SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: Photography

February 21, 2023 + #Silenti, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose, Silent Eye School, Social History, Travel and people, Travel and Photography

A return to Manchester

by Steve Tanham

For over two decades, the centre of Manchester was only a short journey from our offices in the rapidly changing landscape of Salford Quays – then a barren set of post-industrial docks whose only offering to the 1990’s was a floating wine bar, soon to be burned to a hulk of floating black wood because it’s owner wouldn’t pay protection money to the neighbouring … Read More A return to Manchester

February 14, 2023 + #Silenti, English Lake District, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Silent Eye School, Travel and Photography

The massive Skiddaw

by Steve Tanham

The massive presence of the mountain called Skiddaw towers over the Lakeland town of Keswick. The entire north-eastern horizon is dominated by its sheer size. I was intending to simply post the photo above, but the dramatic image invites a bit more background information for anyone who is not familiar with the northern part of the Lake District National Park. The opening shot was … Read More The massive Skiddaw

February 12, 2023 + #Poetry, #Silenti, #WhimsyPhotoEssays, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Travel, Travel and Photography

And Cherries on Sunday

by Steve Tanham

©Stephen Tanham 2023 Stephen Tanham is a Director of the Silent Eye, a journey through the forest of personality to the dawn of Being. http://www.thesilenteye.co.uk and http://www.suningemini.blog

February 7, 2023 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, Lake District, landscapes, nature, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

Stories of Winter Fire

by Steve Tanham

Here in the Lake District, colour can be hard to find in the Jan-March depths of winter. So I thought it might be fun to explore the replacement of faded colours – like those found in last year’s grasses and ferns – with a colour treatment that was blatantly artificial, yet suggested hidden fire and life… The grasses above are a good example of … Read More Stories of Winter Fire

February 5, 2023 + #Silenti, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

Silverdale in February

by Steve Tanham

It’s called ‘The Lots’. It’s a heavily protected stretch of undulating land behind the rocky headland of Silverdale’s rugged coastline. Silverdale is one of the most northerly places on the Lancashire coast. Before the boundary changes that created Cumbria (soon to be sliced into a new set of nonsensical pieces) Lancashire extended all the way around Morecambe Bay to Barrow-in-Furness. The peninsula on which … Read More Silverdale in February

January 31, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, English Lake District, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography

The Light and the Gloom

by Steve Tanham

Kendal, midweek… the retail day was drawing to a close. A thin fog had covered the town and its surrounding hills for most of the day, and the encroaching darkness at the end of the afternoon made the gloom seem even more dense. I have always been drawn by urban photos of streets where the lights have that ‘just turned on’ look. Collie in … Read More The Light and the Gloom

January 29, 2023 + #Silenti, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

From Below…

by Steve Tanham

One of the ‘easy wins’ in photography is to vary the shooting height of the camera by either getting higher… or, as in this case, lower. The large-screen camera phones have made this easy to do, since once you have placed the device on or close to the ground – often thanking your last Pilates class – it’s still possible to see the shot … Read More From Below…

January 22, 2023 + #Silenti, Lake District, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography

A War of Fire and Ice

by Steve Tanham

Late afternoon and a final run on Heysham Beach for Tess the collie. And then strange things began to happen in the sky. Bright sun on a collision course with a front of hailstones. Not the place to be! So I grabbed a final shot and we ran for the car… Only later did this joyful result reveal itself! ©Stephen Tanham 2023 Stephen Tanham … Read More A War of Fire and Ice

January 19, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Higher Mind, Life-sciences, Photography, Psychology

The Unmasked Human

by Steve Tanham

In an attitude that most of us would find chilling, Francis Crick, the Noble Laureate who co-discovered the structure of DNA, referred to it as ‘the astonishing hypothesis’. He wasn’t talking about genes, but the proposal that all human feelings, actions and thoughts – right down to the level of consciousness, itself, are the products of neural activity in the brain. In truth, science … Read More The Unmasked Human

January 17, 2023 + #Silenti, English Lake District, Lake District, landscapes, nature, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

Some days define…

by Steve Tanham

Some days define… In this case the cold. The vastness of Morecambe Bay is sometimes defined by its light. In this case the deep blue of an early afternoon with icy winds to match. Ice on the foreshore by the lifeboat’s hovercraft station, clustered into tiny pools on the dark mud. Two small fishing boats – most of Morecambe’s shrimping fleet – provide the … Read More Some days define…

January 10, 2023 + #Silenti, Lake District, Photographic techniques, Photography, Travel and Photography

Mystery and the Priest Hole

by Steve Tanham

We were walking through a very rainy Ambleside a few days ago. What I smilingly call my ‘camera mind’ spotted how well the lines and colours of the Priest Hole pub contrasted with the wet and uniform grey of the January light. I also loved how the bright ‘double yellows’ led the eye away into the misty gloom… The ‘lead-line’ of the road on … Read More Mystery and the Priest Hole

January 8, 2023 + #Silenti, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

Epitome

by Steve Tanham

There are photos that epitomise some particular quality of the natural world. January has a dearth of such moments. Its light is so thin that composition – outside of the contrasts of monochrome – is practically a matter of pot luck. But I was lucky. This part of the promenade at Grange is one of the coldest places you can be at this time … Read More Epitome