis of the by Pius VI. adopted papal bull Inter plurimas.
In 1873 the reverend Josef Kinzl founded the Catholic patriotic folk and Preßverein (press association) for Lower Austria, publishing the St. Pölten messenger. Hence the NÖN (Niederösterreichische Nachrichten - news of Lower Austria) and the Lower Austrian Pressehaus have developed.
Architecture
The Choir of the Cathedral of St. Pölten
"As little as the viewer is expecting when he is looking at the outside of this cathedral, so surprising is the entry in the same, because objects appear to meet him from all sides, which deserve special attention, but probably at the same time arouse the wish that more light might brighten these masterpieces, God's temple somewhat economically illuminating".
- Representation of Erzherzogthums (Archduchy) Austria under the Ens (River Enns), 1835
The exterior
The floor plan of the exterior facade still consists largely from the around 1150 constructed building. Originally built as a three-aisled church without transept with twin towers as Westwerk, it was between 1267-1280 generously rebuilt in late Romanesque style after a fire.
The cathedral is directly connected to the diocese building, on the north side the church closes at the cloister. Despite the high degree of conservation of the late Romanesque building structure, is the construction baroque dominated by the mighty south tower with its double onion dome and the dome lanterns on the south aisle. From the late Romanesque building, the apse and the south façade have been preserved.
With exception of the two lower floors of the south tower, both towers have a Eckquaderung (corner block). At the west facade is main portal of the cathedral located with skylights and a broken pediment attachment. On both sides of the portal at the level of the second floor each is a statue of a saint: Hippolytus left, right, Augustine.
The interior
The interior of the church by Jakob Prandtauer, Joseph Munggenast, Daniel Gran and Bartolomeo Altomonte was baroquised. The ceiling frescoes designed partly Thomas Friedrich Gedon.
Organ
The organ is a work of Swiss company Metzler organ building from 1973 with 36 stops on three manuals and pedal. The prospectus stems from the original organ from the year 1722, built by Johann Ignaz Egedacher.
Bell
The cathedral has an almost complete peal from the Baroque period, cast in 1696 by Mathias Prininger from Krems. Only the bell 3 went lost through the bell deliveries in World War I and had to be re-acquired after two world wars.
No. Name nominal weight
(kg) diameter
(cm) casting year caster
1 Immaculataglocke a0 +2 4318 189 1696 Mathias Prininger
2 Zwölferin (ringing at twelve o'clock) cis1 +0 2223 151 1696 Mathias Prininger
3 Bishop anniversary bell e1 +2 1066 120 1955 Josef Pfundner
4/4 or Poor soul bell a1 +0516 93 1696 Mathias Prininger
5 Food bell cis2 +0264 73 1696 Mathias Prininger
There are also two other small bells that do not belong to the actual bells.
History of the City St. Pölten
In order to present concise history of the Lower Austrian capital is in the shop of the city museum a richly illustrated full version on CD-ROM.
Tip
On the occasion of the commemoration of the pogroms of November 1938, the Institute for Jewish History of Austria its virtual Memorbuch (Memory book) for the destroyed St. Pölten Jewish community since 10th November 2012 is putting online.
Prehistory
The time from which there is no written record is named after the main materials used for tools and weapons: Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age. Using the latest technologies, archaeologists from archaeological finds and aerial photographs can trace a fairly detailed picture of life at that time. Especially for the time from the settling down of the People (New Stone Age), now practicing agriculture and animal husbandry, in the territory of St. Pölten lively settlement activity can be proved. In particular, cemeteries are important for the research, because the dead were laid in the grave everyday objects and jewelry, the forms of burial changing over time - which in turn gives the archeology valuable clues for the temporal determination. At the same time, prehistory of Sankt Pölten would not be half as good documented without the construction of the expressway S33 and other large buildings, where millions of cubic meters of earth were moved - under the watchful eyes of the Federal Monuments Office!
A final primeval chapter characterized the Celts, who settled about 450 BC our area and in addition to a new culture and religion also brought with them the potter's wheel. The kingdom of Noricum influenced till the penetration of the Romans the development in our area.
