Show Navigation
All Galleries
Add to Cart Download

Worlds of Travel

44 images Created 4 Dec 2010

From a book about Heathrow Airport; the Himalayas; the English seaside; populous world cities; remote spots, or merely the incongruous and the intriguing - the work hangs together from a thread of Travel-related images from commissioned and personal projects.

Loading ()...

  • Two young girls dressed in traditional Spanish flamenco attire stop at the childrens' fairground during a lull in the celebrations for the April Feria, Seville. A pair of eyes painted on the front of the train ride engine looks across to one of the girls' similarly-designed dress. It is part of a lively event that Seville holds annually in the vast area on the far bank of the Guadalquivir River. Rows of temporary marquee tents, or casetas, host families, corporations and friends into the late hours during the April Fair which begins begins two weeks after the Semana Santa, or Easter Holy Week in the Andalusian capital.
    RB-0067.jpg
  • A young girl in transit between India and the US, entertains herself by throwing her pet toy tiger as far as the ceiling in a departure window of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. In front of a Boeing 777 jet airliner's nose and cockpit, the girl is a silhouette against the large windows that allow in the natural light. Behind the parked aircraft, another British Airways passenger jet taxies past, its tail at right-angles to the stationary airplane although they both look like the same plane. With her family baggage next to her, the child is enjoying some hours of freedom before another long-haul flight westwards. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport443-14-07-2009.jpg
  • Tourists finding their way around Soho and the West End with the help of a large city map of London.
    city_map02-21-09-2010.jpg
  • On both sides of the railway track, thousands of commuters desperate to get home after a long day at work in central London, line the platforms to we see from an aerial perspective. But the rail workers' union has called for industrial action and there are no trains yet for these passengers to board for north or southbound services. Sensibly away from the edges, people are standing up to six-deep in anticipation of a ride home as the exodus to the suburbs hits its peak time. 37 per cent of workers in the capital used rail or underground travel as their main form of transport to work, according to regional and local statistics compiled by the Office for National Statistics.
    rail_strike-21-06-1989.jpg
  • A father supports his son on his shoulders as a giant four-engined airliner passes directly overhead, about to land at London's Heathrow airport, England. Seen from a low angle, we see the graphic cruciform shape of the aircraft as it screams past two powerful airfield landing lights that help guide arriving aircraft to the runway. The backlit scene is largely monochrome apart from the boys red t-shirt and yellow-faced watch which are lit by flash, underexposing the overcast sky. Prior to 9/11, British airport authorities and police tolerated plane spotters near runway fences but with heightened terrorist alerts, these enthusiasts are told to move on or face arrest. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis13-17-08-1997.jpg
  • A lone passenger gazes out from the departure lounge at Charles de Gaulle/Roissy airport terminal to where airliners are parked. It is late evening and blue light outside makes the orange interior look warm. Designed by Paul Andreu, Charles de Gaulle became a symbol for airport modernity - a Le Corbusier concept of rail stations and ?autodromes.? Charles de Gaulle?s role as airport and rail station fuses into one, thus becoming an ?Aérogare? where trains and planes whisk the new world traveller of the late ?60s, away beyond an ever-extending horizon. From here, the Air France Concorde crashed on the aviation employment town of Gonesse on July 25th 2000. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis30-27-07-2000.jpg
  • Arriving British Airways flight deck and cabin crew stride through arrivals after long-haul flight to Heathrow Airport's T5
    heathrow_airport1148-12-08-2009.jpg
  • Air passengers exit and enter a transit train at Chicago O'Hare airport, Illinois USA. They pull suitcases behind them as they negotiate the airport terminal transport system that takes them across the sprawling complex of terminals and tunnels. A large central yellow traffic arrow saying OUT is most prominent telling arriving people to keep in the middle, allowing those departing to enter the carriage from the sides. There is a slight blur to the picture showing the hurrying nature of modern air travel, vastly different from the pioneering days of flight for only the socially elite. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903..
