en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam

 

The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is the world's largest embankment dam, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan Low Dam initially completed in 1902 downstream. Based on the success of the Low Dam, then at its maximum utilization, construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952; with its ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity, the dam was seen as pivotal to Egypt's planned industrialization. Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.

 

Before the High Dam was built, even with the old dam in place, the annual flooding of the Nile during late summer had continued to pass largely unimpeded down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water with natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along its floodplain and delta; this predictability had made the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times. However, this natural flooding varied, since high-water years could destroy the whole crop, while low-water years could create widespread drought and consequently famine. Both these events had continued to occur periodically. As Egypt's population grew and technology increased, both a desire and the ability developed to completely control the flooding, and thus both protect and support farmland and its economically important cotton crop. With the greatly increased reservoir storage provided by the High Aswan Dam, the floods could be controlled and the water could be stored for later release over multiple years.

 

The Aswan Dam was designed by the Moscow-based Hydroproject Institute.

 

The earliest recorded attempt to build a dam near Aswan was in the 11th century, when the Arab polymath and engineer Ibn al-Haytham (known as Alhazen in the West) was summoned to Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, to regulate the flooding of the Nile, a task requiring an early attempt at an Aswan Dam. His field work convinced him of the impracticality of this scheme.

 

The British began construction of the first dam across the Nile in 1898. Construction lasted until 1902 and the dam was opened on 10 December 1902. The project was designed by Sir William Willcocks and involved several eminent engineers, including Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird, whose firm, John Aird & Co., was the main contractor.

 

In 1952, the Greek-Egyptian engineer Adrian Daninos began to develop the plan of the new Aswan Dam. Although the Low Dam was almost overtopped in 1946, the government of King Farouk showed no interest in Daninos's plans. Instead the Nile Valley Plan by the British hydrologist Harold Edwin Hurst was favored, which proposed to store water in Sudan and Ethiopia, where evaporation is much lower. The Egyptian position changed completely after the overthrow of the monarchy, led by the Free Officers Movement including Gamal Abdel Nasser. The Free Officers were convinced that the Nile Waters had to be stored in Egypt for political reasons, and within two months, the plan of Daninos was accepted. Initially, both the United States and the USSR were interested in helping development of the dam. Complications ensued due to their rivalry during the Cold War, as well as growing intra-Arab tensions.

 

In 1955, Nasser was claiming to be the leader of Arab nationalism, in opposition to the traditional monarchies, especially the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq following its signing of the 1955 Baghdad Pact. At that time the U.S. feared that communism would spread to the Middle East, and it saw Nasser as a natural leader of an anticommunist procapitalist Arab League. America and the United Kingdom offered to help finance construction of the High Dam, with a loan of $270 million, in return for Nasser's leadership in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. While opposed to communism, capitalism, and imperialism, Nasser identified as a tactical neutralist, and sought to work with both the U.S. and the USSR for Egyptian and Arab benefit.[8] After the UN criticized a raid by Israel against Egyptian forces in Gaza in 1955, Nasser realized that he could not portray himself as the leader of pan-Arab nationalism if he could not defend his country militarily against Israel. In addition to his development plans, he looked to quickly modernize his military, and he turned first to the U.S. for aid.

 

American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and President Dwight Eisenhower told Nasser that the U.S. would supply him with weapons only if they were used for defensive purposes and if he accepted American military personnel for supervision and training. Nasser did not accept these conditions, and consulted the USSR for support.

 

Although Dulles believed that Nasser was only bluffing and that the USSR would not aid Nasser, he was wrong: the USSR promised Nasser a quantity of arms in exchange for a deferred payment of Egyptian grain and cotton. On 27 September 1955, Nasser announced an arms deal, with Czechoslovakia acting as a middleman for the Soviet support. Instead of attacking Nasser for turning to the Soviets, Dulles sought to improve relations with him. In December 1955, the US and the UK pledged $56 and $14 million, respectively, toward construction of the High Aswan Dam.

 

Though the Czech arms deal created an incentive for the US to invest at Aswan, the UK cited the deal as a reason for repealing its promise of dam funds. Dulles was angered more by Nasser's diplomatic recognition of China, which was in direct conflict with Dulles's policy of containment of communism.

 

Several other factors contributed to the US deciding to withdraw its offer of funding for the dam. Dulles believed that the USSR would not fulfil its commitment of military aid. He was also irritated by Nasser's neutrality and attempts to play both sides of the Cold War. At the time, other Western allies in the Middle East, including Turkey and Iraq, were resentful that Egypt, a persistently neutral country, was being offered so much aid.

 

In June 1956, the Soviets offered Nasser $1.12 billion at 2% interest for the construction of the dam. On 19 July the U.S. State Department announced that American financial assistance for the High Dam was "not feasible in present circumstances."

 

On 26 July 1956, with wide Egyptian acclaim, Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal that included fair compensation for the former owners. Nasser planned on the revenues generated by the canal to help fund construction of the High Dam. When the Suez War broke out, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel seized the canal and the Sinai. But pressure from the U.S. and the USSR at the United Nations and elsewhere forced them to withdraw.

 

In 1958, the USSR proceeded to provide support for the High Dam project.

 

In the 1950s, archaeologists began raising concerns that several major historical sites, including the famous temple of Abu Simbel were about to be submerged by waters collected behind the dam. A rescue operation began in 1960 under UNESCO

 

Despite its size, the Aswan project has not materially hurt the Egyptian balance of payments. The three Soviet credits covered virtually all of the project's foreign exchange requirements, including the cost of technical services, imported power generating and transmission equipment and some imported equipment for land reclamation. Egypt was not seriously burdened by payments on the credits, most of which were extended for 12 years with interest at the very low rate of 2-1/2%. Repayments to the USSR constituted only a small net drain during the first half of the 1960s, and increased export earnings derived from crops grown on newly reclaimed land have largely offset the modest debt service payments in recent years. During 1965–70, these export earnings amounted to an estimated $126 million, compared with debt service payments of $113 million.

 

A central pylon of the monument to Arab-Soviet Friendship. The memorial commemorates the completion of the Aswan High Dam. The coat of arms of the Soviet Union is on the left and the coat of arms of Egypt is on the right.

The Soviets also provided technicians and heavy machinery. The enormous rock and clay dam was designed by the Soviet Hydroproject Institute along with some Egyptian engineers. 25,000 Egyptian engineers and workers contributed to the construction of the dams.

 

Originally designed by West German and French engineers in the early 1950s and slated for financing with Western credits, the Aswan High Dam became the USSR's largest and most famous foreign aid project after the United States, the United Kingdom, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) withdrew their support in 1956. The first Soviet loan of $100 million to cover construction of coffer dams for diversion of the Nile was extended in 1958. An additional $225 million was extended in 1960 to complete the dam and construct power-generating facilities, and subsequently about $100 million was made available for land reclamation. These credits of some $425 million covered only the foreign exchange costs of the project, including salaries of Soviet engineers who supervised the project and were responsible for the installation and testing of Soviet equipment. Actual construction, which began in 1960, was done by Egyptian companies on contract to the High Dam Authority, and all domestic costs were borne by the Egyptians. Egyptian participation in the venture has raised the construction industry's capacity and reputation significantly.

 

On the Egyptian side, the project was led by Osman Ahmed Osman's Arab Contractors. The relatively young Osman underbid his only competitor by one-half.

 

1960: Start of construction on 9 January

1964: First dam construction stage completed, reservoir started filling

1970: The High Dam, as-Sad al-'Aali, completed on 21 July[18]

1976: Reservoir reached capacity.

 

Specifications

The Aswan High Dam is 3,830 metres (12,570 ft) long, 980 m (3,220 ft) wide at the base, 40 m (130 ft) wide at the crest and 111 m (364 ft)[ tall. It contains 43,000,000 cubic metres (56,000,000 cu yd) of material. At maximum, 11,000 cubic metres per second (390,000 cu ft/s) of water can pass through the dam. There are further emergency spillways for an extra 5,000 cubic metres per second (180,000 cu ft/s), and the Toshka Canal links the reservoir to the Toshka Depression. The reservoir, named Lake Nasser, is 500 km (310 mi) long[20] and 35 km (22 mi) at its widest, with a surface area of 5,250 square kilometres (2,030 sq mi). It holds 132 cubic kilometres (1.73×1011 cu yd) of water.

 

Due to the absence of appreciable rainfall, Egypt's agriculture depends entirely on irrigation. With irrigation, two crops per year can be produced, except for sugar cane which has a growing period of almost one year.

 

The high dam at Aswan releases, on average, 55 cubic kilometres (45,000,000 acre⋅ft) water per year, of which some 46 cubic kilometres (37,000,000 acre⋅ft) are diverted into the irrigation canals.

 

In the Nile valley and delta, almost 336,000 square kilometres (130,000 sq mi) benefit from these waters producing on average 1.8 crops per year. The annual crop consumptive use of water is about 38 cubic kilometres (31,000,000 acre⋅ft). Hence, the overall irrigation efficiency is 38/46 = 0.826 or 83%. This is a relatively high irrigation efficiency. The field irrigation efficiencies are much less, but the losses are reused downstream. This continuous reuse accounts for the high overall efficiency.

 

The following table shows the distribution of irrigation water over the branch canals taking off from the one main irrigation canal, the Mansuriya Canal near Giza.

 

Branch canalWater delivery in m3/feddan *

Kafret Nasser4,700

Beni Magdul3,500

El Mansuria3,300

El Hammami upstream2,800

El Hammami downstream1,800

El Shimi1,200

* Period 1 March to 31 July. 1 feddan is 0.42 ha or about 1 acre.

