Slow wanderings in London

September 14, 2024

After a long break I finally found time for some more slow photography last month. I wanted to catch an exhibition of pinhole photography at the Barbican Library so I used that as an excuse to take a leisurely stroll around the City of London, as I was already in the area. I started off in Whitecross Street, where I found a miniature street scene painted on the side of a telephone exchange box - a city within a city.

Continuing down the street I found a collection of street food stalls which smelt delicious (shame I’d already had lunch!) and some interesting street art too.

From there I just followed my nose, heading wherever took my fancy, through the tunnel at the Barbican, around Smithfield Market and down to Holborn Viaduct where I admired the regal looking lions.

After a stop for coffee near Hatton Garden I eventually emerged onto Holborn, where I discovered an impressive red brick Victorian complex of buildings at Waterhouse Square. Walking through the square I wanted to photography the huge arch and wondered how long it would be before a security guard came and told me I couldn’t use my tripod. Fortunately I was able to set up and shoot swiftly and got away before anyone spotted me!

It was getting pretty breezy among the tall office buildings, so I took the opportunity to include some of the nearby trees in my photos, adding a sense of movement among the static architecture here and also around St Paul’s Cathedral.

Opposite St Paul’s stands One New Change, a striking glazed building, with a view of the Cathedral framed by two walls. I’ve shot this scene before, but couldn’t resist having one more try!

Finally, with one frame of film left, I ended up at the junction by the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange. Here I chose my spot carefully and waited patiently for a passing bus to add some movement to my final image.

Photos taken 21 August 2024

Ghostly London

April 10, 2024

I’ve really enjoyed working on my new ‘Station ghosts’ project, but until this point most of my photos have been taken while I’ve been travelling, as I wait for trains to arrive. Last week I took a more deliberate approach and headed into London with the express intention of using some of the underground stations as backdrops for my ghosts.

The day before I called out to my friends on social media to suggest stations which had interesting architectural features to act as a stage, and I received some fantastic ideas. The station at Canary Wharf was already on my shortlist, with its dramatic top-lit escalators descending into the gloomy depths, so this was where I started my day. Sure enough, the escalators at both ends of the station gave me plenty of opportunities to catch some movement among the commuters passing through.

From Canary Wharf I headed for the Jubilee Line and this meant a change of trains at Westminster Station. The heavy, brutalist architecture has so much potential, but I only managed to capture a few frames before a member of staff told me photography wasn’t permitted, so I moved on. I was pretty certain this wasn’t true, but had no evidence so it didn’t seem worth arguing. Having checked the Transport for London website I discovered I was indeed correct and photography (providing it’s for one’s own interest and not a commercial shoot) is permitted. This was a useful lesson learnt and next time I’ll take a printout of the relevant page of the TfL website with me as evidence!

Heading north on the Jubilee Line my first train terminated at West Hampstead so I took this as an opportunity to use the Art Deco architecture as a backdrop for a photo. The next station up the line (Kilburn) has similar, even more photogenic features, but it was too bright to achieve a slow enough shutter speed - that will have to wait for another day.

From Kilburn I strolled the mile or so to Kilburn Park Station, on the Bakerloo Line, which is even more photogenic. The exterior and interior are decorated with beautiful glazed ceramic tiles but the feature that really interested me was the elegant cupola above the two escalators. I’d gone armed with a suitably wide angle lens and was delighted to find a staircase between the escalators, from where I could safely capture the movement of people descending into the depths, with the cupola above them - exactly the framing I’d hoped for.

Photos taken 3 April 2024

My initial photo from Baker Street Station which sent me down this creative rabbit hole…

Ghosts of the city

March 8, 2024

During a visit to London recently I changed trains at Baker Street and fell down a rabbit hole exploring the possibilities of exposing photos slowly so as to capture some ‘ghosts’ as people walked along the platform. The creative possibilities got me excited enough to turn this into a new personal project and I was itching to try some more.

A few days later I had another day in London, so I set my camera up to take photos of half or a quarter of a second and started out on the platform at Fenchurch Street Station. As I wasn’t travelling anywhere I needed a platform ticket to get past the barriers and was pleasantly surprised to discover that, not only do platform tickets still exist, the price is the same as it was thirty years ago - just ten pence!

While my Baker Street image works well in colour, I decided the overcast weather on this occasion better suited monochrome. Whether I’ll stick to this for all situations remains to be seen, but I like the coherence of this set in black and white.

I spent a while loitering in some of the narrow alleys which wind through the City of London. This made for some atmospheric images and also helped me keep dry while the rain poured down outside!

Heading into Bank tube station offered up some interesting possibilities.

I got some very strange looks hovering at the top of the travelator to the Waterloo and City line but it was worth it.

Using the curvaceous shapes of the Elizabeth Line station at Faringdon to frame my ghost.

My initial plan was for this project to focus on railway ghosts (I seem to spend a lot of my life on trains and at stations) but I think I’ll keep an open mind for now - who knows where it might lead!

Photos taken 24 & 29 February 2024

Walking the city streets

January 29, 2024

Before I made it to the Barbican during my last visit to London I also spent some time walking the streets of the City, photographing whatever caught my eye. Sometimes it was imposing architecture, but I was open to any photo opportunities, such as the light patterns on the paving stones.

Just a few yards away I found some wonderful lines in a spiral staircase.

An opening in the tunnel beneath the Barbican Centre allowed in the light and I made sure I waited to catch a silhouette of a person against the bright buildings beyond.

One of the more curious sights around Smithfield Market…

With beautiful light like this even the humble street bollard can be elevated to a thing of beauty! I made sure to carefully line up the decorative bollards between the more utilitarian ones closer to e=me

It’s unusual to see vans this old on London’s streets and it seems to me the scene could be from an earlier era. I’d love to know the story behind the crooked lampost too!

