One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice —
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do —
determined to save
the only life you could save.
After seeing such extraordinary shots in last year’s show I couldn’t wait to go back and see this one. Again, the standard was excellent and I still can’t get over how much patience and skill the photographers have to get the perfect shot. Some of the entrants are children as young as ten.
Going to the exhibition made me appreciate my little snappy snap Canon Ixus 200IS even more. I was a little bit naughty and put it to good use in the gallery. I’ve only just noticed that I didn’t have to be all secret agent, quickly taking my photos without the attendants catching me, as there is an online gallery on the Natural History Museum site. I did quite enjoy my covert spy activity though and think I’d make a sterling secret agent.
These two monkey ones are my favourites. I’ve always been a big fan of monkeys and love the human expressions on their faces.
The exhibition is on until the 11th of April 2010, get your tickets here.
I’m the proud new owner of a Canon Ixus 200IS camera and got to road test it on Christmas day. It was great to pay attention to details for the next interesting shot as we strolled through the graveyard and on to Queens Park. This Canon kicks my old Sony camera into touch – no more blurred and fuzzy photos!
I saw this wicked graffiti on a pub wall in East London tonight. The one below must be an original Banksy as it’s covered in perspex to protect it. Unless they’ve covered it to make it LOOK like an original Banksy, mmm, clever. Quite annoyingly it’s also covered by a stupid fern, why would you do that?

Home time, surely?

Lyndsey surrounded by her adoring fans

And my number one fave 'Roll on 5.30'
The best thing about the party was that we got to play dress ups and get our photo taken. There’s nothing like a dress up box to unleash your inner 5 year old.
I snapped these fabulous shots of pumpkins whilst in New York recently. Those Americans sure do know how to celebrate the holidays. Fantastically sculptured works of art adorned shop windows all over town, much to my delight.
I absolutely adored Eat Pray Love and think that Elizabeth Gilbert is fabulous. In this TED lecture she delves into the subject of creativity, how she is coping with the outrageous success of Eat Pray Love and the expectation around her forthcoming work.
She poses the theory that perhaps it’s not the person that is the genius when they produce something extraordinary, but genius channelled through them to create the masterpiece. To nurture the genius you have to show up and start doing the work. It’s a good self preservation tactic if the work sucks as well, I was there but my genius never showed. Note to self: Start showing up!