A Happy New Year to you all and welcome to the first Photo Challenge of 2026! Before we kick things off proper, just a quick bit of housekeeping: normally, when I get late entries, I thank the person profusely, stick 'em up as a Postscript and away we go. However, last month was a bit different. The thing is, I'd reached out to acclaimed photographer Steve Pyke after I'd listened to him being interviewed on RTÉ. I apologised for being cheeky but did he have anything for our 'Round and Round' challenge? His PA told me that Steve wouldn't be back from Ireland for a couple of weeks (promoting his excellent new book, Scribendi) but he'd ask him to contact me if he'd got anything. Sure enough, just before Christmas, I got an email: "Hi John, this might be appropriate. Let's speak soon, Steve." Thank you so much, Steve, you're an absolute superstar.
Wall of Death, Dublin 1981
★
Right, let's crack on. This month I was asking you to shift your perspective by taking a photo either directly looking up (from a low angle) or directly looking down (from a high angle). That's right, 'Up and Down'.
Rol, panic thee not, you're still my opening batsman: "Hi John, a few years back I took a rare moment on a summer's day to lie on my back and stare up at the sky. This is what I saw..."
"And here's one of our old cats, Cosmo. A real outdoor adventurer; sadly that life caught up with him." Thank you, Rol. Cosmo's in good company this month...
David Cooper has been globetrotting again: "Hi John, three from me as usual: looking down from The Ledge on the Skydeck in the Willis Tower, Chicago (and yes, that is as far as I went). Looking up to the dome in Salzburg Cathedral. Also looking up to the underside of the Leake Street tunnels underneath Waterloo Station, London’s longest legal graffiti wall, apparently." Cheers, Coops. That's what I call a power trio.
Johnny Legs towers above most people. "Two towers - Space Needle in Seattle and the Fernshehturm in Berlin."
"The ups and downs of balloon flight featuring Southwell Minster." Feeling nimble, Johnny?
Tim from Hucknall: "Hi John, here’s a handful of things from above(ish) and below. Hope they (sort of) hit the brief.
We kick off with a bottle of beer (from above).
That’s followed by a Beech Copse in Winter (from below). Nacho-Time: the Pom who, when viewed from above, takes on the form of a fluffy potato. Rotational strip farming, somewhere in the French countryside (from around 30,000 feet) and finally a brace from St.Paul’s Cathedral (back to below) displaying a ridiculously strong ornate roof game!
Have a great Christmas & we’ll have that catch up & pint in January. Cheers Tim." Nice one, Tim. Yep, a January beer SLAP to me.
Celia from Sun-dried Sparrows: "Hi John
Love this month's theme!
First, here's the view from the bottom of the stairs up to the landing ceiling, the lampshade casting its cosmic patterns all around.
Secondly, I hope there are no arachnophobes tuning into your blog but I couldn't resist capturing this unexpected moment of noticing a spider (a pholcus phalangioides, or a 'spindly' as we like to call them in this house) hanging from the underside of the showerhead. It looks very sci-fi somehow from this view (and I have just read 'The Shrinking Man' by Richard Matheson). Of course I re-homed him to a less treacherous location before I turned it on. Pholcus phalangioides are very often to be found in bathroom corners as they love the moisture and warmth, having originated from the tropics - they can't survive cold temperatures, so we let them stay in the house during Winter!
All the best
C x" Excellent, C! I recently re-watched the B Movie adaptation of the Incredible Shrinking Man and still found it very disconcerting.
Alfa Dave next: "Up and down! A 2022 trip to the Big Apple -up from pavement to Empire State Building (with proud 13 year old son in front!) And down from the atmospheric roof top bar ‘Upstairs at The Kimberly Hotel’. Very foggy; very Blade Runner!" Nice work, Dave. Yes, my lad had a similar grin on his face when I captured him in front of the ESB.
Ernie Goggins (yes, it's his real name): "Mr John, two up, one down. At least I think it's down. From memory I took the photo on the middle floor, and from there the view looks much the same in both directions. The mystery locations are:
Battersea Power Station; Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan
Museum; Küppersmühle, Duisburg. All the best
Ernie."
Riggsby from San Diego sounds a bit worried: "Hi John, if these are too contrived, or not up to snuff in some way, then I'll sit out this month's challenge.
Wishing you a very Happy Christmas.
All the best,
Riggsby. The first two are our cat Mimi (the Mimi Girl): Looking up at her on her cat tree, and down on her when drinking from a bucket. Although she always has a bowl of clean water, she prefers to drink out of other containers. This bucket's one of her favourites, followed closely by water in vases.
The Rickenbacker pics were taken one night when I couldn't sleep, and it was a full moon (or it was a full moon and I couldn't sleep). So, extreme angles, in the moonlight." Mustard? Snuff? Of course they are!
