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This collection of numbers represents the more individual and hand-crafted numbers that I have come across in my wanderings in France and England. It does not include professionally made, customised house numbers but those that have been lovingly made as one-off designs. The technical and artistic skill involved in the making obviously varies considerably but the intent is quite clear to make a personal, proud and positive statement to the outside world. Interestingly the more exotic ones have tended to be found in seaside locations, or places where there is a strong craft or artistic tradition. Some of the images are also included in other themed galleries.
Click here or on one of the numbers below to go to this gallery of bespoke numbers
Rochefort-en-Terre
La Roche-Bernard
Locmariaquer
Newlyn, Cornwall
Pagham, West Sussex
Jan 06, 2020 | Categories: Boat Numbers, French numbers, Numbers | Comments Off on Bespoke Numbers
House numbers in France (when compared with those in England) tend to reflect the more subtle cultural and political differences between our two countries. Some towns and villages that I have visited in France have settled on a kind of ‘house style’ for their house numbers, to identify and celebrate the local community, what might be termed civic pride. There is, of course the distinctive and ubiquitous white numbering on blue enamel style to be seen throughout large parts of France that speaks of national pride, but towns like Bayeux and St Malo (for instance) have their own very distinctive style of number ‘plates’, and in Quimper faience style decorative ceramic tiles abound. But there are always idiosyncratic exceptions to the ‘rule’ and nowhere is this more pronounced than in coastal locations where the exception tends to become the rule and where sometimes weirdly individualistic and distinctive house numbers are much more in evidence. In some of the Petites Cités de Caractére the house number style would appear to be strictly controlled (as it would be in a National Trust village like Lacock, here in England, for instance) but there are always intriguing exceptions to be found – statements of individuality and minor acts of rebellion, and uniqueness. And then there is the wear and tear; the rusting and peeling; the cracking and crazing that create the patina of ageing to add meaning, significance, character and personality to the otherwise anonymous number. Click here to view the Gallery
Pontivy
St Malo
Bayeux
Quimper
Locmariaquer
For more individualistic numbers from France and England visit my Bespoke Numbers Gallery
Apr 04, 2019 | Categories: Boat Numbers, French numbers, Numbers, Photo Theme | Comments Off on French Numbers
A recent brief visit to France afforded me the opportunity to photograph some French Boat Registration Numbers to add to my meagre collection of two. That collection has now grown to twelve and will hopefully, in the coming months, expand further. For the current Gallery click here.
Mar 07, 2017 | Categories: Boat Numbers, French numbers, Numbers, Uncategorized | Comments Off on French Boat Numbers
The Number Galleries just keep coming on my website – First, as an extension of my “Numbers in Colour“, there is a gallery of “Numbers in Pastel Shades“, then a gallery of “Numbers in Tertiary Colours“, and “Numbers in Monochrome“, and then a gallery of “Numbers in Words“, and meanwhile various others of my existing Number Galleries have been added to or developed, including “Numbers on Boats“, “Numbers with a Seaside Theme“, “Numbers 301 – 400“, “Numbers 401 – 500“ and “Numbers 500 plus“. Further Galleries will follow shortly.
Pastel Shades
Tertiary Colours
Monochrome
Words
Oct 05, 2016 | Categories: Collections, Numbers, Uncategorized | Comments Off on More Number Galleries
Two more Wave Galleries – I have added another two galleries to my “waves” collection, having recently visited Hill Head in Fareham and Stokes Bay in Gosport (each for the umpteenth time), with my camera. I was reasonably pleased with some of the results and have created a second and third photo gallery. There is something endlessly fascinating about how and where the sea meets the land, and about watching even small insignificant waves relentlessly landing on the seashore, whether lapping or crashing – each one unique, but part of and endless pattern of rhythmic movement. Personally I prefer to have my feet firmly planted on terra firma, but could watch the sea for hours as it interacts with the shoreline. The sound of this never ending interaction of sea and land is also fascinating so I have included a soundtrack to go with the two slideshows. Click here to see my “Waves II” Gallery and here for the “Waves III” Gallery
Sep 25, 2016 | Categories: Photo Themes, seaside, Uncategorized, Water | Comments Off on More waves
Quite pleased to have finally got this e-book thingy to work on my website. Had a printed version made by PhotoBox and again was quite pleased with the result.