Roman period, migrations
The Romans conquered in 15 BC the Celtic Empire and established hereinafter the Roman province of Noricum. Borders were protected by military camp (forts), in the hinterland emerged civilian cities, almost all systematically laid out according to the same plan. The civil and commercial city Aelium Cetium, as St. Pölten was called (city law 121/122), consisted in the 4th Century already of heated stone houses, trade and craft originated thriving urban life, before the Romans in the first third of the 5th Century retreated to Italy.
The subsequent period went down as the Migration Period in official historiography, for which the settlement of the Sankt Pöltner downtown can not be proved. Cemeteries witness the residence of the Lombards in our area, later it was the Avars, extending their empire to the Enns.
The recent archaeological excavations on the Cathedral Square 2010/2011, in fact, the previous knowledge of St.Pölten colonization not have turned upside down but enriched by many details, whose full analysis and publication are expected in the near future.
Middle Ages
With the submission of the Avars by Charlemagne around 800 AD Christianity was gaining a foothold, the Bavarian Benedictine monastery of Tegernsee establishing a daughter house here - as founder are mentioned the brothers Adalbert and Ottokar - equipped with the relics of St. Hippolytus. The name St. Ypolit over the centuries should turn into Sankt Pölten. After the Hungarian wars and the resettlement of the monastery as Canons Regular of St. Augustine under the influence of Passau St. Pölten received mid-11th Century market rights.
In the second half of the 20th century historians stated that records in which the rights of citizens were held were to be qualified as Town Charters. Vienna is indeed already in 1137 as a city ("civitas") mentioned in a document, but the oldest Viennese city charter dates only from the year 1221, while the Bishop of Passau, Konrad, already in 1159 the St. Pöltnern secured:
A St. Pöltner citizen who has to answer to the court, has the right to make use of an "advocate".
He must not be forced to rid himself of the accusation by a judgment of God.
A St. Pöltner citizen may be convicted only by statements of fellow citizens, not by strangers.
From the 13th Century exercised a city judge appointed by the lord of the city the high and low jurisdiction as chairman of the council meetings and the Municipal Court, Inner and Outer Council supported him during the finding of justice. Venue for the public verdict was the in the 13th Century created new marketplace, the "Broad Market", now the town hall square. Originally square-shaped, it was only later to a rectangle reduced. Around it arose the market district, which together with the monastery district, the wood district and the Ledererviertel (quarter of the leather goods manufacturer) was protected by a double city wall.
The dependence of St. Pölten of the bishop of Passau is shown in the municipal coat of arms and the city seal. Based on the emblem of the heraldic animal of the Lord of the city, so the Bishop of Passau, it shows an upright standing wolf holding a crosier in its paw.
Modern Times
In the course of the armed conflict between the Emperor Frederick III . and King Matthias of Hungary pledged the Bishop of Passau the town on the Hungarian king. From 1485 stood Lower Austria as a whole under Hungarian rule. The most important document of this period is the awarding of the city coat of arms by King Matthias Corvinus in the year 1487. After the death of the opponents 1490 and 1493 could Frederick's son Maximilian reconquer Lower Austria. He considered St. Pölten as spoils of war and had no intention of returning it to the diocese of Passau. The city government has often been leased subsequently, for instance, to the family Wellenstein, and later to the families Trautson and Auersperg.
That St. Pölten now was a princely city, found its expression in the coat of arms letter of the King Ferdinand I. from 1538: From now on, the wolf had no crosier anymore, and the from the viewer's point of view left half showed the reverse Austrian shield, so silver-red-silver.
To the 16th Century also goes back the construction of St. Pöltner City Hall. The 1503 by judge and council acquired house was subsequently expanded, rebuilt, extended and provided with a tower.
A for the urban history research important picture, painted in 1623, has captured scenes of the peasant uprising of 1597, but also allows a view to the city and lets the viewer read some of the details of the then state of construction. The economic inconveniences of that time were only exacerbated by the Thirty Years War, at the end of which a fifth of the houses were uninhabited and the citizenry was impoverished.
Baroque
After the successful defense against the Turks in 1683, the economy started to recover and a significant building boom began. Lower Austria turned into the land of the baroque abbeys and monasteries, as it is familiar to us today.
