Perseverance, Faith and An Understanding of Light

This second post follows on nicely from my earlier essay. Strong winds overnight were not enough to blow the cloud out of the way as early as I would have liked. It was very frustrating to watch a BBC forecast which did not accurately depict even the current situation and, ultimately, proved quite inaccurate on timing. Nevertheless, I was not prepared to be cowed into staying at home and set off for a planned trip to Brighton. I decided to stop at Shoreham Airport where the lunchtime interpretation of goulash was wayward but tasty. I got some unexpectedly pleasing photographs in flat light but still was not encouraged by the prospects for Brighton. My gamble was that the cloud would clear late - with about one hour and a half of useful daylight remaining - as has happened a few times recently

Our arrival saw continuing gloom and our surroundings and initial experiences did nothing to dispel that. The area around London Road car park is pretty grim. So much of Brighton is faded and drab with much neglected property both residential and commercial. Surprisingly, the car park itself is a finely honed paragon of modernity with shuttered entrances and exits. I wanted to see Class 313 units recently displaced to the Brighton area but there was none at an incredibly dull station dominated by Class 377. It seemed the same with the buses where the uninspired Brighton & Hove livery does nothing to lift the monotony of predictable modern types. The services at least seemed intense and the street furniture sharp and up to date with intention boards. We had chosen unfortunately the day of the 3rd round FA Cup match between Brighton and Portsmouth. We saw no trouble from vociferous fans of either side but the police certainly disturbed me. There were dozens and possibly a couple of hundred. This annoys me deeply and on a couple of levels. When do you EVER see even a tenth of this presence at any other time. Police officers are all but invisible most of the time. At events requiring (or potentially requiring) crowd control, their presence is mandated and then the organiser has to pay for a service they can not decline. I suppose they have to be prepared but I found the numbers excessive and the frequent movements of their vehicles ostentatious bordering on provocative. Every now and then a flock of hi-vis jackets and limb protectors would break into a jog and the motion in combination with the expressions on the officers' faces gave two impressions; the whole was like the movement of a shoal of fish with about as much purpose. But if anything was to be drawn from the facial expressions it was reminiscent of combat troops from WWI to Gulf 2 where they looked at least as scared as their opponents. I felt my photographic attention to the interesting fleets of vehicles mustered for the occasion might cause one shoal to descend upon me so, disappointed in that respect, I descended to the sea. There is no light like seaside light and, as my gamble paid off, it shone upon the Brighton front. There is more dilapidation within yards of the sea but so much to photograph. The West Pier is an obvious subject but we saw also sculpture and preserved fishing posts as well as the extant Palace Pier in an incomparable light..

Right to the end of our visit and the end of usable light there were more opportunities. Brighton newcomer The Big Lemon brings some colour to the bus scene albeit with vehicles older than I was expecting and finally, offering some unexpected symmetry to the day, a gloriously simple poster decorated the hoardings protecting the straitened Astoria in Gloucester Place.

A day well spent and my photographic principle exercised.