Faust/us

On the day that I caught up with Mephistopheles there seemed to be a sponsorship deal in the offing with Café Nero.  This is the World Premiere of an innovative new solo version of the classic tale of a man who sold his soul to the devil.  The performance fuses animation, mixed media, and physical theatre to retell the tragic story of Doctor Faustus the notorious philosopher and reputed magician and necromancer.

By DBS Productions www.dbs-productions.co.uk

 at Sweet Grassmarket

All photographs copyright 2012

Please be in contact if you wish to use them

phhsykes@googlemail.com

www.flickr.com/photos/phhsykes

www.phhsykes.blogspot.co.uk

www.phhsykes.co.uk

Sophie's Smokin' Squeezebox

With Sophie Crafts on accordion, “playing back Student Loans,” never sounded so good.  Squeezing is believing.

http://sophiessmokinsqueezebox.webs.com
http://sophiessmokinsqueezebox.blogspot.com

Day 1 Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe is out on full display

The crowds are beginning to fill the Edinburgh streets and some performers are entertaining them on the cobbles and tarmac whilst others are tempting of the streets with the lure of artistic performance.  The Edinburgh Festival 2012 has begun and there’s room for everyone.

All photographs copyright 2012

Please be in contact if you wish to use them

phhsykes@googlemail.com

www.flickr.com/photos/phhsykes

www.phhsykes.blogspot.co.uk

www.phhsykes.co.uk

Good Morning Fungi after a Blood Moon

After trekking into the darkness to find a Blood Moon* we returned in the daylight finding wonders at our feet, well fungus at the very least.  These mushrooms caused quite some hilarity.  Well my affecting strange non-yoga like postures in order to get close up to my subjects did.  My 550D was quite new and in a spirit of scientific endeavour I enjoyed testing the strength left in me and the abilities of the camera and lens to capture these funguses on film.  These small flora spring up in the thousands almost from nowhere and seemingly return back to nowhere.  These shots are shared with the idea that some transient moments in life are not necessary to be, or maybe even worthy of being recorded but when they are documented then these records offer several windows into spaces we rarely choose to look.  For me these pictures bring back memories of a good morning and they also promise that there are more such mornings to come when the seemingly trivial might be alternatively noteworthy.

No funguses were harmed during the taking and making of these pictures.  None of the funguses featured here were picked, or eaten.  One photographer was harmed due his assuming improbable positions in order not to damage fungal growths.  A recovery cup of tea almost healed all ails for the damaged photographer.

*Blood Moon, or Bloodmoon is sometimes called a Hunter's Moon and is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon.  Occasionally the close orbit of the Moon brings a greater prominence and luminance to the Moon.  This was the case for the Blood Moon we had been seeking in a remote location beyond the glare of light pollution from modern cities.  Since the Moon's sidereal period differs from its synodic period, the perigee of the Moon (the point where it is closest to the Earth) does not stay in sync with the phases of the Moon.  Thus the Blood Moon does not correspond to any special timing of the Moon's distance from the Earth. This is why the Blood Moon is not, in general, brighter than any other regular full moon.

Toppled Tombstones St John The Baptist Church Dodworth

These pictures are from the second set taken in January 2012.  They show the brilliant sunlight bringing out the strong winter colours on frosty toppled tombstones in front of the church.  These stones were taken down from their original monumental positions when an area of the churchyard was cleared.  Many stones were taken from the churchyard but these were lined up as an ornamental feature outside the west door.  The sharp frost and bright sunlight made that morning a fantastic time to capture a changing view.  The sun brought warmth and light on to scene which dispelled the shadows and frost.  The churchyard setting had been completely transformed before I left.

When monuments carved to last the test of time are toppled for health and safety reason it seems a poor fate to have befallen the makers of final resting places.  Those that set these stones in place would probably have thought that their funerary monuments would stand defiant of the passage of time like those they had seen in ancient burial grounds.  Unfortunately the fate of the fallen is not as final as it might first be presumed.  Even the afterlife is beset with troublesome issues of land ownership and usage.  It was enlightening to contemplate the ever changing conditions in the cemetery as the morning sun drove away the frost and the old churchyard seemed to show how much room the cemetery clearance was making for future generations.

I often pass this church at all hours as it is close to my family home in South Yorkshire.  Several of my family are buried in this churchyard and I might one day be here too.  These images form testament for me from my present to both my past and future.  This collection is a reminder of where I have come from and where my paths may be leading to.

