The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

ScotlandIt's always great to get visitors.  In April we had good friends, three couples, visit us from Thailand.  I had a week off, so it was a great opportunity to further explore Scotland . . . and London.

 

The weather couldn't have been any better: bright, clear, crisp, with fast moving clouds.

 

It was fun to take our friends to some of our favorite beauty spots.

 

Of course a distillery tour was on the tour.

 

It was a scrumptious day for a road trip along the Highlands Malt Whiskey Trail.

 

We paid took the full tour (with sampling!) of the Royal Lochnagar Distillery . . . that strictly forbade photography.

 

The old whiskey still itself was a wonder of craftsmanship, detail, color and texture.

 

The stills were works of art.

 

The whiskey barrel vault . . . and royal patronage emblem.  This stuff is valuable.

 

I can confirm the whiskey advertisements . . . whiskey is still made the old fashioned way.

 

Because of the alcohol vapors present, all electrical switches have to be sealed.  This light switch must have been installed when the distillery was first electrified.

 

Water, Sparge, Sparge, and Hot Wart.  Of course.

 

Old brass Victorian-era distillery devices were still in use.  It also supplied a nice opportunity for a novel self-portrait.

 

Our visitors are whiskey lovers, but didn't like this particular single malt.  We left the beautiful surrounds of the distillery to head further up into the Scottish Highlands.

 

The Highlands early spring roads are magnificent.

 

Our next stop was Balmoral Castle, the summer residence of The Queen of England.

 

The moss and lichens on this stone banister gives you some idea of how wet the highlands can be in the winter.  Lovely textures!

 

Yes, there really are castles like this in the world . .  that are lived in by real queens.

 

Balmoral Castle is actually the private property of the Royal Family, unlike all the other Royal residencies which are the property of the State.

 

Balmoral Castle lies astride the trout and salmon laden upper reaches of the River Dee.

 

We could have stayed all day taking selfies n front of Balmoral Castle . . . the archetypical royal castle.

 

The best liquor we had that day was the hooch our van driver Karl shared.

 

LONDON - The Harry Potter Studio Tour

Yes, we went here.

 

I confess, I am not a fan of this kind of fantasy literature and/or the cinematic spin-offs they generate.  It's just not my cup of tea.

 

We flew to London and went directly to the WB Harry Potter Studios . . . I went screaming and kicking, not being a fan of this sort of thing.

 

But . . . I have to admit that the tour turned out much, much better than I could have hoped.

 

It turned out to be an actual tour of the actual sets used in the actual movies in the actual studio where it was actually filmed.  My dread was dissolved.

 

I've only ever seen one of these Harry Potter movies, the first one, and I assumed most of the scenes were computer generated CGI art . . . it wasn't!!!

 

The detail of the set construction was truly impressive.  They went to a lot of work (and expense!) to create this imaginary world.

 

The production went to a lot of trouble . . . . including working from detailed architectural drawings, to . . .

 

. . . to constructing scale models of sets.  The workmanship is excellent.  This is a big production  . . .  unlike my own forays into Hollywood productions.

 

A fantasy of a fantasy of a fantasy: a post-modern copy of a copy of a copy of an apothecary shop that never was.

 

The autonomatronic creatures were impressive, as was the workshop where they were made.

 

Character prosthetics.  I want one for Holloween.

 

Again, the attention to detail in the costumes was way beyond what I expected.

 

I posted this one on Facebook as "Inside the Obama fake voter labs" . . . to much Democratic acclaim and vitriol from the ever-present trolls.

 

The model of the school was 50 feet tall and perfect in detail.

 

Amazing, just amazing.

 

The Harry Potter Flying Broom Machine . . . seems like these would be popular at Chucky Cheese at $5.oo a ride.  The background is a green screen (chroma key) used in CGI imagery.

 

My new computer desktop image.  After an impressive three hours in the studio, all exits funneled us to the vast and expensive GIFT SHOP FROM HELL.  The child-whining there was epic.  And shrill.  And tearful. An 'official' Harry Potter Magic Wand (a stick) was a money-gouging 55 pounds (US$75.oo).  Ouch.  This image is of how hard parents feel it is to get out of the aforementioned Gift Shop From Hell.  Off to London without so much as a key chain fob, such is the strength of my will.

 

LONDON

An hour drive into central London landed us in beautiful Knightsbridge.  It was a nostalgic journey for me: I lived in London for several years in the late 80s.  As you can see, London is much further south than Aberdeen, and was in full new-growth Springtime.