    aviation_corbis49-10-11-2000.jpg
  • Having just disembarked from a Carnival Cruise ship at the port of Miami, Florida, two tourists carry and pull their baggage along to a waiting coaches that will transport them for onward journeys. Comically they also wear wide sombrero hats bought in Cancun during their vacation around the Gulf of Mexico, the destination of this popular cruise line whose base is Miami. Stitched with garish colours the souvenirs provide shelter from the overhead tropical sun though the woman of this couple chooses to hang hers over a shoulder and keeps her original hat on her head. This may be the couples' honeymoon or just a special annual holiday away from the kids or a humdrum lifestyle where the weather is far from the intensity of Florida, a favourite resort for Americans not liking foreign travel.
    sombrero_tourists.jpg
  • Lone lady awaiting her luggage from domestic baggage reclaim carousel at Heathrow's Terminal 5.
    heathrow_airport528-14-07-2009.jpg
  • Through a transparent floor passengers await a lift to arrive at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 'Heathrow Express' station
    heathrow_airport1287-16-08-2009.jpg
  • Wing tips and tails from British Airways 747-400 jet airliners are almost touching during their respective turnrounds while on the apron outside Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 building. A passing aircraft taxies past on the left and the other two planes have wingtip devices increase the lift generated at the wingtip which smooth the airflow across the upper wing near the tip and reduce the lift-induced drag caused by wingtip vortices. This improves lift-to-drag ratio and increases fuel efficiency, in powered aircraft. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). ..
    heathrow_airport1593-20-08-2009.jpg
  • We look down behind an airline passenger who is alone on seating in the departures concourse of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. Mourning the death of a mother, the lady sits with a floral tribute to the recently-deceased relative whose name 'Mum' is laid out next to her in pink flowers. On her lap is the organic Soil Association's magazine Living Earth. Perhaps the woman is on her way to a family funeral and is flying from T5 on this sad flight. Amid the otherwise bustling international airport, the woman seeks solace and tries to sleep before her check-in zone opens. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1122-12-08-2009.jpg
  • Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson sits in the replica model of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo during its unveiling of at the New York Wired NextFest at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Under construction by Burt Rutan in Mojave, California and looking more like a Stanley Kubrick movie set from '2001 A Space Odyssey,' than the future for everyday holidays, SpaceShipTwo is a re-usable orbiting vehicle that will become an important tool for Man's leisure time in space when affordable commercial space tourism starts in around 2009. Aboard the re-usable space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each of whom paying $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience just 6 minutes of weighlessness. From these circular portholes, astronauts will see 1,000 miles having taken off from the new Spaceport America, New Mexico. ..
    baker_virgin10.jpg
  • Posing in the open doorway of an Airbus A319CJ Business jet, four female cabin crew members wear the uniforms of Qatar Airways whose airline has made a public relations stop at the Farnborough Air Show to publicise this new model of executive service. Airline stewards and stewardesses are nowadays more commonly referred to as cabin crew or flight attendants. They stand close together with broad grins showing their varied ethnicity. Middle-Eastern airlines generally recruit men and women from western Europe, Asia, Australasia and the Indian sub-continent dependent on routes and aircraft type. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903..
    aviation_corbis24-23-07-2002.jpg
  • A cargo handler operates a loader to place freight containers into the hold of a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340 at Male.
    maldives437-15-11-2007.jpg
  • After their flight from Italy where they have been performing a series of summer concerts, some young musicians stop to await instructions from their accompanying teacher at Oakham School, England. Amid the hectic concourse of Heathrow airport's Terminal 5, a cellist has removed her precious string instrument to inspect it for damage after its shipment in the hold of a British Airways flight. As their friends look on, a fellow-player helps re-wrap the cello in a pink towel before the whole group re-assemble again to begin their evening journey home. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport530-14-07-2009.jpg
  • Stranded passenger awaits next flight in the morning from near-empty departures concourse at Heathrow's terminal 5.
    heathrow_airport559-14-07-2009.jpg
  • In the darkness of a taxiway at the southern end of Heathrow Airport, the bright lights of an engineering hangar spill out into the night. A Boeing 747 Jumbo jet sits nose-in behind another during a scheduled set of maintenance tasks that every aircraft needs to keep to in order for its continued airworthiness. The unmistakable shape of this large aircraft is a half-silhouette against the intensity of the hangar and blue flare spots that arise from the internal glass in the camera's lens. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1564-19-08-2009.jpg
  • Airliner and jet engines in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard07-16-03-2008.jpg
  • A Royal Mail lorry speeds up the darkening M1 motorway loaded with parcels and letters.