In St. Pölten, the change of the cityscape is closely connected to the Baroque architect Jakob Prandtauer. In addition to the Baroquisation of the interior of the cathedral, a number of buildings in St. Pölten go to his account, so the reconstruction of the castle Ochsenburg, the erection of the Schwaighof and of the core building of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Englische Fräuleins - English Maidens) - from 1706 the seat of the first school order of St.Pölten - as well as of several bourgeois houses.
Joseph Munggenast, nephew and co-worker of Prandtauer, completed the Baroquisation of the cathedral, he baroquised the facade of the town hall (1727) and numerous bourgeois houses and designed a bridge over the Traisen which existed until 1907. In the decoration of the church buildings were throughout Tyroleans collaborating, which Jakob Prandtauer had brought along from his homeland (Tyrol) to St. Pölten, for example, Paul Troger and Peter Widerin.
Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II: Their reforms in the city of the 18th Century also left a significant mark. School foundings as a result of compulsory education, the dissolution of the monasteries and hereinafter - from 1785 - the new role of St. Pölten as a bishop's seat are consequences of their policies.
1785 was also the year of a fundamental alteration of the old Council Constitution: The city judge was replaced by one magistrate consisting of five persons, at the head was a mayor. For the first mayor the painter Josef Hackl was chosen.
The 19th century
Despite the Napoleonic Wars - St. Pölten in 1805 and 1809 was occupied by the French - and despite the state bankruptcy of 1811, increased the number of businesses constantly, although the economic importance of the city for the time being did not go beyond the near vicinity.
Against the background of monitoring by the state secret police, which prevented any political commitment between the Congress of Vienna and the 1848 revolution, the citizens withdrew into private life. Sense of family, fostering of domestic music, prominent salon societies in which even a Franz Schubert socialized, or the construction of the city theater were visible signs of this attitude.
The economic upswing of the city did not begin until after the revolution of the year 1848. A prerequisite for this was the construction of the Empress Elisabeth Western Railway, moving Vienna, Linz, soon Salzburg, too, in a reachable distance. The city walls were pulled down, St. Pölten could unfold. The convenient traffic situation favored factory start-ups, and so arose a lace factory, a revolver factory, a soap factory or, for example, as a precursor of a future large-scale enterprise, the braid, ribbon and Strickgarnerzeugung (knitting yarn production) of Matthias Salcher in Harland.
In other areas, too, the Gründerzeit (years of rapid industrial expansion in Germany - and Austria) in Sankt Pölten was honouring its name: The city got schools, a hospital, gas lanterns, canalization, hot springs and summer bath.
The 20th century
At the beginning of the 20th Century the city experienced another burst of development, initiated by the construction of the power station in 1903, because electricity was the prerequisite for the settlement of large companies. In particular, the companies Voith and Glanzstoff and the main workshop of the Federal Railways attracted many workers. New Traisen bridge, tram, Mariazell Railway and other infrastructure buildings were erected; St. Pölten obtained a synagogue. The Art Nouveau made it repeatedly into the urban architecture - just think of the Olbrich House - and inspired also the painting, as exponents worth to be mentioned are Ernst Stöhr or Ferdinand Andri.
What the outbreak of the First World War in broad outlines meant for the monarchy, on a smaller scale also St. Pölten has felt. The city was heavily impacted by the deployment of army units, a POW camp, a military hospital and a sick bay. Industrial enterprises were partly converted into war production, partly closed. Unemployment, housing emergency and food shortages long after the war still were felt painfully.
The 1919 to mayor elected Social Democrat Hubert Schnofl after the war tried to raise the standard of living of the people by improving the social welfare and health care. The founding of a housing cooperative (Wohnungsgenossenschaft), the construction of the water line and the establishment of new factories were further attempts to stimulate the stiffening economy whose descent could not be stopped until 1932.
After the National Socialist regime had stirred false hopes and plunged the world into war, St. Pölten was no longer the city as it has been before. Not only the ten devastating bombings of the last year of the war had left its marks, also the restrictive persecution of Jews and political dissidents had torn holes in the structure of the population. Ten years of Russian occupation subsequently did the rest to traumatize the population, but at this time arose from the ruins a more modern St. Pölten, with the new Traisen bridge, district heating, schools.
This trend continued, an era of recovery and modernization made the economic miracle palpable. Already in 1972 was - even if largely as a result of incorporations - exceeded the 50.000-inhabitant-limit.
