Photo Galleries Archives - Page 3 of 21

Oddities Portrayed in these Unusual Photographs

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 14 December 2016 0 Comment

Oddities prevail everywhere. Whether it is people with too much time on their hands who design the most exquisite but odd creations to an ape grooming a buck as if it were a fellow ape, the world has seen it all. Some are just happenstance – chance in modern parlance – being in the right place at the right time, such as a ship crashing into a pier or due to exquisite timing when a fish eagle catches a fish.

All in their own way are highly unusual. This blog reveals forty such eclectic oddities.

Main picture: Who would want to cycle around on a toilet? Clearly the designer / builder is not out to impress the females but rather his own ego.

Cape Town of Yore Pictorially

By Dean McCleland in Historical 8 December 2016 1 Comment

It is not that I am au fait with Cape Town but apart from Port Elizabeth, I possess a natural affinity for Cape Town. Besides spending three months in Cape Town performing a due diligence and many an Easter participating in the Two Oceans, I have never actually spent much time there.

Nonetheless photographs of the old Cape Town always appeal to me. Here are my latest batch.

Main picture: The majestic Table Mountain

Witness to the Birth of an Island

By Dean McCleland in Nature & Animals, Other Galleries 7 July 2016 0 Comment

Imagine sailing through the ocean and suddenly land rises in the middle of the sea with a plume of smoke arising from an underwater volcano. These unsuspecting sailors were witnessing the birth of an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in March 2016.

This is the incredible story of the crew of the yacht Maiken which was sailing through the south Pacific near the Vava’u Islands in Tonga. Oot the blue they noticed that the water in the distance had turned a strange colour. Then, as they approached it, the sea mysteriously turned to stone.

Main picture: The eruption occurred at an underwater seamount called Home Reef near the Vava’u Islands in Tonga

Beaches of D-Day: Images of June 1944 versus June 2016

By Dean McCleland in Military History, Other Galleries 15 June 2016 2 Comments

Seventy two years after the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy in France, are the places in these iconic images still recognisable today? Surprisingly most locations can still be identified 72 after that momentous and pivotal day.

Four years ago, Nigel and I traipsed across some of these beaches and cliffs. Standing at the German gun emplacements on Omaha Beach, one wonders how anybody could have survived the landing on this exposed beach.

Main picture: The sounds of Nazi jackboots have been replaced with the slap of sandals on the tar

Stunning Colourised Historical Photographs

By Dean McCleland in Historical 5 June 2016 0 Comment

This stunning array of colourised photographs showcases a bygone era. Amongst them is a photograph of Union soldiers in 1863 during the American Civil War. Another one shows Madison Square in 1900. Most like a pilot receiving a haircut beside his plane during the Battle of Britain represent prosaic yet enlightening scenes.

The First Colour Photographs of England

By Dean McCleland in Historical 3 June 2016 0 Comment

With my penchant for history and especially photographs of history, these photographs gripped my imagination. The technique used was rudimentary as it involved manually adding colour to black and white negatives. Foremost amongst the question that I would like to ask, is how long it took to colourise one B&W photo.

Main picture: Bridge and Promenade, Bedford

A Pictorial History of the Campanile in Port Elizabeth

By Dean McCleland in Historical, Port Elizabeth of Yore 31 May 2016 1 Comment

The Campanile was erected to commemorate the landing of the 1820 Settlers and is situated at the entrance to the railway station and docks in Strand Street, the spot where it is said the settlers landed in Port Elizabeth. The architects were Jones & McWilliams with construction starting in April 1921 and it was completed in October 1923.

Rare Photos of American History

By Dean McCleland in Historical 22 May 2016 0 Comment

These 40 photographs span the period from the advent of photography to the 1970s. They provide a glimpse into another world. For me, the most revealing photographs are those of the nineteenth century and the early 1900s. Being almost alien in the 21^st century, I find them both enchanting and repulsing in equal measure.

Main picture: a wood-plank prison in Wyoming, 1893

Lateral Thinkers with Time on their Hands

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 20 May 2016 0 Comment

Just when you thought that you had seen it all before, along comes somebody with time on your hands. Each in its own way illustrates a create spark that was actualised. As can be seen from these two dozen examples, it many instances the inventor/creator is merely using discarded items with a minimal monetary investment. Instead such investment is mainly or wholly in the artist’s time.

Just Don’t Look Down

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 19 May 2016 0 Comment

Especially if one suffers from acrophobia. It might be irrational but, for sufferers, they feel a sense of panic when they are at a certain height. When gripped with this fear, they are often unable to trust their sense of balance. If you are concerned for the safety of the users of these structures, what about the workers who constructed them?

Just a word of caution. Never attempt to take the ultimate selfie. It might well be the last one that you will ever take.

The Opinion Pieces are an eclectic bunch on current affairs & history often with a human interest aspect. The Movie/DVDs reviews are mainly on documentaries with a smattering of movie reviews.

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