divine brush-strokes-

Film Club #1 Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset

...for the first film club meeting, a group of friends and I watched a double bill of Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset... They were both excellent films, with a lot of depth, interesting dialogue and filled with subtle nuances. What really got me, was the very simple idea behind the film. Before Sunrise tells a captivating story about two strangers with very different personalities and outlooks on life connecting on a chance encounter on the train and spending the day together...talking, wandering, sharing- just living; the connection between the two characters was so beautifully organic and more importantly, real...

I found myself really relating to the story... throughout my life I've met some of the most amazing people by chance in the same serendipitous way that Jesse met Celine; at train stations, galleries, cafe's, Museums and I've often found these connections have stayed with me for the longest time... I remember all the streets we walked down, all the bridges we crossed, all the strange things we saw, landmarks we passed, characters we spoke to and most importantly the conversations we shared and the ideas I took away with me...

Anyone who has spent a single day just walking through a beautiful city with a stranger, just talking and sharing ideas with someone so different to themselves will know exactly what I mean, it's def the closest thing to magic, I've ever experienced... Before Sunset is also an incredible work of art, it shows just how much the lives of the two characters changed in the years to follow and how affected they both were by their meeting...I can't wait till Before Midnight comes out! Watch these films if you get the chance.

Crayford Marshes

Erith Yacht Club

...a lone shackled horse and wandering girl, apart- yet together; bracing the bitter cold winds...

Industrial Wasteland

...took this one today on a walk from erith to slade green via the thames/ river darent and crayford marshes, more photos to follow...

Between a Reverie and a Hard Place

Hi Guys,

I've put together some of the short stories I've written over the last few months and self published a small book, 'Between a Reverie and a Hard Place.' You can read it online for free or order a hard copy from lulu.com for £2.32 (non-profit) :-) I'm hoping to put together a book of poems within the next few weeks too before starting work on a new book project entitled '-a hundred hues of beautiful'.

Between a Reverie and a Hard Place

...a collection of quirky and poignant short stories told by a number of interesting, if not slight deranged, city dwellers.

'So there I was swaying from side to side in a sea of people; faceless, nameless people and then someone must have pushed  me. I'm not talking a gentle push, I'm talking one great big violent mammoth push. Actually it must have been a whole crowd of people. Anyway I felt something go through me. I didn't feel it, because somehow I stopped feeling a long time ago, remember that depersonalisation stuff I was telling you about? I didn't feel it, but I sensed it. Something was wrong, and then I looked down. I looked down in horror (I think it was horror) at the metal hook protruding from my stomach...'

'It's that sublime satisfaction I receive; lucid and transitory, of being out the system- your system. Your system of not jumping- of taking strides, walking, maybe running. You're system doesn't allow for you to hop or leap or fart or jump. I do all of these. I take great pleasure from doing all of these. I am a jumper. I jump higher every time....'

http://www.lulu.com/shop/saira-niazi/between-a-reverie-and-a-hard-place/paperback/product-20708973.html

http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=75a03f47177bd08bf80d6fbc3256c45a 

London Markets

...took these in camden market and borough market a couple days ago....

Mister Tough Guy

...camden pigeon...

The Rabot Estate

The Light

pink gloves and a smile

Felixtowe

Got the 77 bus down to Felixtowe a few days ago with my sister, it was great, we hung out in the empty arcade, bought some fish n chips, went for a walk, and finished off with tea and candy floss by the sea front before getting the bus back... t'was def a nice way to spend her birthday...

Sunset over the Harbour

Reflections through Glass

Took these photos behind glass this week from a load of different places including a bus, coach and cafe...

The Ridgeway: A Hike to Remember

I went on a hike with Tooting Sisters Circle yesterday. It was quite possibly the most surreal hike I've ever been on! We walked for ten hours (more than 15 miles) from Tring to Berkhamstead through Ivanhoe Beacon via the Ridgeway and the Icknield Way. More than 3 of those miles were in the woods after dark..!

Against the Sky

...a beautiful folk song...

....reach....