simon blackbourn
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simonblackbourn.net
simon blackbourn
@simonblackbourn.net
440 followers 200 following 480 posts
plymouth // photographer // serial wanderer // ancient stone botherer // co-founder + zine designer at dartmoor collective // job: freelance wordpress developer
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simonblackbourn.net
Dartmoor yesterday afternoon. Soggy, squelchy, shrouded, silent.
A black and white photograph of Dartmoor on a misty autumn day. Low clouds hang over a tor. Clumps of tussocked grass, gorse bushes, a puddled track. A black and white photograph of Dartmoor on a foggy autumn day. The landscape is featureless. A single puddle on a track leading to a fog-shrouded horizon. A black and white photograph of Dartmoor on a misty autumn day. A road sign blown over by the way. A fence-lined, damp road curves away to the horizon. A black and white photograph of Dartmoor on a misty autumn day. A stand of skeletal trees at a road junction. Fence posts and a gate silhouetted.
November 16, 2025 at 11:11 AM
simonblackbourn.net
A subdued autumnal day, a hint of mist in the air, all the sharp edges softened
A photograph taken on a misty autumnal day in Plymouth, UK. An empty patch of wasteland with a buddleia growing on the left, a concrete building with some graffiti of a pterodactyl-like creature, a modern Moxy hotel in the background, and on the right-hand side behind that a tall residential tower block. A photograph taken on a misty autumnal day in Plymouth, UK. A blue solid wooden fence about 2m high spans the image, with a single vertical white line in the middle. The masts of about 20 boats are poking out above it. In the foreground parking spaces are marked out with white paint on rough concrete. A photograph taken on a misty autumnal day in Plymouth, UK. A man leans against a concrete wall, looking out to sea. An island (Drake's Island) is on the left, and Mt Edgecumbe to the right. The weather is slightly misty with low cloud. A photograph taken looking across the seafront on an autumnal day in Plymouth, UK. The white houses lining Grand Parade can be seen. The sea is grey and uninviting. The cloud, also grey, is very low.
November 6, 2025 at 8:19 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Was going to do a bunch of boring jobs from my to-do list, but curling up on the sofa with this for a few hours is far more appealing
The cover of 'The Complete Short Stories Volume 1' by JG Ballard.
October 18, 2025 at 8:41 AM
simonblackbourn.net
Wanderings
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#photography #Plymouth
A panoramic photograph of a tiny security guard's cabin in an empty car park in Plymouth. Two tall brick walls lead the eye towards the white cabin. A single traffic cone sits to its left. In the background a tall building with about 30 windows visible and a green "Lloyd Bank" sign. A panoramic photograph of a woman feeding two seagulls. She is in an empty concrete area behind city centre shops, with lots of red and blue waste bins. A shadow of two lights on a lamppost is cast on to the rough concrete of a multi-storey car park. In the background a huge concrete building with no windows. The Money Centre building in Plymouth. Small rectangular white tiles cover the walls, including an odd circular structure. A single red platic barrier sits in front of the wall.
September 28, 2025 at 8:26 AM
simonblackbourn.net
oooh interesting, wonder what this could be...?
A screenshot of a Facebook post by the band Sonic Youth, with a washing machine with "2026" on it on a blue background.
September 27, 2025 at 1:48 PM
simonblackbourn.net
The 'Helios' sun installation at Market Hall in Devonport is brilliant. Made from 400,000 photographs taken by NASA.
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#Plymouth
"Helios" - A 7-metre wide sculpture of the sun at Devonport Market Hall in Plymouth, created from 400,000 photographs of the sun taken by NASA.
September 26, 2025 at 9:35 AM
simonblackbourn.net
Plymouth Civic Centre
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#AlphabetChallenge
#WeekLForLines
📸
A black and white photograph of the empty Civic Centre building in Plymouth. It shows a grid of windows, some broken, and concrete panels. An art installation visible through some of the windows reads "WHAT WILL YOU MAKE OF IT?"
September 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
simonblackbourn.net
The similarity is uncanny
A black and white photograph of Foggintor Quarry on Dartmoor. The entire scene is shrouded in dense fog. In the foreground, two enormous lumps of granite, with many smashed pieces lying around. Behind, the lake formed by the flooded quarry workings, and the very vague outline of the far side of the quarry.
September 14, 2025 at 1:57 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Dipping my toe into the world of #halfFrame photography with this little beauty
An Olympus Pen EE-2 35mm 'half frame' film camera
September 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Pinks, reds and blues, from a sunny stroll around Plymouth on Saturday afternoon.