* Data from the Egyptian Water Use Management Project (EWUP)

The salt concentration of the water in the Aswan reservoir is about 0.25 kilograms per cubic metre (0.42 lb/cu yd), a very low salinity level. At an annual inflow of 55 cubic kilometres (45,000,000 acre⋅ft), the annual salt influx reaches 14 million tons. The average salt concentration of the drainage water evacuated into the sea and the coastal lakes is 2.7 kilograms per cubic metre (4.6 lb/cu yd). At an annual discharge of 10 cubic kilometres (2.4 cu mi) (not counting the 2 kilograms per cubic metre [3.4 lb/cu yd] of salt intrusion from the sea and the lakes, see figure "Water balances"), the annual salt export reaches 27 million ton. In 1995, the output of salt was higher than the influx, and Egypt's agricultural lands were desalinizing. Part of this could be due to the large number of subsurface drainage projects executed in the last decades to control the water table and soil salinity.

 

Drainage through subsurface drains and drainage channels is essential to prevent a deterioration of crop yields from waterlogging and soil salinization caused by irrigation. By 2003, more than 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) have been equipped with a subsurface drainage system and approximately 7.2 square kilometres (2.8 sq mi) of water is drained annually from areas with these systems. The total investment cost in agricultural drainage over 27 years from 1973 to 2002 was about $3.1 billion covering the cost of design, construction, maintenance, research and training. During this period 11 large-scale projects were implemented with financial support from World Bank and other donors.

 

Effects

The High Dam has resulted in protection from floods and droughts, an increase in agricultural production and employment, electricity production, and improved navigation that also benefits tourism. Conversely, the dam flooded a large area, causing the relocation of over 100,000 people. Many archaeological sites were submerged while others were relocated. The dam is blamed for coastline erosion, soil salinity, and health problems.

 

The assessment of the costs and benefits of the dam remains controversial decades after its completion. According to one estimate, the annual economic benefit of the High Dam immediately after its completion was LE 255 million, $587 million using the exchange rate in 1970 of $2.30 per LE 1): LE 140 million from agricultural production, LE 100 million from hydroelectric generation, LE 10 million from flood protection, and LE 5 million from improved navigation. At the time of its construction, total cost, including unspecified "subsidiary projects" and the extension of electric power lines, amounted to LE 450 million. Not taking into account the negative environmental and social effects of the dam, its costs are thus estimated to have been recovered within only two years. One observer notes: "The impacts of the Aswan High Dam have been overwhelmingly positive. Although the Dam has contributed to some environmental problems, these have proved to be significantly less severe than was generally expected, or currently believed by many people." Another observer disagreed and he recommended that the dam should be torn down. Tearing it down would cost only a fraction of the funds required for "continually combating the dam's consequential damage" and 500,000 hectares (1,900 sq mi) of fertile land could be reclaimed from the layers of mud on the bed of the drained reservoir. Samuel C. Florman wrote about the dam: "As a structure it is a success. But in its effect on the ecology of the Nile Basin – most of which could have been predicted – it is a failure".

 

Periodic floods and droughts have affected Egypt since ancient times. The dam mitigated the effects of floods, such as those in 1964, 1973, and 1988. Navigation along the river has been improved, both upstream and downstream of the dam. Sailing along the Nile is a favorite tourism activity, which is mainly done during the winter when the natural flow of the Nile would have been too low to allow navigation of cruise ships.[clarification needed] A new fishing industry has been created around Lake Nasser, though it is struggling due to its distance from any significant markets. The annual production was about 35 000 tons in the mid-1990s. Factories for the fishing industry and packaging have been set up near the Lake.

 

According to a 1971 CIA declassified report, Although the High Dam has not created ecological problems as serious as some observers have charged, its construction has brought economic losses as well as gains. These losses derive largely from the settling in dam's lake of the rich silt traditionally borne by the Nile. To date (1971), the main impact has been on the fishing industry. Egypt's Mediterranean catch, which once averaged 35,000-40,000 tons annually, has shrunk to 20,000 tons or less, largely because the loss of plankton nourished by the silt has eliminated the sardine population in Egyptian waters. Fishing in high dam's lake may in time at least partly offset the loss of saltwater fish, but only the most optimistic estimates place the eventual catch as high as 15,000-20,000 tons. Lack of continuing silt deposits at the mouth of the river also has contributed to a serious erosion problem. Commercial fertilizer requirements and salination and drainage difficulties, already large in perennially irrigated areas of Lower and Middle Egypt, will be somewhat increased in Upper Egypt by the change to perennial irrigation.

 

The dams also protected Egypt from the droughts in 1972–73 and 1983–87 that devastated East and West Africa. The High Dam allowed Egypt to reclaim about 2.0 million feddan (840,000 hectares) in the Nile Delta and along the Nile Valley, increasing the country's irrigated area by a third. The increase was brought about both by irrigating what used to be desert and by bringing under cultivation of 385,000 hectares (950,000 acres) that were previously used as flood retention basins. About half a million families were settled on these new lands. In particular the area under rice and sugar cane cultivation increased. In addition, about 1 million feddan (420,000 hectares), mostly in Upper Egypt, were converted from flood irrigation with only one crop per year to perennial irrigation allowing two or more crops per year. On other previously irrigated land, yields increased because water could be made available at critical low-flow periods. For example, wheat yields in Egypt tripled between 1952 and 1991 and better availability of water contributed to this increase. Most of the 32 km3 of freshwater, or almost 40 percent of the average flow of the Nile that were previously lost to the sea every year could be put to beneficial use. While about 10 km3 of the water saved is lost due to evaporation in Lake Nasser, the amount of water available for irrigation still increased by 22 km3. Other estimates put evaporation from Lake Nasser at between 10 and 16 cubic km per year.

 

Electricity production

The dam powers twelve generators each rated at 175 megawatts (235,000 hp), with a total of 2.1 gigawatts (2,800,000 hp). Power generation began in 1967. When the High Dam first reached peak output it produced around half of Egypt's production of electric power (about 15 percent by 1998), and it gave most Egyptian villages the use of electricity for the first time. The High Dam has also improved the efficiency and the extension of the Old Aswan Hydropower stations by regulating upstream flows.

 

All High Dam power facilities were completed ahead of schedule. 12 turbines were installed and tested, giving the plant an installed capacity of 2,100 megawatts (MW), or more than twice the national total in 1960. With this capacity, the Aswan plant can produce 10 billion kWh of energy yearly. Two 500-kilovolt trunk lines to Cairo have been completed, and initial transmission problems, stemming mainly from poor insulators, were solved. Also, the damage inflicted on a main transformer station in 1968 by Israeli commandos has been repaired, and the Aswan plant is fully integrated with the power network in Lower Egypt. By 1971 estimation, Power output at Aswan, won't reach much more than half of the plant's theoretical capacity, because of limited water supplies and the differing seasonal water-use patterns for irrigation and power production. Agricultural demand for water in the summer far exceeds the amount needed to meet the comparatively low summer demand for electric power. Heavy summer irrigation use, however, will leave insufficient water under Egyptian control to permit hydroelectric power production at full capacity in the winter. Technical studies indicate that a maximum annual output of 5 billion kWh appears to be all that can be sustained due to fluctuations in Nile flows.

 

Resettlement and compensations

In Sudan, 50,000 to 70,000 Sudanese Nubians were moved from the old town of Wadi Halfa and its surrounding villages. Some were moved to a newly created settlement on the shore of Lake Nasser called New Wadi Halfa, and some were resettled approximately 700 kilometres (430 mi) south to the semi-arid Butana plain near the town of Khashm el-Girba up the Atbara River. The climate there had a regular rainy season as opposed to their previous desert habitat in which virtually no rain fell. The government developed an irrigation project, called the New Halfa Agricultural Development Scheme to grow cotton, grains, sugar cane and other crops. The Nubians were resettled in twenty five planned villages that included schools, medical facilities, and other services, including piped water and some electrification.

 

In Egypt, the majority of the 50,000 Nubians were moved three to ten kilometers from the Nile near Edna and Kom Ombo, 45 kilometers (28 mi) downstream from Aswan in what was called "New Nubia". Housing and facilities were built for 47 village units whose relationship to each other approximated that in Old Nubia. Irrigated land was provided to grow mainly sugar cane.

 

In 2019–20, Egypt started to compensate the Nubians who lost their homes following the dam impoundment.

 

Archaeological sites

Twenty-two monuments and architectural complexes that were threatened by flooding from Lake Nasser, including the Abu Simbel temples, were preserved by moving them to the shores of the lake under the UNESCO Nubia Campaign. Also moved were Philae, Kalabsha and Amada.

 

These monuments were granted to countries that helped with the works:

 

The Debod temple to Madrid

The Temple of Dendur to the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York

The Temple of Taffeh to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden of Leiden

The Temple of Ellesyia to the Museo Egizio of Turin

These items were removed to the garden area of the Sudan National Museum of Khartoum:

 

The temple of Ramses II at Aksha

The temple of Hatshepsut at Buhen

The temple of Khnum at Kumma

The tomb of the Nubian prince Djehuti-hotep at Debeira

The temples of Dedwen and Sesostris III at Semna

The granite columns from the Faras Cathedral

A part of the paintings of the Faras Cathedral; the other part is in the National Museum of Warsaw.

The Temple of Ptah at Gerf Hussein had its free-standing section reconstructed at New Kalabsha, alongside the Temple of Kalabsha, Beit el-Wali, and the Kiosk of Qertassi.

