Sign in

Sebastian Dobson

@sebdobson.bsky.social
347 followers 634 following 497 posts

“What is the use of a book.. without pictures?” Full-time photo dealer, part-time historian & occasional writer on Japan and early photography.

PostsRepliesMedia
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Wankers aweigh!
012
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Quiet Majority @majorityquiet.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We loved this so much we just had to put English subtitles on it, apologies to the French speakers for our translation. But this is what it would look like here in the UK if Farage or Lowe or another of their ilk got their own way.
41715429
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 11/09/2026
‘People who rescue rather than attack, who move in a physical, not a virtual, world, who don’t morally triage others. Who put themselves in danger without aiming to get famous or on television. Who risk their lives without being paid.’ Susannah Clapp on lifeboats: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Susannah Clapp · At Dungeness
Here is an antidote to current traps and poisons. People who rescue rather than attack, who move in a physical, not a...
15525
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Ella Baron @ellabaron.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Thursday's @theguardian.com cartoon on the abuse of #RNLI volunteers in Portsmouth. #PatrioticPlatform #refugees #immigration #smallboats #channelcrossings
516972
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Charles Fourier @charlesfourier.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Bill Bryson’s words seem appropriate to post right now
5145121509
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Adrian Littlejohn @yorksfella59.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I am bloody proud to be an #RNLI supporter and member! These brilliant men and women have quite enough to cope with without being harassed by the scum of the earth. Their only concern is to help people in danger at sea - not check passports first! Which is how it should be. Please RT if you agree🙏
541002570
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 27/08/2026
‘I don’t​ remember when I first learned to make cyanotypes, but I had loved Anna Atkins’s prints for many years when I found myself in the grip of an obsession with her work, and with the possibilities of the process.’ Gaby Wood on Anna Atkins’s pioneering images. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Gaby Wood · Translucency: Cyanotypes
I don’t​ remember when I first learned to make cyanotypes, but I had loved Anna Atkins’s prints for many years...
0197
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Matt Green @mattgreencomedy.com · 27/08/2026
When someone like Mladic dies, it does remind you that all the baddies will die one day. It may take a long time, they may outlive a lot of good people. But it comes for them (us) all. An unconventional way to start a speech at a Christening but I think I got away with it
1262454
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Oh, goddammit. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
Songwriter of I Will Always Love You, Jolene and 9 to 5 also invested millions in child literacy, Covid-19 vaccine development and other causes
1121615
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The Jason Arday story is by no means the biggest scandal at Cambridge University. I'm sure the media is going to pick this up and run with it in just the same way ... Or is the exaggerated CV of one Black professor somehow more important than this?
241183499
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
James Bailey @drjamesbailey.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I’m a big fan of this photo of Madonna looking like a visiting lecturer who will absolutely not give you an extension on your modernist poetry essay just because you chipped your tooth on a Snickers bar.
Madonna, seated at a desk in front of a typewriter and a stack of books. Madonna is wearing trousers and a white shirt.
11758119
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I know comparisons with the Nazis are not always helpful, but Musk’s fondness for peacocking in armour reminded me of this piece of Nazi kitsch. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sta...
en.wikipedia.org
The Standard Bearer (Lanzinger painting) - Wikipedia
021
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Bayeux beware!
000
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 06/08/2026
‘Writing protohistory provides opportunities and pitfalls. Scandinavia, before the fifth century, is a perfect example of the opportunities: on the very furthest horizon of which the Graeco-Roman world was aware.’ Michael Kulikowski on ancient Scandinavia. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Michael Kulikowski · Polar Bears in Rome: Roman Scandinavia
Writing protohistory – the narrative of times and places that don’t have a written history of their own, but are...
0144
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
We wanted to understand how working-class Trojans felt about the abduction of Helen. So we talked to three drunk Greek soldiers at a dinner party in Aeaea.
1154158
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
So the same people who didn’t have a problem in 2019 with election literature in Chinese now want to outlaw election literature in Irish, Gaelic, and Cornish?
917558
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
This makes the NKVD’s recruitment of Philby, Burgess et al. in 1930s Cambridge look positively amateurish.
010
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Tom Reagan’s Witch’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
RIP Penelope Keith Sheer class.
217437
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Artist’s painting of a hippo on a flake of limestone 🦛❤️ Perhaps a practice sketch, or simply for the joy of painting 3,500 years ago! From Deir el-Bahri, ancient Thebes, c. 1479–1425 BC 📷 The Met #Archaeology #Art
Met Museum image of an ancient Egyptian artist’s small, naturalistic painting of a standing hippopotamus on an uneven shaped flake of white limestone, dated c. 1479–1425. The hippo is painted in profile with head lowered and to the right. The body is outlined with black paint and painted brown. The belly, eyes, and ears are painted red. Although the ancient Egyptians were well aware of the danger and destructive power of hippos, this painted hippo looks rather harmless. Dimensions: Height 10.8 cm, Width 12 cm

Egyptian artists made practice sketches on flakes of limestone, sometimes for use as templates when transferring an image to a tomb or temple wall. Limestone flakes were readily available because of the constant construction of temples and rock-cut tombs. Better still they cost nothing, unlike papyrus. A number of sketches on linestone were found at Deir el-Bahri during the 1922-23 MMA excavations. This painting was acquired by the museum in the division of finds.
402287475
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Jason Hazeley @jasonhazeley.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Released 40 years ago today. Still the greatest day off.
A still from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
375119051434
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
When Charlie Kirk died Nigel Farage gave a speech where he condemned the "quite despicable" comments about him and promised Reform candidates would "never, ever engage in such conversations" about its opponents. Will he be condemning Trump?
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage spoke about
Wednesday's assassination of the US
conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, as
he introduced the party's candidate for the
Senedd by-election in Caerphilly, Llyr Powell.