Wortley Mummers in Wortley South Yorkshire for the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations 4 June 2012

At the celebrations in Wortley it was great to catch the Mummers about their playing. Having a mix of traditional and contemporary themes and props the current performances seem to show the roots of much humour that is still enacted for us today. There was St George fighting another knight, with walk-ons for The Devil and Doctor Good, there was something for everyone. Mummers performances are a great part of feasts and fetes as they provide entertainment for all seasons.

Lady Tweedsmuir visited Wortley Hall one Christmas time in her childhood she later recounted a visit from the Mummers.
“I remember in a childish way being interested in the mummers, realising dimly that they came from an alien world, quite different to the ordered and staid mode of life in that staid and orderly household of Wortley Hall, and that they represented something historical, rough, and elemental.”

An extract from The Lilac and the Rose by Susan Tweedsmuir

Lady Tweedsmuir was an author herself and the wife of author John Buchan who wrote The Thirtynine Steps.

 

 

Pyramid Power on Portobello Beach Edinburgh Scotland

With the sun low in sky and a good days work done it was time to use the creative flow for a photographic construction.  By shooting into the sun with flash I was able to capture a scene with strong contrast livened up with bright highlights.  Just one image was chosen for a Lightroom makeover that lead to four images being stitched together.  These four images produce a central square that to me appeared like the wave formed foundations of a pyramid in the sand.  The four distinct points of reflected light at the centre of the stitched images are the focal point of the large image.  They are set to feature as a sun sign at the peak of the pyramid.  It is possible that the sun was the original inspiration for pyramid construction.  The pyramid power photograph was created with the light of the sun, the tidal action of the waves, the form of the sand the force of the winds.  The inclusion of photographic flash created the extra highlights needed to give four points of light at the peak of the pyramid.  Without the natural elements and the artificial light this image could not have been created.

Vintage Style Panorama Portobello Beach Edinburgh Scotland

Just outside Edinburgh there are several beautiful beaches.  These pictures show the beach at Portobello in the evening sunshine.  April this year has brought sun and snow, showers and winds.  These seashore pictures were taken in between photo sets featuring small figures and sea mice washed up on the shore by strong tides.

The photo tech details read as follows;

The original images were first of all given a warm up in Lightroom and then cut into a panorama or letter box format.  These images were then given vintage styling effects with a lightening vignette.

Canon 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens on an EOS 550D using Dorr DAF 42 P Power Zoom Flash Unit for Canon with inbuilt diffuser in place.  These small versions are rendered from RAW files which have been warmed up slightly.

 

The Christmas Dinner

It being 24 February 2012 it must be time for The Christmas Dinner.  These chocolates have been fascinating me for quite some while.  Today I have tasted of their chocolate goodness and can confirm that the wait was worth it.  Now all I have to do is find another box of Turkey shaped treats for a significant date in December.

In order to set off the embossed design on the box I have saturated the colours which darkens the overall images.  For some of the close-up pictures this would have left them too dark and made the chocolate look unappetising.  These images have been given the same vignette setting but they have not had the colour saturation increased.

If you are searching for Turkey themed chocolate treat then you need look no further than Hotel Chocolat.  There again it may be just a little early to stock up for midwinter festivals?  Time now to go and try another chocolate and to see what my resident tester in chief has to say.  There was a small outcry when the photographed chocolates were put away to see if they got a call back to the cake stand for more exposure.

Slow Growing Vegetable Love

When Andrew Marvell in To his Coy Mistress penned,

My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow.

It maybe that he was referring to perennial potent plant power that does not fade like the fickle nature of man.  It could be that vegetable love is more dependable even than fruit love as it grows more slowly and surely and can often be preserved for longer.  My vegetable love extends to hot summer moments spent inside large canvass enclosure viewing prized vegetables shown by experts and judged by committee.  I particularly enjoy seeing rosettes and certificates.

The marrows shown here are not show quality so they were shown the pot.  In his poem Marvell sound ready for dinner whether roasted, boiled or baked his vegetable love will remain for his Coy Mistress long after dinner is served.  He assures her that he will respect her in the morning when he sows new seeds in his allotment that will flower forth into fresh blooms furthering his fecund fidelity.  Sometimes vegetable love can seem so beautiful.

