Alan Burnett
@abfixby.bsky.social
One time teacher, one time writer on European social policy, now retired, walking the dog and doing a little harmless blogging. In love with the interface between words and images.
www.alanburnett.com
www.alanburnett.com
The development of photography in the nineteenth century provided us with a unique window through which we could view history. Before that, we only had the imagined faces of our ancestors or, if you were lucky, a fanciful artist's portrait or two. ......
December 1, 2025 at 11:39 PM
The development of photography in the nineteenth century provided us with a unique window through which we could view history. Before that, we only had the imagined faces of our ancestors or, if you were lucky, a fanciful artist's portrait or two. ......
Memories aren't sharp; they blur into shapes and condense into moods. Memories aren't perfect; they're cut and they're edited like some Panorama report. This was Elland fifty years ago, and it seems green and pleasant. It wasn't. It's a memory.
December 1, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Memories aren't sharp; they blur into shapes and condense into moods. Memories aren't perfect; they're cut and they're edited like some Panorama report. This was Elland fifty years ago, and it seems green and pleasant. It wasn't. It's a memory.
The other day I used Paul Simon's lyrics from his song "Kodachrome" to introduce a colourful picture taken in Huddersfield Open Market. Today's picture is from the same market, but it is anything but colourful. Paul Simon never did write a song called "Tri-X", which is a pity, really.
November 30, 2025 at 12:11 AM
The other day I used Paul Simon's lyrics from his song "Kodachrome" to introduce a colourful picture taken in Huddersfield Open Market. Today's picture is from the same market, but it is anything but colourful. Paul Simon never did write a song called "Tri-X", which is a pity, really.
This photograph is taken from a batch of family photos that once belonged to my great-uncle Albert. The subject may be him - or, more likely, his son-in-law - but it is the composition that stands out. ....
November 28, 2025 at 11:40 PM
This photograph is taken from a batch of family photos that once belonged to my great-uncle Albert. The subject may be him - or, more likely, his son-in-law - but it is the composition that stands out. ....
"They give us those nice bright colours, give us the greens of summers, makes you think all the world's a sunny day" There would have been a time when it would have been Kodachrome and a Nikon camera, but today as I walked through Huddersfield Open Market, all I needed was my smartphone. Oh Yeah!
November 27, 2025 at 11:51 PM
"They give us those nice bright colours, give us the greens of summers, makes you think all the world's a sunny day" There would have been a time when it would have been Kodachrome and a Nikon camera, but today as I walked through Huddersfield Open Market, all I needed was my smartphone. Oh Yeah!
St Thomas's Church has stood out like a spiritual beacon looking down on industrial Halifax from the hilltop at Claremount since the 1860s. However, in the 1960s, it lost its spire, then its congregation, then its religious status and slowly began to fade behind the ever-spreading hillside woodland.
November 27, 2025 at 12:00 AM
St Thomas's Church has stood out like a spiritual beacon looking down on industrial Halifax from the hilltop at Claremount since the 1860s. However, in the 1960s, it lost its spire, then its congregation, then its religious status and slowly began to fade behind the ever-spreading hillside woodland.
It was the start of the parade, down a cobbled street at the bottom of Halifax. Flanked by a car park of near vintage motors, backed by a hillside as bald as a Pennine coot, the wagons lined up ready for the Charity Gala parade. It was 1966, or maybe '67, or even '68. It was a very long time ago.
November 26, 2025 at 12:12 AM
It was the start of the parade, down a cobbled street at the bottom of Halifax. Flanked by a car park of near vintage motors, backed by a hillside as bald as a Pennine coot, the wagons lined up ready for the Charity Gala parade. It was 1966, or maybe '67, or even '68. It was a very long time ago.
In a small way, restoring old photographs is a bit like bringing people back to life. Rescuing faces, figures, stances, and backgrounds from the slow decay into faded, sepia obscurity is quietly satisfying. ....
November 24, 2025 at 11:52 PM
In a small way, restoring old photographs is a bit like bringing people back to life. Rescuing faces, figures, stances, and backgrounds from the slow decay into faded, sepia obscurity is quietly satisfying. ....
What is it about West Yorkshire that I miss when I'm away? It's not so much the hills and the valleys; other places have hills and valleys. It must be those palaces of industry, the mills, and the shapes they create. ....
November 24, 2025 at 12:06 AM
What is it about West Yorkshire that I miss when I'm away? It's not so much the hills and the valleys; other places have hills and valleys. It must be those palaces of industry, the mills, and the shapes they create. ....
Short of funds? Don't let that worry you. These days you'd reach for your credit card; 110 years ago you might reach out to the Brighouse Equitable Self-Help Thrift Society. And if that didn't work, you could always buy a battery, a record and an air gun from Richardson's on Bethel Street.
November 22, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Short of funds? Don't let that worry you. These days you'd reach for your credit card; 110 years ago you might reach out to the Brighouse Equitable Self-Help Thrift Society. And if that didn't work, you could always buy a battery, a record and an air gun from Richardson's on Bethel Street.
I'm down south attending the memorial service for a dear old friend. Even down here, the weather is cold, but I'm certain we will all be warmed by the shared memories we have of a lovely man.
November 21, 2025 at 11:04 PM
I'm down south attending the memorial service for a dear old friend. Even down here, the weather is cold, but I'm certain we will all be warmed by the shared memories we have of a lovely man.
By the 1960s, all that was left of the once magnificent Sunny Vale Pleasure Gardens was a Go-Kart track, a rubbish-filled lake and a host of memories. There were two lakes - Victoria and Alexandra - and I am not sure which this one was.