Mr Farage said some responses to the
murder of his "very good friend" Mr Kirk had
been "quite despicable", and promised
Reform candidates would "never, ever engage
in such conversations" about its opponents.Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump


Y


Robert Mueller just died. Good, I'm glad he's
dead. He can no longer hurt innocent
people! President DONALD J. TRUMP
16359119
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
How it started… How it’s going…
511337
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
NEW | A rare positive edition of the newsletter… IN PRAISE OF JEREMY BOWEN His Today programme monologue on Trump, war in Iran, and the history of the Middle East was exactly how the BBC should be reporting on the world. brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/in-praise-...
brokenbottleboy.substack.com
In praise of Jeremy Bowen
His Today programme monologue on Trump, war in Iran, and the history of the Middle East was exactly how the BBC should be reporting on the world.
1824986
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 09/03/2026
‘As a couple, Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have always been too stupid to understand the vulnerability of the institution that supports them, and they began wrecking it from the inside as soon as they met.’ Andrew O’Hagan on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, in the next issue. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Andrew O’Hagan · Stay Classy: Mummy’s Favourite
The late queen can be held responsible for much, but nobody could accuse her of seeming to enjoy her role. For the...
325587
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
According to the Daily Mail, the first casualty of war is weight loss…
011
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Jo Caulfield @jocaulfield.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Witches of Scotland tartan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland’s newest weave is more than just a pattern – it’s a long-overdue apology. The tartan commemorates the thousands of Scots, mostly women, persecuted under the Witchcraft Act between 1563 and 1736. Pic: Scottish Register of Tartans
16421
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
I wonder how much Trump is charging the US government for the use of the Mar-a-Lago Donald T. Trump Situation Room™️?
010
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
this is absolutely fantastic
69217
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Same, Lady Gaga. Same.
Lady Gaga praying for the end of pedophilia in America
331110892394
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Emma Jacobs @emmavj.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
British values
722951645
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Omg. WTF is Happening? @lalahaenzy.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue
5783269214042
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Mitch Benn @mitchbenn.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Inevitably a bunch of radio stations played I Got You Babe at 6am this morning. The really EVIL ones will play it again at 6am TOMORROW morning.
1587
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Xela Hart @xelahart.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
@truant-cartoons.bsky.social
251835372
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
friend of mine is an undocumented immigrant and has been hiding in Melania theaters bc he knows people assume no one is in there
610418405991
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Bloody hell. To balance incoherent ramblings on the Pretti shooting by Trump-supporting, UK resident Lionel Shriver, BBC World at One follows with mealy-mouthed ramblings on the Pretti shooting by Trump-supporting, UK-resident Jennifer Ewing of Republicans Overseas. 🤷
040
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
🩸 miharaikula 🩸 @miharaikko.rwrb.social · 21/01/2026
such a lovely thing to think about
1759742250
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
REwadent Evil @ewacat.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
how far is Davos from Dignitas
111286278
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
If you see this, post an Archer.
010
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Bevy Sue @bevysue.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Port Townsend Washington at the ICE/Gestapo protest yesterday. This one shattered me. Photographer - Anna Maria Wolf
351858553
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Not now, mysterious space virus.
010
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Lora Ries, “Director of Heritage’s Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation” (so good they named it twice), is commenting on the shooting of Renée Nicole Good on Radio 4’s PM and guess what? 🙄 bsky.app/profile/joeg...
000
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Louise Haigh @louisehaighmp.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.
23152941901
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Jaq - Art &c @jaqarts.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Robert Emerson Curtis (1898-1996) One of 12 lithograph illustrations from his book "Building the Bridge" 1933
224434
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
“No, I am not going to ask someone the way!”
020
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Fishbourne Roman Palace @romanpalace.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Us trying to find a post on our feed that isn't about a carnyx 👇
media.tenor.com
a woman is sitting on a couch looking at her phone with the bravo logo on the bottom
ALT: a woman is sitting on a couch looking at her phone with the bravo logo on the bottom
131058
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Hi @barstandardsboard.bsky.social, is it okay that one of your licensed practitioners is the head of compliance at a platform that is used for generating criminal content?
211741
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
As we see so regularly , it is always the teenage girls fault , mix that with political cowardice that is driven by “but what will the Daily Mail say if we do something humane” and we have a system desperate to appease the worst of us, and to utterly ignore those who dare to empathise
1460388
Reposted by Sebastian Dobson
Tom Reagan’s Witch’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Hoping to bring this energy into 2026
219953
Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
In 1992 I was once asked by a friend if I could spare an afternoon to show an American lady called Betty around Tokyo. I had a prior engagement, so nothing came of it. Turned out afterwards that said American lady was Lauren Bacall.
010