Posts tagged ‘Photograhy’

Jan 1

New Year 2015: Starting as I mean to carry on

I am a great believer in starting something as I mean to carry on, and if New Year’s Day 2015 is any indication of how the 364 days to come, then I cannot wait to enjoy each and every one of them. For waking up on 1st January of any year is always an experience of great hope for me – it may just be the difference of a day or the turn of a calendar, but with each new year there is a fresh benchmark by which a new list of ambitions and objectives can be measured, and other unfinished and unfulfilled projects relegated to the past. However this year’s 1st January was even more drizzled with the sweet nectar of hope – for how else can a person feel, when waking to bright blue skies, dazzling Mediterranean sunshine, and knowing that this place is not just a holiday destination, but a home.

The day that followed this happy awakening has been one of colours to cradle, flavours to savour, and sounds to nurture. For the sounds, the Vienna New Year’s Concert provided the perfect melodious backdrop to my morning’s cooking, a few hours hard labour which produced a mouthwateringly tender roast chicken with a rich cava-infused gravy and sweetly caramelised apples. So that was the flavour, and as for the colour – a sun-drenched barely-Wintery Palma de Mallorca was waiting just outside the window, and with lunch barely digested, Dominik and I rushed out into the streets to savour all of the splendid vistas which this city so unceasingly affords.

And of course the record of all these New Year’s treats is in the photos I’m posting, or at least the sights of our day are recorded this way. For the flavour of the food, I’m afraid you’ll need to get yourself an invite… And if you weren’t listening to the New Year’s concert in Vienna, I suggest you find yourself a clip on TV catch-up while you still can. But for the sights of my day at least, I come with gifts aplenty – a post full of photos freshly uploaded from a New Year’s day full of hope for the 12 months ahead.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2015 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 3

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The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week: The Napoli Puddle of Mystery

Following on from the all sparkling, all dancing spectacle of yesterday’s Italian festive lights post, today’s post, and indeed this week’s Daily Norm photograph of the week, focuses specifically on one photo from Italy which, like yesterday, features Christmas lights, but is characterised by an altogether different mood. With its gloomy dark lighting, this photograph is an altogether more mysterious image, one which feels edgy, and almost intimidating, as though we have emerged from the darkness which surrounds the frame of the photo. In the sinister blue glow, the glistening cobbles of a Naples street can be seen, fresh after a recent rainfall. The crack down the cobbles, which has collected more water owing to the incline of the road runs almost like a wound through the centre of the photo; while the puddle in the centre, reflecting the street decorations hung above, looks like some kind of mysterious magical cauldron, filled with a potion created with a sorcerer’s touch.

The fact of the matter is that no matter how fantastical my description, or indeed the finish of this photo may be, it was taken in the notoriously dark, gloomy and at times dangerous streets of Naples’ old town one December evening after the rain. Because of the rainfall, the usually crowded streets were near deserted, and the shop keepers had shut up shop for the night. That made the area, with its dark unforgiving alleyways no friend of the guileless tourist, and for me this photo carries with it the dark edginess of the mood prevailing at that time. Needless to say, shortly after it was taken my partner and I ran off to the safety of our hotel, my camera safely stowed away as we did so!

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2013 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.