photos from chorlton water park

No smart commentary, no profound reason for publishing these, I simply like these grasses or whatever they are.

I went down to Chorlton Water Park on Monday with the intention of gathering fallen twigs and bits of wood for the Long Lankin project. In the event it was such a nice day I spent most of the time wandering around enjoying the weather and the park, and singing to myself.

These plants must be close to two metres high and grow from the water in one of the wet areas of the park. I've tried, less successfully, to photograph them in previous years. Part of the fascination is the quantity of them and their uniformity. And yet when you look closely the similarities between individual plants begin to fall apart.

For a moment I almost wished I had a black and white camera. But that moment didn't last. I'm not a big fan of monochrome being used to signify importance, and while a good black and white photograph would bring out interesting aspects of the texture, and the contrast of light and shade, the colours are a vital part of the experience for me. The purple seed heads which somehow appear less so in these pictures complement the various greens beautifully.

Eventually I did collect my wood but only a small amount. I could have been more assiduous and been able to progress further with my studio piece but look at what I would have missed.

Only a day or two earlier walking back from the water park through Chorlton a driver deliberately swerved a long way off his line to drive through a puddle and splash me and the notebook I was writing in at the time. Except that although he drove straight through the puddle and made a beautiful arc of muddy water I was nowhere near and it fell harmlessly to the pavement a metre or two ahead of me. If I'd thought quickly enough I might have sent him on his way with an ironic round of applause for making himself look stupid.

And of course as you can see the following day was beautiful and hot. The sky hasn't come out terribly well in this picture but that wasn't the point. I wanted to show how the grasses recede into the trees in what I find quite a pleasing way. Although this picture doesn't really capture it at all.