Getting cultural: Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Manet exhibitons

I recently had Friday off work for no other reason than I had a day of annual leave to use up before it expired. It made for a gloriously unhurried weekend with enough time to relax and take in a couple of exhibitions.

On Friday we went to the Manet exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. My knowledge of Manet is limited to an impressionist exhibition I went to a few years ago which contained some of his paintings. I was hoping to see more of Manet's impressionist paintings, but there were only two in the whole exhibition! I hadn't read the description of the exhibition which said it focused on his portraiture.

Despite not being what I expected it was still an enjoyable exhibition which they'd presented quite interestingly. I thought the room which highlighted the different locations in Paris he'd painted was a nice touch.

On Sunday we went to the exceptionally crowded Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum. My friends Kren and Dave introduced me to the annual exhibition in Sydney and it was interesting to see how the events compared. The Sydney event was quieter, which made for a more pleasant viewing experience. On the plus side for London, the exhibition was slightly expanded with more young photographer photos and a small cinema.

The Wildlife Photographer exhibition had some great pictures. As well as the photos, I love the camera club geekery of being able to see what settings the photographer used. I paid particular attention to all of the shots of African animals with my upcoming safari in June. If I can take photos half as good I'll be happy.