Dorset and Somerset Storms; Photography and Memory; Britain Under Siege

The Daily Mail, today, 4 January 2014:

Search resumed for young photographer

Storms destroy Portland rock stack (Dorset Echo, and below)

Storm waves threaten flooding, Chesil Beach, YouTube Video by Stuart Morris
Published on 4 Jan 2014
Jan 2014, 9:15pm: "The Environment Agency gave repeated Severe Flood Risk warnings for Chiswell (Chesil Beach) Portland, with "threats to life and property". The sea was extremely rough, with spectacular stom waves in Chesil Cove (West Bay), but conditions at no time were conducive to overtopping of the sea wall and flood defences which held firmly. This video shows seawater seeping through the beach shingle, washing across the Portland Beach Road causeway and flowing into Portland Harbour. Traffic kept moving" (From YouTube description)

Loving Weymouth and Portland (Facebook)

******

According to David Shariatmadari (The Guardian, 2 January, 2014), "In 2014 more photographs will be taken than at any time in history: shutters are expected to open and close 1tn times this year".

One trillion times. Time for a photo detox?

He writes about the negative aspects of having smart phones and digital cameras always at the ready in our pockets and of the 'compulsive recording of the world around us'.

Dr Linda Henkel, Psychological Science, abstract

Eva Wiseman, Guardian Up Front, on our addiction to photography

Photography and memory (Guardian)

Photo-Taking Impairment Effect (Telegraph)


Hailstones like marbles in Castle Cary, Somerset (below, inset photo; I was there yesterday, but just missed the hailstones- maybe in years to come I'll think I remember them!)

There were even more dramatic pictures from County Clare, Ireland.

Bizarre video: The giant crab and the camera

Cliff collapse at Hastings