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With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock

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She sells sea-shells by the sea-shore.
The shells she sells are sea-shells, I’m sure.
For if she sells sea-shells by the sea-shore
Then I’m sure she sells sea-shore shells.

A black and white photograph of an air conditioning unit’s outdoor condenser (I had to look that up as coming from the UK, air conditioning in homes was strictly based upon opening a window and hoping for a breeze). The condenser sits in the middle of the shot occupying the bottom third or so of the frame. The condenser is made by Toshiba and is sitting in front of the house it cools (and in the winter heats). On top of the condenser are two plastic containers and each of them contain a number of large sea shells. To the right of the containers, and fixed to the outer faux stone look cladding of the house, is the covered power point for the condenser unit. By-the-by, the shells are large (about the size of a beer mat) and are squeezed into the plastic tubs expertly so that: (a) the most number of shells can be contained within each tub; and (b) the shells will not easily fall over either by casually knocking by passers-by or a more rigorous tectonic shaking. The top tips of the shells and the top of the covered power point are just about aligned and that alignment is just a tad above the centre horizontal line of the photograph. The remainder of the photograph being taken up by the faux stone cladding. No idea why the shells are there other than to try and add something natural to a mechanical object. It works (just), but of more interest to me and why I clicked the shutter was how well positioned the two tubs were versus the power point. Not quite equidistant between the three items so a little tension is created amongst them. An update to the foregoing: I took the photo on 10th May 2025. Yesterday, 31st May 2025 I walked past the air conditioning unit to check the contents of those plastic trays in more detail. They are filled with a mixture of scallop shells and crab shells. However, the two trays have now been moved and are closer together and in front of the covered power point. I would not have taken a photograph of it if initially seen with that arrangement. Timing is everything!

#2025 #Photography