An impossible picture. Some will say this isn't a 'real' photo at all. That's because there's no physical way to see this view in real life. It is an artifice. (But all photography is artifice, really.)

It is genital mutilation of babies. There is no moral argument to be made for it. Safety measures?? Training??? It needs to be banned. But it won't. Nor will it even be discussed.

Is anyone in my network pretty good at router configuration? tl;dr, one of my New Year admin jobs is to see if I can stop renting a router and use one of the many in the cupboard. Firmware fuckery and other issues are making this very much less than trivial.

...and favourite 2025 photos part two: paulclarke.com/photography/...

My favourite 2025 photos: part one paulclarke.com/photography/...

Emboldened by my OneLogin experiences, I have now tried doing CH stuff online. My god. How many years of transaction experience, and CH are this shoddy? It's a catalogue of design disasters.

Night owls: it's New Year's Eve, which means it's part 2 of my year in pictures longer write-up paulclarke.com/photography/...

I need bright ideas for managing a very seasonal business.

I now seem to have a OneLogin and a Gov Uk ID check app. What's that about then?

15 minutes into Brassed Off. I'm toast. Wet toast. Never seen it before.

Quite enjoying that ludicrous roaster being widely called out. No doubt straight back to his sensationalist "war reporting" with little substantiation and zero sources. Strong whiff of that mental Twitter guy who pretended to be ex FCO. +++BREAKING+++, oh and RS Archer, too

Anyone here want two tickets to this tonight at 7pm?! Good seats but we're ill and can't go.... www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/calendar/a-b...

My top festive snack was Yorkshire pudding filled with Polish herring. Take that, fusion-phobes!

probly had enough cheese now

I have done things with cabbages you simply would not believe

A quiet Christmas morning read with your coffee, now with fixed typos; thank you @addey.com et al

The year in photos: Part One paulclarke.com/photography/...

Matthew is brilliant

2025 Top Ten. No.1 – After the Arrows. I've taken all the 'usual' pictures of this incredible display team. But this summer, I found something completely different.

I'd missed this piece from @edent.tel on image manipulation. He quotes some excellent references! shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/04...

No, WeTransfer, our recollections differ (also, wrapped-up year summaries for a file transfer service? OUT!)

Such a small but lovely Christmas thing is the massive Big Yellow Self Storage building near the Hammersmith Flyover turning off the S on either side so it now reads ELF STORAGE.

If you can't even win approval for this thesis on *Bluesky*, then I'd say this is, er, not going to fly very well

I ended up at one of their smaller backroom 'prosperity' services once (don't ask). A young Brazilian man shouted at a dozen older black women, exhorting them to empty their purses to achieve the Lord's will. It was an awful scene.

Through a moving train window, but what a country, what a glorious country

2025 Top Ten. No.2 – May Morning. 5am start, a little early mist burnt off by the rising sun, and the Belles of London City Morris having a great time with their horse, Betley

I've just noticed that Tony Hart and William Hanson have uncannily similar voices

The ancient game of ill-fitting public procurement "we glued a series of individually-sensible concepts together, and built a monster" playing out in the cafes of Hampstead Heath

These are my people

New blog post: Why do people leave comments on OpenBenches? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/12/why-do-people-leave-comments-on-openbenches/ I'm still a believer in the promise of Web 2.0. The idea that giving people a curated space to chat produces tiny sparks of magic. My wife Liz and I have …

‘You are a serious political commentator’ Sophie repeats her affirmations as she peels back the film. The family squeeze up on the sofa, Sophie mutters about the black children in the choir for the king. She always was the odd child, but they know she’s got a job to do. They wait for the ping.

For those of you who don’t know @jonnelledge.bsky.social was the little boy who sang “walking in the air” for the classic 1982 film “The Snowman.” He was recently on Times Radio to promote a book and was convinced to sing it again. See below for a photo of this very special seasonal performance.

2025 Top Ten. No.3 – Dogman.

2025 Top Ten. No.6 – Feria. An unofficial flamenco dance party on the hot flagstones behind Malaga Cathedral, August.

this field biologist does a great job highlighting the insidiousness of AI editing these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous this is worth sharing and educating people about

My personal Top Ten for the year: (in no particular order) – at No.9 it's Maggie & The Guards. A special request for a wedding photo that had I had to get right first time.

Somewhat amusing that a new, rather more underground, skeptic network is forming, in the wake of the shameful trajectory of the previous one

Brussels sprout bhajis.

When you flick through the newly released Epstein pics and stop suddenly and cold, as one of them is very, very familiar...

Hive: does one go for a fixed or flexible energy deal thing?

BEER THREAD. I don't drink alcohol, but I do like a good zero beer. In Spain this summer, I spotted this can in a supermarket. €0.89, so what to lose? But it was EXCELLENT.

BEER THREAD. I don't drink alcohol, but I do like a good zero beer. In Spain this summer, I spotted this can in a supermarket. €0.89, so what to lose? But it was EXCELLENT.

Who knows about these? I will have more to say on this.

Dark December night. The time of year to take a few minutes out, grab some tissues and have a proper cry. Genius, Tim Minchin. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNv...

Counting down my personal top ten pictures for the year: (in no particular order) #10: Shelagh's Buns. Hard to pick just one from a full Calendar Girls shoot, but the energy and fun here made it stand out.

Went to the panto this week (thank you @lizwainwrightttt.bsky.social for making it all happen!) - yes, the Julian "tsunami of smut" Clary one at the Palladium. Lovely feature in the programme about one of the stars, including this line about his only other panto appearance.

[12hrs into my ice interrogation] agent: in 2021 you posted “they should call him matt hardcock am i right fellas” can you explain that? me: do you know who matt hancock is? a:… [43mins later] a: he had his own app? for parkour? me: no the parkour was a separate issue

Went to the panto this week (thank you @lizwainwrightttt.bsky.social for making it all happen!) - yes, the Julian "tsunami of smut" Clary one at the Palladium. Lovely feature in the programme about one of the stars, including this line about his only other panto appearance.

GO TO THIS. Beautifully performed, moving and hilarious and every other damned thing. It's so good.