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#photography 📸
A discarded plastic pink chair next to two rubbish bins The top deck of a multi storey car park with a pink sign reading "No Entry", under a bright blue sky A main walks round the edge of Tinside Lido in Plymouth. The lido is painted in alternating light and dark blue stripes. A pigeon stands on a plastic tub next to a wall and steps painted in red and white.
September 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
simonblackbourn.net
More cake-themed anti-fascist action please
Two traffic bollards that were vandalised with red St George crosses have subsequently had yellow and pink paint applied to make them look like Battenberg cakes.
September 4, 2025 at 8:34 PM
simonblackbourn.net
The Barbican
#brutalMonday
A black and white photograph of one of the residential towers of the Barbican Estate in London. About 15 floors are visible, each identical, creating a repeating geometric pattern. The concrete is damp after rain.
September 1, 2025 at 5:45 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Things observed on a Sunday afternoon stroll
A piece of street art consisting of an alien space invader character made out of small red, black and white tiles glued to a wall, each about 1cm square. It is a few centimetres above a flight of stone steps. A juvenile seagull sitting on tarmac. A plastic drainpipe with a small anarchy symbol (an uppercase letter A in a circle) to the left of it. The wall is white with green patches where the drainpipe has leaked. A yellow traffic cone on a pavement. A weed is growing just behind it, and the road in front is made of cobblestones, with a double yellow 'no parking' line.
September 1, 2025 at 8:19 AM
simonblackbourn.net
Not sure the pedestrians will be too happy
Two red signs placed one in front of the other, so that the text appears to read "Cyclists dismount and use pedestrians"
August 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Avebury, last summer.
#standingStoneSunday
A black and white photo of Avebury stone circle. In the foreground are long shadows cast by the low sun of me and one of the standing stones. The stone circle itself curves round from the right. In the background, a large tree stands. The sky is clear.
August 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
simonblackbourn.net
This one sat on my arm for about 4hrs one afternoon when I was camping with friends. It still ranks as one of my all-time favourite close encounters with nature. We called him Dave.
A dragonfly on my hand. A dragonfly on my hand, seen front-on. A dragonfly sitting on my forearm. It is about 10cm long and is black, yellow and iridescent blue.
August 9, 2025 at 6:04 AM
simonblackbourn.net
Next up, a 50p charity shop find, I've never heard of it before but it sounds intriguing and the reviews are very good
The book 'The People's Act of Love' by James Meek.
August 7, 2025 at 8:53 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Well this was pretty bloody brilliant
The book 'Hagstone' by Sinéad Gleeson.
August 7, 2025 at 8:49 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Released on this day in 1979. Still sounds absolutely fucking epic.
The cover of 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' by Bauhaus: a very grainy image of the shadow of a bat.
August 6, 2025 at 7:55 AM
simonblackbourn.net
I agree but I also had to smile at this juxtaposition in my timeline :)
A Bluesky post about unwanted adult content, with the next post in the timline being the "Flashes app".
July 28, 2025 at 2:34 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Scorhill stone circle on Dartmoor (photographed with a handmade wooden pinhole camera).
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#standingStoneSunday #pinhole
A pinhole photograph of a standing stone at Scorhill stone circle on Dartmoor. The stone is quite irregularly shaped and leaning slightly. The sky is blue with clouds. The colours are quite faded due to the film being many years out of date.
July 27, 2025 at 12:12 PM
simonblackbourn.net
Excellent post from @mwriston.bsky.social about the loneliness of the 'Like' button (for both readers and creators): michaelwriston.substack.com/p/this-photo...
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#photography
Behind all this scrolling lies a peculiar kind of loneliness. We consume endless streams of human creativity, yet the experience feels somehow isolating. We see more photographs in a single day than anyone in human history, but rarely engage with the people who made them. We appreciate in silence. We're more visually connected than ever, yet so many artists I've talked to describe feeling unseen, uncertain whether their work actually reaches anyone.
July 23, 2025 at 10:08 AM
simonblackbourn.net
Breakfast at 2,434m
July 13, 2025 at 10:22 AM
simonblackbourn.net
Came across this stunning wasps' nest halfway up an Italian mountain this week. I've never seen one with such beautiful colours before.
A tiny wasps nest (about 8cm high and 4cm wide) on a wooden post. There are about 40 cells in the nest, some with beautiful gold and bronze colours in them. A single wasp sits on top of the nest.
July 12, 2025 at 7:30 AM
simonblackbourn.net
Lunch at 2300m
A sheer rock face in the Alps with patches of snow
July 7, 2025 at 9:56 AM