 

The remaining archaeological sites, including the Buhen fort and the cemetery of Fadrus have been flooded by Lake Nasser.

 

Loss of sediments

Before the construction of the High Dam, the Nile deposited sediments of various particle size – consisting of fine sand, silt and clay – on fields in Upper Egypt through its annual flood, contributing to soil fertility. However, the nutrient value of the sediment has often been overestimated. 88 percent of the sediment was carried to the sea before the construction of the High Dam. The nutrient value added to the land by the sediment was only 6,000 tons of potash, 7,000 tons of phosphorus pentoxide and 17,000 tons of nitrogen. These amounts are insignificant compared to what is needed to reach the yields achieved today in Egypt's irrigation. Also, the annual spread of sediment due to the Nile floods occurred along the banks of the Nile. Areas far from the river which never received the Nile floods before are now being irrigated.

 

A more serious issue of trapping of sediment by the dam is that it has increased coastline erosion surrounding the Nile Delta. The coastline erodes an estimated 125–175 m (410–574 ft) per year.

 

Waterlogging and increase in soil salinity

Before the construction of the High Dam, groundwater levels in the Nile Valley fluctuated 8–9 m (26–30 ft) per year with the water level of the Nile. During summer when evaporation was highest, the groundwater level was too deep to allow salts dissolved in the water to be pulled to the surface through capillary action. With the disappearance of the annual flood and heavy year-round irrigation, groundwater levels remained high with little fluctuation leading to waterlogging. Soil salinity also increased because the distance between the surface and the groundwater table was small enough (1–2 m depending on soil conditions and temperature) to allow water to be pulled up by evaporation so that the relatively small concentrations of salt in the groundwater accumulated on the soil surface over the years. Since most of the farmland did not have proper subsurface drainage to lower the groundwater table, salinization gradually affected crop yields.[31] Drainage through sub-surface drains and drainage channels is essential to prevent a deterioration of crop yields from soil salinization and waterlogging. By 2003, more than 2 million hectares have been equipped with a subsurface drainage system at a cost from 1973 to 2002 of about $3.1 billion.

 

Health

Contrary to many predictions made prior to the Aswan High Dam construction and publications that followed, that the prevalence of schistosomiasis (bilharzia) would increase, it did not. This assumption did not take into account the extent of perennial irrigation that was already present throughout Egypt decades before the high dam closure. By the 1950s only a small proportion of Upper Egypt had not been converted from basin (low transmission) to perennial (high transmission) irrigation. Expansion of perennial irrigation systems in Egypt did not depend on the high dam. In fact, within 15 years of the high dam closure there was solid evidence that bilharzia was declining in Upper Egypt. S. haematobium has since disappeared altogether. Suggested reasons for this include improvements in irrigation practice. In the Nile Delta, schistosomiasis had been highly endemic, with prevalence in the villages 50% or higher for almost a century before. This was a consequence of the conversion of the Delta to perennial irrigation to grow long staple cotton by the British. This has changed. Large-scale treatment programmes in the 1990s using single-dose oral medication contributed greatly to reducing the prevalence and severity of S. mansoni in the Delta.

 

Other effects

Sediment deposited in the reservoir is lowering the water storage capacity of Lake Nasser. The reservoir storage capacity is 162 km3, including 31 km3 dead storage at the bottom of the lake below 147 m (482 ft) above sea level, 90 km3 live storage, and 41 km3 of storage for high flood waters above 175 m (574 ft) above sea level. The annual sediment load of the Nile is about 134 million tons. This means that the dead storage volume would be filled up after 300–500 years if the sediment accumulated at the same rate throughout the area of the lake. Obviously sediment accumulates much faster at the upper reaches of the lake, where sedimentation has already affected the live storage zone.

 

Before the construction of the High Dam, the 50,000 km (31,000 mi) of irrigation and drainage canals in Egypt had to be dredged regularly to remove sediments. After construction of the dam, aquatic weeds grew much faster in the clearer water, helped by fertilizer residues. The total length of the infested waterways was about 27,000 km (17,000 mi) in the mid-1990s. Weeds have been gradually brought under control by manual, mechanical and biological methods.

 

Mediterranean fishing and brackish water lake fishery declined after the dam was finished because nutrients that flowed down the Nile to the Mediterranean were trapped behind the dam. For example, the sardine catch off the Egyptian coast declined from 18,000 tons in 1962 to a mere 460 tons in 1968, but then gradually recovered to 8,590 tons in 1992. A scientific article in the mid-1990s noted that "the mismatch between low primary productivity and relatively high levels of fish production in the region still presents a puzzle to scientists."

 

A concern before the construction of the High Dam had been the potential drop in river-bed level downstream of the Dam as the result of erosion caused by the flow of sediment-free water. Estimates by various national and international experts put this drop at between and 2 and 10 meters (6.6 and 32.8 ft). However, the actual drop has been measured at 0.3–0.7 meters (0.98–2.30 ft), much less than expected.[30]

 

The red-brick construction industry, which consisted of hundreds of factories that used Nile sediment deposits along the river, has also been negatively affected. Deprived of sediment, they started using the older alluvium of otherwise arable land taking out of production up to 120 square kilometers (46 sq mi) annually, with an estimated 1,000 square kilometers (390 sq mi) destroyed by 1984 when the government prohibited, "with only modest success," further excavation. According to one source, bricks are now being made from new techniques which use a sand-clay mixture and it has been argued that the mud-based brick industry would have suffered even if the dam had not been built.

 

Because of the lower turbidity of the water sunlight penetrates deeper in the Nile water. Because of this and the increased presence of nutrients from fertilizers in the water, more algae grow in the Nile. This in turn increases the costs of drinking water treatment. Apparently few experts had expected that water quality in the Nile would actually decrease because of the High Dam.

 

Appraisal of the Project

Although it is moot whether the project constitutes the best use of the funds spent, the Aswan Dam project unquestionably is and will continue to be economically beneficial to Egypt. The project has been expensive and it took considerable time to complete, as is usually the case with large hydroelectric developments, But Egypt now has a valuable asset with a long life and low operating costs. Even so, the wisdom of concentrating one-third of domestic saving and most of available foreign aid on a slow growth project is questionable. Since 1960, GNP has grown 50%, but mainly as a result of other investment.

 

Egyptian authorities were well aware that equivalent gains in output could have been achieved more quickly and more cheaply by other means. A series of low dams, similar to the barrages now contemplated, was suggested by Egyptian engineers as a more economical means of achieving up to 2,000 mW of additional generating capacity, US and WorldBank agricultural experts had long recommended improved drainage, introduction of hybrid seeds, and other such low-cost alternatives to land reclamation as a means of increasing agricultural output, In other areas, most notably the once efficient cotton textile industry, investment was needed to forestall an output decline, Implementation of these and other alternatives has been postponed rather than precluded by the High Dam project.

 

However, the decision to concentrate Egyptian savings and energies on the Aswan project for a decade was heavily based on non-economic factors. Nasser undoubtedly believed that a project of considerable symbolic appeal was needed to mobilize the population behind the government's economic goals, He also apparently felt that the East and West would be more easily persuaded to bid against each other for a project of this scope.

 

The Aswan High Dam made an appreciable contribution to Egyptian GNP, however the returns were well below what the planners had anticipated. The principal limiting factors on the High Dam's contribution to Egyptian output are a shortage of land suitable for reclamation, the high cost and long time required to bring reclaimed land to full productivity, and an inadequate water supply to meet power and irrigation goals simultaneously. The last limitation arises in part from the allocation in a 1959 agreement of more water to Sudan than was originally foreseen and in part from differences in the seasonal demand pattern of agriculture and the hydroelectric plant for the water. Irrigation requires very heavy use of water during summer months, while power generation needs peak during the winter. Ecological problems created by the dam, most of which were anticipated, have not seriously harmed the economy, although a few minor industries have been damaged.

 

The dam is, nonetheless, a viable project. Eventually the contribution to GNP equals as much as 20% of total investment. Moreover, the dam and associated projects provided returns that at least offset the cost of operation, repayment of foreign loans and amortisation of domestic loans.

When Flickr friend Tim Carrier (tcpix) and I visited Ashland last Friday, our objective was to see the train station (a fuller view is 2 photos back), with some hope of seeing a train pass through. We didn't have to wait very long for this one, and there were two more -- another CSX freight train and an Amtrak train -- but this is the only one I photographed. Seeing trains in Ashland is interesting, because the tracks run down the middle of Center Street for a considerable distance.

 

The station on the left was built in 1923 to replace an 1866 station on the other side of the tracks. Closed in 1967, the station is part of the Ashland Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983; in 1985 the station reopened and now serves as both the Ashland-Hanover County Visitor's Center and an Amtrak stop.

Nikon D300s

Mitutoyo objective 20×

Raynox dcr-150

Bellows PB-6

Diaphragm（DIY）

1Flash

Zerene Stacker

Panasonic Lumix GF1

Lumix G 20mm 1.7 ASPH

snapseed

EDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2009

 

Ed hunter

Ed Hunter, a rail shooter video game, was released in 1999, and is based on and accompanied by Iron Maiden's music. The game objective consists of rescuing the mascot of Iron Maiden, Eddie, from a prison while passing through game settings evocative of the albums. Music from the band completes the game's customizable soundtrack.

The game passes through various levels, starting in a street, then to a mental institution, then into hell itself, and then into other various locations. The locations are from the covers of previous Iron Maiden records.

