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2013-05-19 11:22:55 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Looking out over Milan's #ministract beach last weekend... You didn't think Milan had a beach? Fair enough ;-)

2013-05-18 19:00:19 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Got to get rid of this bl**dy awful automatic enhancement feature. Just posted a series of blur shots and its crucified them. Grrrr! :)

2013-05-18 18:04:53 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 21 +1s)

Looking out across over Milan's ministract beach last weekend.

#ministract   #abstract  

2013-05-18 08:29:47 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Just back from a few days away in Italy but wanted to let everybody know that +J A Mortram - with all of our help - has managed to raise the money he needed to buy his blind friend David a SARA device. Two years ago David's life changed for the worse; sometime soon it's going to change again - but this time for the better. The power of the collective has worked! Thank you so much to everybody for not just tolerating my posts seeking help, but for sharing them and even contributing too. And special thanks to Jim for having the heart, dedication and will to make this happen. 

2013-05-10 21:04:28 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Bags packed, camera batteries charged and alarm set for 4am. Next stop Italy! :)

2013-05-10 06:58:58 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

Just a quick update on where +J A Mortram has reached in his campaign to help his blind friend see again. With your help he is now at almost two-thirds of the sum required to buy David a special scanner. That's superb news and thank you so much to everyone who has already contributed. But we need to keep pushing, especially now that the initial fanfare has died down. Jim wants to reach 100 backers by close of play today. That's 10 more people. Let's see if we can beat 100 :-)

Please go to http://hopemob.org/s/1j0-postcards-from-the-black-audio-scanner-for-david to read more about the story and to see a video of David talking about his life and where you can donate too! Or you can view Jim's latest update at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=558582217514800&set=a.200535946652764.48445.200531096653249&type=1.

Very many thanks indeed.

2013-05-06 20:27:53 (13 comments, 9 reshares, 10 +1s)

We take photographs. We live for light. We breath vision. It's what keeps us going. We are photographers.

But David is blind. Totally blind. He sees colour only in his dreams. He says he feels like a ghost - nobody notices him - but he only knows he's for real when he walks into something and feels the pain.

Please watch this video by UK documentary photographer +J A Mortram who's been documenting David's life for a while along with the lives of many other folk in his home town. It's a project called Small Town Inertia. It's important.

I've never asked before but if you're one of the Google+ big wigs with thousands of followers then please would you consider sharing this? We want to raise - no, we WILL raise - $3200 dollars so that David can have a scanner and then be able to read again. 

If you feel moved then please contribute -a... more »

2013-05-06 20:03:49 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

"When you don't see anything at all, it's just... everything is black. It's a terrible thing because you never... you forget what colours are. The only time you remember colour is if you... when you go to sleep because very often you dream. Then you can see the things and that's all daylight then but once you wake up again that's gone." 

If you've seen Jim's wonderful work before then you'll have met David who was blinded two years ago. Watch this video by Jim (https://vimeo.com/65511705) in which David talks about how it's affected him. Jim is now going to raise $3200 so that David can have his life back. Please support - no amount is too small - and please re-share. 

Many thanks.

2013-05-05 14:51:55 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 31 +1s)

A few pictures from a recent trip to Vienna - you can read a bit more at http://ministract.com/blog/2013/5/4/viennese-glass #ministract  

2013-04-30 18:47:57 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

 
                       *STOP Legalised Theft of Copyrighted Works*

quote

"Responsible department: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

A new legislation that has been rushed through parliament with no thought has now reached royal assent. This legislation means that photographers and illustrators alike will see their artworks legally taken and used for another's own gain.

Unless your works are registered or plastered with a watermark, anyone can use your copyrighted work for their own commercial and personal gains provided they have made a small effort to search for the original owner. If no owner can be found, they are free to do with it whatever they want.

There is nothing to stop people simply removing data embedded in digital files and pleading ignorance to the original author of the work.

Thedetails have... more »

2013-04-20 10:43:49 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 35 +1s)

Human hive at the Vienna International Centre last weekend. #ministract  

2013-04-07 19:13:03 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 36 +1s)

Designed by Rafael Viñoly, 20 Fenchurch Street (aka the 'Walkie Talkie' aka 'The building with more up top') is sprouting up next to my office and it's top heavy profile is now sheathed in glass. This shot was taken yesterday from Lombard Street.

2013-04-03 21:09:01 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 23 +1s)

It seems like I've had quite a few people circle me recently...

Since I'm trying to pull together some recent images to post and I'm up to my ears in a web project, I'm re-posting one of my favorite older images from one of my favorite portfolios.

See you around!

2013-04-03 05:57:08 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

One for +helen sotiriadis. The sky of Beijing.

2013-04-01 20:14:27 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

JiBBR is a little group of five people who met because of a shared passion for photography and have grown to be great friends.

2013-04-01 20:03:10 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Kindle Version Released Today
I know, April 1st - I probably would have chosen a different date if the decision was mine. :)
Currently listed at an introductory price of  $9.99 

Print version slated for release on the 28th of this month.

2013-03-31 15:05:21 (18 comments, 3 reshares, 60 +1s)

2012-12-23 20:39:25 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 27 +1s)

I wish you all a very special and restful holiday season. I'm not sending Christmas cards this year but instead have donated to AISLA, the Italian charity for ALS (aka Motor Neuron Disease aka Lou Gehrig's Disease). You can too if you wish at http://www.aisla.it/.

2012-12-23 20:30:17 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

2012-12-19 09:00:38 (13 comments, 1 reshares, 52 +1s)

Taken during a visit to Venice last weekend, looking across to San Giorgio Maggiore. Ten seconds handheld - and the blur was intentional ;-)

2012-12-10 08:31:04 (6 comments, 5 reshares, 49 +1s)

Went to Stonehenge yesterday for the first time. What an amazing place.

#NOTministract :-)

2012-12-08 10:32:18 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

Electricity. Ryazan, Russia, 2012.
Hasselblad, Ektar, clear scan, vibrance +10, resize.

#zensunday
#fineartpls
#plusphotoextract
#MediumFormatMonday
#MinimalMonday

2012-12-07 09:36:04 (16 comments, 0 reshares, 28 +1s)

At the behest and wonderful guidance of +Neil Buchan-Grant I entered these four pictures into the Portfolio-Journeys section of the Travel Photographer of the Year awards. It's the first time I've entered a competition so I was chuffed to bits when they told me I was one of 28 shortlisted finalists (they'd had entries from 80 countries). Yesterday they announced the winners (http://www.tpoty.com/winners/2012) and I was gobsmacked to discover that mine was one of two commended portfolios. Forgive me for blowing my own trumpet (especially on G+ from which I've be so absent) but I've never enjoyed this feeling before and it's quite nice :-)  

(The pictures were taken in Rome, Milan and Bologna during recent trips to Italy)

#ministract

2012-10-14 10:12:20 (7 comments, 1 reshares, 55 +1s)

The Alameda metro station nestles beneath the Puente de la Exposición, spanning Valencia's Turia, and like the bridge was designed by Santiago Calatrava. This shot is of light play in the ticket office ceiling spaces. #ministract #ministractanydayyouwant

(Dedicated to my friend +Toni F. - a Valencian of the highest order and a gent amongst gents)

2012-10-03 20:19:05 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 37 +1s)

Shadow play at Calatrava's wonderful City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. I'm back off their tomorrow for a long weekend of photography. Can't wait!

2012-09-18 21:12:11 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 33 +1s)

Remember the Olympics? Seems like it happened ages ago. This shot is of the outside of the BBC studio in the Olympic Park.

#ministract   #ministractanydayyouwant  

2012-09-15 09:44:24 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

Collage of the new Ministract logo. Full story here of the great work done by the designer, John Spencer. It was fascinating to see him progress from blank page to concept to final product. #ministract  

2012-07-10 18:55:20 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Wow! New Google+ iPad app looks excellent. 500px has a super iPad app too. Come on, Flickr - pull your finger out!!!

2012-07-08 12:17:50 (20 comments, 4 reshares, 56 +1s)

“...a small bridge in a beautiful natural place, a winery in a delicate setting, can also move your sensibility and show you how important it is that architecture does not become a predator on the landscape, but rather gives dignity and human scale to its environment. Even in the most modest circumstances, there is the possibility for emotion and poetry.” (Santiago Calatrava)

Detail of the roof at the Calatrava-designed Liège Guillemins Station.

#ministract #ministractanydayyouwant

2012-07-01 21:24:01 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 26 +1s)

Welcome to an English summer... HDR = Heavy Duty Rain clouds, not High Dynamic Range. Taken this afternoon near Gatwick Airport.

2012-07-01 13:10:08 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Takanashi was one of the founding members of the short-lived avant-garde group Provoke, known for their grainy, blurry black and white aesthetic, and those pictures, like that of the other “Provoke” artists of the time, were grainy in the extreme, poised between carefree and careless, and without any focus. In contrast to the “Tokyoites” photos, the images were generally long distant scenes, landscapes in a way. The angles are skewed, sharpness definitely a bourgeois concept. You got the feeling they were taken out in the country, from speeding cars, no doubt traveling “towards the city”.

2012-07-01 12:25:50 (1 comments, 8 reshares, 5 +1s)

This is what I've been looking for. Be prepared for a vast improvement in my photography! (I love #26 and #58) 

2012-06-29 08:50:34 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Tagged to oblivion... Is it possible to switch off notifications from individual people? Someone has recently circled me and now tags me in every post she makes (and there are lots of them). I guess I could block them but that seems a bit extreme as nothing she's sending is offensive. Help please! 

