The sunset photograph is possibly the most over done image in the world. And yet some are so beautiful it’s hard not to keep clicking. In Asia they are particularly beautiful. That late afternoon light lends a dramatic touch to cities often drenched in heat haze and pollution. Architecture seems to soften and above all the sunset heralds the arrival of a cooler season, at least for a few hours. The movement of people heading home, or engaging in some time of leisure is also indeed wonderful. Here are some images from places around Asia taken from the Visited Planet database.

Strzelecki Track, South Australia

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The English poet Rupert Brooke said, “Cities, like cats, will reveal themselves at night.” Cities also reveal themselves in their architecture, people, weather and lifestyle. Here are some images from the Visited Planet database of the great cities of the world.

New York, USA

And New York is the most beautiful city in the world? It is not far from it. No urban night is like the night there… Squares after squares of flame, set up and cut into the aether. Here is our poetry, for we have pulled down the stars to our will.
~ Ezra Pound Read more

I’m heading to the Territory in a couple of weeks and writing about it today too as it would happen. I needed some of my images from my last trip up that way and was sorting through files and found a few to add to the new smugmug interface. Here are some of my favourites.

Uluru: my all time favourite shot of the rock. Just after sunrise when the colours were still soft. We saw dingoes in the grass here which reminded me, unwittingly, of the Azaria Chamberlain case and how beautiful but dangerous this country can be.

A queer country, so old that as you walk on and on, there’s a feeling comes over you that you are gone back to Genesis
~ Australian bushman Read more

Solitude is something I’m pretty familiar with when I travel and I actually embrace the concept of  this African proverb, “It is better to travel alone than with a bad companion.” However there are different forms of solitude and some can be inspiring, a haven and even necessary while others reek of loneliness and rejection. Here are some images from across the Visited Planet database featuring some of these forms of solitude.

Hindu pilgrim in prayer by the Ganges River, Varnassi, India

Alone let him constantly meditate in solitude on that which is salutary for his soul, for he who meditates in solitude attains supreme bliss.
~ Guru Nanak Read more

This post celebrates light and shadow that makes for glorious photography.

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I’ve learned that whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.
– Helen Keller

Camel safari at sunset in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

Chorten at sunset, Lake Namtso, Tibet

 You can only come to the morning through the shadows.
– J.R. R. Tolkien Read more