the open sky is not your home

 It's Wednesday again. That blue kind of day that seems to go on forever. The week isn't new and exciting anymore (not that a Monday morning is very exciting at all) and Friday still feels years away. I, however, actually had quite a nice wednesday, as I got to attend a presentation and Q and A session with photographer Martin Parr at my school, which I will mention properly later in this post. I also arrived home to find my dad had been busy making bread and butter pudding for dessert tonight, so I am obviously in the best of moods as if you don't know already the way to my heart is quite definitely through my stomach.

I wore this outfit on Sunday for a family lunch to celebrate my cousin's new job. I bought the jumper from Rokit's january sale for £9, and paired it with my shirt and skirt from Blitz in Brick Lane. The tights and socks are H&M, the shoes from Clothes Show and the belt belonged to my mum. I am obsessed with dotted tights at the moment, although I'm down to my last pair as I seem to manage to ladder them every single time I wear them, even if I don't leave the house.

Some little things I've been into recently. My 16th birthday bracelet from Hirst Antiques, tiny leather-bound book from Venice with tiny photos of the city inside, and a watch from my cousin which has a little camera and pen moulded inside it. 

As again everything was very autumnal in colour. I haven't really got out of my autumn phase yet, despite it being halfway through January. I blame the weather - it's pretty mild over here at the moment, and for some reason it doesn't feel like winter really happened at all. I would probably believe you if you said I had the dates wrong and it was actually still November.

(above photograph from martinparr.com)
As mentioned earlier, I got to attend a presentation and Q and A session with the photographer Martin Parr. His work has developed over his long career from black and white to colour, film to digital, editorial to commercial, and almost everything in between. It also covers a vast range of subject matter, investigating topics such as consumer culture, tourism, stereotypes, traditions and expectations. I particularly like his work from the 70s, and sets looking at normality and the contrast between real life and what we imagine life to be like. I also liked his approach to photography as he rarely uses photoshop and never sets up his photos; instead he prefers to work with natural and unplanned scenes he comes across on his travels. Parr's work is really worth looking at, and can be seen easily on his regularly updated website.

I hope you are all having a good week!

ellie xo