Pleasure, happiness and slanting light

click photo to enlarge
Many people confuse pleasure and happiness. Such confusion is quite understandable when you appreciate that we are constantly told by advertisers and businesses that happiness can be bought, when in fact what they are offering is (usually) pleasure. What is the difference? Happiness is a deep, long-lasting experience born of meaningful activity and solid relationships: pleasure is transitory, experienced briefly, then it is gone.

Consequently it is refreshing to see the word "pleasure" used accurately, as I did at the Lincolnshire seaside resort of Skegness the other day. The children's rides - roller coasters, big wheel etc - are part of what is known as the Pleasure Beach. This is a place where you pay your money and experience the fun and thrill of a ride. Even though the day was bright and sunny the month of February was not one where the owners felt that punters would be tempted on to the outdoor rides and so they were all still, waiting for the end of march or April to arrive. But the big, bold, painted and illuminated signs were still proclaiming the pleasure on offer even though most of the light bulbs were unlit.

The word shown above, part of the sign "Pleasure Beach" was painted in light blue, purple and yellow with red stars. Not my favourite combination of colours but appropriate for the purpose to which they were being put. What I liked was the way the slanting sunlight was making long shadows of every part of the wall, name and stars, and particularly the light bulbs. I felt the effect would be amplified by conversion to black and white, and so it proved.

photograph and text ® Tony Boughen

Photo Title: "Pleasure", Skegness, Lincolnshire
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 70mm (140mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Flying the flag

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An observant visitor to the UK is likely to notice the relatively small number of Union flags that are flown. Compared with, say, France or the United States, our flag is all but invisible. Every now and then UK writers comment on this, and periodically politicians and nationalists try to stimulate the flying of more flags. But without much success.

Why is this? It's probably something to do with the United Kingdom being a collective of four separate countries, each with its own distinctive history, language and culture. In Scotland the cross of St Andrew seems to be flown more than formerly, perhaps reflecting its growing nationalism, whilst in Wales that country's flag flies fairly widely. Northern Ireland goes its own way, and tends to display three flags - the Union flag, the flag of Northern Ireland, and the tricolour of the Irish Repubic - depending on political persuasion! And England is simple confused. It's forgivable that people from other countries confuse the Union flag with the flag of England, but it's unfortunate when native English people do the same. Many do fly the cross of St George, but it's done with markedly less fervour than the people of the other constituent countries of the UK fly theirs.

So, when a Union flag is flown it tends to be noticed. This flag on the 1930s Casino building on Blackpool's promenade grabbed my attention immediately, and I decided to make it the focal point of an image. I have photographed the architect Joseph Emberton's Modernist masterpiece before, but this time I decided to be selective and show some of its white reinforced concrete curves against the deep blue of the January sky, enlivened by the red of the decrative wheel and that high flying flag. A zoom lens at 48mm (35mm equivalent) was used, with the camera set to Aperture Priority (f8 at 1/400 second), with the ISO at 100 and -0.7EV.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen