I find it hard to walk past any rusty item in the street without assessing it's photographic potential. Which is why you can find a few of my favourite rusty metal shots on this site.
It's even better if a single photo combines my love of rust and of inanimate faces. Although — rather like the robot WALL-E (who had difficulty classifying sporks, if you missed the movie) — deciding which of these two projects they should be added to needed some thought.
Since spending a very enjoyable time in Seville a few years ago Spain has been firmly on my list of places to explore. It's taken a while to get round to a return visit, but a few weeks ago I set our for Valencia.
Granada, with the nearby Alhambra, was my first thought as a destination and looked like a good bet for some good winter weather. After investigating further transport practicalities suggested that Valencia might be a little easier at this time of year and, since it sits on Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast the prospects of catching some sunshine looked equally good. As Spain's third largest city (after Madrid and Barcelona) it certainly had plenty of streets to roam — thanks to GPS I know I walked around 40 miles — and no shortage of things to do.
The resulting photos? Follow the link here.
I was taking photos in London at the weekend when it started to rain. Having forgotten my umbrella I took shelter in a doorway while waiting for it to clear, keeping my camera ready in case something interesting happened. And after around half an hour, it finally did.
Possibly an escapee from a stag weekend, a man appeared and headed in my direction, carrying a dripping wet fluorescent pink wig in his hand and wearing a very damp fluorescent yellow onesie. Not something I see every day of the week.
While I'm sure it would be would be very interesting, fortunately it's not me that has to process the film, but the Rescued Film Project. The Rescued Film Project is dedicated to rescuing, processing and online-archiving old rolls of film that never made it to the processing lab.
Last year they had a donation of 1,200 rolls of film, all shot in the 1950s by the same photographer. And, to make them even more interesting, the photographer went to great trouble to note the contents of each film and date them, before packaging them up in cigar boxes, protected with multiple layers of newspaper, aluminium foil and athletic tape.
As you might imagine, developing the photos is going to cost money, so the Project has launched an appeal for funds. You can find the appeal, and more details of the find, on Indiegogo. I'm sure they'd appreciate your support.
While shooting at the Chinese New Year celebrations in London at the weekend, I came across Zac Goldsmith being interviewed in the street. Since he wasn't wearing a monkey mask or a dragon hat, I guess he was pursuing his campaign to be London Mayor. And naturally I couldn't walk past without taking a photo. It doesn't belong in the Chinese New Year album, but if you'd like to see it then hit the 'read more' link.
Are you thinking of throwing out some old snapshots - or maybe the old family albums that have been collecting dust in the attic for years? Don't do it!
Yes, thanks to the Internet, your unwanted photos can now be rehoused - irrespective of their quality, condition, size or content. All you need to do is to package them up and put them in the post.
The Photo Fostering Project is based in the UK and was launched in February 2014. Its aim is 're-homing found, forgotten and unwanted photographs' and they're looking for more. Each donated photo is scanned and added to their online re-homing service, ready to be chosen by someone prepared to stump up the £1.00 postage to provide it with a good home (or £1.50 if you live outside the UK).
While I've no connection with the project I do hate to see old photos thrown away. So, if you have some old snaps surplus to your requirements - or if you fancy re-homing someone else's - do take a look at the project's website at www.thephotofosteringproject.org.