November 20, 2025 at 11:33 PM
By the 1960s, all that was left of the once magnificent Sunny Vale Pleasure Gardens was a Go-Kart track, a rubbish-filled lake and a host of memories. There were two lakes - Victoria and Alexandra - and I am not sure which this one was.
A car stands outside a back street shop. This is such an unusual sight that a crowd gathers and everyone is keen to be included in the photograph. A boy sits in the car radiating excitement. A girl sits alongside him, confident in the fact that this will be the first of many such journeys.
November 19, 2025 at 10:23 PM
A car stands outside a back street shop. This is such an unusual sight that a crowd gathers and everyone is keen to be included in the photograph. A boy sits in the car radiating excitement. A girl sits alongside him, confident in the fact that this will be the first of many such journeys.
I'm not precisely certain about the date of this photograph; it could have been any time during the first half of the 1980s. We were living in Sheffield at the time. It was a time of big cars and half demolished streets, empty factories and new technologies, hope and despair.
November 18, 2025 at 11:33 PM
I'm not precisely certain about the date of this photograph; it could have been any time during the first half of the 1980s. We were living in Sheffield at the time. It was a time of big cars and half demolished streets, empty factories and new technologies, hope and despair.
By the second decade of the twentieth century, the spread of cheaper cameras meant that it was possible to have picture postcards made from your own photographs, and such postcards became the WhatsApp messages of their day. ....
November 17, 2025 at 11:31 PM
By the second decade of the twentieth century, the spread of cheaper cameras meant that it was possible to have picture postcards made from your own photographs, and such postcards became the WhatsApp messages of their day. ....
I don't know what I was thinking when I took this photo - it was a very long time ago. Perhaps it was the end of a film, and I managed to squeeze in an extra shot; perhaps the view looked clearer than it turned out to be. .....
November 17, 2025 at 12:22 AM
I don't know what I was thinking when I took this photo - it was a very long time ago. Perhaps it was the end of a film, and I managed to squeeze in an extra shot; perhaps the view looked clearer than it turned out to be. .....
There is a great deal of satisfaction to be gained from messing about with old photographs (I use the phrase "messing about" in its technical sense - the experimental algorithmic application of miscellaneous digital filters). .....
November 16, 2025 at 12:20 AM
There is a great deal of satisfaction to be gained from messing about with old photographs (I use the phrase "messing about" in its technical sense - the experimental algorithmic application of miscellaneous digital filters). .....
My father posed with one of his prized possessions - a radiogram (indeed a stereogram as it had two speakers). The radio would give you access to everything from the Light Programme to the Home Service, and even Radio Luxembourg on a clear evening. ...
November 15, 2025 at 12:01 AM
My father posed with one of his prized possessions - a radiogram (indeed a stereogram as it had two speakers). The radio would give you access to everything from the Light Programme to the Home Service, and even Radio Luxembourg on a clear evening. ...
Sorting through some old photographs of mine from half a century or more ago, I came across this one of the then Halifax Parish Church (now, Halifax Minster). Dating the photograph is tricky - the fabric of the church itself hasn't changed all that much in centuries. ...
November 13, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Sorting through some old photographs of mine from half a century or more ago, I came across this one of the then Halifax Parish Church (now, Halifax Minster). Dating the photograph is tricky - the fabric of the church itself hasn't changed all that much in centuries. ...
This photo, taken 100 years ago in Andermatt, Switzerland, perfectly illustrates the joy of Found Photographs. The ability of a handful of grey and sepia tones to capture an age and tell a story is, as always, astonishing. Such lost and forgotten works of art deserve finding, preserving and sharing.
November 13, 2025 at 12:09 AM
This photo, taken 100 years ago in Andermatt, Switzerland, perfectly illustrates the joy of Found Photographs. The ability of a handful of grey and sepia tones to capture an age and tell a story is, as always, astonishing. Such lost and forgotten works of art deserve finding, preserving and sharing.
Although I took this photograph over forty years ago, not all that much has changed in the intervening years. The signage on the Shears Inn has changed, along with the chimney pots, and there is a good deal more vegetation around these days. ....
November 12, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Although I took this photograph over forty years ago, not all that much has changed in the intervening years. The signage on the Shears Inn has changed, along with the chimney pots, and there is a good deal more vegetation around these days. ....
I bought this old Victorian studio portrait by the Huddersfield photographer William Sellman for a few pence from a second-hand stall. ...
November 11, 2025 at 12:16 AM
I bought this old Victorian studio portrait by the Huddersfield photographer William Sellman for a few pence from a second-hand stall. ...
The 14 foot high plastic bowling pin that graced the top of the Halifax Bowl on Broad Street seems like it was one of the most permanent features of the Halifax of my youth, but in fact, it was only in place for a little over a year. ....
November 10, 2025 at 12:08 AM
The 14 foot high plastic bowling pin that graced the top of the Halifax Bowl on Broad Street seems like it was one of the most permanent features of the Halifax of my youth, but in fact, it was only in place for a little over a year. ....
We took a walk down this footpath last week, and there was something almost Van Goghian about the scene. When I got home, I asked my mate AI to translate my photo, and my thoughts, into a new reality, and this is what it came up with.
November 9, 2025 at 12:06 AM
We took a walk down this footpath last week, and there was something almost Van Goghian about the scene. When I got home, I asked my mate AI to translate my photo, and my thoughts, into a new reality, and this is what it came up with.
Sixteen years ago, as a bit of a joke, I started a on-line weekly forum for sharing old photographs called Sepia Saturday. Over the years, it has brought together people from all over the world who love to share old photographs from their collections. ....
November 8, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Sixteen years ago, as a bit of a joke, I started a on-line weekly forum for sharing old photographs called Sepia Saturday. Over the years, it has brought together people from all over the world who love to share old photographs from their collections. ....