Vanuatu: Paradise on Earth
Light Bislama Vanuatu has 69 inhabited islands and, remarkably, at least 105 indigenous languages, of which over 90 are in daily use. This represents one language for every 1,600 people, the highest language density in the world. The official languages are French, English and Bislama, a pidgin language, widely spoken and seen on official signs […]
Kenya: Lake Nakuru National Park
I had always thought that a safari-style trip would be boring, that you would drive for days in discomfort, seeing nothing in the way of wildlife, aside from the occasional distant view of animals that would run away at the sight, sound or smell of a vehicle and its human occupants. How wrong this proved […]
Reading List: Source Material for The Invisible College
The following is a selection of sources of material for the trilogy. Religions of Rome: Volume II, A Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press 1998, by Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price The translation of the Aretalogy of Isis is reproduced by kind permission of Mary Beard and John North. How To Lie With Maps by […]
Djibouti City
In any country, a visit to a local market is essential, as part of the process of discovery and understanding a little more of how people live. The central market in Djibouti City is a thriving place, stretching down from this mosque (above left), which […]
Les Chats de Djibouti
Cats are everywhere in Djibouti . In the market they serve a useful purpose to keep down vermin, though to look at them it seems unlikely they are rewarded with food. But while I was photographing a selection of cats sleeping around or beneath the stalls, one owner called me into his shop, where he […]
Conceptual Christmas Trees in Bali and Timor Leste
They do Christmas trees seriously in Timor Leste. This monster was located on a roundabout in Dili. I was fortunate to capture it; the elf at the top right is not drunk, he is working out where to start in taking it down. The scale is a tribute to how the traditions of Christmas are […]
Madagascar
The rooftops of Antananarivo are brightly coloured and individual. Though made of practical, mundane materials and individually uninteresting, the cumulative effect of the variety of hues, shapes and angles produces an attractive effect that varies according to the weather and time of day. At first we see a mix of colours and textures; it is […]