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Memories Themes

From Memories to Themes

Reflecting on my Memories

There we have it: over the past 81 days I’ve posted each of my Pictures of the Day with a weekly bulletin summarising the previous week’s pictures. I’ve published all these through my social media sites: on Twitter; Facebook; Instagram and LinkedIn.

A bright yellow lock against a fades white shed door. I have adopted this as my avatar across my social media sites

I’ll write another blog about how this has helped me reach out to more interested people, but for now and for each and every one of you… THANK YOU for your continued interest and support.

I hope you have enjoyed reliving my Pictures of the Day during the last 81 days of Covid-19 lockdown? It has certainly helped me through some challenging days, but I know that having the routine and focus to see this through has afforded me a unique opportunity to review and reflect on the last two years of travelling.

Covid-19 Lockdown

Much as we would all like life to return to ‘normal’, I take the view that we will remain under different restrictions for some time to come until widespread confidence is restored with the removal of ‘social distancing’. An expression that currently means different things to different people in different parts of the country; and equally for those who respect or believe there is reason not to respect the guidelines.

A crowd at a pop up food market wiaiting for their lunch. They are all looking down at their mobile phones

For me, I will continue to avoid unnecessary travelling as much as possible, and consequently my plans to begin Part 2 of the end of the line travels will remain on hold. I admit I do miss my wanderings around London, so for now I intend to restrict my travels to walking around my local community and immediate surroundings, as I have a yearning to pick up my camera and carry on finding interesting stories to share. So watch out…

Memories to Themes

However, I’ve still been keeping myself busy. Some of you will have seen my video in which I share my ‘Picture of the Day’ book. This is a draft to help me visualise what the published version could look like. I had three copies printed which have been shared with my immediate family, however should anyone like a copy, do please get in touch

In the meantime, I continue to explore my best publishing options; so if anyone out there has any suggestions, please let me know.

I’ve also been busy over the last month reviewing my portfolio of almost 5,000 pictures, which I’ve now categorised. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work as I had no fixed plan in mind; but I let the pictures guide me.

I tried not to be too prescriptive with this, and it was evident early on that many pictures suited many categories – this was easily resolved. I use Google Photos to store all my pictures and by creating a new album for each category, I was able to label pictures into more than one album…and so my portfolio began to grow and take shape.

I now have 34 categorised albums collated into 5 major themes. So over the next 34 days, I’d like to continue sharing my favourite themed picture and use this as an opportunity to share some pictures which missed out on being printed before. 

A screen shot of part of my Google Photo album collection. This one has 24 icons aech representing a themed collection

It was a bit daunting deciding how to select one picture from a collection of up to 300, but nevertheless I set about this methodically. Firstly I reduced each collection down to my top 10-15 applying one of a number of criteria: Is it an obvious fit? Do I like it’s photographic quality? Does it tell a good story? Does it have an overall artistic style?

I then made my final selection based on which picture captured all four qualities. There was of course an override category – if I just simply like it.

So here’s to the next 34 days where you can help me decide if I’ve chosen well. Again, I’ll post a picture each day with a weekly summary setting out my reasons for their selection.

Introducing my Themes

The themes are a personal reflection on how I see the world and life. Some may not agree with my interpretation, but isn’t that what makes life interesting?

A gent waiting at the top of an escalator ar Heathrow airport looking away from the camera. IN the backgrouns, there's a poster of a police woman with a welcoming outstretched arm in the gent's direction.

…and here they are! So please look out for my daily posts, and if you find them of interest, I’d be delighted if you would share my story with others.

  • Themes – Social: People; Food & Drink; Sport; Religion; Retail; Remembering; Neglect & AntiSocial
  • Themes – Travel: Trains; Road Vehicles; Boats; Air Carriers; Bridges & Tunnels; Walkways; Platforms
  • Themes – Architecture: Residential; Industrial; Stations; Commercial; Windows & Doors; Station Fixtures & Fittings; Street Furniture
  • Themes – The Arts & Design: Sculptures & Statues; Street Signs; Patterns & Symbols; Station Names; The Arts; Entertainment
  • Themes – The Natural World: Creatures; Vegetation; The Thames; Waterways; Skyscapes; Night Time; Reflections