Every picture is a memory. Every time we press the shutter on the camera we are freezing a moment of history so we can preserve it forever. It sounds monumentous doesn't it, but it's not: Facebook will certainly tell you otherwise. I log on each day to see the myriad of photos that my so-called 'friends' vomit onto my homepage. Not only do people upload a sequence of the same picture - I have two of them so why not use them - but the other people in the picture will also post their versions of it. The result? Monster albums clogging up the internet providing the CIA with plenty of material should anyone need blackmailing in the future...


It is an age-old question, though. How do we make our holiday photos interesting to the general public? How do we step away from the necessity to have 'been there' to really appreciate someone else's pictures? And, while we're at it, how can we remove this insane fashion for de-tagging and portraying this hideously false image on Facebook? There is no hard and fast solution - no tried and tested method to solve this, but I think I may have hit upon a compromise.


May I invite you to read on...

Tuesday, 3 April 2012

Cross-Cultural Relations

Sometimes my life in Italy put me in a real quandry. I fell in love with Italy, the Italian culture, the Italian people, Italian coffee... That said, there were some occasions that above all I just wanted a cup of PG Tips with proper water; I craved roast dinners; I longed for Pimms...

I wished that I could find an appropriate hybrid with the best of British and the best of la dolce vita. Compromise was of course key, but I think I managed to get by quite happily. My parents sent me four boxes of PG Tips and I bought a funny Italian teapot; I turned my nose up at instant coffee and drank only the full-bodied Italian stuff (out of a Moka); I ate my pasta al dente; I showed my roommate how to make scones; I took a casual attitude to queueing; I watched Spooks and Never Mind the Buzzcocks of an evening; I got tanned; my blonde hair went blonder; I supported England in the World Cup; I supported Ferrari in the Formula 1; I drank Pimms in the afternoon and a Spritz at aperativo time. The Toyota Prius has nothing on me.

Anyway, this is all well and good, but I wanted to sum this up in a picture, and a jumping picture at that. I think I've managed it quite well: a cricket jumper and one of Italy's more ramshackled train stations...

Mind the Gap
Verona, Italy, 2010
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Location: Piazzale Porta Vescovo, Verona Province of Verona, Italy

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