If plant passions are turgid within you now then please pause and prune your over amorous reaches before you partake of a little of the flavour of Mr Marvell’s The Garden;

The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine ;
The nectarine and curious peach
Into my hands themselves do reach ;
Stumbling on melons as I pass,
Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass.

This vegetable love has led me into a fruitful frame of mind.  I intend to dally a while further in fertile furrows foraging for fresh fodder.  From the earth do wonders rise that hold aloft the canopy of the skies.  With scarce a whispered hum nature calls all to march to her drum.

Pooka Dust

This is my hat which is often worn with goggles in place as pictured here.  Sometimes I take advantage of the goggles strap to hold my business cards in place.  At the rear of the hat you may see a white fluffy tail.  I enjoy referring to this as my Pooka Tale.  Not that it is a tail from a Pooka rather it is a conversation piece that supplies me with the opportunity to tell a tale of Pookas.  Of late the hat has been attracting strange dust like deposits.  I believe that some, if not all of these fluffings are occasioned when my head garb is borrowed by unseen wearers who sometimes leave a footprint, or two but never take a photograph!

The Pooka mythology has been around for many centuries.  Some relate that the name comes from Púca which is Irish for goblin.  With regional variations there are easily over a dozen different names that the shape shifting Pooka, or Puck has acquired.  To date his most famous recording might be found in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Titania ask Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow

Either I mistake your shape and making quite,
Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite
Call'd Robin Goodfellow: are not you he
That frights the maidens of the villagery;
Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern
And bootless make the breathless housewife churn;
And sometime make the drink to bear no barm;
Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?
Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck:
Are not you he?

(Act ii., Scene i.)

It may only be my night tripping dream like fantasy that the dust upon my hat is a clear indication of it being borrowed by friendly sprites, but it is nice to have a flight of fancy as long as you have safe landings.

For further reference see the film Harvey, 1950, with James Stewart and Harvey.

 

 

 

 

In Memoriam Tennyson Oxford Miniature Edition

In Memoriam Tennyson published by Henry Frowde London, printed by Horace Hart at Oxford (printer to the University)

In Memoriam by Alfred Lord Tennyson.  Oxford Miniature Edition. 7 x 9.7cm or 2.75 x 3.7 inches.  Published by Henry Frowde London, printed Horace Hart at Oxford (printer to the University).  Unpaginated (145 pp).  Missing a small portrait of Tennyson opposite title page.  Red leather like covers with gilt lettering on front and gilt edged pages.  Illustrated end pages different images front and rear water colour landscape scenes with quotes from the text.

The illustrations on the end pages are a brilliant surprise.  The landscape scenes are quite a shock when you open up the plain red cover.  For the size and age the inner illustrations are quite superb.

It feels like a real shame to put this item on shelf where the art work cannot be appreciated.

Pillar of cloud by day and fire by night

These picture shows a column of light in the sky which looked very biblical.  Unfortunately there was no great progression of the awe inspiring spectacle.  The pillar was fantastic enough in and of itself, but it almost seemed to promise a further revelation.  The sun on the right of the picture was obscured to some extent behind clouds.  The light from the sun was refracted by a separate cloud formation and the result looked like an illuminated column of cloud that could become a pillar of fire by night.  The title for this picture is inspired by the following description from Exodus.

“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.”

Exodus 13:21-22  King James Bible

I have no doubt the phenomenon pictured here was perfectly natural.  At first I was stunned by this lighting effect.  Luckily it lasted long enough for me to capture it by camera.  The column did appear to waver slightly and to offer the possibility of transforming its shape.  The luminance in the sky gave an impression that a brilliant development might be about to begin.  On one level it was like looking at a vertical rainbow and yet it was more unusual and so seemed more fantastic.

 

Imbolc Oimelc Star

My Google Calendar linked to Thelemic Holidays has been preparing me for the Feast of the Stars which it tells me is today.  My knowledge of this feast is goes little beyond the reminder that my calendar gives me and this only states the title and date.  I had plans to take a star picture today to mark Imbolc.  The light is now returning and the end of winter is beginning even if it will get colder yet at least it will also be brighter as the days lengthen.  Unfortunately for my plans the clouds have the covered the stars that I had intended to record for Imbolc, but the sheep pictured here are my Oimelc reference and the Sun is my starry inspiration for the Festival of Stars.  Oimelc is said to be the old festival name that celebrates the Ewe’s Milk or Oimelc returning as sign of the new vitality that comes back to us at this time each year.  Now I must go and research the Festival of Stars whilst I still have time.

