Oxford Architecture

Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) 10 & 11 September 2016 was "Open Doors" weekend in Oxford when you could visit places not normally open to the public. On Sunday I took some 598 photos. So, I figure there ought to be one or two I can post to ip :-)) This is a shot taken inside the Blavatnik School of Government Building. Construction started in September 2013 and completed in November 2015. It has the capacity to host up to 550 students, faculty staff and guests. The building is expected to consume 49% less energy in comparison to existing UK buildings of the same size and use. I haven't been drinking but my photo does make me think of the film "Jaws" :-))) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ Theme From Jaws Maybe view on black :-)

Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) I hope this is 'abstracty' enough for Mick to allow me posting to AbsOrbed .......please, Mick :-))

As there are two peoples in my shot of Exeter College in Oxford I'm thinking I could link this to "The Two Of Us" by Jackie Trent & Tony Hatch :-) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ The Two Of Us ~ Jackie Trent & Tony Hatch

Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) I like the clouds in my shot of the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford. So, a link to "Clouds" by Newton Faulkner seems like a good idea to moi :-) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ Clouds ~ Newton Faulkner Maybe view on black :-)

'Tis the season of tenuous 'Sight and Sound' links.....methinks :-)) This is the 'Earth Sciences' Building in Oxford. There is a John Stewart compilation album called ~ "Earth Rider - The Essential John Stewart 1964-1979". From this album I have chosen one of my fave tracks and that is "Willard". This track features on John's album of the same name from 1970. Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ Willard ~ John Stewart

Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) There's tenuous and tenuous. My link here is probably tenuous times three!!! The lady could be having a 'break away' from the office which could very well link to "Breakaway" by Gallagher & Lyle methinks :-) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ Breakaway ~ Gallagher & Lyle ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Or here ~ Breakaway ~ Gallagher & Lyle

Back to the Biochemistry Building in Oxford :-) "Colour My World" by Chicago seems a logical link to moi :-) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ Colour My World ~ Chicago. Lead vocal by Terry Kath

I guess you could say that the Blavatnik Building in Oxford has a 'Heart of Glass' and this could then link to "Heart of Glass" by Blondie.....methinks :-) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ Heart of Glass ~ Blondie ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Or here ~ Heart of Glass ~ Blondie

Congratulations to Sami for posting the 4,000th entry to 'Sight and Sound'. My post means there is only another 999 posts needed to reach our next milestone of 5,000 entries :-) My co-admins (Mick & Karen) are the absolute best!! And, of course, we have the best bunch of members....ever :-) Clearly a photographer must have decided to plant the red flowers :-) Makes it easy for me to link my photo to "Flowers Are Red" by Harry Chapin :-) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ Flowers Are Red ~ Harry Chapin

There is lots and lots and lots and lots of glass in the Blavatnik Building :-) So, "Glass" by Thompson Square seems an appropriate 'Sight and Sound' link to moi :-) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ Glass ~ Thompson Square

I've been trying to find a shot to go with "I Found Someone" by Cher. It is gonna have to be this shot from the archives methinks :-) Added to ~ Sight and Sound ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ Listen here ~ I Found Someone ~ Cher

Doesn't seem possible that Helen passed away almost 4 months ago. I am slowly getting there and decided it was time to get out with my camera. Been to Oxford a few times and will now start posting to ipernity. Maybe a bit 'hit and miss' initially but I hope to be able to regularly post images and start commenting upon other folks photos. This shot of the King's Arms was taken at the corner of Parks Road, Holywell Street, Broad Street and Catte Street. Have often thought about going into the King's Arms for a drink but it's not possible to have anything alcoholic when I have always driven to Oxford. Perhaps I should, on occasions, take the bus!!

