Temporary

 

In a month I'll be in a new apartment in a new city, arranging books, dishes, toiletries, and electronics. Everything in my current home feels temporary, like this ad hoc stand replacing the old stand that got thrown away. 

Everything you need to know about a cat

 

Mandu

 

Woman Selling Mandu (dumplings) in Central Market, Gangneung.

Winter is probably the best time to visit Korea if you are interested in street food. Sweet potatoes and chestnuts roasted in barrels, pancakes stuffed with brown sugar and cinnamon, fish-shaped pastries (bungeobbang) filled with various sweet pastes, stir-fried rice cake in sweet-and-spicy sauce, boiled fish paste on a stick (sounds gross described in English, but is delicious), stuffed steamed buns, and dumplings. On a cold day, the steam rising from food stalls draws in crowds of hungry people and the occasional photographer.

Two Portfolios - Vehicles and The Bottom Drawer

 

The streets are full of vehicles. And the alleys are full of vehicles. And often the sidewalks are full of vehicles. It's really an unavoidable subject for my photography.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzzeAx

My final portfolio for the years 2005-2021 is small and just contains photos that I like but didn't fit into a group.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzzfUL

And that's it for my best and/or favourite photos from the beginning of my life until the end of 2021.  Selecting and collecting them gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand, I think there are some strong photos in my portfolios. On the other hand, I think, "That's it?" Well, I'm not dead yet and each year seems to result in more keepers than the year before. Maybe next year is the year for The Masterpiece . . . .

Thanks for looking at my albums and I hope you saw something that you liked.

Portfolio - Traditional Korea

Pavilion Roof and Tree

 Although Korean cities are grey and soulless, traditional architecture and art are beautiful. I spend a lot of time visiting and revisiting historical sites in the Gangneung area. I've put my favourite photos into a portfolio separate from more modern architecture.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzz8w5

Portfolio - People

 

Downtown Alley, Gangneung.

People. What a bunch of bastards. - Roy Trenneman (IT Crowd)

Most of the people in this portfolio probably aren't bastards.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzyU49

Portfolio - Anthropocene Landscapes

 

Landscapes with the human touch. For better or worse.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzyy6P

Portfolio - Landscape

 

With the exception of four photos, all the pictures in my landscape portfolio are of clouds. And even some of the non-sky photos have clouds in them, like the one above. I hope you like blue . . . .

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzye6n

Portfolio - Architecture

 

Shinyeong Cinema, Gangneung

The Miracle on the Han River is the name for Korea's rapid modernisation and economic development after the Korean War and the following few decades. If you go to some cities now you can find large, impressive skyscrapers. In the same cities and in rural areas you can find beautiful traditional buildings that have been restored and well-maintained. 

But you can also find narrow alleys and crumbling neighbourhoods that never got a makeover. Behind brand new apartment complexes with all the latest smart technology are abandoned farm houses with missing doors and windows. On a street next to a multiplex building is a tiny shop in a building with flaking paint and big pipes running down the side. It's those kind of places I usually look for when out with a camera.

My Architecture Portfolio includes new and old buildings, as well as things like fences and city infrastructure. I'm not sure 'architecture' is the most accurate name for this portfolio. Perhaps someone will have a better suggestion.

You can see this collection at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzxCNQ.

Portfolio - Animals

Curious Cows, Gangneung.

During my recent photographic slump I decided to create a portfolio of my best pictures. Out of eleven thousand pictures from 2005 to 2021 I narrowed my choice down to one hundred and sixty. An average of ten good images a year. Not bad? Anyway, it's too many to throw into a single album on Flickr or Google with any sense of organisation, and more than anyone wants to look at in one sitting. I divided the photos by subject and put them into more reasonably sized collections. I'm going to upload them to Flickr and share the links here as I finish them.

The first portfolio up on Flickr is a collection of animal photos. The cows above make an appearance and my cat Amice is there as well. There's even a black chicken I followed around for a while.

I hope you enjoy the small collection.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzxmFL

 

Restart

 

The Mannequin Reflects

About six weeks ago I stopped writing and uploading photographs to this website. I also stopped visiting other websites and tried to reduce my screen time in general. An interest in digital minimalism was one reason for this, but I gave up posting for a number of reasons.
All of those other reasons are directly or indirectly connected to quality. I wasn't satisfied with the pictures I was posting and I often uploaded uninteresting pictures because I was rushing to get something/anything on the blog several times a week. I did that because I once read that posting to a blog regularly is necessary if you want to maintain and increase readership. But I realise now that improving statistics isn't really important to someone like me who does blogging for a hobby. Because I was uploading photos to meet an unnecessary deadline, I wasn't properly separating the wheat from the chaff. And I wasn't taking the time to say anything intelligent or half-interesting about the photos I posted. In fact, I often felt I had nothing to say at all.
So why start again?  Two reasons, really. One, I want to improve my writing, and publishing something on a regular schedule regardless of frequency is a good way to do this. Two, I think photos need to be shared. I've been taking photos for the past couple of months but just looking at them on my computer. Sometimes I share them with pen friends but mostly they just sit on my hard drive. Maybe it's vanity to want to share my pictures publicly on a website, but it's the next best thing to having an exhibition at a gallery. And a lot cheaper. Who knows, perhaps someone will get pleasure from looking at my photographs.
I am going to make some changes instead of carrying on with the blog as it was. I'd like to post a greater variety of things. Photographs, of course. But also my thoughts on various subjects and perhaps some of my experiences. The danger with writing about those things is that I might just rant and complain. So writing drafts and editing, editing, editing will be important. Maybe I'll also share some creative writing. Now and then I write a poem or a story that isn't too bad. I'm not expecting to sell to magazines, so posting here should be fine. Again, I need to save drafts and edit edit edit before clicking 'Publish'. If I can't be great, I can at least not be crap.
Several blogs and websites I started in the past lie on the bottom of Cyberspace's rubbish bin. This blog almost joined them, but I would like to have another go at it. Maybe no one will read this, but I'll use it as a place to practise arete. Excellence through the practice of writing and photography, and excellence through critical editing.