Penny Samuels Photography

11/08/2024

Plymouth has a growing street art scene, and has finally realised how it can enhance and enrich our urban environment.

Plymouth Artists Together (PAT) is a collective that helps raise funding for some of the murals, and facilitates smaller projects.

07/12/2022

05/01/2022

There was an unusually-coloured cormorant in Sutton Harbour this morning, with a bit of a punk vibe to him. (Actually, it's his courtship plumage.)

24/11/2021

Freddie Mercury died 30 years ago today, which seems impossible. I was incredibly fortunate to see Queen several times, including at the old Empire Pool, Wembley, in December 1980, when I took these photos.

Of course, photography was banned, so I had to be sneaky and smuggle my SLR and zoom lens into the arena, knowing that bags would be searched and cameras confiscated. I asked my Mum to bandage my left hand and put my arm in a sling: the concealed crook of my arm being the perfect hiding place for my gear as I went through the security check.

The photos were taken on 35mm film. After 20 years I found the two rolls of negatives in the loft, where they'd suffered a bit from time and the massive changes in temperature. Luckily, I still managed to get some decent shots from them.

23/11/2021

It was a beautiful Autumnal day with clear skies: perfect for a bimble around Plymouth's picturesque, historic Sutton Harbour, fish quay and seafront.

I love the colours and textures of the fishing paraphernalia on the fish quay.

02/07/2021

Elphinstone slipway, near Sutton Harbour, Plymouth. I love the different textures, shapes and colours, and the light falling on the ripples.

16/05/2021

It's August 1979. I'm wandering around London with my trusty Canon A-1 and a few rolls of mono film, and just around the corner from St Paul's Cathedral I come across this: the Credit Lyonnais building at 30 Cannon Street, Holborn.

When I took my photo (from Bread Street) the building had only been finished for two years (constructed 1974-77). It was designed by architects Whinney, Son & Austen Hall, with construction by structural engineers, Ove Arup & Partners.

I love it! And so do Historic England, who Grade II Listed it in January 2015, for the following reasons:

* Architectural interest: an expressive and assured design, its splayed plan, canted profile and high-relief modelling confer the exteriors with a sculptural quality;

* Innovation: the first building internationally to be fully clad in double-skinned panels of glass-fibre reinforced cement (GRC), a form of prefabricated cladding that permits rapid on-site assembly as well as a striking visual appearance;

* Group value: the building has strong stylistic and functional affinities with the Victorian commercial architecture of Queen Victoria Street, and group value through its close proximity and associated design with the Grade II-listed Albert Buildings opposite.

Note: this is a digital scan of an original 40 year-old mono photograph.