Picturing 2009

In mid-September I set myself the goal of uploading 1000 photos to my flickr page before the end of 2009. I only really started applying myself to this task in mid-October, so with about 10 weeks to go I still had over 900 photos to locate and upload, and in some cases to take. Today I uploaded the 1000th photo, which was also the 2400th photo on my flickr account. Some are private, some are public, some are of graffiti, some of travels, some of events, sometimes 100 from one location, sometimes three.

I also thought I'd take a tour through some photographic moments of 2009. Clicking on any of the photos below will take you to its photo page on flickr, from where you can look through the set of associated photos from that event or journey. I recommend going to the start of the set and viewing them in that order - it'll be most coherent, as groups of photos have not necessarily been uploaded in the order they were taken.

The year started with standing on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in January with about a million other people watching Obama being inaugurated as the first black President of the United States of America.



Quite a moment in history. I didn't have great expectations then, and his first year in office has turned out a little worse even than I'd hoped, but the fact that the POTUS is not white is important in itself.

There were some major protests about the handling of the recession and the economic crisis, like this street march in Dublin in February:



as well as some trips around the country, such as this one to Belfast:


And the Paddy's Day Skyfest fireworks over Waterford in March were amazing, watched from the banks of the river:



The photos from April's trip to Finland have yet to be uploaded, but there was also a visit to the cheese room at La Fromagerie in London – a high point in a cheese-loving year:



The beach at Camber Sands in England and some much-too-far-away shots of a jaw-dropping performance by Cirque du Soleil also featured in April.

May provided many photo opportunities in Mozambique, about 350 of them in fact, which you can wade through to find the one I'm probably happiest with, taken with a cheap underwater camera at 10-12 metres down in the Bazaruto Archipelago:



A manta ray, floating above me. Later I had a dream come true when I got to scuba dive with turtles, but no photographs of that exist. But there are some of South Africa, mainly its impressive and inspiring constitutional court.

Lots more photos of a trip to Tuscany in June and July 2009, where there were numerous steep alleys in walled medieval towns, like Cortona:



This Italian trip also resulted in dozens of pictures of the Palio horse race in Siena in July:



and many of the art and architecture of Florence, locations from Life Is Beautiful in Arezzo and inevitably, the leaning tower of Pisa. Another visit to Europe featured 8 countries in 12 days – France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany and England.

Back in Dublin August gave me my first ever visit to the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin:



as well as an occupation by workers in Thomas Cook on Grafton Street in Dublin, protesting against the terms of its closure.

September witnessed projections onto the Front Gate of Trinity College Dublin for Culture Night, as well as many other free cultural events around the city:



October featured a visit to the always stunning Vico Road and White Rock beach in Killiney, as well as a first visit to Larch Hill forest in Rathfarnham:



There were many other photos taken of a swim at the Forty Foot (which also included the 1000th 2009 photo uploaded), trees in Stephen's Green, and of Ranelagh Multidenominational School as part of Open House Dublin.

November began with another major protest by unions critiquing the Irish government's handling of the economic crisis. Clearly the cuts in education are already having damaging results:



The new Luas extension to The Point opened in December, while I haven't yet put up photos of the new Samuel Beckett Bridge. But no photographic tour of 2009 would be complete without a picture of holiday cheese, of course:



Here's to a beautiful, interesting and delicious 2010.

Happy World AIDS Day

It is World AIDS Day today, December 1st, a day dedicated to raising awareness about HIV and AIDS, commemorating those who have died because of AIDS, and celebrating life, with and without HIV. Here in Dublin I didn't manage to make it to the annual Michael Kelly lecture for World AIDS Day, or to any other events, of which there were sadly quite few. There were particularly no parties or celebrations, or none that I heard of, which is a pity as I think today is a day to celebrate life. I usually wish people "Happy World AIDS Day" which often provokes a startled or bemused look in response, but to me this really is a day to celebrate life, and the struggle to live it, with illness and healing, death and joy, pain and care and everything else that is part of that struggle.

I did manage to wear a couple of AIDS ribbons throughout the day, and was heartened to go to a meeting where at least 3 other people were all wearing one, none of whom work specifically on the pandemic. I also gave three people ribbons, two of whom immediately put theirs on, and the other asked what it meant, so in some small way at least I felt that I helped raise awareness.

The theme for 2009, determined by the World AIDS Campaign, is Universal Access and Human Rights, perhaps particularly suitable as we're still in the 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was signed on December 10th 1948. This is also day 7 of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, a long-running international campaign which begins every year on 25th November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ends on December 10th, International Human Rights Day.

While such days of international awareness-raising can have limited uses, at least they can stimulate action on these topics and provide a focus for campaigning. I'd hope that someday there will no longer be any need for World AIDS Day, that the disease will have been cured, there will be no more new infections, and all those living with HIV will have the treatment they need to live full and long lives. Until that day, I'll keep wearing the red ribbon.