    DIRFT019-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • The A30 highway runs deep into the South-West of England - from Exeter in the county of Devon to Penzance in the narrow peninsular of Cornwall. On certain dates in the calendar routes like this, near the Cornish town of Bodmin, England, come to a standstill from the huge volume of cars and private vehicles, all heading down to costal resorts and better weather. We see here a huge tailback of traffic that is queueing along one side of the British dual-carriageway (two lanes in each direction) from close-up  to the distance down and up a natural hill in this undulating landscape. The cars have edged forward are nose to tail for hours in summer heatwave and tempers fray, children arguing in the back and an otherwise relaxed holiday mood suddenly goes bad.
    RB_122-28-08-2000.jpg
  • As the late light turns into twilight blue, the warm orange glow of two caravan campers can be seen through both the front and rear windows of their caravan at the Trewethett Farm Caravan Club Site, Tintagel, Cornwall.  The wife watches TV at the back while the husband reads his newspaper shows the small world that caravanners enclose themselves in when on a camping holiday. Caravanning is one the favourite leisure pastimes in Britain, its association, the elite Caravan Club, was founded in 1907 and now represents nearly 1 million members (caravanners, motor caravanners and trailer tenters) and has an  annual turnover of £86 million. On the open road, the caravan is as ridiculed and despised for its slowness and the width it occupies on narrow country lanes.
    RB-0056.jpg
  • London bus passengers endure the misery of another morning commute into the city unaware of Narnia movie poster.
    narnia_dystopia02-01-12-2010.jpg
  • Largely American passengers re-join their cruise holiday voyage around the Gulf of Mexico during a day's stop-over in Cancun, Mexico. Reflected in the puddles of recent seasonal rain, they queue up on the port's quayside to have their identity passes checked before being allowed back on board the Fun Ship Ecstasy. Seen above them and in reflected in the water at their feet are some of the many windows and portholes of this enormous vessel belonging to the Vegas-style Carnival Cruise lines company. The Panamanian-registered MS Ecstasy is a 70,367 ton cruise ship carrying 2,052 passengers and 920 crew whose routes are mainly around the Gulf and Carribean Sea.
    carnival_cruises03-15-12-2007 .jpg
  • Beyond Chinese TV media images, a red sun sinks behind late cloud in the west, a glowing red sky illuminates Hong Kong's harbour, this scene is symbolic of the decline of empire, the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) two years after this picture was taken, often referred to as "The Handover" on June 30, 1997. Midnight of that day signified the end of British rule and the transfer of legal and financial authority back to China. From this famous ferry terminal that protrudes out into the busy waters of this colony's harbour from the Kowloon side of the territory. Hong Kong was once known as 'fragrant harbour' (or Heung Keung) because of the smell of transported sandal wood in the days before China ceded its territory to the British for 155 years until the 1997 deadline.
    star_ferry07-31-1997.jpg
  • In light monsoonal rain, a lone pedestrian is seen from a high viewpoint, crossing a zebra crossing with a yellow grid box junction to his right in Central Hong Kong on the last day of British rule. The junction is empty and without any traffic but the word 'Look' is stencilled in white letters for the benefit of unwary pedestrians. An umbrella used by the unrecognisable person is a colour match with the painted striped road markings, identical to the British highway traffic code. The transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), often referred to as "The Handover" occurred at midnight on June 30, 1997, signifying the end of British rule, and the transfer of legal and financial authority back to China. Hong Kong was once known as 'fragrant harbour' (or Heung Keung) because of the smell of transported sandal wood.