Elevation to capital status (capital of Lower Austria), 10 July 1986: No other event in this dimension could have become the booster detonation of an up to now ongoing development thrust. Since then in a big way new residential and commercial areas were opened up, built infrastructure constructions, schools and universities brought into being to enrich the educational landscape. East of the Old Town arose the governmental and cultural district, and the list of architects wears sonorous names such as Ernst Hoffmann (NÖ (Lower Austria) Landhaus; Klangturm), Klaus Kada (Festspielhaus), Hans Hollein (Shedhalle and Lower Austrian Provincial Museum), Karin Bily, Paul Katzberger and Michael Loudon ( NÖ State Library and NÖ State Archive).
European Diploma, European flag, badge of honor, Europe Price: Between 1996 and 2001, received St. Pölten numerous appreciations of its EU commitment - as a sort of recognition of the Council of Europe for the dissemination of the EU-idea through international town twinnings, a major Europe exhibition or, for example, the establishment and chair of the "Network of European medium-sized cities".
On the way into the 21st century
Just now happened and already history: What the St. Pöltnern as just experienced sticks in their minds, travelers and newcomers within a short time should be told. The theater and the hospital handing over to the province of Lower Austria, a new mayor always on the go, who was able to earn since 2004 already numerous laurels (Tags: polytechnic, downtown enhancement, building lease scheme, bus concept) - all the recent changes are just now condensed into spoken and written language in order to make, from now on, the history of the young provincial capital in the 3rd millennium nachlesbar (checkable).
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_zu_St._P%C3%B6lten
www.st-poelten.gv.at/Content.Node/freizeit-kultur/kultur/...
Mingle Media TV and our Red Carpet Report team with host, Rachel Greniniger, were on hand for at FX’s American Horror Story: Hotel Hollywood Premiere at Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE in Downtown Los Angeles.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL Premieres Wednesday, October 7 at 10 PM e/p
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About American Horror Story: Hotel
The 13-episode fifth installment of the Emmy and Golden Globe winning franchise, American Horror Story: Hotel, premieres on FX on October 7th. American Horror Story: Hotel features an all-star cast of Lady Gaga, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer, Chloë Sevigny, Denis O’Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock. Ryan Murphy serves as Co-Creator, Showrunner, Executive Producer, Writer and Director of American Horror Story: Hotel and Brad Falchuk is Co-Creator, Executive Producer and Writer. Tim Minear, Brad Buecker, Jennifer Salt, James Wong and Alexis Martin Woodall also serve as Executive Producers. The American Horror Story franchise is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television. Find out more visit: www.fxnetworks.com/shows/american-horror-story/ or like on Facebook at www.facebook.com/americanhorrorstory
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218 219-4: Built at the Krauss-Maffei München-Allach plant (Work No. 19586/ 1972) and delivered to DB service on 31/07/1972.
A Karlsruhe lok from 1996 until the last few months of its working life, it was last overhauled in 2000 (REV IS703 23/07/2000, 2nd. Verl 23/07/2008).
Halfway through its 2nd Verl. it was moved to Regensburg for 7 months (09/12/2007 to 10/07/2008).
Then just days before it was stored Z for scrap on 26/07/2008, it was allocated to Kempten, probably as a spares donor (“Ersatzteilspender”).
It was storaed at SSM Hamm in 2009, before a later move to AW Bremen when bought on 15/01/2016 by HEROS - Helvetic Rolling Stock GmbH, Zürich.
Not selected for overhaul, it supplied parts for the HEROS loks that Bremen were overhauling.
The next instalment was a move to SSM Leipzig-Engelsdorf before purchase in 2020 by RPRS - Railsystems RP GmbH, Gotha.
It was then moved up the line to Gotha to continue its role as Ersatzteilspender.
Holidays at long last. Switzerland is yours. Zermatt (1616 m) in the Valais The cog-wheel railway to the Gornergrat between Riffelberg and Riffelalp backdropped by the Matterhorn (4478 m)...Endlich Ferien. Ihre Schweiz. Zermatt (1616 m) im Wallis Gornergrat-Zahnradbahn zwischen Riffelberg und Riffelalp, im Hintergrund das 4478 m hohe Matterhorn...Enfin les vacances. A vous la Suisse. Zermatt (1616 m) en Valais Ligne ?crémaillère du Gornergrat entre Riffelberg et Riffelalp, au fond le Cervin (4478 m)...Copyright by: Schweiz Tourismus By-Line: swiss-image.ch
At the canal, close to rue A. Dansaert, Brussels.
