Every June the London Concours takes place at the Honourable Artillery Company in the city of London - a hidden green space tucked away in the centre of the capital’s financial district. Once again I went along for a recording of the Smith and Sniff podcast, which gave me a chance to also take a look around the many beautiful classic cars on display. I fancied doing some pinhole photography so I contacted the organisers to ask if I would be permitted to use a tripod. I really wasn’t sure what their response would be but didn’t want to just turn up with my tripod, given the sensitive military location. To my amazement their answer was yes so I spent the afternoon slowly pottering around with my wooden Ondu camera, which sparked up lots of interesting conversations with strangers who weren’t quite sure what I was doing!
The setting really was astonishing - a surprisingly large square of green, completely surrounded by tall office blocks.
I started the afternoon with a roll of Ilford FP4+ in my camera - perfect for interesting details, especially on a day when the light wasnt too contrasty.
Later in the afternoon I switched to Kodak Gold - with so many colourful cars this sunny day emulsion was just perfect. I don’t often use colour film for my pinhole work, but this reminded me why I should do this more often!
A quartet of scarlet beauties…
Photos taken 6 June 2024