Learning in the u3a movement

Contrast is often in the mind of the viewer.

Fuchsias and dahlias and cyclamen are still braving the wind and rain to give pleasure in my garden. I recently bought some prismatic cards and tried out various different coloured sheets behind some single fuchsia flowers and thought that this magenta one looked quite joyful in contrast to the blue background with its brighter greens and cyan disco lighting effects.

Just happened to turn round after walking down these steps in Ramsgate otherwise I would have missed all these fantastic tile patterns. They were designed by secondary school students in the style of Pugin, who was a Ramsgate resident and were only installed earlier this year.

Taken during a pleasant walk with my bubble friend a few weeks ago in Dumfries area. I was struck by the symmetry of the dead tree and the turbine...and the contrast of Nature and Manufactured

My U3A photography group has a monthly challenge, October it was "Flowers" so I bought a bunch from the local supermarket. Unfortunately, I didn't get round to taking the photographs and the flowers were all dying but I rescued one Gerbera. I took several shots of it against a piece of white cardboard and then, using Photoshop I cut five of them out. The background colour which I think provides a beautiful contrast, was completely accidental!

Belfast U3a were on a photographic outing to Whitehead, Co Antrim. This row of houses always inspires me with their bright colours. I always think they look very happy houses with the windows as they are. I boosted the colours slightly just to increase the difference between them

When clearing out the old tomato plants from the greenhouse we had a number of unripened Plum tomatoes, with only a few ripened it immediately created a nice contrast of colour on the tray.

The classic image of the dandelion, blowing away in the wind. Time passing in lockdown. The contrast of the black and white. The contrast of the whole and the partial.

The Big Wheel, Lincoln Christmas Market. The sharp contrast of the white Ferris wheel against the winter black sky enhances the Lincoln market atmosphere.

I was very fortunate to spend most of July and August this year in Puglia in Southern Italy. The picture was taken in a beautiful place called Ceglie Messapica where the streets in the centre of the town are made from polished local limestone. I was struck by the contrast between the sunny and shady sides of this particular street.

I composed this image depicting the contrast between a soft, life-giving flower and a hard-bodied gun. I also acquired contrast between the yellow flower and the black background. (The gun is a toy one!)

Although disastrous for the economy, walking in London during lockdown has been a joy. At every turn, there are contrasting views of the old mixed with the new.

This might not be the most artistic image I've ever produced but the difference between my grubby, well-thumbed 2019 diary and it's 2020 successor illustrates the most striking of contrasts in my life at the moment.

We watched this beautifully soft and graceful cat pick her way through these hard landscaping rocks towards us, but after she had checked us out, she just posed for her photo, staring away into the distance - She obviously didn't find us as interesting as we found her!

This is just an association of ideas. Contrasts = black and white = chess board.