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Tate Modern, London – Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography
26 October 2026
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/light-and-magic
I don’t usually write much on this blog, nor interrupt the self-indulgent flow of my own photographs with news from the outside world. But I thought I’d make an exception to give an enthusiastic plug for this exhibition.
The official Tate Modern press notice (link) describes it as: ‘…the first major exhibition to explore Pictorialism as a global photographic movement’.
For anyone who’s interested in the history of photography and can get to see it, I really recommend a visit. I’m not an art critic, still less an art historian, so I came to the subject with patchy knowledge. I found the exhibition a real eye-opener on the origins, scope, development and influence of this branch of fine art photography. And most importantly it’s at least two hours’-worth of thoughtfully-curated, beautiful images.
Guardian review: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/oct/19/light-and-magic-birth-of-art-photography-review-a-rhapsodic-show
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Mercado do Bolhão
https://mercadobolhao.pt/en/histories
I’ve tried photographing markets before, without much success. Too many people. Too much clutter. Not enough compositions. I thought I’d give it another go because it’s what tourists with cameras do.
Juice and fruit salad 
There’s an upper gallery… 
…an upper gallery with sun-shades 
Backlit sunshades 
Ten-times table 
A table for f/2 
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A Grand Day Out
Kinsale Temperance Hall 
Charles Fort, Kinsale 
Charles Fort, Kinsale 
Women No.1 – Barrack block, Charles Fort, Kinsale
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The last of the last of winter
Time to draw this series to a close with a final batch of foggy treescapes…
Tree scale 
Undergrowth 
Water shadow 
Waterlogged hollow 
Passage 
Chromaburst
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The last of winter, Pt 3 – breakthrough
I’m not sure how long I can keep posting this series before the winter becomes too distant to be meaningful, but it was a very productive morning.
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The last of winter, Pt 1
Frosty fog in the dawn light, hiding clutter and context. Isolated shapes in place of familiar views. Receding planes of grey. A morning to treasure after weeks of flat, dark, steel-grey skies. An hour of billowing variations in density and luminance. Until – gradually – the rising sun burned-off the mist to leave clear, sharp light. Still a lovely morning, but not where my mind was. So, home for coffee and Photoshop.