Sep 09, 2016 | Categories: Collections | Comments Off on Breton Shutter Dogs – The Book
An expanding collection: Still celebrating World Photography day (19th August) I visited Portsmouth Harbour yesterday afternoon and made significant additions to my on-going collection of Fishing Boat Registration Numbers – interesting to see the number and range of ports represented there (from North Shields to Newhaven) – the recent heatwave continued unabated during the day but it was good to see the large number of visitors to Old Portsmouth which seems to have undergone something of a revival in recent years – an on-going gentrification process. See the full collection here, including ‘spares’
Aug 24, 2016 | Categories: Collections, Numbers, Photo Themes, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Added to collection
Numbers on gates: Still celebrating World Photography Day (19th to 25th August) with another ‘new’ collection of photographed numbers on my website – these numbers are linked by being on gates. There are some conscious repeats and some notable omissions, in this collection, which is arranged randomly this time, rather than in sequence. There are many that are ingenious, some surprising and even a few stunning examples. The collection has so far taken me some eight years to build but this is the first time I have put them together in this garden gate themed collection. All very well and good if you have a garden gate to put your number on, but not all of us do, so please enjoy the sheer range and variety from those who have, in this gallery.
Aug 22, 2016 | Categories: Collections, Numbers, Photo Themes, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Numbers on gates
Brief Encounters – a new arrangement: I am in the process of re-arranging my Brief Encounters photographs on the website, to make more sense of them. The main change is to divide the photographs into groups, according to location – e.g. encounters in Paris, France (mainly Normandy), Brittany, Munich & Venice, and a new set from Cornwall. This is a project which is on-going and I still have many photographs to process and add to the collection. It is my intention to create a series of slideshows (one for each of the galleries) and to properly caption each of the photographs to give a brief explanation of every encounter.
Paris
France
Brittany
Munich & Venice
Cornwall
Feb 06, 2016 | Categories: Encounters, Photo Theme, Uncategorized | Comments Off on New arrangement
Waves: There is something endlessly fascinating about watching the sea breaking on the shore; whether it is fierce storm waves crashing onto the rocks or the gentle ripple of waves lapping on a sandy shore – in the first instance the experience can be exhilarating and in the second it can be therapeutic and calming. Whatever the science behind wave formation and the tides I am more than happy to soak in the experience with my feet firmly planted on dry land. Clearly for others the experience is best enjoyed while actually on, or in, the water. Still photographs can obviously only capture a small part of the all-round sensory experience of standing at the water’s edge but hopefully, through these photographs, I can share my fascination with the visual qualities of waves breaking on the sea shore. Click on one of the images below to view my larger gallery of wave photographs.
All the photographs in this collection were taken in various locations along the south coast, including Hayling Island, Stokes Bay (Gosport), Lee-on-Solent, Hill Head, Titchfield Haven (Hampshire), St Ives and Godrevy Point (Cornwall).
Dec 19, 2015 | Categories: Photo Themes, Uncategorized, Water | Comments Off on Waves
Bricked Windows: I have long been fascinated by the idea of bricked-in windows – their infinite visual variety, their ironic, or at least contradictory nature (can a window still be a window when one cannot see through it?) their meaning, significance and causation. On the latter point, the so-called ‘Window Tax’ introduced in 1696 by William III (to pay off national debt and to fight wars in Ireland and on the continent) is an obvious explanation for many of the bricked-in windows that we see in our towns and villages. The tax which was effectively a progressive one, was relatively easy to assess, and was only repealed in 1851 (156 years after its inception and nine years after income tax was effectively introduced). The fact that so many householders were prepared to forego light, air and views to reduce their tax bill shows a significant degree of popular dissent (by the property owning middle classes – so nothing new there then), and was therefore a clear political statement of its time. The Candle Tax (1709 – 1831) and Brick Tax (1784 – 1850) clearly also have a bearing on the Window Tax explanation. For properties with bricked-in windows built after 1851, we have to look for other explanations which probably have more to do with internal modifications and changes of usage to the property. One is left to wonder why remaining bricked-in windows in houses built before 1851 were not returned to their former state when the tax was repealed. The window, whether bricked-in or not, represents a structural problem for the house builder (i.e. how to support the weight of the wall and roof structure above the ‘opening’) and thus we have the variety of solutions visible here in the form of lintels and arches. For bricked-in doors and doorways we have to look for alternative explanations, but ones which also must reflect social and political change in a similar way to the bricked-in windows. For more examples of bricked-in windows see my “Bricked Windows” Galleries, and for bricked-in doors see my “Bricked Doors” Gallery.
Oct 23, 2015 | Categories: Bricked Windows and doors, Photo Themes, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Bricked Windows
French Bricked Windows: If the Window Tax is not a full explanation for all the bricked in windows in England, then it is probably also not a comprehensive explanation for all the bricked in windows in France, although a similar tax also existed in France from 1798 to 1926, Impôt sur les portes et fenêtres (French). There is something of an irony in this – the revenues raised in Britain from the window tax are often quoted as being used by the government to fight off the threat from the French. It would be interesting to know if the French Government used their window tax revenues to bolster their war chest. By clicking on any of the images below you can see a Gallery of French Bricked Windows.
Cormeilles
Rennes
St Malo
Quimper
Villedieu-les-Poêles
Oct 22, 2015 | Categories: Bricked Windows and doors, Photo Themes, Uncategorized | Comments Off on More Bricked Windows
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