On the run

Being on my own in Bristol this weekend, and with a hurricane forecast for this afternoon (apparently), I got up early and packed a lot into the first half of the day.

I rather stupidly allowed both my SLR batteries to run out of juice, but took my Nikon compact with me as I watched some of the Bristol half-marathon.

I have to say the quality of images was superb - even when I tried shooting while tracking the runners. They're nice little cameras and definitely good for an emergency.

I then indulged my ravenous appetite for quality photographic exhibitions by seeing the new Martin Parr show at Bristol's M Shed.

I love his work. He shoots everyday people and places, but somehow manages to find the deliciously quirky in juxtapositions, people's expressions etc.

The closer I looked at the images, I also could see how clever he had been - using diagonals, other shapes, the golden mean, colour etc. This exhibition is well worth seeing.

I continued on a cultural theme by dashing from the M Shed to the Watershed media centre to see a 1961 film L'Année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year in Marienbad), directed by Alain Resnais.

It is a surreal French film that is said to 'explore the possibilities in film'. There were pleasing aspects about it, but I did find some of it hard to understand, with events and conversations repeated throughout the film and times and locations changing.

If you are interested, you can read about it here.