The gameplay itself consists of shooting the appearing enemies with the mouse cursor. The game travels on "a track" and the player has no control over movement apart from occasionally choosing the route he will take through the levels. The player can select which tracks play in the background of which levels.

The package includes 3 CDs. The first CD contains 14 songs, the second CD contains 6 songs and the installation program for the game, and the third CD contains the game data. The soundtrack allegedly consists of the top 20 songs voted for by Iron Maiden fans on Maiden's official website.

The US version has a hidden bonus track of a new recording of "Wrathchild" with Bruce Dickinson on lead vocals, which subsequently received radio play. This track was not present in the initial US pressing of the game, but on runs that featured a sticker on the shrinkwrap stating that the track was included.

A sticker on the compilation album Best of the Beast originally announced the upcoming release of this game as "Melt, Eddie's own state-of-the-art 3D game".

The Ed Hunter Tour was the tour supporting the album.

   

Levels (background music listed in brackets)

London's East End (Killers, Iron Maiden)

The Shady Pines Asylum (Piece of Mind)

The Pits of Hell (Hallowed Be Thy Name, Number of the Beast)

The Graveyard (Live After Death)

The Pharaoh's Tomb (Powerslave)

Blade Runner (Somewhere In Time)

Futureal (The Evil That Men Do)

Finale (The Evil That Men Do)

POSTED BY THE BLACK WIDOW AT 11:45 PM NO COMMENTS:

Brave new world

Brave New World is the twelfth studio album by Iron Maiden, released on 30 May 2000 (see 2000 in music). It marked the return of longtime lead singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith to the band who left the band in 1990, replaced by Janick Gers. It was also the band's first studio recording with three guitar players, as Gers stayed with the band after Smith's return.

The album art and title song are references to the novel of the same name written by Aldous Huxley. The upper half of the album art was done by Derek Riggs, and is the last new artwork done by Riggs to be used on an Iron Maiden release.

The songs "The Wicker Man" and "Out of the Silent Planet" were both released as singles. "The Wicker Man" was released in the U.S as a promo single with extra vocals in the chorus.

"The Nomad", "Dream of Mirrors", and "The Mercenary" were originally written for Virtual XI, according to Adrian Smith in an interview. He said there was a fourth song, but he didn't know which one it was and that Steve Harris did not remember either. It is likely that this is either The Fallen Angel or The Thin Line Between Love And Hate, or an unreleased song from the sessions, as the remaining songs have all been confirmed to have been written for Brave New World. Apparently, former singer Blaze Bayley also co-wrote "Dream of Mirrors", but wasn't credited.

Brave New World Tour was the tour supporting the album.

The song "Brave New World" was covered in 2008 by Ghostlines on the tribute CD Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden released by Kerrang! magazine.

POSTED BY THE BLACK WIDOW AT 11:41 PM NO COMMENTS:

Rock in Rio

Rock In Rio is a live album recorded in Brazil by Iron Maiden in 2001. Here they faced their second largest ever crowd - 250,000 people - the first being their 1985 Rock In Rio performance to a crowd of 300,000, and with the relatively recent return of lead singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith to the band, they recorded their fifth live album.

It features many of their best known tracks, including studio-quality examples of the eponymous "Iron Maiden" and "Run to the Hills" coupled with some of their "comeback" tracks, including "The Wicker Man" and "Brave New World." Less popular songs were also performed, such as Bruce Dickinson's versions of the Blaze Bayley-era songs "Sign of the Cross" and "The Clansman".

A video version is also available on DVD

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Edward the great

Edward the Great was Iron Maiden's third "best-of album" (counting their 1999 video game Ed Hunter which came with a 20 track best of CD with songs chosen by the fans), and was released on November 5, 2002 along with the massive Eddie's Archive box set, as a way to introduce new fans to Maiden. However, many older fans complained about the lack of exclusive or rare material on it. Another complaint of many was that the album lacked material from the first two Iron Maiden albums, Iron Maiden and Killers which featured Paul Di'Anno on vocals.

In 2005, a revised edition was released in Europe, Asia and South-America, with a slightly different tracklist. This "updated" version was to coincide with the release of The Essential Iron Maiden compilation that was released in North America. The revised edition features some songs from the Dance of Death album, and a different live version of "Fear of the Dark". The new version also adds the song "Brave New World" from the album of the same name. The booklet includes a new foreword by Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood, whereas the original version has a foreword by founding member Steve Harris. The album cover does not differentiate between the two other than the tracklisting - some shops still sell old stock of the original. In some cases, record distributors accidentally released the revised 2005 version CD with the old track list still on the album sleeve, although this mistake has since been corrected.

POSTED BY THE BLACK WIDOW AT 11:16 PM NO COMMENTS:

Dance of death

Dance of Death is Iron Maiden's 13th studio album, released first in Japan on September 2 and rest of the world on September 8, 2003.

This album marks the first participation in songwriting by Nicko McBrain, who co-wrote the song "New Frontier" and also is the first (and so far only) time that all members of the band get a songwriting credit. It is sometimes mistakenly said that Steve Harris performed all the keyboard parts on the album because no credit is given to usual collaborator Michael Kenney, but this is actually due to an oversight in the printing of the album booklet (no instrument credits are given to any of the full band members either). The band's usual message in every album (a variation on the line "Up the Irons!") is absent too.

Give Me Ed... 'til I'm Dead Tour & Dance of Death World Tour was the tour supporting the album. Dance of Death once again brought costumes to Maiden's stage show. During "Dance of Death," Bruce Dickinson would wear theatrical masks and a cape while moving around the stage; at the end he would dress as the Grim Reaper for the final chorus. During the song "Paschendale", Dickinson would sometimes wear a traditional British Infantryman suit as worn during World War I and act out his death onstage during the song.

The title of the album refers to the late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter one's station in life, the dance of death unites all. This philosophy is more commonly known as Danse Macabre.

 

stronghold of the Cathars conquered by the Albigensian Crusade in 1244. The lyrics include verse As we kill them all so God will know his own, referring to a well-known quote of the papal legate before the massacre of thousands in Béziers in 1209. It also mentions "Templar believers," as it is frequent popular belief today that there was some link between Knights Templar, Cathars and Montségur.

The song "Paschendale" is about The Battle of Passchendaele in the First World War. 'Face in the Sand' features double bass drumming by Nicko McBrain, his only such performance to date.

"Journeyman" is Iron Maiden's first fully acoustic song. According to Bruce Dickinson, before playing the song on the Death on the Road live album, the song is about "the whole process of song writing and being a musician," though the lyrics seem to be more focused on appreciating life while you have it.

Other lyric themes are current events in the world ("Face in the Sand," "Age of Innocence," "New Frontier"), religion ("No More Lies", "Montségur"), and realising yourself ("Wildest Dreams," "Rainmaker," "Journeyman"). The title track features lyrics in a more classic storytelling vein, being about a man who experiences the Danse Macabre and has many similarities to both the poem Tam o' Shanter and "The Number of the Beast". The album is also notable for its heavy Celtic influences in the guitar melodies, especially the title track, "No More Lies," and "Montségur."

 

Cover art

The computer-generated cover art for the album was provided by David Patchett, but he asked to be removed from the credits because he was not satisfied with the result. The version used was actually a prototype provided by Patchett, but the band decided to use it in its incomplete form. Upon close inspection, one can note several of what appear to be errors; the small infant/dwarf to the right appears to be suspended in midair with his/her ankle sunk into the side of the wolf. The other small person to the left is also standing on the toes of a man, and the woman directly to the right of Eddie (center) seems to have some disfiguring on the fold of her elbow. The woman to the right of the foreground also has a long, misshapen neck.

When the cover art was first revealed on the Internet, many Iron Maiden fans believed that the band was playing a prank. It has been the cause of much controversy amongst fans and is generally quite disliked. Images of the album's cover briefly circulated as an Internet meme as it was ridiculed by many fans and casual observers alike.

POSTED BY THE BLACK WIDOW AT 3:15 PM NO COMMENTS:

Death on the road

Death on the Road is a live CD, LP, and DVD released by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden on August 30, 2005 (CD & LP version), respectively on February 6, 2006 (DVD version). It contains songs which were performed at Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany, on 24 November 2003 during the band's Dance of Death Tour (2003–2005).

During the first week after the album's release, it entered the national charts in several countries; Finland (no. 6), Sweden (no. 7), Norway (no. 12), France (no. 14), Italy (no. 17), Switzerland (no. 17), Spain (no. 18), United Kingdom (no. 22), Ireland (no. 27),the Netherlands (no. 39), India (no.29).

The DVD was released on February 6, 2006. It is a 3 DVD set, with the first DVD being the concert in 5.1 Digital audio, the second DVD being the concert in stereo, and the third DVD being special features, including the documentary listed below, and all promo videos from the Dance of Death album. Reportedly, the first DVD of the set is faulty in many cases, as two of the three guitar tracks' volume being tuned down, specificly Dave Murray's track.[citation needed]

The DVD set features a full 70-minute documentary directed by Matthew Amos charting the album's creation and the subsequent preparations for the following tour. The feature length program includes candid and personal footage of the band during the recording and writing of the album, which is the first time it's ever been filmed.

In 2005 when Edward the Great was re-released the recording of "Fear of the Dark" from this album was included.

The cover was by Melvyn Grant, and on the carriage are the words 'Edward and Son Undertakers', a reference to Eddie.

