Marc Provins

29 December, 2012 I made these two photographs a few weeks apart but thought they sat well together. There is an atmosphere that suggests a narrative to me, they feel like crime scenes. Are they before or after an event are they stills from a film? Photographed in colour but so nearly just grey tones they both fade into the shadows.

28 December 2012 Well after travelling for four days, nearly 500 miles, through 8 counties (all flooded) and seeing loads of relatives from both sides of our families  we are home, phew! It's been great but tiring. We've been in many different homes and one hotel, given and received many presents, and made a few photographs. Here is the first set of pictures from other peoples homes...

Today is the shortest day of 2012. So that means as of tomorrow we will have a bit more light (well 4 seconds). Here are the sunrise and sunset times for today and tomorrow (uk):           Dec 21, 2012 8:04 AM 3:54 PM 7h 49m 43s Dec 22, 2012 8:04 AM 3:54 PM 7h 49m 47s I didn't manage to make any decent pictures today so I've included one that I made in my work room just after the longest day of 2012. Enjoy the light!

This is a set of pictures of snow scars that I made a couple of winters ago. I was looking after my friend's cats in Whalley Range for a few days and the short walk ended up taking about half an hour each time instead of the customary ten minutes, being so icy and snowy. So I took my camera and ended up with lots of small snow projects, I'll try and find the others soon. I ended up calling this one Snoplosion! I was thinking about other photographers who have made pictures in snowy conditions and remembered I've got a fantastic book called Vinter by Lars Tunbjork. The work falls somewhere between fine art and documentary, describing the melancholy atmosphere of a Swedish winter. I love his dark humour and snap shot aesthetic.  Lars Tunbjörk – from the series “Vinter”, (2008) Have a great Christmas!

Well this is one from my archives really, but I found a half written blog entry and thought I'd finish it. These are a couple of our collection of 1950's/60's/70's coffee pots, that just wouldn't photograph well, so I scanned them on a flatbed scanner instead. I've always liked the results of scanning three dimensional objects, they feel slightly other worldly. So I've included links to two other camera-less photography projects that I like, one is someone who taught me and one is someone I taught, just for good balance. John Hodgett - follow the link for GroundScans. Erica Brejaart

My first Christmas present of the year! A beautiful pair of man-mittens knitted by Scouse grannies, thank you Michelle.

I've been thinking this week about how life is cyclical and linear at the same time. These thoughts were impart triggered by staring at this picture wondering why I liked it and realising it was all about lines and circles. Then we put our Christmas tree up, which is a lovely real tree adorned with the same lights, baubles , tinsel, and assorted 'stuff' that we use annually and store in the attic for 11 months of the year.  I've also been reading a book called Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster which is just fantastic, so good in fact I slowed down for the last thirty pages as I didn't want it to end. Just near the end of the book a small town in America was referred to - Great Barrington,  Massachusetts  which weirdly was the first place I visited in the States when I was a student doing Camp America one summer. It really is a tiny place so it sent quite a jolt through me, which in turn got me thinking about the linear nature of the passing of time, but also

Yesterday we were walking up the road, literally 100 metres from our house when a dog appeared, sans owner and ran out into the path of a car. Luckily the driver was able to stop, but the dog promptly changed direction and ran out in front of another car. Nobody else seemed very bothered and so we grabbed her. After half an hour by the roadside phoning the police, vets, and animal shelters we ended up speaking to someone at the council who asked us to take her home and they would arrange collection. So we ended up with a dog for four hours. We have a cat and none of our internal doors close properly so we had to put Olive (the cat) upstairs barricaded with a chair against the door, whilst our new arrival went crazy running around the garden, kitchen, dining room and living room. We tried everything to keep her calm including playing classical music, and eventually I put the tv on and she fell asleep across my lap, I was smitten.  She apparently spent the night on a farm in Worsley a

I got very excited about the light today and driving back from work around midday noticed how interesting Stretford Mall looked. It really is one of the ugliest buildings in Manchester and should never have been built as it forms a concrete barrier cutting across South Manchester. Built in 1969 it replaced the more aesthetically pleasing, human scale Victorian street-scape, which just seems tragic. However opposite stands one of the most fabulous, glamorous buildings in Manchester, Longford Cinema. This deco building was built in 1936 and is everything Stretford Mall is not. Anyhow I did explore the Mall (formerly The Arndale)and discovered little hints of it's original decor which I must say are rather lovely. I suggest either restore the whole thing to its 1969 style or pull it down.