I have lived long enough now to have seen a transformation in the art of photography. Not that I’d call myself a photographer, but I been taking photographs since I was a child and I’ve always been entranced by the possibilities of even the simplest of cameras. As a schoolboy, I won a photographic competition once but that was a long time ago. Since then, I’ve just been using my various cameras for my own pleasure, mostly as a record of my family and friends but when that amazing digital revolution got to me, in 2007,  I found new excitement with a great digital camera, the Cannon EOS 400D, bought in Hong Kong and loved ever since.  Since living in Lewes, UK, I’ve been friends with a real photographer, David Stacey http://www.davidstaceyphoto.com/ who has not only inspired me with his own work but encouraged me to experiment more with my own camera.

Dave even turned his camera on me a few times and this portrait  now hangs on a wall at home – like it or not, I think it captures the spirit of my life here in Lewes.

I spent a day with Dave recently when we went to an exhibition as the excellent Pallant House Gallery in Chichester and, over a boys’ pub lunch, we discussed cameras and photography as we often do. It was there that Dave inspired me to give Instagram a go. He said he thought I’d really like this the most  creatively challenging and excitingly instant of all of today’s social networking sites. I said I’d have a go and, a month later, I’m still doing it and, yes, loving it too. I’ve been taking at least one photograph a day for the site and I’m gradually learning how to master the various editing options. You can see how I’ve been getting on by following the link below.

The other revolution in my on-line world is that those photographs taken for Instagram can be linked to various other sites – so I’m now an enthusiastic member of the photography site Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/16199705@N05/

I’m enjoying the way my photographs can be sent round the internet with just a couple of clicks and love the way my Instagram photos are also automatically linked to  that other photography site Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/colinbell/photographs-by-colin-bell-wolfiewolfgang/

Needless to say, these pictures also go directly to my Facebook and Twitter pages so after a relative silence here on my website, I’m suddenly all over the wonderful world-wide web and having lots of fun all of which I owe to my good friend David Stacey. Thanks Dave.

I haven’t posted many blogs on here this year. Forgive me, regular readers, I’ve been busy finishing a novel for publication later this year  and now I’m getting on with a new one so I’ve been heads down all year but plan to get back to blogging again very soon.

In the meanwhile you can follow me on all of the above sites as well as on Facebook and Twitter – I hope to see you around in cyberspace and, of course, here on this site.

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I’ve been humbled by my exposure to the portrait photography of the great Man Ray after that exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery (until 27th May) and also a little inspired too. I bought the excellent exhibition catalogue which has full page plates of all the exhibits. Looking at them I wondered if I could learn a thing or two from Man Ray. The problem was finding glamourous enough subjects for my own portraits.

What about Teddy, I wondered.

I think I have expressed his disdain with that fine profile but there is also a hint of his melancholy nature and maybe the threat of a poisonous bite.

An essential portrait for my own exhibition is, of course, Wolfie.

Looking at the monochrome images of my closest friends, I had to admit that Man Ray was on to something but then I remembered that most of his pictures were taken before the days of colour photography and then I looked out of my window at my cherry tree that has just burst into glorious blossom. Sorry, Man, I thought, but I can’t possibly photograph that, or my new tulips, in black and white.

One final portrait for my gallery: my trusty Canon camera, the Canon EOS 400D, that I bought in Hong Kong in 2008 when my life turned digital . What would I have done without you, old friend.

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Also my poem, Wrestling Angels, is the poem for today on the poetry site Every Day Poets @ http://www.everydaypoets.com  – have a read and if you want to, vote.

And now, Sunday, two of my new fibonacci poems are published in the Fib Review

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Here’s another pile of 40 of my photographs – a part of my general sort out.

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