    RB-0083.jpg
  • The shadow of a tourist is seen across a central pillar covered in graffiti on Ponte Vecchio that crosses River Arno, Florence. The names of past visitors are etched on the medieval plaster and beyond is a rower who sculls upstream on the river towards the boating club that lies just beyond the bridge at the water's edge. The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge") is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. It has been described as Europe's oldest wholly-stone, closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge. To enforce the prestige of the bridge, in 1593 the Medici Grand Dukes prohibited butchers from selling there; their place was immediately taken by several gold merchants.
    florence_italy79-22-10-2010.jpg
  • Among medieval statues, a guitarist and street busker perform for passing tourists in Florence's Piazza degli Uffizi. Dressed in white to echo the medieval figures of city officials that stand in porticos of the main Uffizi building, a man will hug any visitor who wishes to have their photo taken alongside, for the price of a few Euros. Meanwhile, to his right, the musician plays classical songs on his acoustic instrument where its sound travels around this street corner, his notes rebounding from the solid stone walls and pillars.
    florence_italy59-22-10-2010.jpg
  • African street vendors wait for coach tourists to sell postcards near the Eiffel Tower, at the Trocadero, Paris.
    paris_postcards-28-09-2005.jpg
  • The image of a once-famous stag who used to be fed by tourists and the owner of the Oasis cafe on the A82 on Rannoch Moor but shot many times with an air gun by juvenile New Year revellers. Looking out onto the moors it roamed in life, the deer named Big Boy by locals had an insatiable appetite for scraps from outdoor snack bar owner MacDonald and his customers, the stag inched ever closer to the migrant humanity alongside the road. So locally famous did he become that one Hogmanay, the beast was shot several times by air gun-toting juveniles and is now a tragic, posthumous print on the same tourist cafe trailer. Now holidaymakers, unaware of the animal's life and death near this spot, merely stop to photograph the scenery in the hope of seeing the nearby herd that Big Boy ruled over.
    rannoch_stag04-07-08-2010-1.jpg
  • A British lady applies a layer of sun cream to her hand on a beach in Magaluf.  In the foreground, and aligned with the lady's own body is a sun lounger with a beach towel draped over which depicts the torso and legs of a cartoon Hercules Adonis character complete in ancient Greek style with muscular thighs and short skirt. In the background is a hotel building and two other tourists with their tanned backs towards the viewer. Magaluf is a popular holiday resort on the island of Mallorca, one of the Spanish Balearic Islands. A seedy resort very much orientated around British tourists and catering for both young parties as well as families, it is considered as a hot and exotic alternative to the chilly seaside towns around the UK's coast.  .
    RB-0049.jpg
  • Street construction site showing tropical beach paradise and images of world cities with a London No Parking sign.
    tropical_hoarding01-03-03-2011.jpg
  • A group of red uniformed meat market traders manhandle joints of pork from the back of a meat wagon at Macau's main meat market, on the Rua Sul do Mercado de Sao Domingos, just off the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, in Central Macau, 1994.
    RB-0185.jpg
  • Grinning from ear to ear, young volunteers throw themselves over a fallen tree during a strenuous activity on a Raleigh International expedition in the rainforests of Brunei, Borneo, one of the remotest and most dangerous habitats on the planet. It has been a life-changing experience for them and their new-found friends from all over the world who will have had to raise several thousands of sponsored Pounds for the privilege of spending two months away from a dull, comfortable life at home, rather than building community projects like bridges or schools. Raleigh International is a charity that provides adventurous and challenging expeditions for people from all backgrounds, nationalities and ages, especially young people. Over the last 23 years, 30,000 people have been involved in more than 250 expeditions to over 40 countries.
    raleigh_climbers09-28-1992.jpg
  • An elderly retired couple pause on the wide but darkly lit dance floor at Blackpool Tower Ballroom, England. They are the only dancers in the empty dance space, except for the Wurlitzer organist who is playing his accompanying music at the front of the stage, in a pool of bright light. We are looking down from a balcony high above and the husband and wife are pausing during their dance routine, stopping just long enough to register as sharp figures in the picture. The light is orange and red because of the tungsten light source. The Ballroom is the traditional home of the mighty Wurlitzer Organ and complemented by the 3 Deck Wersi - the world's most advanced organ. The Wersi is a state-of-the-art Louvre organ which is played by the resident organists in this magnificent setting. The present interior of the Blackpool Tower circus  was created by the famous theatre designer, Frank Matcham and completed in 1900.