Stellar Shades and Luna Shadows Midlothian Scotland

By the light of the moon and under the star filled heavens I was cold and happy to release a couple of different shutters to capture some long exposures.  I was using a Canon 550D and 5D Mark II.  The full frame sensor captures the night scenes far better as it renders the darker tones with more clarity and a lot less noise.   The landscape images 105 and 106 feature the power lines trailing through the night sky and those lines are echoed in the fields below where the grass has been cut in such a way as to create a linear pattern.  The lines in the sky and on the ground are picked out by the available lighting which gives varying prominence to the cables and to the cultivation.  The Moon and Venus were bright on the night when these images were created.  The constellation of Orion can be seen between the legs of the electricity pylon in pictures 101 – 104 and above the stone wall in pictures 107 and 108.

A tripod is essential for winter night photography and a remote release is recommended.  Using a timer release in cold conditions is quite taxing.  Very cold weather usually severely limits the working life of batteries.  Most of all look after yourself then you can enjoy your images without having to suffer the effects of the cold weather.

 

PHH Sykes

www.phhsykes.co.uk

Poppy Scotland Field of Remembrance Edinburgh November 2011

From Monday, 7th November from 11am until Sunday 13th November 2011 the first ever Field Of Remembrance was opened on Princes Street Gardens by the Scott Monument in Edinburgh.  These images are my record of this inaugural event which I hope will be continuing.  No matter how you think of conflict issues surely no one wants to see the loss of life.  The sections within the Field Of Remembrance included areas for civilians as well for serving personnel.  This was a poignant display of the lasting outcomes of war.

Further details

http://www.poppyscotland.org.uk

September Blooms

A few flowers and weeds, some fruits and seeds.  This is a photographic record of the wonders of nature both cultivated and wild.  These pictures record a garden and pasture in South Yorkshire in the United Kingdom.  September can be a surprisingly colourful month full of natural blooms, or it can begin to show the undoubtable decline into the bleak rigours of winter.  When the sun shines it as if summer might never end and yet there is often a chill in the wind that promises snow and ice.  So it is time to gather in the harvest and celebrate for that which has blossomed for us this year and for that which will preserve us through the coming winter.

September is a good time to record the last blooms and ripe blossoms.  The onset of winter creates a final surge from nature and this finale creates unusual fruits.  I like to take pictures of the strange shapes that grow perfectly well alongside the supposedly standard forms.  The cold nights start to get plants to settle into their dormant phases even as they are still blossoming.  The flowers are retreating and seeds are drying out on the stem ready to begin the cycle the again.  This is a great time to see the descent of the sap energy retreating into the soil.  This retreat is no set back it is a part of the way forward for without retreat at this time there will be a lesser return when the spring calls out for the sap to rise again.

The pictures here were created with a Canon 50mm macro lens on 5D Mark II.  The lighting was a brand new experiment for me.  I used a DÖRR DAF 42 Power Zoom.  This wonderful flash gun is equipped with an in built diffuser and manually adjustable zoom and power settings.  The control over light is quite superb.  When using macro lenses I have often experimented with various light sources to create effects.  Some of the best results are subtle transformations that allow pictures to reveal themselves to the viewer without the viewer considering the efforts that have created the visual effects.  The DAF 42 has an inbuilt slave function and that is superb for off camera lighting which gives stunning results.  The DAF 42 is not feature packed like the Canon 580EX II Speedlite but it has some praise worthy points that are not available with the 580 EX II such as the diffuser screen and the slave function.  The light settings on the Canon offer much greater low light control.  The two guns offer a great combination if you want a second unit, or have more than one body that needs a connected light source.

Le Grand Etteilla ou Tarot égyptien or Grand Etteilla Egyptian Gypsies Tarot

These Tarot cards were created by Jean-Baptiste Alliette and they were first issued around 1788.  This desk is significant as it is the earliest set of Tarot created under the supervision of a single visionary and for it to be specifically designed to be read and used for magical purposes.  These cards were named after the creator Alliette who reversed his name to form the Etteilla title for the cards.  Whether you favour these designs, or find faults within them these cards are the root of much modern Tarot.  The older traditional cards offer a glance back into the origins of Tarot.  These cards show us the dawn of modern magical interpretations and guide us towards our contemporary use of Tarot so from their point of production they shine a light into the future that is still bright for viewers to this day.

