Reflections

Coming soon in September! We are on holiday until then. See you then!

Builder Michael

Builder Michael has sent me a new account of something that happened to him. Click onto his letter, you may find it amusing (or - not!).

Tina Modotti

Pre-war Digital Camera - pencil drawing by Nigel A. JAMES

An Exhibition of Simplistic Photographic Expertise

It was the deep running currents of explosive change that marked the period between the two world wars; and it was Tina Modotti, who, with her camera, sensitively froze moment after moment of those cascading years. Now, part of her incredible work is on display in Vienna.

It is true to say that Tina Modotti was, in every sense of the word, international; and it can not be denied that the inter-war years were hers. Her life, on the back of the developing socialist ideals that she believed in, took her from her native Italy to the Americas, back to Europe and home via Russia; and it was everywhere that she went that provided her with the richness of material for her pictures.

She took pictures of everything and everybody, and, all of her pictures, whether people, puppets or plants have an expert simplicity about them. Her work was honest, capturing not only looks but also souls and hearts as well. The people she photographed must have liked her, otherwise she would never have been as successful as she was. But of course there are people and there are people.

And people are the biggest surprise of this exhibition. Co-starring are not only the photographers Edward Weston and Johan Hagemeyer, but also the artists Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo as well. These were her friends, and friendships provide the best perspectives for character. Tina Modotti was one of the best, and some of the most interesting photos of this exhibition are the portraits of Tina Modotti which were taken by Weston.

Sadly, Tina Modotti died under suspicious circumstances at the age of 42. What pictures would there have been if she had survived? But her years were the dangerous ones!


This exhibition is called “Photographer and Revolutionary” and is on until the 7th of November at the Kunst Haus in Vienna. If you are interested in Tina Modotti, there is a fair amount about her in the net.

Full details, www.kunsthauswien.com

My address is, njmailboy@gmail.com

Afternoon Storm in Vienna!

Athene - goddess of wisdom - in front of the parlament in Vienna -
photo Nigel A JAMES

The Gathering Storm

The goddess of wisdom, Athene, in front of Austria's parlament in Vienna. In her right hand, and very clearly to be seen, is Nike, the winged goddess of victory. The storm is blowing in on the clouds; Athene is standing fast!


I took this photo this afternoon at about six-o-clock.

My address is, njmailboy@gmail.com

Country Dance

Country Dance - Pencil drawing by Nigel A. JAMES

My impressions of an Hungarian country dance in Tilaj!

My e-mail address, njmailboy@gmail.com

An Hungarian Summer Party

Paradise Foundv
Tilaj (pronounced Tilloy)

is a sleepy little village that lies amongst the rolling wooded hills of western Hungary; and it was there, last Saturday, whilst visiting its annual summer festival, that I experienced something that came as a very pleasant surprise!

On and off, I have known Tilaj for about the last fifteen years; and, in all of these years, I have seen much change, but, unfortunately, not in the right direction! What I had been witnessing had been the sadness of on-going decline. House after house had given-in to the ever on-going advances of nettles and weeds, and there was desertion and decay wherever you looked. Tillaj, I believed, was fast becoming an historical fact!

But I was thankfully wrong and my eyes were opened last week! The festival was not unlike countless others. There was wine and beer to be had, there was pop-corn and there was candy-floss, too. In the way of entertainment there were four or five groups of well practised young women performing well rehearsed dances to music of everyone’s taste; but, for me, the real stars of the afternoon were the children of Tilaj.

Their dancing act was marked by the usual disarray that is special to such occasions. The very smallest of them were turning one way, whilst the older kids were going the other way; but that’s how these things are, and everybody loved them. And everyone loved them because they were there! At last there were children, and a fair number of them, too!

And then I looked around. The nettles and the weeds, it seems, are not so much as before, and paint once again is re-appearing on some of the houses, and the best sign of all, a new bus stop is under construction; meaning, of course, there is movement. And, of course, there are the children.

Life has returned to Tilaj paradise has been re-gained!

My e-mail address is, njmailboy@gmail.com