POSTED BY THE BLACK WIDOW AT 1:52 AM NO COMMENTS:

A matter of life and death

Iron Maiden. It was released on 25 August 2006 in Italy and in Finland, 28 August worldwide, and 5 September 2006 in the United States, Canada and Japan. It is the first heavy metal album to debut at #4 in India, and made it to #2 in the Indian charts. It is also one of the few rock/metal albums to go platinum in India. It is the first album in Iron Maiden's more than 30 year career to enter the U.S. Billboard charts in the top 10 and the third album where Steve Harris has had a song writing credit on every track, and has seen significant chart success in many other countries.

While the album is not a concept album, war and religion are recurring themes in the lyrics throughout the album, as well as in the album's artwork. The title "A Matter of Life and Death" is also linked with the war theme, as it titles a 1946 movie whose primary character is a WWII Royal Air Force pilot.

A Matter of Life and Death Tour was the tour supporting the album.

 

The band, still consisting of the same lineup as their previous two studio albums (making it the second most stable lineup; see Powerslave), started to write the songs near the end of 2005 after their hugely successful appearances in the U.S. and Europe. By the end of the year, the songs were done and they started rehearsing at Sarm West Studios in London.

At 72 minutes, A Matter of Life and Death is the band's longest album to date (exceeding 1995's The X Factor by approximately one minute) and its average song length (7:12) also makes it the longest Iron Maiden album by song average.

This is the band's fourth studio album that is not named after a specific song on the album, following Piece of Mind, The X Factor and Virtual XI.

The album cover was created by Tim Bradstreet, an American artist, currently best known for his covers on the Punisher comics.

During their North American, Japanese and European tours, they performed the entire album in full. They announced after the show at Earl's Court, London on December 23, 2006, that the album would never be played in its entirety again.

 

Critical response

The album was met with positive reviews. Metal Hammer rated the album 10/10 and stated that "Iron Maiden have utterly surpassed themselves", Kerrang! rated it 5/5 and said "Another [Iron] Maiden classic... Keeps what longtime fans loved about the band alive." Classic Rock also awarded it Album of the Year, and the band won an award voted by Classic Rock readers, for the album. Rolling Stone gave the album 3 stars out of 5, finding the music and lyrics "relevant." However, the magazine also claims that "the songs now march where they once galloped", implying that the band is "aging gracefully".

 

Single details

The first single to be released from the album was "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg". It was released on 14 August 2006. On 10 August 2006, "Different World" was put on the official website for everyone to hear. The following day "Brighter than a Thousand Suns" was also put on the official site for public streaming.

"Different World" was the second single released from the album. It has already been receiving airplay on many rock radio stations. The song also features an animated video, similar to that of "Wildest Dreams".

 

DVD documentary

In addition to the standard CD release, A Matter of Life and Death was also released in a limited edition version which contains a bonus DVD. The DVD, which has a total runtime of nearly one hour, contains a half-hour documentary, plus videos and photos all shot whilst the band were making the album. The documentary "The Making of A Matter of Life and Death", directed by Matthew Amos (director of The Early Days and Death on the Road DVD documentaries), features candid video footage shot largely by Kevin Shirley himself during the recording of the album giving a behind-the-scenes look at life in the studio. The bonus DVD also features the full video promo for "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg", and a special intimate filming of the band recording "Different World" in the studio. The album is also available as a limited edition double picture disc vinyl in gatefold sleeve, and as a digital download.

 

Charting positions

The album went gold in Finland in its first week. This gold record became Maiden's 8th from Finland. The album sold over 220,000 copies worldwide on its first day of release and sold over 500,000 copies worldwide in 3 days. By the end of the first week of release, A Matter of Life and Death had sold over a million copies worldwide. It entered at no. 4 in the world album chart, no. 1 in ten countries, no. 4 in the UK charts, no. 2 in Canada, no. 4 in India , and for the first time entered the U.S. top 10 at no. 9 with sales of over 56,000. An update on Iron Maiden's official website states that "In just the first week the new album has shipped over a million copies worldwide and impacted on the charts pretty well everywhere in the world". In doing so it has charted in the top 20 in 34 countries worldwide.

POSTED BY THE BLACK WIDOW AT 12:40 AM NO COMMENTS:

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ED HUNTER

  

ED HUNTER

 

Disc one

1 Iron Maiden Live

2 The Trooper

3 The Number of the Beast

4 Wrathchild"

5 Futureal

6 Fear of the Dark

7 Be Quick or Be Dead

8 2 Minutes to Midnight

9 Man on the Edge

10 Aces High

11 The Evil That Men Do

12 Wasted Years

13 Powerslave

14 Hallowed Be Thy Name

15 Wrathchild

 

Disc two

1 Run to the Hills

2 The Clansman

3 Phantom of the Opera

4 Killers

5 Stranger in a Strange Land

6 Tailgunner"

BRAVE NEW WORLD

  

BRAVE NEW WORLD

 

1 The Wicker Man

2 Ghost of the Navigator

3 Brave New World

4 Blood Brothers

5 The Mercenary

6 Dream of Mirrors

7 The Fallen Angel

8 The Nomad

9 Out of the Silent Planet

10 The Thin Line Between Love & Hate

ROCK IN RIO

  

ROCK IN RIO

 

Disc 1

1 Intro Arthur's Farewell

2 The Wicker Man

3 Ghost of the Navigator

4 Brave New World

5 Wrathchild

6 2 Minutes to Midnight

7 Blood Brothers

8 Sign of the Cross

9 The Mercenary

10 The Trooper

 

Disc 2

1 Dream of Mirrors

2 The Clansman

3 The Evil That Men Do

4 Fear of the Dark

5 Iron Maiden

6 The Number of the Beast

7 Hallowed Be Thy Name

8 Sanctuary

9 Run to the Hills

EDWARD THE GREAT

  

EDWARD THE GREAT

 

1.Run to the Hills

2.The Number of the Beast

3.Flight of Icarus

4.The Trooper

5.2 Minutes to Midnight

6.Wasted Years

7.Can I Play with Madness

8.The Evil That Men Do

9.The Clairvoyant

10.Infinite Dreams

11.Holy Smoke

12.Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter

13.Man on the Edge

14.Futureal

15.The Wicker Man

16.Fear of the Dark live

DANCE OF DEATH

  

DANCE OF DEATH

  

1.Wildest Dreams

2.Rainmaker

3.No More Lies

4.Montségur

5.Dance of Death

6.Gates of Tomorrow

7.New Frontier

8.Paschendale

9.Face in the Sand

10.Age of Innocence

11.Journeyman

DEATH ON THE ROAD

  

DEATH ON THE ROAD

 

Disc one

1 Wildest Dreams

2 Wrathchild

3 Can I Play with Madness

4 The Trooper

5 Dance of Death

6 Rainmaker

7 Brave New World

8 Paschendale

9 Lord of the Flies

 

Disc two

1 No More Lies

2 Hallowed Be Thy Name

3 Fear of the Dark

4 Iron Maiden

5 Journeyman

6 The Number of the Beast

7 Run to the Hills

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

  

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

 

1.Different World

2.These Colours Don't Run

3.Brighter Than a Thousand Suns

4.The Pilgrim

5.The Longest Day

6.Out of the Shadows

7.The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg

8.For the Greater Good of God

9.Lord of Light

10.The Legacy

SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME

  

SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME

 

1 Churchill's Speech

2 Aces High Live

3 2 Minutes to Midnight

4 The Trooper

5 Wasted Years

6 Children of the Damned

7 The Number of the Beast

8 Run to the Hills

9 Phantom of the Opera Live

10 The Evil That Men Do

11 Wrathchild Live

12 Can I Play With Madness

13 Powerslave

14 Hallowed Be Thy Name

15 Iron Maiden Live

FOLLOWERS

  

BLOG ARCHIVE

 

▼ 2009 (8)

▼ February (8)

Ed hunter

Brave new world

Rock in Rio

Edward the great

Dance of death

Death on the road

A matter of life and death

Somewhere Back in Time

ABOUT ME

  

THE BLACK WIDOW

VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE

 

All rights reserved - Copyright © Joerg Reichel

   

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.

Il 2011 è l' anno degli obiettivi. Obiettivi che più mi prefisso di raggiungere più mi fanno paura. Domani vorrei raggiungere il primo; ho lottato tanto, lo sto facendo tutt' ora e lo farò anche domani, ma ne varrà la pena?

 

Aggiornamento del 17/01 Ne è valsa eccome sta pena!XD

Subjectively Objective #12. An old building. Janesville, Wisconsin, USA.

  

I'm very excited to show you a brand new conceptual series I've been shooting the past month! A nice change from my norm subject matter of travel, lifestyle, landscapes, models, and nature. Retro / old "gems" in simple environments. Subtle colors, angular uncluttered compositions.

  

I hope you enjoy...

  

#subjectivelyobjective #janesville #wisconsin #rockcounty #mattanderson #retro #fineart

  

Thanks for viewing. You can visit my website by clicking here: www.mattandersonphotography.com

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Please E-mail me with any questions.

  

©2018 Matt Anderson All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without permission of the photographer. Hey, just E-mail me me if you have usage questions. Also, if you want to buy an awesome fine art print of this image.

A while ago, my brother and I decided that we wanted to play some Mobile Frame Zero. First, we had to build, though.

 

So we did.

I have here a gazebo, a planetarium / research area, and a bunker. With plants to match!