Alliette claimed to have learned the symbology of Tarot from an Italian contact.  As a Print Seller he would have seen many similar designs to those featured in his Tarot cards and he may have adapted existing designs to form the illustrations in his Tarot.  He was very particular about his cards having an upright position and a reversed position.  The interpretation of his Tarot depends upon the dignity of the card whether it be upstanding or upended.  These are the first cards known to be specifically designed to for Tarot readings.  Other earlier sets of cards were possible formed from designs used for playing, or gaming cards.  In 1790 Alliette publishes Cours theorique et pratique du livre de Thot, or, Theoretical and practical course in the book of Thot in which he distinguishes between the Major and Minor Arcana.

When Antoine Court, the self styled Court de Gébelin published Le Monde primitif in 1788 he popularized the notion that Tarot was founded on ancient Egyptian mysteries.  The idea of the Egyptians passing on knowledge of occult significance to European Gypsies gave rise to many spurious histories purporting to be academic revelations.  Alliette stated that his information was acquired prior to the publishing of Court de Gébelin’s books.  The claim and counter claim of various occultists has lead to much misinformation and the falsehoods leave a web of deceit that is a barrier to those endeavouring to find the origins of Tarot.  False histories were concocted in the hope that a historic pedigree would give confidence in the Tarot system being presented.  No matter what the true histories maybe the products can stand alone and be valued as works of imagination and art.  These beautiful cards show off the skills of Alliette who included technical details and artistic visions in this Tarot deck.

 

 

Rose Crystal Eye on the Stele of Revealing

The images presented here show the seven elements of the rose plant being prepared to make sweet the world.  Whilst producing rose incense recently for a Gnostic Mass the ingredients were arranged atop a Stele of Revealing.  The rose seeds, roots, stems, buds, leafs, flowers and fruits were placed there as a part of the preparation.  In accordance with the scene painted on the stele the seven parts of the plant were arranged over the altar depicted being used by the priest Ankh-af-na-khonsu to deliver his offerings to the gods.  The priest is also known as Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu i and Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu and he can be seen here in the leopard skin priestly regalia on the right hand side of the stele.

The lighting was set to show off the stele as if it were being displayed at noon in Cairo on the Spring Equinox.  The atmosphere required for the drying of the offerings was a shaded spot in the open air where the rose could dry out.  In all three light sources were used.  There was direct and indirect sun light with additional reflected photographic flash light.  In post processing the pictures were crafted to give the surface of the stele an appearance of gold leaf and of rich mineral pigment paints.  The original may have been created with gold and mineral paints so the images here are designed to show how the Stele of Revealing could have appeared in the past.

The Rose Crystal Eye is a crystal sphere that is used to create a new altered perspective for the viewer.  The shallow focus creates intended perceptions delicately guided by the depth of field and the sharpness of colour.    Using the crystal ball as a lens makes ephemeral images as each position of the ball, the lights and the angle of the camera gives a complete new impression.  On this shoot two lenses were used to give alternative views of the items recorded in the images.  One view is more removed or distant that the other.  When seen alongside each other the photographs form a wave of perception bringing the viewer in closer and then taking them away from the stele before repeating the wave again.  Oak panels were chosen to form the background on which the stele rested.  The flame grained oak was particularly good at catching the sun and showing that the stele had travelled from Egypt to Scotland where the oak furnishing are to be found.

The rose plant was selected for the incense as the stele was seen by Ourida or Rose Kelly in a vision.  In her role as a seer she gave directions for the stele to be found.  One of the reasons for the rose incense being prepared here is to recognise Rose Kelly’s role in bringing this stele to prominence.  The sweet perfume of the roses shown here will be used in a Gnostic Mass as an offering not unlike those that Ankh-af-na-Khonsu would have been used to.  The incense ingredients are dried and finally rolled into spheres which are burnt black.  The resulting dark orbs each look like a midnight sun which some say are sacred to Kephra.  Such a mix of symbolism is woven into the incense and so also into these pictures.  Without some of the brief explanations given in this article the pictures stand as colourful images using creative light techniques.  With the information provided here it maybe that the creation of the images can be viewed as an intricate process built around recording much information.  The images are vibrant and thought provoking even without the keys to their structure, but maybe the keys help to unlock the pictures even more for the viewer.

Photos on Flickr 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phhsykes/sets/72157627429127613/ 

 

Film on YouTube 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BzlOZseyOg