2012-06-23 13:12:34 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 31 +1s)

Thunder clouds above a #ministract red sea. Those strange lights on the horizon are a regular part of Life on Ministract Island. You can see more examples at www.flickr.com/groups/ministract/discuss/72157621863268429, if you want. 

(PS It's actually a shot of two columns in a Bolognese bar, turned through 90 degrees)

2012-05-06 15:01:59 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

Many of you were kind enough to buy a copy of the Ministract book at Christmas time (http://bit.ly/vNw04u). It is in aid of ALS and was inspired by a friend of mine, Osvaldo, who was diagnosed with the disease. I took this picture of him last summer on the beach at Condofuri in southern Italy. I thought I'd managed to get a candid shot but then he turned with a grin on his face that said "You will have to be faster than that, McLaughlan!" :-)

2012-05-06 12:50:10 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Tokyo Time-lapse

My friend Holger posted another time-lapse video - this time from Tokyo. Enjoy!

2012-05-06 11:02:23 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

My discovery for today: If you move a picture from one album to another, Google delete the associated post from Google+. So bye bye yesterday's picture and comments... Thanks Google. #basicstuffthattheyreallyoughttogetright

2012-05-04 11:47:14 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

+Charles Lupica - Why did you delete the comments on your last post and then lock the thread? I wouldn't have minded so much but you did it once I'd just finished drafting my response! LOL!! Anyway, here's what I was planning to add to the thread: "I think some camomile tea is in order and then go and take photographs. Incidentally, nobody has the right - nobody! - to expect to be followed and, in any case, it's irrelevant how many followers you, me or anybody else has. What counts is the enjoyment we get from photography, the way we engage with people in this community and the legacy we leave. This exchange between you and Brian highlights (in my opinion) the worst side of Google+, ie the pursuit of numbers. +Mike Dean summed it up in his typically colourful and direct response. As for me, I only want to be followed by people who get enjoyment from my photographs and who don't mind... more »

2013-03-31 15:15:53 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 16 +1s)

2012-05-06 14:55:08 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 38 +1s)

OK. Let's see if this week I can actually dedicate sufficient time to #ministractmonday. So, for everyone out east - Welcome to Ministract Monday! And for the rest of us, don't forget that it's Ministract Monday tomorrow :-)

Here's a ministract of reflections in an office building in Rotterdam.

2012-04-16 11:40:15 (17 comments, 0 reshares, 50 +1s)

Welcome to Ministract Monday!

This Rotterdam street wall reminded me of a teddy bear's face - albeit one with two noses and only one eye :-)

#ministractmonday

2013-03-31 15:14:07 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 25 +1s)

2013-03-31 15:09:13 (14 comments, 5 reshares, 57 +1s)

A cacophony of lines at Calatrava's wonderful Liège-Guillemins train station. If you've never been and it's easy to reach then go!

#ministract #ministractmonday (a day late) #ministractanydayyoufancy

2013-03-31 15:06:59 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 22 +1s)

2012-03-05 10:48:15 (11 comments, 4 reshares, 62 +1s)

Been absent for a long while... I'm just about to drive home after a wonderful visit with great friends to Rotterdam and Liège. This ministract is of a staircase at the Calatrava-designed Liège-Guillemins train station. It's been a dream of mine to visit this place and finally it came true :-)

Best wishes to all.

#ministractmonday

2012-03-05 10:44:22 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 27 +1s)

2012-02-14 14:22:38 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

I walked into the office today and look what was waiting in the lobby! One (two, three or four) for +Kerry Murphy, +Athena Carey, +Nathan Wirth and any other cupcake lovers :-)

2012-02-12 10:54:07 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Some help please!

My website (tommclaughlan.net) died on me yesterday but after 12 hours of learning about and then playing around with oddities like MySQL databases (still don't know what they are but I know how to delete their content), FTP, CSS, HTML and lots of other weird things, the thing is now live again. Well, sort of...

If you use Safari, please could you take a look at the site and let me know if the images are appearing correctly on certain pages? Please also say whether you're using Safari on a Mac or PC.

In theory you should see: 16 images on the Home page that automatically scroll through a sideshow; four thumbnails across the top of the Pictures page and one large image at the bottom of it; and 12 thumbnails on each of the individual gallery tabs, accessed from the Pictures drop down menu.

Many thanks indeed!!

[... more »

2012-02-07 21:38:39 (19 comments, 5 reshares, 70 +1s)

Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.

(Winnie the Pooh - one of the most profound philosophers of our time)

Looking out to sea from Lisbon

2012-02-06 12:47:01 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 68 +1s)

Welcome to #MinistractMonday from the absent landlord :-)

Dusk at the wonderful More London complex last Friday.