:D

focus stack of 137 frames taken using a Stackshot rail and combined in Zerene Stacker. Nikon D810 with a nikon plan 10x/0.25 microscope objective mounted on an old nikon 200mm f4 acting as a tube lens

Objective connection

Reflective thinking

Generalized conceptions

 

Transitive preposition

Conditions accessible

Mind independent

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) was formed on 2 March 1951 with RAF officers and other personnel seconded to the RCyAF. Ceylonese were recruited to the new RCyAF and several Ceylonese who had served with the RAF during WWII were absorbed in the force. Initial objective was to train local pilots and ground crew, early administration and training was carried out by exclusively by RAF officers and other personnel on secondment. The first aircraft of the RCyAF were de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunks used as basic trainers to train the first batches of pilots locally while several cadets were sent to Royal Air Force College Cranwell. These were followed by Boulton Paul Balliol T.Mk.2s and Airspeed Oxford Mk.1s for advanced training of pilots and aircrew along with de Havilland Doves and de Havilland Herons for transport use, all provided by the British. By 1955 the RCyAF was operating two flying squadrons based at RAF Negombo. The first helicopter type to be added to the service was the Westland Dragonfly.

 

Following Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's negotiated the closure of British air and naval bases in Ceylon in 1956, the RCyAF took over the former RAF stations; Katunayake and China Bay, becoming RCyAF operational stations while ancillary functions were carried out at Diyatalawa and Ekala. The RAF headquarters, Air HQ Ceylon, was disbanded on 1 November 1957. However, RAF officers remained with the RCyAF till 1962.

 

In 1959 de Havilland Vampire jet aircraft were acquired, five fighter bombers and five trainers. The Vampire was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company and its development as an experimental aircraft began in 1941 during the Second World War, to exploit the revolutionary innovation of jet propulsion. From the company's design studies, it was decided to use a single-engine, twin-boom aircraft, powered by the Halford H.1 turbojet (later produced as the Goblin). Aside from its propulsion system and twin-boom configuration, it was a relatively conventional aircraft. In May 1944 it was decided to produce the aircraft as an interceptor for the Royal Air Force (RAF), but it came too late for operati9onal use in the war. It was eventually the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by a single jet engine. In 1946 the Vampire entered operational service with the RAF, only months after the war had ended.

 

The Vampire quickly proved to be effective and was adopted as a replacement of wartime piston-engined fighter aircraft. During its early service it accomplished several aviation firsts and achieved various records, such as being the first jet aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The Vampire remained in front-line RAF service until 1953 when its transfer began to secondary roles such as ground attack and pilot training, for which specialist variants were produced. Many of these aircraft were sold to foreign air forces. The RAF retired the Vampire in 1966 when its final role of advanced trainer was filled by the Folland Gnat. The Royal Navy had also adapted the type as the Sea Vampire, a navalised variant suitable for operations from aircraft carriers. It was the service's first jet fighter.

The Vampire was exported to many nations and was operated worldwide in numerous theatres and climates. Several countries used the type in combat including the Suez Crisis, the Malayan Emergency and the Rhodesian Bush War. By the end of production, almost 3,300 Vampires had been manufactured, a quarter of these having been manufactured under licence abroad.

 

The Ceylonese Vampires received the official export designation FB.56, but they were in fact refurbished Fairey-built ex-RAF FB.9 fighter bombers, the last single seater fighter bomber variant to be produced. As such, they were tropicalised Goblin-3 powered F.5 fighter-bombers with air conditioning and retrofitted with ejection seats. They had the ability to carry bombs of up to 1.000 lb (454 kg) caliber under each wing, drop tanks or up to eight unguided 3-inch "60 lb" rockets againts ground targets. The trainers were newly-built T.55 export machines with ejection seats.

Following a RCyAF superstition, the machines were allocated tactical codes that the single numerals did not sum up to "13" or a multiple of it, a "tradition" that has been kept up until today. Even more weird: codes that openly sported a "13" were and are used - as long as the whole code number conforms to the cross total rule!

 

This small fleet formed the 'Jet Squadron' was soon supplemented with five Hunting Jet Provosts obtained from the British, and ten more Vampire FB.56 fighter bombers in 1959. In the 1960s, various other aircraft were procured, most notably American Bell JetRanger helicopters and a Hindustan HUL-26 Pushpak given by India. The force had grown gradually during its early years, reaching a little over 1,000 officers and recruits in the 1960s.

 

The Vampires' service did not last long, though. The trainers were replaced by the more modern and economic Jet Provosts and mothballed by 1963. In 1968, the Royal Ceylon Air Force started to look out for a more capable multi-role aircraft to replace the Vampire FB.56s and evaluated foreign types like the F-86 Sabre, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the Hawker Hunter and AMD's Mystère IV as well as the SMB.2. The decision fell on the supersonic Super Mystère, which was offered as a bargain from French surplus stock since the fighter was at that time in the process of being gradually replaced by the 3rd generation Mirage III. A total of eight revamped SMB.2s were procured, which conformed to the Armée de l’Air’s standard. The machines arrived in early 1971 and were allocated to the newly established No. 3 Squadron, even though it took some months to make them fully operational, and the Vampires (eleven FB.56s were still operational at that time) soldiered on as a stopgap measure, due to innerpolitical tensions.

 

These got more and more tense and the Ceylonese Vampires were eventually deployed in a hot conflict in 1971. Together with the Jet Provosts, which had been mothballed since 1970 and quickly revamped, they were used in COIN missions during the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection, since the new SMB.2s were not ready yet and deemed too valuable and unsuited to be deployed in guerilla warfare. The JVP insurrection was the first of two unsuccessful armed revolts conducted by the communist JVP against the socialist United Front Government of Ceylon under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. The revolt began on 5 April 1971, and lasted until June of that year. The insurgents held towns and rural areas for several weeks, until the regions were recaptured by the armed forces, following strong support from friendly nations that sent men and material. Vampires and Jet Provosts flew from RCyAF Chinabay to RCyAF Katunayake, attacking rebel locations en route, and on the 12 April following a bombing run on a target in Polonnaruwa, one Jet Provost lost power and crashed on its approach to RCyAF Chinabay killing its pilot. Several weeks later, the Jet Provosts were joined by the Bell 47-G2 in ground attacks. After three weeks of fighting, the government regained control of all but a few remote areas. In most cases, the government regained control of townships; insurgent groups melted away into the jungle and continued to operate, with some groups operating into early 1972.

With Ceylon becoming a republic in 1972, the Royal Ceylon Air Force changed its name to the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), along with all insignia, and the last RCyAF Vampire was retired in summer 1972.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 30 ft 9 in (9.37 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft (12 m)

Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)

Wing area: 262 sq ft (24.3 m²)

Airfoil: root: EC1240/0640 (14%); tip: EC1240/0640 (9%)

Empty weight: 7,283 lb (3,304 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 12,390 lb (5,620 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× de Havilland Goblin 3 centrifugal-flow turbojet engine, 3,350 lbf (14.9 kN) thrust

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 548 mph (882 km/h, 476 kn)

Range: 1,220 mi (1,960 km, 1,060 nmi)

Service ceiling: 42,800 ft (13,000 m)

Rate of climb: 4,800 ft/min (24 m/s)

Wing loading: 39.4 lb/sq ft (192 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

4× 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano Mk.V cannon with 600 rounds total (150 rounds per gun)

8× 3-inch "60 lb" rockets or 2× 1.000 lb (454 kg) bombs or two drop-tanks

  

The kit and its assembly:

A subtle what-if model, and despite the xotic markings the CeyloneseVampire is closer to reality than one might think. In fact, Ceylon actually received Vampire fighter bombers and trainer from the RAF when the country became independent and the RCyAF was founded, but they were never put into service. So, this whif depicts what might have been, and the type's use until the early Seventies is purely fictional.

 

The kit is the venerable Heller Vampire FB.5, which has been released under various brand labels (including Airfix and Revell) through the years. While it is a very simple model kit, the level of detail is not bad. You get a decent cockpit with a nice dashboard, separated canopy sections and even the landing gear wells feature details. You can hardly ask for more, even though the fit is rather mediocre - but this might be blamed on the molds' age. PSR was necessary on almost any major seam, and the fit of the tail booms to their adapters on the wings was really poor - the kit's engineers could have copme up with a better and more stable solution for the tail assembly. Another issue is the cockpit: while it's detailed, everything is much too small and tight - it turned out to be impossible to insert a pilot figure for the flight scenes, even just a torso!

 

Since I wanted to build a standard export Vampire fighter bomber, the kit was built OOB. I just added a gunsight behind the windscreen, replaced the rather massive pitot on the left fin and added some ordnance for the machine's COIN missions using the JVP insurrection. These comsist of a pair of vintage 500 lb iron bombs (from a Monogram F8F Bearcat) on pylons which probably come from an Academy P-47 Thunderbolt, plus four unguided 60 lb rockets and their launch rails from a Pioneer/Airfix Hawker Sea Fury.

  

Painting and markings:

Conservative. A real RCyAF Vampire would during the late Sixties probably have been painted overall silver, but I found this rather boring and thought that the role as s strike aircraft would justify camouflage. With its origins in the RAF I gave the Vampire consequently the British standard paint scheme in Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey from above, using Humbrol 163 and 156 (Dark Camouflage Grey BS381C/629, the latter on purpose as a lighter alternative to 164, for more contrast). For a slightly odd look I painted the undersides in RAF Azure Blue (Humbrol 157), what also makes a good contrast to the colorful RCyAF roundels.

The cockpit interior was painted in very dark grey (Anthracite, Revell 09) while the landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope), a metallic grey.

 

The kit received a lioght black ink washing and some panel shading, especuially from above to simulate sun-bleached paint - after all, the model depicts an aircraft that would soon be retired.