 

Ah, London Pubs!

 

This photo is perhaps more indicative of London's neighborhoods than Big Ben.  London is very multicultural.

 

London may be the finest tourist city in the world.

 

Trafalgar Square . . . tourist central.

 

A must-have-tourist-experience in London.

 

These acrobatic Swedish tourists put on quite a show for a Japanese tour group.

 

London is a very open-minded city.

 

London is such a visually rich city . .  there are literally too many things to photograph . . . that you want to photograph.  I was on sensory overload the whole time.  I wouldn't mind living in London again.

 

Having good clean fun in London.  It is good to have older sisters.

 

Yes, we frequented hi-brow cafes and sampled delicious cakes and edible whatnots. I brought my medication.

 

Where the rich and famous hang out in Knightsbridge.

 

People say that the food is bad in London.  Not So!!!  We had excellent Korean, Chinese, Thai, Turkish, Lebanese, and Indian food throughout the whole trip.  The aftermath of a great Korean meal near Trafalgar.

 

I think the real reason our Thai friends wonted to visit London was to take a pilgrimage to Harrods . . . The Temple of Shopping!!!!

 

 And when I say Harrods is a Temple of Shopping, I MEAN Temple of Shopping. This is the escalator in Harrods Department Store. 

 

We caught London at the very beginning of the Spring blossoms.  Nice.

 

London is both an ancient and a modern city . . . but it feels like it is in a human scale . . .

 

London from the steps of the gallery, Tate Britain.

 

OK, not entirely on a human scale.  Prince Charles let this thing get by his architectural scrutineering.

 

I remember lots of parks in London for my daughter to play in when we lived there . . . it's still a pretty good city for children.

 

I HAD to take this post card shot of Big Ben and the London Eye.

 

In the  government building section of London there are protests here and there.  I guess this fellow didn't want to wait in the que for a permit . . .

 

Ah, Knightsbridge squares.

 

One day we took a drive out into the London suburb of Wimbledon.

 

No, we did not go to Wimbledon to see the grass tennis courts.

 

We went to Wimbledon to visit, and to pay respect to, the Thai Wat Buddhapadipa.  We could scarcely believe our eyes!  A perfect Thai Wat "beamed down" to suburban London.  Fantastic!

 

A Wonderful Thai Temple.  We spent a good long time inside the Wat.  It felt good to be back in a Buddhist space.  I have missed it since moving from Thailand.

 

The Thai Buddhist spirit was strong in this place.

 

The interior was a astonishingly beautiful.  I wanted to stay forever . . . a feeling I always have in Buddhist temples.

 

Yep, you gotta watch out for that pesky Mara . . .  thanks for the reminder, Lord Buddha.

 

As luck (good and bad) would have it, they were setting up for a Songkran Festival event on the temple grounds.  Unfortunately it didn't fit our schedule.

 

We were back in London/Knightsbridge by nightfall.  London is fascinating at night. Near our hotel.

 

Lots of people out and about.

 

We went everywhere on the Tube. Bayswater Station.

 

The nearest London Tube stop to our hotel was Glouchester Station.  We took the London Underground a lot.  After a couple of days exploring and shopping London, it was time for another road trip.  The eight of us boarded a van (with a Thai driver!) for a trip to . . .

 

BRIGHTON BEACH AND THE SOUTH COAST OF ENGLANDIn the van on the way we thought we were going to the White Cliffs of Dover, but they were too far away . . . we settled for equally impressive cliffs nearer to Brighton in East Sussex.  The coastal countryside was gorgeous.

 

We parked the van and walked abut two miles along an estuary to the sea and cliffs of the Cuckmere Valley.

 

The gate into the Chyngton Farm trail we took to the cliffs.

 

The cliffs on a misty day.

 

It was well worth the long walk to the sea cliffs.  We took about a million photos of each other and then walked back . . . on to Brighton.  We were hungry . . . for fish and chips.

 

The drive into the old seaside vacation town of Brighton.

 

It was cold and windy when we reached the Brighton Beach Pier.

 

A lovely stoney beach and Victorian pier. 

 

Even though they assured us the Ferris wheel capsules were heated, we did not take them up on their high priced offer of great views.

 

Mission Accomplished!  Fish and Chips in Brighton . . . and not too bad either.

 

The Brighton Pier was not as seedy or tawdry as I had hoped.  It was nice . . . and family.

