Unmoored

I was there on the cliff; I saw this; I took the picture. I can tell you where in the real world it is. This expanse of water is called St Brides Bay. I'm at the north end, looking south-east; through the murk, you can see the land on the other side of the bay, and a tanker, probably carrying liquid natural gas, waiting its turn to unload at Milford Haven deep-water terminal

Of course, the phone contains complex, pre-programmed algorithms to create an image that somehow represents what I saw in a way that reminds me of it. The sunlight on the water was there; the wake from the boat was there; the drifting, misty cloud was there. As real and honest as an image can be, this is real and honest. Of course, you have no reason to believe me - how do you know that a man (if I am a man) who says he is honest is honest? It has become the central problem of our time. What do you trust?

I seldom do any kind of post-processing, except cropping. This phone includes what it calls AI. Unprompted, it suggested it could 'adjust' (oh, hateful, deceitful, shameful word) my image. For once, I let it have its way: hugely impressive, eye-catching, colourful, imaginative, heart-lifting. Lies

People have been catching lobster in creels (pots) in these waters for centuries. "They will be on a plate this evening", said MrsM. It is environmentally the least damaging way to catch them. Done right, it is sustainable. But only 10% of lobster is caught this way. The marine conservation society say "The future of crab and lobster fishing in the UK is far from certain.". The world has changed

These words are all about Trump, of course. The algorithm knows what you would like to see; your picture can be adjusted; the future is far from certain