11 reasons why I fell in love with Brussels - no.8:
Brussels offers place for highly imaginative people and initiatives...
At Lamborghini of Scottsdale
More photos: otisblank.com/2011/02/05/scottsdale-cars-and-coffee-febru...
I can't believe the luck I've been having on flickr lately! 4 of my photos have made it to Explore in just 8 days! Thank you so much everyone!
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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In the night between 9 and 10 July 1943, the Allies landed in Sicily, an event that marked a decisive chapter for the fate of the Second World War: the operation was intended to open a front in continental Europe, invade and defeat Italy, was called in code "Operation Husky". The Anglo-American army, with its ships and landing craft (totally 2800 units), with its 150 thousand men, with its 600 tanks, with its 1,000 cannons, appeared in front of the Sicilian coasts during the night: it consisted of two units, the US 7th Army commanded by General Patton, and the British 8th Army commanded by General Montgomery. The British sector landed on the eastern coast, between Noto, Pachino, Portopalo, while the American sector landed between Licata and Scoglitti, a coastal belt comprising the Gulf of Gela.
This premise to describe the places of my photographs, made between Gela and Licata, partly on those same beaches that saw the formidable landing of men and vehicles during the Second World War (not without bloodshed), often thinking of how places so beautiful they were the scene of tragic events about 77 years ago. A little regret of mine I was not being able to photograph a large American landing craft underwater, sunk about 500 meters from the coast, no more than 6-7 meters deep: it is about 20 years that I "go to find it" with free diving, and every time I see it I always feel a great emotion (sooner or later I will have to decide to get with me an underwater camera). I revisited (every time it is always a great emotion) the bunkers and casemates present on the whole stretch (and beyond) Licata-Gela, in some of them I entered inside, while in others the presence of earth made exploration impossible internal. In the town of Licata I always feel strong emotions going around, especially in the oldest part of the country in its historical center: I saw the Black Christ, pierced in the past by arrows from the Saracens (one arrow is present just above the left eye, the original arrow was removed by the Maltese colonists and replaced with a silver arrow). My next photos, divided into groups, will have as their theme the town of Licata, and its beaches.
Most of the photos are confused-blurry-blurred-imprecise-indecisive ... the Anglo-Saxon term that encompasses with a single word this photographic genre is "blur", these photos were made in the shooting phase, deliberately lengthening the exposure, and not as an effect created subsequently, in retrospect, in the post-production phase.
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Nella notte tra il 9 e il 10 luglio 1943, avvenne lo sbarco degli Alleati in Sicilia, evento che segnò un capitolo determinante per le sorti della Seconda guerra mondiale: l’operazione aveva lo scopo di aprire un fronte nell’Europa continentale, invadere e sconfiggere l’Italia, venne chiamata in codice “Operazione Husky”. L'armata anglo-americana, con le sue navi e mezzi da sbarco (in toto 2800 unità), con i suoi 150 mila uomini, con i suoi 600 carri armati, con i suoi 1.000 cannoni, si presentò davanti alle coste siciliane durante la notte: essa era composta da due unità, la 7a Armata statunitense comandata dal generale Patton, e l’8° Armata britannica comandata dal generale Montgomery. Il settore britannico sbarcò sulla fascia costiera più ad oriente, tra Noto, Pachino, Portopalo, mentre il settore statunitense sbarcò tra Licata e Scoglitti, fascia costiera comprendente il golfo di Gela.