We all had a great time in Scotland, London, and Brighton.  We were sad to see our friends go when we boarded the plane back to our Aberdeen home.

Istanbul!  An amazing city in an amazing setting!

 

Istanbul is a gigantic city, both in terms of physical size (2,063 sq. mi.) and population (est. 14.2 million).  It is the 5th largest city in the world, and the largest in Europe.

 

The sea of humanity stretches to the horizon in every direction.  This was our hotel room view.  But, of course, we didn't come to see the city from above . . . we came to get lost in the maze of small streets.

 

Our hotel was just off Taksim Square, a more or less "central" location with easy walking to most attractions.

 

Taksin Square leads directly to Istiklal Avenue, a crowded and atmospheric walking street with old trams.

 

There were always crowds on Istiklal Avenue.

 

Istanbul is an ancient city, perhaps the longest inhabited city on earth.  There is a wonderfu mix of archectural styes from many eras all mixed togther to good effect.

 

Remnants of Byzantium mix with modern and Victorian styles.

 

Turn in what looks like an inviting shop and discover an indoor solarium/galleria with many restaurents.

 

Many charming old structures telling a story of years of habitation.

 

Yes, Turkish people eat Turkish Delight . . . so do the tourists.  A major blog entry follows this one with many nice photoraphs of what can be found in Istanbul.  (Go to "Istanbul: Things, Mostly Edible")

 

Turkish people are very political.  We arrived in the middle of a heated national election.  In fact, our plane departed on election day.  There is often 'trouble' surounding elections.

 

But it looked like the "Polis" were used to these kind of things and were prepared.  That's a pretty serious anti-riot vehicle there!

 

Although London claims to have the most security CCTV coverage, Istanbul must be a close second.  There were cameras everywhere!

 

Of course, walking down the avenue every day we discovered some favorite places to eat.  We had lunch three times at the Konak Kabop House.  Yummie!

 

The interior of the Konak Kabap House was sumptiously ornate.  Lovely.

 

We had breakfast and one dinner, and several afternoon coffees at the elegant and trendy The House Cafe, on Ortaköy.  Excellent food and drink and a beautiful atmosphere.  Highly recommended.

 

The Tram ran down Ortaköy to a part of the city dating from the 5th century, Beyoğlu.

 

Beyoğlu is a section of Old Istanbul with charming cobbled steep walking streets, small shops, and tons of tourists.  I don't mind tourists:  they are not at home watching TV.  That's good.

 

Many inviting side streets and alleys led off to adventures . . . untaken.

 

This photo typifies the archectural wonder of the old Beyoğlu district.

 

 Istanbul tourist curios was of a pretty high quality generally.

 

Small Mosques were tucked away here and there. 

 

The streets around Galata Tower were festooned with political banners and flags.  This part of the city was a Genoese colony for centuries.

 

The Galata Tower, built as Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) in 1348.  We paid a token fee to take the elevator to the top . . . .

 

The views of Istanbul from the top of the Galata Tower were magnificent!

 

Looking across from Galata Tower to the great Mosques of Istanbul.

 

The square in front of Galata Tower was packed with political banners and flags . . . .

 

Electioneering everywhere!

 

Galata Ssuare also had a fine cafe.  We stopped for strong Turkish coffee.

 

We continued our walk around the charming old Italian quarter.

 

I would love to have had the time to explore and photograph these side streets . . . like I did so often during my many years in Bangkok.

 

Also like Bangkok, you could get freshly squeezed fruit juice anywhere you went.  The pomegranet/orange was delicious.

 

We walked through this part of town many time during the seven days were in Istanbul.

 

There were always artistic photo opportunities wherever I went.  I have made multiple postings on Istanbul in the following sections on the people and things of Istanbul.

 

I'm going to have to go back through my photos . . . I think I can put together a study of street lamps from around the world.  Istanbul had some very nice ones.

 

Not every street was beautiful in Istanbul.

 

We regularly returned to our hotel near Taksim Square . . . and we were always greeted with this panoramic view of the city from our shoebox room.

 

The Republic Monument stands in Taksim Square, near ouur hotel.  The monument commemorated the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

THE TOURS

Yes, we also took two organized bus tours to get the lay of the land.  It was a good idea: we learned where to come back to and spend more time.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also called The Blue Mosque, was fantastic!

 

It was not a very nice day when we visited The Blue Mosque on tour.  It was drizzly.

 

Although the exterior of this 16th century mosque is certainly impressive, and especially against the grey sky with the siholettes of the denuded trees in he foreground . . . .