The roundels come from an Xtradecal aftermarket sheet for Jet Provosts, the fictional serial number was created with 3 and 10mm letters in black from TL Modellbau. A personal addition are the RAF-style white individual aircraft code letters on the fin and the front wheel cover. Due to their size, the fuselage roundels had to be placed under the cockpit, but that does not look bad or out of place at all - early Swedish Vampires used a similar solution. Unfortunately, the kit came without decal sheet, so that other details had to be procured elsewhere - but the decal heap provided ample material. The few stencils and the "No step" warnings were taken from a Model decal Vampire sheet; the ejection seat markings came from an Xtradecal Vampire trainer sheet.

 

After some light traces with dry-brushed silver on the wings' leading edges the model was eventually sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

Simple but exotic, and like the whiffy Sri Lankan SM2.B I built some time ago a very plausible result. I really like the fact that the model is, despite the camouflage and the subdued colors, quite colorful. outcome a lot. The paint scheme already looks unusual, even though it has been patterned after a real world benchmark. But together with the colorful SLAF markings and some serious weathering, the whole package looks pretty weird but also believable. A classic what-if model! 😉

Lincoln, Nebraska

 

Olympus OMD - EM1-1 with Olympus 75-300 zoom and 4X microscope objective.

"Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity." Robert Morgan

Objective properties

Contrasting pleasure

Affective response

Dead Objectives performing at the Witchwood, Ashton-under-Lyne, on Saturday 8th December 2108

Objective lens: 85 mm/1.8

 

Apertures:

F/22; F/8; F/2.8; F/1.8

Circuit board detail, 4x objective.

 

View Large on Black

 

AndrewRolfePhotography

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Raheem Crockett, C-17 Globemaster III Loadmaster, awaits further scenario instructions during an Operational Readiness Evaluation, Gulfport, Miss., Oct. 28, 2011. Members of the 437th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Charleston, S.C., took part in the ORE, which was staged out of Gulfport. The ORE is intended to evaluate Joint Base Charleston's ability to "take the fight to the enemy" and objectively measure mission effectiveness.

1st Combat Camera Squadron

Photo by Henry Lancaster

Date Taken:10.28.2011

Location:GULFPORT, MS, US

Related Photos: dvidshub.net/r/28b8vl

One Instant Packfilm

I thought the shutter was working but it wasn't. The surprise was the quite different images that resulted on these two shots.

Brassica napus

  

All rights reserved - Copyright © Joerg Reichel

  

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.

Taken from Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Infinite Possibility

[March-June 2015]

 

The Guggenheim (officially the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum). Founded by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1937 as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, it was renamed after it's founder's death in 1952.

The current building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) and built in 1959.

A set of six objectives and a relic for 40k warhammer.

Here is a comparison between my Nikon M Plan that cost me £100, and then a photo of one that cost me £50

 

The left photo is at slightly more than 10x using a Nikon 10x 0.25 - 160/- Microscope objective.

 

Now, noticible difference creek in at 100% such as CA on the left ( see crop below and comparison ) and also softness...

 

When viewing normally, these differences will not be noticible at all so I have seemed to have got an absolute bargain with this 10x, but nevertheless I will be selling it as my M plan is much much sharper.

 

( If anyone is looking to buy a 10x, contact me )

 

Overall, I think the bargains are good for a certain measure but when you ( like me ) want sharp details even at 100% then they just don't cut it... More examples to come using the 4x which I will also be selling for a Chromatic Nikon one !

 

Comparing is easier through this larger and original image www.flickr.com/photos/sequentialmacro/8110513919/sizes/k/...

( Ignore left photo out of focus bit, I missed a bit but didn't realize till I was stacking )

 

Have a great week all, these images will be up to view at full tomorrow as they alone are the sharpest I've done yet !

barbed wire and spider webs...

 

their opposing strengths and weaknesses would seem to make them an unlikely pair...

 

but they coexist and get the job done despite their differences...

 

and... on occasion... seem much to compliment each other

   

HBW...!!

 

for detail please view large

  

EXPLORE: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - thanks so very much for all your view, comments and faves...!!

10X Mitutoyo Plan Apo Infinity-Corrected Long WD Objective.

Adaptor now ready. I have chosen a 62mm adapter. He can also directly on my 200mm macro lens as tube-lens.

 

The max bellow distance to the sensor plane is 285mm. This give a macro of 14X.

The minimum distance is 160 mm or a macro of 8 X. I can make the bellows a little shorter by removing the dirt filter unit, this give a macro of 7X.

Fort Vancia

 

Built between 1874 and 1878, Fort Vancia is part of the second defensive belt of the city of Lyon. France. Designed by General Séré de Rivières, the 14 forts, including Fort Vancia, served to protect the city from Prussian and Italian invasions. The secondary objective was to contain Lyon's uprisings such as the Canuts' Revolt (1831, 1834, and 1848).

 

Covered in vegetation, Fort Vancia is intentionally inconspicuous, cleverly concealed from potential attacks but high enough to overlook the Ain plains and potential enemies. The total area encompassing the land around the fort is 240,000 m² (24 hectares). 57,000 m² in the Rillieux-la-Pape area, 120,000 m² in the Sathonay-Village area, and the remaining 63,000 m² still belong to the French Army. The built-up area of 16,000 m² could accommodate 500 men in peacetime and up to 800 in wartime. The fort was equipped with an infirmary, two kitchens, a bakery with two bread ovens, two powder magazines, two stables, three wells, one of which is still in use, as well as numerous military units. During the Second World War, before the area was occupied by the Germans, the northern ditch surrounding the fort was used as a test bench for the first French liquid-fueled rocket, designed clandestinely in Lyon by Colonel Jean-Jacques Barré.

 

At the end of the war, the army quartered reservists and volunteers there, also serving as a training center for construction trades before welcoming troops leaving for Algeria in 1962. It was then the training ground for the 99th regiment of Sathonay-Camp and its reservists from the 299th until 1990. From 2002, the Fort opened to the public every year during the European Heritage Days, the 3rd weekend of September with guided tours, upon registration. Since 2015, the Vanci’Aventure company has offered treetop adventure courses in part of the Fort and on the walls of the moat for all ages. In 2016, the Joint Agricultural Exploitation Group ‘les pleurotes rhodaniennes’ moved into one of the barracks for mushroom production. Recently, following the restoration of the wood-fired ovens, the Fortnil company has been producing bread sold in local shops and markets. Today, the fort is home to seven other businesses and a woodcarving workshop. A flock of 30 sheep helps maintain the 50,000 m² of outdoor space.

 

I noticed that the 2-km promenade around Fort Vancia is particularly confortable by very hot days, being protected by the dense trees population rendering the fort completely invisible. The temperature could a few degrees less than elsewhere. The entrance courtyard is beautifully shaded by majestic plane tree where the cars could be left, protected from the intense sun.

 

For a second photo session on August 16, 2025 (also a very hot day), I brought along with me my backup Olympus OM-1 SLR camera (see below for details) fitted with its standard lens G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.4 f=50 mm. The lens was equipped either with a 49mm anti-UV protective filter or an orange one, plus an original Olympus OM-System soft shade hood. The camera was loaded with the novel black-and-white film Kentmere Pan 200 from Ilford Harman Technology Ltd, UK. The film integrate the Kentmere line of products with the yellow color between the Kentmere Pan 100 (cyan color) and the Kentmere Pan 400 (magenta color) with an intermediate sensitivity of 200 ISO. The emulsion is coated on a 0.125mm thick regular cellulose tri-acétate base, uncommonly very clear without the traditional grey or blueish anti-halo mask.

 

Frames were exposed following my external Minolta Autometer III either with its 10° selective viewer or the opalescent dome for incident metering (200 ISO with an anti-UV filter or 100 ISO with the orange filter).

 

View Nr. 15: 1/250s f/8 focusing @ 10m, Genaco YA2 Orange filter.

 

Au Fort de Vancia, August 16, 2025

Neighboring corn culture

Chemin de Sathonay

69140 Sathonay-Village

France

 

After the last view exposed (Nr. 26), the film was developed iwith 350 mL of Adox Adonal developer (identical to the original Agfa Rodinal in its formula of 1891) prepared at the dilution 1+25 . The film was processed for 10 min at 20°C.

 

Digitizing was made using a Sony A7 camera (ILCE-7, 24MP) held on a Minolta macro Auto Bellow device fitted with Minolta Macro Bellow lens 1:3.5 f=50mm with the Minolta slide duplication accessory. The light source was a LED panel (approx. 4x5') CineStill Cine-lite.

 

The RAW files obtained were inverted within the latest version of Adobe Lightroom 14 (14.5, August 2025) and edited to the final jpeg pictures without intermediate file. They are presented either as print files with frame or the full size JPEG's possibly together with some documentary smartphone color pictures.

  

-----------------

 

About the camera :

 

My Olympus OM-1 MD was purchased from a local photography shop in Lyon, France, May 31, 2022.

 

Olympus OM-1 MD was commercially available from 1974 to 1978 and represented the fully mechanical SLR of a new class ("miniature SLR's") , smaller and lighter than any other SLR's of that time. It prefigured the size of most of the SLR's of the 80's.

 

The kit included the normal lens G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.4 f=50 mm in perfect condition, a Zuiko Auto-Zoom 1:4 f=75-150 mm with Olympus original rigid case, a Sigma Tele-Macro x2 converter, a small flash Olympus PE200 (GN 14 at 100 ISO) with case, A Crystal Titanium x 0.48 wide-angle converter (still never tested), and several 49 mm filters.