    RB-0120.jpg
  • Seen from a high viewpoint, a young girl rides on her father's shoulders in the middle of the Longleat Hedge Maze. She can barely see over the walls of foliage, so tall is the labyrinth of twisty pathways, and she holds out her hands to brush against the green foliage. Made up of more than 16,000 English Yews, Longleat's spectacular hedge maze - the world's largest - was first laid out in 1975 by the designer Greg Bright. The Maze covers an area of around 1.48 acres (0.6 hectares) with a total pathway length of 1.69 miles (2.72 kilometres). Unlike most other conventional mazes it's actually three-dimensional.
    RB-0105.jpg
  • A lone walker passes by a partially-collapsed broken sign announcing the summit of Rannoch Moor, Scotland UK, 1,350 feet above sea level. He is hunched against a driving wind at this altitude and the country he is walking over is bleak and boggy, a wetland high up in the Scottish Highlands. Thick tufts of grass and moss lie about in this tough terrain, held in great affection for long-distance hikers. Rannoch Moor is a large expanse of around 50 square miles (130 km²) of boggy moorland to the west of Loch Rannoch, in Perth and Kinross and Lochaber, Highland, partly northern Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Rannoch Moor is designated a National Heritage site.
    RB_128-12-10-1996.jpg
  • Three dads are looking their respective children of varying ages - from a baby to an infant and 8-year old. In the foreground a father reads his tabloid newspaper as his toddler sleeps contentedly in its pushchair, a dummy in the mouth and a blanket scross its body to keep out a chilly breeze. Further back another man stands waiting for his partner with a baby, also asleep in the buggy. And thirdly, a male pushes his daughter in pink up a small slope on a bicycle that uses stablizers. It is a busy scene on Paignton seafront on the Devon coast. Elsewhere children and adults of all ages walk along the esplanade enjoying an overcast and windy day on holiday. This theatrical scene is about the ideal father and the family unit.
    england_beach06-15-12-2007.jpg
  • Two men enjoy their own versions of Blackpool North Pier, Lancashire, England. On the right, the first man is lying down on a bench with his trousers gathered around his ankles, his red bathing costume or underpants are baggy and he is looking across to something of interest while scratching his bald head. The second man on the right is not wearing a shirt and his stomach is spilling over his trousers. He has a bunch of keys attached to his belt and is pointing a video camera (camcorder) towards the shore. It is a comical scene and typical of Blackpool beach life. This northern sea side resort in the north-west of England is diverse in its transient holiday population whose behaviour can be routinely odd.
    RB-0111.jpg
  • An out of focus post with a light bulb attached, shines in the bright daylight with the Atlantic Ocean beyond. Cocoa beach is on Florida's so-called Space Coast, a resort of beaches, clubs, seafood restaurants and motels that came to life during the 1960s due to America's space program. NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center is located approximately 15 miles away. The Atlantic Ocean is flat calm in settled weather and the horizon is clear and well-defined with a ship just visible on the right side. Focus is on the sea rather than the post and the light bulb which look like a surreal addition to the landscape. Cocoa Beach served as a playground for many of the astronauts and NASA space industry workers and contractors during the heyday of the space race. After manned space flights, the town held astronaut parades. Before there was a "Silicon Valley," Cocoa Beach and other surrounding towns were full of the best and brightest technical minds around.
    RB-0011.jpg
  • WH Smiths Berlitz travel literature on sale in departures shopping area of Heathrow airport's Terminal 5.
    heathrow_airport958-10-08-2009.jpg
  • A young boy sits between Europe and Asia on a map laid across the pavement beneath Monument of Discoveries, Lisbon
    european_child01-21-03-1994.jpg
  • Late at night, in a gloomy arrivals gate at Chicago O'Hare airport, a young man sits patiently on his own awaiting the arrival of his girlfriend after a holiday in Asia. It is the last flight to land and a helium balloon floats on a string bearing the words 'Welcome Home', a popular gesture for relatives in airports around the world, each having their own cultural way of showing affection for arriving family members after long absences. The balloon stands still, the only colour amid the drab interior of this sprawling airport hub. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis54-10-11-2000.jpg
View: 100 | All
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Richard Baker Photography

  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Blog