 

The interior of the Blue Mosque may be the most beautiful space I have ever been in.  It certainly rivals St. Pauls Cathedral in The Vatican.

 

WOW!  Just WOW!

 

I took many, many photos here . . . and you can see why.  Incredible.

 

The guide was very gracious and generous with questions about the mosque and Islam in general.  The Blue Mosque is a National Monument and not an every day mosque.  During his explanation of the construction methods used in building the Blue Mosque I looked up . . . .

 

. . . and WOW!

 

We exited through a portico which also had a wonderful ceiling.  The entirety of the structure guided your attention and gaze up, to 'the heavens.'

 

We left the Blue Mosque and walked next door to the Hagia Sophia, the grandest Mosque of all . . . and one of the oldest.  Built as a Greek Orthodox cathedral in 537 (!!), it was the largest building in the world for over 900 years.  It was a cathedral for over 1000 years before being converted into a mosque. More to come on this magnifiscent structure.

 

One of our tours took us from the 'European' side of Istanbul across the Bosphorus Bridge (built 1973) to the 19th century Beylerbeyi Palace and gardens.  The view of the Bosphorus Bridge from the gardens was magnifiscent.

 

The Bosphorus Bridge is the 4th longest suspension span in the world.  Yes, that very dark cloud did rain on us!

 

The Beylerbeyi Palace gardens were interesting too.

 

Of course no visit to Istanbul would be complete without a visit to the 13th century The Grand Bazaar! With 61 covered streets and 3000 shops, it is a curios and trinket shoppers dream.  Unfortunately it has become primarily a tourist spot . . . with inflated tourist prices.  They would bargain and haggle, but not all that much . . . it was expensive.  Foutunately the hawkers were not too aggressive.

 

The Grand Bazaar was very atmospheric.

 

A photographers dream!  I have posted many, many more captures from the Grand Bazaar in the following sections, 'People' and 'Things' of Istanbul.  The origional Shopping Mall!

 

Perhaps more interesting is the Spice Bazaar (called The Egyptian Spice Market by many locals) located near the New Mosque.

 

The Spice Bazaar is a living and breathing local market that has been active since 1660. That's 357 years as a spice market!

 

Tourists and Turks mingled in a free and friendly manner in the Spice Bazaar.  The Turks were a very gracious and helphul people.  Yes, we bought nice things here to bring back to Scotland.  Again, I posted many more photos from the Spice Bazaar in the next sections of this blog.

 

The neighborhood around the Spice Bazaar was a maze of small lanes crowded with shoppers.  We found a "State Tea Shop" and bought delicious government cost controlled organic Turkish tea . . . cheap! 

 

The Spice Bazaar was located next to The New Mosque (Yeni Cami). "New" meaning construction began in 1597 and compleeted in 1665!

 

The New Mosque had some wonderful Islamic Art.

 

It's a small world after all.  Those Harlem Globtrotters sure get around!  I saw them in San Bernardino, California in 1964.

 

 

One of our tours ended high on a hill on the 'Asian' side of Istanbul.  The view was breathtaking.

ISTANBUL BY NIGHT

As the sun set over Istanbul . . . the city became even more exciting and beautiful.

 

The New Mosque by night.  I was really glad I had my Fuji X-series camera with me.

 

The Süleymaniye Mosque by night across The Golden Horn waterway.

 

Although there are bridges from the European to the Asian side of Istanbul, it takes forever and is expensive for commuters.  As a result, millions take ferries to and from their officecs every day.

 

We loved walking around the waterfront and across the bridges at night.

 

The views from the 'seafood pier' under the Galata Bridge was special.

 

Scrumptious reflections.

 

We never got close to the Bosphorus Bridge at night, but we could see it from  far away.  The lights shifted color very slowly.  Nice.

 

Fishermen were out until very late at night trying their luck. Most seemed to have pulled up a good catch from the Galata Bridge.

 

The  view across the Golden Horn up towar Galata Tower from Galata Bridge.

 

Midnight in Istanbul.

 

It was always visually interesting to walk around Istanbul by night.

 

Although it was April, and the nights were a bit chilly, people stayed out quite late.

 

The immediate neighborhood around our hotel was poorly lit . . . perfect for these night still life portraits.

 

Tones, textures, light, shadow, color, composition.  Lovely.

 

Our hotel was down this street at the end, on the left.

 

In the beautiful existential light, an election draws near.