Now it has been a bit of a slow morning in the office, which has left me reflecting on why any of us write, and how a random thought or image becomes a story.
I came late to writing, and even now don’t take myself seriously, added to which my grasp of grammar and spelling verges on the non-existent, and so I write as I talk, which pretty much breaks every rule in the book.
And unlike friends I don’t write to a plan, which means that often all I have is a vague idea, or at best a sentence which morphs into something.
So recently, when a friend posted a picture of a Dalek on the pier at Weston-super-Mare, my accompanying story evolved into one which linked them to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Nor is this random journeying confined to photographs, and so when writing about someone or some event in the past, the story can go off in any one of several directions.
All of which is part of the fun is, and makes up the challenge, but it begs the question of how different the story might be if it was written today rather than yesterday.
And brings me to these four images.
The first dates to 1983, and was taken on a march through Birmingham, protesting at the rise in unemployment, the second is the view across the Square on a warm sunny day in Manchester, the third of a Swiss lake and a solitary man, and the last also dates from the 1980s.
Each has a story, but the way we tell it and above all what is revealed can vary.
Sometimes there is no background information, other than that I was there and thought the man by the lake would make an interesting picture and what followed was less about him and more about the town by the water.
Others, like the white suited figures, was one of a series taken at a demonstration in October 1983, when the growing tensions between the super powers brought people out onto the streets to protest and the subsequent story was one which reflected on the history of demonstrations and the motivation of those who took part and the degree to which such events have an impact.
In some cases, it is just the juxtaposition of two different subjects, which in the case of the Birmingham march left me reflecting on the line of protesters who were observed by the children looking out from the window.
Lastly, some like the view across the square are full of possibilities and might draw on the history of the place, or its transformation over time.
But always I am guided by the broadcaster Alister Cook, whose Letter from America would always end where it started, neatly roaming over a series of related subjects in between.
And that is where I shall close, having filled the slow morning and mindful that I soon have an appointment in Manchester Central with a beer festival and pile of my books.
For the curious I shall just add that what is now Manchester Central was GMex, which for 80 years had been Central Railway Station, and the beer festival will be an appropriate venue to publicize the two books on Manchester Pubs I wrote with Peter Topping.
Location; everywhere
Pictures, 1983-2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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| Birmingham, 1983 |
And unlike friends I don’t write to a plan, which means that often all I have is a vague idea, or at best a sentence which morphs into something.
So recently, when a friend posted a picture of a Dalek on the pier at Weston-super-Mare, my accompanying story evolved into one which linked them to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Nor is this random journeying confined to photographs, and so when writing about someone or some event in the past, the story can go off in any one of several directions.
All of which is part of the fun is, and makes up the challenge, but it begs the question of how different the story might be if it was written today rather than yesterday.
 |
| Manchester, 2017 |
The first dates to 1983, and was taken on a march through Birmingham, protesting at the rise in unemployment, the second is the view across the Square on a warm sunny day in Manchester, the third of a Swiss lake and a solitary man, and the last also dates from the 1980s.
Each has a story, but the way we tell it and above all what is revealed can vary.
Sometimes there is no background information, other than that I was there and thought the man by the lake would make an interesting picture and what followed was less about him and more about the town by the water.
Others, like the white suited figures, was one of a series taken at a demonstration in October 1983, when the growing tensions between the super powers brought people out onto the streets to protest and the subsequent story was one which reflected on the history of demonstrations and the motivation of those who took part and the degree to which such events have an impact.
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| Switzerland, 2012 |
Lastly, some like the view across the square are full of possibilities and might draw on the history of the place, or its transformation over time.
But always I am guided by the broadcaster Alister Cook, whose Letter from America would always end where it started, neatly roaming over a series of related subjects in between.
And that is where I shall close, having filled the slow morning and mindful that I soon have an appointment in Manchester Central with a beer festival and pile of my books.
 |
| Manchester, 1983 |
Location; everywhere
Pictures, 1983-2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
Really interesting exploration of the story behind the story!
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