Questa premessa per descrivere i luoghi delle mie fotografie, realizzate tra Gela e Licata, in parte su quelle stesse spiagge che hanno visto il formidabile sbarco di uomini e mezzi durante la seconda guerra mondiale (non senza spargimento di sangue), ripensando spesso a come luoghi così belli siano stati scenario di eventi tragici circa 77 anni addietro. Un mio piccolo rammarico è stato il non poter fotografare sott’acqua un grosso mezzo navale da sbarco americano, affondato a circa 500 metri dalla costa, a non più di 6-7 metri di profondità: sono circa 20 anni che “lo vado ritrovare” con immersioni in apnea, ed ogni volta che lo vedo provo sempre una grande emozione (dovrò decidermi prima o poi a procurarmi una macchina fotografica subacquea). Ho rivisitato (ogni volta è sempre una grande emozione) i bunker e le casamatte presenti su tutto il tratto (ed oltre) Licata-Gela, in alcuni di essi sono entrato dentro, mentre in altri la presenza di terra ha reso impossibile l’esplorazione interna. Nel paese di Licata provo sempre forti emozioni andando a zonzo, soprattutto nella parte più antica del paese nel suo centro storico: ho rivisto il Cristo Nero, trafitto anticamente dalle frecce dai saraceni (una freccia è presente poco sopra l’occhio sinistro, la freccia originale fu tolta dai coloni Maltesi e sostituita con una freccia d’argento). Le mie prossime foto, divise in gruppi, avranno come tema il paese di Licata, e le sue spiagge.
La maggior parte delle foto sono confuse-mosse-sfocate-imprecise-indecise...il termine anglosassone che racchiude con una sola parola questo genere fotografico è "blur", queste foto sono state così realizzate in fase di scatto allungando volutamente i tempi di esposizione, e non come un effetto creato successivamente, a posteriori, in fase di post-produzione.
A wonderful view of the Ford Works at Dagenham in Essex from a fascinating book issued by the Ford Motor Company of England to tell the story of the company's activities during WW2. The book, issued in 1946, is full of sketches and paintings by Helen McKie, an artist who produced a lot of 'Thames-side' material for the river boat operators, the General Steam Navigation Co., as well as commissions for the Southern Railway.
The view looks across the Blast Furnace and other parts of the plant that formed the massive integrated vehicle production plant Ford had opened in 1931 on the marshes adjoining the River Thames. It replaced Ford's earlier UK factory at Trafford Park in Manchester. The camouflage used to try and break up the visual outline of the plant, and so distract enemy bombers, is very clearly shown. The subject of wartime 'camo' is brilliantly told in a book on the subject by Henrietta Goodden that was a relevation to me as it showed the work, and links, between so many mid-20th century graphic designers and artists whose names and work are so well known apart from their wartime service.
At one time we had a tube full of plastic dinosaurs, but it has gone missing.
Last PM my youngest was taking a bath and discovered this one mixed in with the bath toys.
I thought it looked as if he were singing.
Scientists are now telling us that some of the dinosaurs turned into birds.
I found the notes here.
MBTA CTC-4 1707 on the point of a test train northbound on the Cape Main at Hells Blazes crossing, Middleboro, MA.
Tamron SP 150-600/5-6.3 VC G2 (A022) shot with D810. Developed in Lightroom 6.6 to Adobe Standard with sharpening at 35/0.5/36/10 and no NR.
See my review at Camera Labs.
At the south end of rule 251 territory is the Control Point at Highland, IN. Running lefty for some odd reason, they held for a bit and are shown back on the move. I LOVE these former CR SD70's with the thick Conrail-fonted numerals!
St Peter, Nowton, Suffolk
To stand at Nowton church, or the almshouses where the friendly keyholder is, you would not think that we could be so close to Bury St Edmunds. Here, in rolling west Suffolk, woods and copses hide the next parish in any direction, creating an intimacy that is not belied by the occasional hazy distant view from a ridge or hilltop. Nowton church sits on one particular hill, a long track leading up from the nearest road into the silence of its tree-shrouded churchyard, an oasis of lush botanical green in the agricultural expanses.
A mile or so off in the Bury suburbs is Nowton Country Park, one of the main recreational areas of the town, and the former grounds of Nowton Hall. The Hall was the home of the fabulously wealthy Oakes family, and in 1811 Elizabeth Frances Oakes, wife of Orbell Ray Oakes and Lady of the Manor, died at the age of 42. She was buried in Nowton church, which must have been a very plain and ramshackle structure in those Georgian days. However, over the next ten years something extraordinary happened here, as we will see.