 

This specific OM-1 MD was constructed in Jan. 1976 according to the printed reference "ス ("su ") 615" on the back of the film plate.

 

Recently, while checking the camera (as I do periodically), I found the body blocked with impossibility to cock the shutter with the advance lever while I did not notice any trouble during the last two films done with it during the last winter. I found from eBay in Germany a spare OM-1 body while waiting the response of my local repair service if my OM-1 could be salvaged or not. My backup OM-1 is in a very good condition. The CdS light meter is working but completely out of calibration. The focusing screen is very clean and has the horizontal stigmometer while the other OM-1 has a 45° tilted one. The light seals and mirror dampers were renewed by the seller.

  

 

__________________________________________________

Outlining a Theory of General Creativity . .

. . on a 'Pataphysical projectory

 

Entropy ≥ Memory ● Creativity ²

__________________________________________________

 

Study of the day:

 

. . / . .

 

__________________________________________________

rectO-persO | E ≥ m.C² | co~errAnce | TiLt

(Rockaway Beach, New York)

Just testing this Fuji System and I'm happy with it.

 

Please do not use this picture for any kind of media for any objectives without my expressed permission.

Machine and objective: Canon EOS 450D,Sigma 18-200mm DC OS.

Locale: España, Cantabria, Picos de Europa, Potes.

Photographer: F.MartínezLedesma

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Velocidad: 1/60s

ISO: 100

Apertura: f5,0

Focal: 28mm.

 

Siempre sueña y apunta más alto de lo que sabes que puedes lograr.

- William Faulkner -

 

Always dream and aim higher than you know you can achieve.

- William Faulkner -

 

Cree siempre en tus sueños, lucha por ellos hasta llegar a lo más alto, la recompensa te hará muy feliz.

- F.MartínezLedesma -

  

…Nunca me han interesado ni el poder ni la fortuna lo que admiro son las flores que crecen en la basura…

 

DERECHOS DE AUTOR:

Todas las fotografias de este sitio, estan protegidas por el real Decreto Legislativo 1/1996, de 12 de abril, por el que se aprueba el texto Refundido de la LEY DE PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL. Queda totalmente prohibida su reproducción total o parcial sin el expreso consentimento de su autor. Si estás interesado en adquirir alguna copia, o los derechos de reproducción de alguna de las fotografias aqui publicadas, contacta con el autor. Si la finalidad de las fotografias deseadas no es con fines lucrativos, igualmente debes contactar con el autor indicando el uso que se dará a las imagenes.

 

COPYRIGHT:

All photographs on this site are protected by Royal Decree Law 1 / 1996 of 12 April, approving the revised text of the Copyright Law. It is strictly forbidden to reproduce in whole or in part without the express consent from the author. If you are interested in purchasing any copy or reproduction rights for any of the photographs published here, please contact the author. If the desired purpose of the photographs is not for profit, you should also contact the author indicating the use which will be the images.

 

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

no comment needed

 

Finally!

I decided to treat myself and buy the lens of my dreams

my new love...

 

Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 5x Objective

 

Infinity corrected metallurgical brightfield plan apochromat long working distance lens

 

Magnification 5x

NA 0.14

WD 34.0mm

Focal Length 40mm

Resolving Power 2.0µm

Depth of Field 14µm

 

Can't wait to try it . . .

 

Machine and objective: Canon EOS 450D, Sigma 18-200mm DC OS.

Locale: España, Sevilla (Sierra), Castaño de Robledo.

Photographer: F.MartínezLedesma

Twitter

Facebook

  

Velocidad: 1/30s

ISO: 400

Apertura: f10

Focal: 18mm

 

Nunca es largo el camino que conduce a la casa de un amigo.

- Juvenal -

Never is a long road to the house of a friend.

- Juvenal -

 

Usa el camino que te lleve a momentos maravillosos y momentos de alegrías, no dudes en llevar siempre a tus amigos para poder disfrutar aun más...

- F.MartínezLededma -

 

…Nunca me han interesado ni el poder ni la fortuna lo que admiro son las flores que crecen en la basura…

 

DERECHOS DE AUTOR:

Todas las fotografias de este sitio, estan protegidas por el real Decreto Legislativo 1/1996, de 12 de abril, por el que se aprueba el texto Refundido de la LEY DE PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL. Queda totalmente prohibida su reproducción total o parcial sin el expreso consentimento de su autor. Si estás interesado en adquirir alguna copia, o los derechos de reproducción de alguna de las fotografias aqui publicadas, contacta con el autor. Si la finalidad de las fotografias deseadas no es con fines lucrativos, igualmente debes contactar con el autor indicando el uso que se dará a las imagenes.

 

COPYRIGHT:

All photographs on this site are protected by Royal Decree Law 1 / 1996 of 12 April, approving the revised text of the Copyright Law. It is strictly forbidden to reproduce in whole or in part without the express consent from the author. If you are interested in purchasing any copy or reproduction rights for any of the photographs published here, please contact the author. If the desired purpose of the photographs is not for profit, you should also contact the author indicating the use which will be the images.

 

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

This was taken on 70th St, between Park and Lexington Ave.

 

I have no idea what was really going on here .... but hey! They don't call this place the Big Apple for nothing!

 

Note: I chose this as my "photo of the day" for May 20, 2014.

  

***************

 

This set of photos is based on a very simple concept: walk every block of Manhattan with a camera, and see what happens. To avoid missing anything, walk both sides of the street.

 

That's all there is to it …

 

Of course, if you wanted to be more ambitious, you could also walk the streets of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. But that's more than I'm willing to commit to at this point, and I'll leave the remaining boroughs of New York City to other, more adventurous photographers.

 

Oh, actually, there's one more small detail: leave the photos alone for a month -- unedited, untouched, and unviewed. By the time I actually focus on the first of these "every-block" photos, I will have taken more than 8,000 images on the nearby streets of the Upper West Side -- plus another several thousand in Rome, Coney Island, and the various spots in NYC where I traditionally take photos. So I don't expect to be emotionally attached to any of the "every-block" photos, and hope that I'll be able to make an objective selection of the ones worth looking at.

 

As for the criteria that I've used to select the small subset of every-block photos that get uploaded to Flickr: there are three. First, I'll upload any photo that I think is "great," and where I hope the reaction of my Flickr-friends will be, "I have no idea when or where that photo was taken, but it's really a terrific picture!"

 

A second criterion has to do with place, and the third involves time. I'm hoping that I'll take some photos that clearly say, "This is New York!" to anyone who looks at it. Obviously, certain landscape icons like the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty would satisfy that criterion; but I'm hoping that I'll find other, more unexpected examples. I hope that I'll be able to take some shots that will make a "local" viewer say, "Well, even if that's not recognizable to someone from another part of the country, or another part of the world, I know that that's New York!" And there might be some photos where a "non-local" viewer might say, "I had no idea that there was anyplace in New York City that was so interesting/beautiful/ugly/spectacular."

 

As for the sense of time: I remember wandering around my neighborhood in 2005, photographing various shops, stores, restaurants, and business establishments -- and then casually looking at the photos about five years later, and being stunned by how much had changed. Little by little, store by store, day by day, things change … and when you've been around as long as I have, it's even more amazing to go back and look at the photos you took thirty or forty years ago, and ask yourself, "Was it really like that back then? Seriously, did people really wear bell-bottom jeans?"

 

So, with the expectation that I'll be looking at these every-block photos five or ten years from now (and maybe you will be, too), I'm going to be doing my best to capture scenes that convey the sense that they were taken in the year 2013 … or at least sometime in the decade of the 2010's (I have no idea what we're calling this decade yet). Or maybe they'll just say to us, "This is what it was like a dozen years after 9-11".

 

Movie posters are a trivial example of such a time-specific image; I've already taken a bunch, and I don't know if I'll ultimately decide that they're worth uploading. Women's fashion/styles are another obvious example of a time-specific phenomenon; and even though I'm definitely not a fashion expert, I suspected that I'll be able to look at some images ten years from now and mutter to myself, "Did we really wear shirts like that? Did women really wear those weird skirts that are short in the front, and long in the back? Did everyone in New York have a tattoo?"

 

Another example: I'm fascinated by the interactions that people have with their cellphones out on the street. It seems that everyone has one, which certainly wasn't true a decade ago; and it seems that everyone walks down the street with their eyes and their entire conscious attention riveted on this little box-like gadget, utterly oblivious about anything else that might be going on (among other things, that makes it very easy for me to photograph them without their even noticing, particularly if they've also got earphones so they can listen to music or carry on a phone conversation). But I can't help wondering whether this kind of social behavior will seem bizarre a decade from now … especially if our cellphones have become so miniaturized that they're incorporated into the glasses we wear, or implanted directly into our eyeballs.

 

Oh, one last thing: I've created a customized Google Map to show the precise details of each day's photo-walk. I'll be updating it each day, and the most recent part of my every-block journey will be marked in red, to differentiate it from all of the older segments of the journey, which will be shown in blue. You can see the map, and peek at it each day to see where I've been, by clicking on this link

 

URL link to Ed's every-block progress through Manhattan

 

If you have any suggestions about places that I should definitely visit to get some good photos, or if you'd like me to photograph you in your little corner of New York City, please let me know. You can send me a Flickr-mail message, or you can email me directly at ed-at-yourdon-dot-com

 

Stay tuned as the photo-walk continues, block by block ...

mixed media painting

Dead Objectives performing at the Star and Garter, Manchester, on Sunday 20th January 2019