Wet weather semi-abstract

It was a wetter than usual January and February and photography was somewhat curtailed. However, the rain itself added to the appeal of some subjects and today's photograph exemplifies this. It shows the blue painted slats of a bench in a public garden. No good for sitting on after a recent shower, but the water droplets offered the opportunity for a semi-abstract composition.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

White Hart and Green Men

The thirty two choir stalls of the church of St Laurence, Ludlow, have been described as the best of any parish church. They date from the early 1400s. Each of the stalls has carved stall-ends, armrests and misericords. The photograph shows the carving of one of the misericords (a hinged seat - this is the underside when it is folded up). In the centre is a white hart with a green man on each side. The white hart was a symbol of purity, a beast not to be hunted, and also the badge of King Richard II of England. The flanking green men are a little unusual. In their place is more often an item of vegetation, usually a leaf or flower.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Green Man misericord

A misericord is a seat in church choir stalls. It folds up and offers a small ledge on which a medieval monk would lean. This would rest his weary legs and make onlookers think he was standing during the periods of the long religious service when that was required. The one in the photograph, is raised (the ledge is above the carved head), and has like most misericords, a carving on its base. Here it is a "Green Man", a character that is widely thought to be pre-Christian i.e. pagan, but which the church adopted and adapted. This example is one of the "disgorging" variety. That is to say, leaves come only from his mouth. It dates from c.1370-80 and is one of a group in the church of St Margaret at King's Lynn in Norfolk.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10