Christmas is all about coming together with family and friends… and the Geography Department? Today’s post takes on a slightly different form as we’re showcasing some of the top photos from our Geographers, encompassing everyone from lecturers to PhD students, and undergraduates to non-teaching staff. They are listed in no particular order, and here at Compass we hope that they inspire you to see the beauty in the world around you, even in such uncertain and difficult times. Keep a look out for more photographic series in the future.
- Abhisheka Krishnagopal:
MPhil Conservation Leadership.
During the lockdown period I was in a place called Sakaleshpur situated in the Western Ghats of Southern India.
Though I could not travel out of Sakaleshpur due to the lockdown I took advantage of the opportunity to explore few hills nearby. The good thing about the lockdown period was that there were no tourists and trekkers which gave me a chance to trek up these mountains with no human disturbance.
The images show the shola-grassland habitat, which is a unique ecosystem found only in the upper reaches of Western Ghats.
The highlight of my time spent here was sighting a Green Keelback snake on two consecutive days, lying in the open on the top of the mountain.
2. Cameron Watson:
Undergraduate.
This is a photo I took this summer in Hastings Country Park near Fairlight Cove. This marks the Sussex end of the Saxon Shore Way, a 260km trail following the ancient Roman coastline of Kent and East Sussex that I walked over the course of summer 2019 and 2020. The Park is a SSSI due to its diverse wildlife and specialist coastal habitats.
3. Chris Rolfe:
SPRI Researcher.
During some of lockdown I was fortunate to be with family in Denmark. The stay included a trip to Rubjerg Knude (North Jutland) to see the lighthouse and impressive (Late Pleistocene, 28Ka) sand dunes.
I would like one (or all) of these geographical themed photographs to be considered in the competition as the lighthouse is a beacon of hope and safety. Appropriate in the continuing challenging times and especially during lockdown.
The dunes, through time, the ever moving sands with the wind and rising sea level are very much like the people facing everyday challenges……in the past, present and future.
The blue sky with sun hopefully represents a brighter future for all.
4. Henry Anderson-Elliott:
PhD Student.
I am a PhD student in the dept and at SPRI. My work is on polar bears in Svalbard (and human/wildlife encounters). The lockdown really altered our collective engagements with non-humans: from the (perhaps misguided) narratives of urban resurgence to the growing importance of digitisation.
For me, it re-focussed my interactions with wildlife from large-scale and large-bodied charismatic species to the minute ecologies of my small garden. Without being locked-down with any appropriate photographic gear, I resorted to drawing the species that we found there. This wren visits occasionally, under the hedge at the back fence. I think that its image speaks to the fragility we all now feel against the backdrop of a crazy 2020. At the same time, there is something hopeful in it too.
5. Ian Willis:
SPRI academic/lecturer.
I’ve been enjoying a rower-free River Cam!
6. Martin Lucas Smith:
Webmaster.
“Maintaining the Geography websites and Intranet from a field during lockdown”: The mental health pressures of working at home every day, with a high work volume and high levels of sudden change, were difficult by May; getting outside and working in a field (Coldham’s Common) once a week provided much-needed relief.
7. Nyandire Reinhard:
MPhil Conservation Leadership.
The Rain Amidst: As a backpacker and a wanderer by nature, being caged in my small room to serve the quarantine sentence was the longest period I served in captivity. I was going bonkers. At that moment of me staring blankly through the room, like a swift intake of breathe, the rain came down smiling at me through the window. It whispered in my ears, ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain’. I took out my phone and captured the smile.
8. Tim Bayliss-Smith:
Geography Lecturer, Reader and Professor, 1973-2015.
The attached photo is of me in our garden at Wilburton, Isle of Ely, and shows what one retired Geography professor was doing during lockdown.
The resulting wine is still ‘work in progress’ but we are encouraged by the knowledge that the monks at Ely produced good wine during the Medieval Warm Period.
9. Victoria Ayodeji:
Undergraduate.
First Picture – Lower Clapton in Hackney, East London taken in April 2020: East London is where I call home. I grew up on a council estate similar to the one in the photo, next door to a Jamaican family but across the block was a Ghanaian family and a few doors down, a Bengali family and a Chinese family. That is the kind of vibe you get in Hackney, a melting pot of various cultures. The characters you find walking down the street and the various cultures in the area are some of the best things about the London borough.
Second Picture – Homerton in Hackney, East London: This monochromatic photo was taken outside an abandoned estate with a graffiti-covered facade in Homerton in Hackney, East London. The Hackney-raised Rapper Unknown T whose real name is Daniel Lena has this abandoned estate in the backdrop of the striking cover of his 2020 mixtape, Rise Above Hate which debuted at No. 14 in the charts (for reference a photo of the mixtape cover can be found here: https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/unknown-t-rise-above-hate). For me this building is significant – it’s an East London social housing estate that the government tried to knock down to make way for development. The estate is somewhat of a symbol for the systemic marginalisation of working class communities across the city. For many young people who like myself and Lena grew up in Hackney, we are proud of our upbringing in spite of all the struggles and barriers we have had to overcome. For us Hackney is the source of our artistry, it’s the wellspring of our inspiration, the birthplace of our imagination.
10. Tom Ward:
Undergraduate.
One is of a goat at sunset, taken on the South West Coast Path by the Valley of Rocks, Lynton, Devon – very much inspired by John Wylie’s stuff…!
The second is some interesting infrastructure I saw while briefly at Gare Thiers, Nice, France. I was just really interested in the almost palimpsest layers of movement and mobility, I guess.
The last is, admittedly, King’s; I had to stay in college for an extra period of time at the start of lockdown, so this was one of the sort of ‘golden hour’ shots I got when it was just me and my friend wandering round the grounds by ourselves – very eerie.
DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF COMPASS MAGAZINE AS A WHOLE OR THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY.