Thursday, May 30

Today I woke up late. Everyone has taken the day off work to celebrate a common holiday. I could not remember what holiday we had to celebrate but we decided to celebrate it anyway.

I started my day with a long walk during which I listened to volume three of Robbie Williams’ Under The Radar series, which consists of demoes and unreleased tracks, many recorded in his home studio. They make much more satisfying listening than his recent, allegedly commercial, albums. They have all his eccentricity and lyrical barbs without the pointless second-guessing that recent producers have poured into the mix.

When I returned we had a late brunch.

In the afternoon I look up at the cloudless blue sky. The sun has come out and I take a photograph of blue, with only a corner of our roof to indicate that I have not just used the paintpot tool in a graphics program.

At 17:00 we will eat home made falafels and mashed potatoes from the last reko, with home-grown salads and home-made mango chutney. We will like it.

In the evening I will read an issue of Art India that concentrates on photography. I will read about Dayanita Singh, and her opinions about disseminating photography instantly through Instagram, which will lead me to look at a range of other photographers on Instagram. These will include Cindy Sherman and Mayank Austen Soofi “with his commitment to capturing Delhi daily through photographs, pushing the envelope by having text interfere with the image”.

Dayanita Singh also extols the virtues of self-published book objects. She has published the Kochi Box and the Pothi Box. She also reminded me that “the first person who made a book of photographs was a woman – Anna Atkins. This was in 1843, just four years after Photography was invented”.

We will both go early to bed