Essentially, the church in which Elizabeth Oakes was buried was a 14th century building with surviving Norman details, before the Victorians went to work on it. Walking around it, the graveyard is a strikingly beautiful adornment, still with an air of the early 19th century, with the kind of trees that Lords of the Manor and Rectors-of-leisure liked to plant in those days, including a glorious cedar. Stepping inside, this is a pleasant, shipshape little church. All around are memorials to the Oakes family in the 19th and 20th Centuries, but it probably won't be them that catches your eye, because Nowton is home to one of the largest and best collection of continental glass in England.
Not far from Nowton is Rushbrooke, which in the early 19th Century was the home of the eccentric Colonel Rushbrooke, an avid antiquarian and carpenter who I am afraid was not above the odd spot of forgery. He refurnished Rushbrooke church in the manner of the Cambridge college chapel of his youth, giving it a Henry VIII royal arms into the bargain. Items that he collected can be found in several churches in the eastern counties, for Colonel Rushbrooke spent many happy months in the first decade of the 19th century trawling around the Low Countries and buying up wooden panels and painted glass from monasteries. Many of these monasteries had been closed and ruined in the aftermath of the French Revolution and the following Napoleonic Wars, and their treasures were easily acquired for the right price.
At this time, Orbell Ray Oakes was struggling with a way to make Nowton church into a more fitting and beautiful last resting place for his wife. His solution was to purchase perhaps as many as eighty continental panels from Rushbrooke. They were installed between about 1816 and 1820 by the Norwich stained glass artist Samuel Yarington, who was an expert in these matters, working with the Norwich antiquities dealer Christopher Hampp to supply and install continental glass, mostly depicting scriptural and allegorical subjects, to English churches, mainly in the Norwich area. In those days before the great revival of church art later in the century, most English churches were very plain, especially in puritan East Anglia, and in any case coloured glass of English manufacture was not easily come by. The installation of panels of continental glass would be an easy solution, and even a few panels would be an adornment to a simple church. The Nowton scheme, of course, goes much further than this.
The panels are to be found in every window except the west window. The panels in the east window are set in nine groups of five, the larger panel in the centre of each group and four smaller panels orbiting around it in a sea of Yarington's patterned glass. There is no obvious sequential order or theological structure, and so it must be assumed that Oakes' intention was purely decorative, to beautiful his wife's last resting place. The panels were reordered on two occasions later in the century as Nowton church was restored and extended, but the original configuration of the east window in particular was not altered much. There are slightly odd panels depicting knights on brasses by John Sell Cotman set at the base of someof the aisle windows. When the glass was restored in 1970, some panels from the demolished Dagnams Hall in Essex were added at the bottom of the east window to replace glass of Yarington's that had perished.
At the west end of the south aisle is the elegant memorial to Elizabeth Oakes by John Bacon Jr. It shows her praying against an angled tombchest on the other side of which are a cross and an open book reading Thy Will Be Done. Under the tower, a brass plaque tells us that this church was embellished & decorated with painted glass collected from the Monasteries at Brussels, an Organ erected with a Peal of Six Bells, at the Expense & Gift of Orbell Ray Oakes Esq. The inhabitants inscribe this tablet as a memorial of his liberality, 1820.
Orbell Ray Oakes died in 1837 as the Victorian era began, and his son Henry James Oakes, the new Lord of the Manor, bankrolled a considerable restoration of the church under the architect Anthony Salvin. The construction of a neo-Norman north aisle necessitated the moving of some of the panels, and possibly the acquisition of some more. The nave and chancel were essentially rebuilt and the building was reroofed. The elegant remains of the medieval screen were retained, and all in all this must have been a very shipshape little building by the end of the 1870s. The Oakes family continued to live in the parish at Nowton Court, built in the 1830s. In the 20th Century, Nowton Park was acquired by St Edmundsbury District Council. The last of the Oakes family is still alive today, in her nineties, but after her the dynasty will be no more.
Around the walls of the church, memorials recall members of the Oakes family, some dying out in the Empire, some of the younger ones falling on the battlefields of France in the First World War. But having said all this, I do think this building escapes being merely a mausoleum to the Oakes family. Perhaps it is the simplicity of their memorials, or the sense of life in the building, despite its remoteness. Even so, the overwhelming feeling is of the century that rebuilt it and adorned it, which is just as it should be.
My first visit of the week to Elgol and the black Cuillins were barely visible acros the water but the sea was lively and it was great to watch the Gannets flying low and rising into the air before diving into the water.