This is an old photo that I copied and flipped. The process is readily available on the Internet but I have the 'Digital Photographer's Guide to Photoshop Elements' by Barry Beckham from 2003. In this book it details the process with screenshots and pictures. I will be trying this again with some other photos but I think I need to write down the process on a sheet of paper so that I don't have to keep trying to find the book :-) ...................Please view photo large. Thank you.................. I looked for a 'Flipped' song for 'Sight and Sound' and all I could find was "Flip Flop and Fly" by Big Joe Turner :-) Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Flip, Flop & Fly - Big Joe Turner

Happy Fence Friday, All. One from the Archives where I decided it needed a panoramic crop :-) On the left is Merton College, Oxford. Merton College was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton, Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Rochester. It is claimed to be the oldest college in Oxford. But, apparently, this has been disputed by Balliol College and University College. I don't know if there has been any agreement to which college is actually the oldest! In the distance is Magdalen Tower. The Tower is one of the oldest parts of Magdalen College. Built of stone from 1492, when the foundation stone was laid, its bells were hung ready for use in 1505 and completed by 1509. It is 144 feet (44 m) high and dominates the eastern entrance to the city of Oxford. When looking for a 'Sight & Sound' link I didn't think I would find a song called "College". But, surprisingly, I found "College" by Pat Green. I was going to say I hadn't heard of Pat Green but, actually, I think I do have one of Pat's albums tucked away...somewhere :-) Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ College - Pat Green Maybe view my photo Large, please :-)

I think the Biochemistry Building was completed in 2008. Anyway, it cost £49 million and I think it was money well spent for ‘us photographers’ :-) www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2008/081212_1.html This is an oldish shot that I have been playing around with in Photoshop to try and boost the colours and contrast a bit! This reminds me that I do really need to get back to taking more shots of the Biochemistry Building :-)

You can visit many of the Oxford Colleges either for free or by paying a couple of pounds sterling. But, I have never known Brasenose College to be open to visitors :-( However, that doesn't stop you taking a shot or two through the entrance :-) From "Oxford Scene; A View of the University and City" - "Brasenose College was founded in 1509 by two northerners from the Cheshire-Lancashire border...Bishop William Smyth and Richard Sutton a lawyer and the first layman spontaneously to found a college. The buildings were put up on the site of several medieval halls including Brazen Nose Hall."

From www.britainexpress.com/cities/oxford/radcliffe.htm - “The circular dome and drum of the Radcliffe Camera provides one of Oxford's most iconic sights, and is a distinctive landmark in a city full of distinctive landmarks! The camera (the word means simply "room") was built 1737-1749 with £40,000 bequeathed by Dr John Radcliffe, the royal physician. The Radcliffe Camera was intended to house a new library, and designs were called for from several leading architects, including Nicholas Hawksmoor (responsible for much of All Soul's College) and James Gibbs. It was Gibbs who won the competition, with his elegant Palladian design, though his final plans drew heavily on earlier work by Hawksmoor. Gibbs was also responsible for the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, in Trafalgar Square, London. Originally the library in the Radcliffe Camera held both scientific and general books, but those collections were gradually moved to other University libraries, so that today the Camera functions as the main reading room of the Bodleian Library. The finished building holds some 600,000 books in underground rooms beneath Radcliffe Square. Sadly, the Radcliffe Camera is not open to the public.”

This was taken with my compact and ‘cos I was pointing the camera upwards the verticals and horizontals were all over the place :-)) I have tried to correct this in Photoshop but not entirely sure if I have fully succeeded :-)) This shot shows the main entrance. You do get different colours here but the colours tend to be more spectacular when taking shots of the other sides of the building. As with the rest of the building the colours change depending upon the light and the time of day. There is a café within the building and it has always surprised me that even though this is a University building anyone can just walk in and visit the café :-) From the Department of Biochemistry website - “The Biochemistry Department is part of the University of Oxford's Medical Sciences Division, the largest of the University's four academic divisions and ranked third in the world for Biomedicine. According to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 75% of research activity within the Department is rated world-class quality in terms of significance, rigour and originality, making it the highest rated Life Sciences Department within a UK university. The Department moved into a brand new purpose-built building during the Autumn of 2008 which was designed to promote interaction and collaboration as well as provide state-of-the-art facilities for all staff. There are about thirty-five academic staff, one hundred postdoctoral research workers and one hundred and fifty postgraduate students. Members of other departments also contribute to teaching, including lecturers in physiology, pathology, pharmacology, clinical biochemistry and zoology. Although large, the Department is not impersonal and has a friendly atmosphere.”