Tag Archives: Orient Express

Why did I ruined the photos of breakfast on the Orient Express?

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There is something magical about making things badly. Being born in the analogue age I revel in the process of difficulty – to get great result from an analogue processes,  like recording music or using 35mm film requires skill…

With the birth of digital imaging we can all be accomplished photographers – there is however a resurgence of analogue photography. Is this nostalgia or a quest for artistry?

As I  have previously mentioned, I haven’t used a 35mm camera for years. I took my old, trusty Pentax K1000 with me to Venice on the Orient Express and took some black and white shots of the train…. The images below are of breakfast on the Orient Express, which is served to passengers in their cabins.

I  processed the film in the darkroom at West Buckland School. I’d remembered most of the processing guidelines I’d learnt in the 1970s and I had a foolproof instruction sheet, with timings for the Ilford HP5 (400 asa) etc. – nothing could go wrong.

Half way through processing the film I noticed a chink of light coming in from below the door – the film was ruined but here are a couple more photographs that might be interesting?

The Pentax K1000 is an almost all metal, mechanically (springs, gears, levers) controlled, manual-focus SLR with manual exposure control. It was completely operable without batteries. It only needed batteries (one A76 or S76, or LR44 or SR44) for the light metering information system. This consisted of a center-the-needle exposure control system using a galvanometer needle pointer moving between vertically arranged +/– over/underexposure markers at the right side of the viewfinder to indicate the readings of the built-in full-scene averaging, cadmium sulfide (CdS) light meter versus the actual camera settings. The meter did not have a true on/off switch and the lens cap needed to be kept on the lens to prevent draining the battery when the K1000 was not in use.

Pentax K1000. (2012, May 31). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:26, June 8, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pentax_K1000&oldid=495230110

Travel – 35mm images go wrong in Venice

View to St Marks Square

This gallery contains 4 photos.

I haven’t used a 35mm camera for years. I recently decided to take my old Pentax K1000 with me to Venice. I took some great black and white shots from our hotel window, looking out over the Grand Canal towards … Continue reading ?

Road trips inspire my art – fast cars

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Road trips and long journeys hurtle undefined landscapes past your window. Star-shaped spears spin and pierce the night sky as they shoot from streetlights and mountains stand solid on the horizon as the trees in the foreground blur and streak across your eyes.

Lake Zürich

The fifth annual Cannonball 8000 Rally came to a close in Croatia on Sunday evening, 16th September 2007. 120 vehicles, including Jaguars, Aston Martins and Lamborghinis and a cartoon fire engine, began the journey from Earls Court in London.


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Sadly the German authorities decided not to allow the Cannonball 8000 drivers to cross their country, we were informed at the last moment during dinner in Brussels, Cannonball 8000 founder Conrad Wall made an announcement advising participants of the risk of impoundments if they entered Germany. Of course we (reluctantly) respected the German authorities’ decision. Some entrants decided to run the gauntlet, twenty-seven vehicles were subsequently stopped and impounded in Germany. We took a detour and went via Zurich, hugging the German border – A majority of the cars made it to the finish in Zagreb.

Gallery

Click on the images above for more photos.

Innsbruck train station – Orient Express

orient_express_train_innsbruck_stationThis gallery contains 9 photos.

More images of the Orient Express Due to European regulations the Orient Express has to change engines in every country it enters, these regulations also prevent steam powered engines from being used. From Innsbruck train station you can see the … Continue reading →

Peter Bright (aka This Window)

StumbleUpon – the best site and app ever  StumbleUpon is becoming the most useful ‘share link’ site around. The element of randomness that is built into both the website and app is inspirational…

Time Travel is real !

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Science fiction has always teased us with the possibility of ‘going back in time’, to explore, touch and experience history. Well it might not be physically possible to do this but you can hark back to the days when style, design, service and quality were the standard offerings.

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is a private luxury train service that travels from London to Venice. Traveling on the old Orient Express route across Europe.

The train rolling stock dates back from the 1920s and 1930s and are all carefully restored but still extremely practical for modern living – you can even charge your iPhone or iPad. The craftsmanship that went into creating the original carriages would be very difficult to replicate – inlaid wood, chromed fittings and Art Deco, René Lalique frosted glass reliefs. These wonderfully engineered carriages give the traveler a romantic, nostalgic and luxurious experience that oozes history.

Each sleeper cabin has an original washbasin cabinet, having hot and cold running water – there is a little storage, mirrors and places to store your toiletries, all confined into a space smaller than a single wardrobe – economy of space and design, complete with soft towels and crisp linen but again incredibly modern and contemporary, functional and of the now, they would easily slot into a small, modern apartment or bedroom and not look out of place.

Dining car 4110, which is named ‘Etoile du Nord’ has lusciously covered green chairs, that are possibly the most comfortable seats you will ever sit in and veneered panels with beautiful marquetry in the continental style on the walls. Eating is a total sensual and sensory pleasure and delight – traveling on the Orient Express is like being in a dream…

More images of interior of Orient Express

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Economy of space and design

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Sometimes less is more. Art and design that gets straight to the point tends to be more successful than objects or things that are jam packed with irrelevant nonsense. It is far better to pack a killer punch by saying exactly what you mean in the simplest way. Everything you need should be straight in front of you – to understand its function or meaning – tight and compact.

Great real world examples are the 1929 sleeper compartments on the Orient Express.  Each cabin has an original washbasin cabinet, having  hot and cold running water – there is a little storage, mirrors and places to stuff your toiletries, all confined into a space smaller than a single wardrobe – economy of space and design.

Interior of Orient Express – image gallery

station_victoria

This gallery contains 12 photos.

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is a private luxury train service that travels from London to Venice. Traveling on the Orient Express across Europe is a romantic, nostalgic and luxurious experience. The craftsmanship that went into creating the original carriages would be … Continue reading →

My old lecture theatre and painting studio – Exeter Art College

lecture_theatre_exeter_college_of_art_march2012

This gallery contains 3 photos.

The derelict painting studios in Exeter College of Art looked smaller than I remember – these were the spaces where I learnt my painting skills and the place where I was told to forget my painting skills. Those were the … Continue reading →

Institutional Traits (Series 1)

Institutional Traits 2012

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Sarah Bennett installation at Exeter Collage of Art and Design, March/April 2012 Click on images for my thoughts and reactions to this exhibition. Low quality images from employee photo identity cards have been scanned at a high resolution, enlarged and … Continue reading →

Images of Exeter College of Art – March 31st 2012

3D studio

This gallery contains 15 photos.

These are photos of the deserted building in Earl Richards Road North in Exeter the site of the former Exeter College of Art and Design. The building belongs to The University of Plymouth (which was originally a Polytechnic) with its … Continue reading →

Today the pound hit its highest level against the #euro since September 2010

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Thank goodness we’re not in the euro -  Despite all the pessimism and doubt surrounding the UK, the euro zone is even worse off – or at least that’s what traders are thinking.

Traveling through modern Europe in these economic troubled times, the polarization of wealth has become more and more obvious. The sumptuous richness of the top locations are a complete flip side to the ‘third world’ poverty of the crumbling city slums.

Today the pound hit its highest level against the euro since September 2010 – providing a much-needed boost for people heading to the continent or those already living over there and drawing their pensions or income in pounds but how does this affect UK business?

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Sleeping Car 3539 - Orient Express - chrome fittings

Traveling in style on the Orient Express

The ergonomically designed sleeping cabins have a mass of inlaid wood and chrome fittings, to add to the vintage travel feel. Double Cabins are a single cabin room, the Cabin Suites are two inter-connecting cabins. Toilet facilities are available in each carriage.

Sleeping Car 3539 has elegant circles of stylized flowers in an ivory-like inlay set in a chequer-board design by René Prou. The chrome detailed fittings add to the sumptuous feel of this carriage. The car was in service in the Pyrénées Côte d’Argent Express for one year and then transferred to the Train Bleu in 1930. The compartments have a small wash basin fitted hidden behind curved wooden doors. In 1930 the depression was biting into luxury travel and Wagon-Lits found they had surplus cars, consequently car 3539 was withdrawn and stored until 1936, when it joined the Rome Express.

It was stored during the war and used by the US Army Transportation Corps between 1945 and 1947.

station_victoria

This image gallery contains 12 photos.

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is a private luxury train service that travels from London to Venice. Traveling on the Orient Express across Europe is a romantic, nostalgic and luxurious experience. The craftsmanship that went into creating the original carriages would be … Continue reading →

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