In Durham Cathedral, with a camera
May. 31st, 2019 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustWhile the Bears were here a couple of weeks ago, GirlBear and I visited the Cathedral - my first time since the ban on photography was lifted. Don't expect the last word on the subject, or a carefully composed portfolio: as I said, first attempt, combined with enjoying GirlBer's company. But it would be a shame not to record the event.
Starting with a view of my favourite window. I don't know why: it's the Royal Air Force memorial window, and I wouldn't normally bond with a military memorial. It isn't ancient (unveiled in April 1948, according to someone on Flickr), the work of Hugh Easton. There's a Flickr group dedicated to his work, and a number of very familiar themes can be discerned. While there are some appealing details, I don't see anything that measures up to "mine".
What is it that appeals to me so very strongly? The combination of realism and not-realism, perhaps, those glorious art deco wings and the RAF uniform, not to mention the skyline of Durham (standing in for Jerusalem). For whatever reason, I'm very happy for it to be my first photograph under the new dispensation.
This richly decorative scene from the story of Moses is closer to what I would have expected to like. I'm not sure I've ever noticed it before:
The provenance is more my style, too: according to the people from the World Heritage site, it was designed in 1895 by Henry Holiday (who was also the illustrator of Lewis Caroll's The Hunting of the Snark).
'The Illumination Window' is the Cathedral's newest window, installed this spring as a memorial to Durham student Sara Pilkington, who died in 2012:
There are more pictures on the website of designer Mel Howse: like me, she seems to have found the derails more satisfying to photograph than the whole thing.
Stained glass in the background, this time, behind Bishop van Mildert, the founder of the University (he donated the Castle, leaving himself with only one castle to live in, in Bishop Auckland).
And an unidentified (by me) bishop having a snooze. I love those frilly sleeves.
... and out into the cloisters, where photography has always been permitted, and I have taken many variants of this picture. I see no reason to stop now...
Starting with a view of my favourite window. I don't know why: it's the Royal Air Force memorial window, and I wouldn't normally bond with a military memorial. It isn't ancient (unveiled in April 1948, according to someone on Flickr), the work of Hugh Easton. There's a Flickr group dedicated to his work, and a number of very familiar themes can be discerned. While there are some appealing details, I don't see anything that measures up to "mine".
What is it that appeals to me so very strongly? The combination of realism and not-realism, perhaps, those glorious art deco wings and the RAF uniform, not to mention the skyline of Durham (standing in for Jerusalem). For whatever reason, I'm very happy for it to be my first photograph under the new dispensation.
This richly decorative scene from the story of Moses is closer to what I would have expected to like. I'm not sure I've ever noticed it before:
The provenance is more my style, too: according to the people from the World Heritage site, it was designed in 1895 by Henry Holiday (who was also the illustrator of Lewis Caroll's The Hunting of the Snark).
'The Illumination Window' is the Cathedral's newest window, installed this spring as a memorial to Durham student Sara Pilkington, who died in 2012:
There are more pictures on the website of designer Mel Howse: like me, she seems to have found the derails more satisfying to photograph than the whole thing.
Stained glass in the background, this time, behind Bishop van Mildert, the founder of the University (he donated the Castle, leaving himself with only one castle to live in, in Bishop Auckland).
And an unidentified (by me) bishop having a snooze. I love those frilly sleeves.
... and out into the cloisters, where photography has always been permitted, and I have taken many variants of this picture. I see no reason to stop now...
no subject
Date: 2019-06-01 02:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-02 10:35 am (UTC)Well, yes, it's a seraph: "with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered." (But it doesn't seem to be covering its face...)