Technology

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I love the *idea* of a launderette and for the first time I actually enjoyed visiting there today. In my ideal world it's a warm, clean, hypnotic space, perfect for a bit of solitude. But recently the reality has been stressful, irritating and weird: children kicking the bench I'm sitting on, strangers with no concept of personal space, long, long inane mobile phone conversations, and enthusiastic launderers stealing my solitude with their talk of gargoyles (I learned my lesson; my camera is kept well hidden. It was acting as badge saying "Please come and talk at me about your favourite photography, and while you're at it, can you recommend some mock-tudor buildings for me to photograph too, I do love a bit of stuck-on wood, and when my eyes glaze over, don't worry you'll hardly notice. No! Just carry on, I didn't really want to read this book I'm holding anyway." Perhaps I should be less accommodating and slightly scary next time and talk about the unornamented modernist concrete buildings I prefer to photograph, ooo 1960s concrete weirdness, that would see them off) Anyway, today was ace. Loads of spare machines, a curly haired little girl carrying a laundry basket around and me reading the paper with the smell of clean washing drifting on the air.

And this photo? I was struggling all day to find something appealing, and with the launderette being unsafe for photography, the only other place I've been all day is here, at home. So, another ticked off my list of 30 items to photograph under the label of technology: my computer. I'm sure it's been done a thousand times before, but I like it!

4/30