Richard goes on: "Here’s an unusual point of view, if not angle: two rows of seats were installed when the San Diego Symphony Hall (Jacob’s Music Center) was remodelled recently and we tried them out. The sound is a bit skewed, as you’d expect, but interesting visually. Pics only between pieces, of course." Of course. Cheers, Richard. Great work!
Pete Zab: "Morning John, not had much opportunity for photography this month, so it's a quick dip into the archives. The pictures are as follows,
1) Bio City, Nottingham. 2) The Endeavour at Whitby. 3) Marco Island, Nottingham. 4) Canary Wharf, London and 5). A street light that forgot to switch off." Nice one, Pete. I'll probably return to your comment in coming months but initially that was my intention that folks went out looking for the theme rather than trawl thru their camera rolls. But I really don't mind how people do this. I'm just glad that they do!
Miss Turner: "Birthday party for the December babes and the awesome Abdication staring our very own Mr Medd 😂😂." Thank you, Mis Turner. For those who don't live in the NG5 postal district of Nottingham, a quick explainer: Our local, The Abdication, held a party for all their patrons who have a December birthday. Me and Miss Turner (my favoure teacher - often to be seen with Alfie) are both December babies. I was also forced at gun point to wear the hat.
Claire, another NG5 resident, tho' not a December baby: "Hi John, looking up at Bennerley Viaduct, exhibition in Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Winding Wheel ex Bestwood Colliery, Santa Justa lift Lisbon and Riga rooftop." Thank you, Claire. Another cat!
Swiss Adam has got three beauts for us: "Hi John, the statue of Friedrich Engels in Tony Wilson Place in Manchester a few days ago."
"The Alps from above - flying back from Italy in August."
"And the lighthouse at the southern tip of Fuerteventura last Summer."
Matthew & Sam have been cruising again: "Piano steps in Valparaiso. You'd love it here, John."
"And one of the town's many ascensors."
Always good to bring a newbie onboard. David Willoughby lives in London. I know this because his daily (cycling) commute takes him over the Achway in N19. I asked him on Bluesky if he would let me use this first photograph for Photo Challenge, he said: "Of course, John: this view is the gift that keeps on giving..."
He then sent me another one: "Nice colours on this one too..."
And then he posted this one; I said he should put 'em in a book/zine but he said art should be free: "And anyway, I couldn't be arsed! To be honest, it's a combo of a great view and an old cameraphone that makes everything blurry/smeary." Thank you so much, David. I absolutely love them and will definitely try and get a few for myself next time I'm down that way.
Walter's on his annual vacation in Sri Lanka from where he sent this brace: "Hi John, just two pics from me today. One from the sun-bed at the pool. The other from my walk on the beach. Walter." Cheers, Walt. And if anyone says you're phoning it in this month, I'll defend you to the last!
Alyson Mac from the Highlands: "A photo for this month’s theme John. Here I was just standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower, minding my own business, and when I decided to look up I saw this.
Hope it fits the remit.
All the best,
Alyson." Fit the remit? Absoflippinglutely, Alyson! Thank you!
Alan Porchester Hi John, a couple of playground perspectives - Breck Hill, Nottingham. Alan." Cheers, Alan: a companion piece to go with Alyson's Eiffel Tower.
K from the Cotswolds: "Hello John,
Three for you this month, fresh from my daily work commutes.
First up, a stairwell in a car park in Cheltenham. I don’t think you need smell-o-vision to imagine the stink of piss that was emanating from the ground floor!
Next, an upward glance up a dodgy Gloucester side street. I was very intrigued by the very small section of grill directly overhead. And lastly, literally at the foot of a 10-foot tall snowman decorating the town centre in Chepstow.
And on that festive note, with you and the Medd clan a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
Best wishes,
K." Thank you, K. I hope you and your klan had a good Kristmas too! See you next year.
The Swede avoiding all references to fairytales and bells ringing out: "Hi John, The Steinway Tower, West 57th Street, New York." Nice one, TS. A Happy New Year to you.
Kate: "The first thing that springs to mind is perfect little Doris xxx." Thank you, Kate. We all miss Doris.
Newbie Lou a.k.a. Louise from Book Club: "Hi John, flowering cherry from our garden." Thank you so much, Lou. I suppose I'm not allowed to ask if you've lost your cherry, but I'm sure it'll come back next year.
And so, as is tradition, it falls to me to sign off with a few of mine. Thank you again for all your submissions and I hope 2026 is your year. And let's also hope David and Louise come back next year! First off, on a return flight from Dublin to East Midlands and the pilot tries to land on Trent Bridge.
Steps leading up to Nottingham Contmporary.
Victoria Centre flats, Nottingham: I appear to have come up with an album cover for Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan.
From the top of the Arch you can see where St. Louis Battlehawks ply their trade in the UFL.
Lincoln. Top of Steep Hill.
Until next time. See you next month. I'll post February's theme in the comments section below in the next couple od days. J x
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