I do like a good pub. ‘No,’ I hear you say, ‘really?’ with just a modicum of surprise.
Yup.
Call me old fashioned but there are few places I find quite so convivial. So comforting. So British. There is nothing quite like finding yourself on a lazy afternoon with a well-pulled pint and a roaring fire listening to the background chatter of one of this nation’s greatest legacies. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: The Pub.
That being said. I do lament the smoking ban in pubs and bars.
Now don’t get me wrong here, I have never smoked and, not withstanding a suitably apocalyptic midlife crisis, I probably never will. But the smouldering presence of tobacco smoke in a public house or bar always seemed somehow, natural.
I know, I know, I love not going home smelling of everyone else’s smoke and not having to wash my jacket every time. I love not having a sore throat. And I love being able to actually taste my beer.
But, and here’s the thing, I’m a photographer.
And I miss the light.
I used to get so excited about that familiar smokey, hazy, drifting light. Some of my favourite images have been captured so simply with nothing more than a basic camera, a good quality 50mm lens (the staple of all 35mm photography until the new digital formats emerged), some window light and a creamy pint of Guinness. And just a smidgen of tobacco smoke. Sigh.
Still, I digress slightly in that I meant to write about one particular pub I photographed recently: The James Figg pub. The pub (previously the Abingdon Arms) has been in the middle of Thame ever since I’ve lived here but was old and tired (not in a good way) and so it was with some excitement that I was asked by Peach Pubs, who also own The Thatch, amongst others, to create some images of their newest pub for its website and to cover the inaugural night.
And I was right to be excited. What they’ve done is pretty much perfect: a good English pub serving great beer and great food (of the pie’n'chips variety at least).
And I’ve been back since for a quick half and it is still fantastic. The service is truly friendly and hospitable and the place was seemingly full – both of people and of atmosphere.
But, sadly, still no smoke.
Ah, well it’s almost certainly for the better. I just need to find new ways of recreating that wonderful light!
Recent Comments