Another sight from a bygone age - a K2 phonebox. Most surviving red phone boxes are the later K6 version with larger windows, but perhaps that’s shows an excessive level of geekery on my part!

Racing to the line…

Photos taken 19 January 2024

The streets of London

December 26, 2023

It’s been a long while since I’ve had a day in London to explore and indulge in a little street photography. I’d recently booked for a couple of events so I used this as an excuse to make up for my long dry patch in street photography. My first port of call was the Kings Cross area, where they have some of the remastered photos from the Apollo moon missions on display. I was hoping for photos of the public interreacting with the photos, but it was too quiet for that, but I liked this juxtaposition in any case!

A couple down by the river at Coal Drops Yard. I had to wait a while for this one was everyone kept ducking out of my way, thinking I didn’t want them in my photo, when I was actually after some silhouetted figures!

A little slow motion in the illuminated tunnel at Kings Cross Station…

Some of my afternoon was spent at the V&A Museum, people watching and looking for interesting goings on among the exhibits. I was curious about these three teenagers, collapsed in a pile, glued to their mobile phones!

Poking one’s head above the parapet…

Framed…

The artist.

Photos taken 14 December 2023

City rise

December 17, 2023

During the autumn I took to the streets of London a couple of times with my most recent pinhole camera - the Ondu 6x6 Rise. It was fun to explore the city’s streets, sometimes taking advantage of the ability this camera has to shoot with a slightly different perspective by using one of the three different height pinholes.

Buses and taxis rushing past me on Oxford Street….

For this image I took a chance and unfurled my tripod at Tottenham Court Road tube station, riding upwards with my shutter open to catch a sense of the speed. Fortunately none of the security guards spotted me so I got away with it! I love the feeling of going at ‘warp speed’, even though the speed of travel was really quite leisurely.

A trio of images from around the City of London - the Lloyds Building, the Gherkin and Leadnhall Market.

A snail’s eye view of one of the many bicycles for hire around the capital…

This was one of my favourite photos of the day, taken with my camera placed horizontally outside the Lloyds Building to capture the way the building opposite seems to embrace it.

Heading towards the River Thames I chose some of the narrower streets which seem to be from a different era.

It’s not often a lamppost can be made to look taller than the Shard!

This chap was sitting on the steps beside the river when I quietly set up my tripod behind him. I was disappointed when he stood up but I think the resulting photo is actually better for it.

I experimented with shooting into the sun near the Millennium and Blackfriars Bridges, creating some amazing flare.

Later in the day, having some pinhole fun around No.1 London Bridge - looking upwards and across the river.

To complement my earlier photo on Oxford Street I tried the same strategy on London Bridge - it looks surprisingly quiet for rush hour!

Photos taken 21 September & 26 October 2023

Hitting the streets of London

October 6, 2023

I don’t do as much street photography as before the pandemic, but it’s something I’d like to get back into when time allows. Last week I went into London to catch the end of the Paul McCartney photography exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and decided my focus for the rest of the day would be people watching.

I had a few minutes before my booked time to see the exhibition so I loitered for a while here, hoping for a good juxtaposition between the Anthony Gormley statue and the folks exiting the escalator.

After leaving the National Portrait Gallery I strolled back through London towards the city, making good use of the strong sunshine - perfect conditions for a spot of black and white photography.

Finally back at Liverpool Street I took a photo of Benson. He’s owned by a homeless chap called Mick who I regularly chat with here and I thought he might like a print of his pet to keep. Benson isn’t in the best of health but has defied all the vet’s dire predictions in recent months and is always happy to received some ear tickles whenever I stop by!

Photos taken 26 September 2023

Saved from the brink

August 2, 2023

For four years I trundled past Battersea Power Station on the train as I travelled between the south coast and the music college where I was studying. It was a very sad sight - a weather beaten shell beside the River Thames, and any number of projects had been dreamt up to reuse it the discarded.

Thirty years later this beautiful structure has finally found a new use - a mix of shopping and flats - and has been restored to its former glory.

When my Dad and I met up in London in June we visited Battersea to see it close up and to ride in the lift which has been built into one of the huge cooling towers.

Travelling up through the tower towards the sky

From the top of the tower the views across London were amazing - even now I keep spotting new landmarks. Click on any image to see it enlarged.

The many railway lines leading into Victoria Station.

Looking east towards the City of London.

Photos taken 6 June 2023

It's all in the detail

August 1, 2023

My usual hunting ground for car photos is the classic car shows we visit with one of our Minis. Back in June I had the opportunity to explore a whole field of beautiful classics, right in the heart of the City of London. The London Concours takes place each year at the Royal Artillery Company which is hidden away behind high walls near Moorgate - an oasis of green I had no idea existed.

There were plenty of exotic cars to see but, as ever, my eye was most drawn to the older ones, dripping in chrome.

The only small fly in the ointment was the harsh sunlight, so I found myself focusing on details rather photographing whole cars - and there were plenty of interesting details to be enjoyed!

Photos taken 8 June 2023

Low tech London

May 28, 2023

I’ve long since known that I work best as a photographer when I give myself some photographic restrictions. That might be working with a single prime lens, or sometimes even shooting with a camera which is really simple. During a recent visit to London I went very low tech, taking just my Holga 120 camera and my 6x6 format pinhole camera along.

For a cheap camera (mine cost me a princely £21 on eBay) the Holga’s plastic lens is remarkably sharp, but it has a very characterful look, with a distinctive softening around the edges. The viewfinder offers an approximation of what’ll appear in the finished photo - a quirk I’m still getting to understand better, as you can see in my photo below.