Category: photography
Lights in the water
I had no idea that Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design had moved to Granary Square near London’s King’s Cross in 2011. Embarrassing. I found out earlier this month when I met a friend there to plan an excursion.
There it was: an impressive, restored structure by Stanton Williams Architects; cafes and amenities therein; and this gorgeous fountain area outside.
Apparently, some parts of the building are open to the public, so I’ll come back for a closer look in future.
The Infinite City
Wherever I’ve travelled, I’ve always been most fascinated by cities.
I find them magical, vibrant and multi-layered. While most places have attractive aspects, cities lend themselves to exploration and experiment in a way I can’t find anywhere else: I feel conspicuous in the countryside; I can get lost in a city.
Despite spending most of my life in London, I find that I know very little of it. Happily, I have friends who are ready to explore it with me on photo walks, nature walks and bike rides. We go to places we know and places we’ve never been and we search out as much as we can.
One such recent case was with a cycling friend: “Let’s go east again,” she suggested, “Bermondsey.” Okay. We met at Waterloo and cycled east, past Blackfriars and Tower Bridge to Bermondsey. Then we continued on aimlessly, taking in anything that interested us.
Here was a view from Bermondsey’s south bank of Tower Bridge and the City of London that we hadn’t seen before.
The further we went along the undulating river Thames, the more our view of the city changed.
Passing by St. Mary’s Church in Rotherhithe, we found the juxtaposition of a children’s play area and a graveyard. Somehow, it seemed quite touching.
Continuing to the Docklands area we were amazed by the size and quiet of Greenland Quay. Practically derelict during the 1970s, it had been redeveloped into residential properties; the dock, formerly used for ships involved in the whaling and timber trades, is now used for recreational purposes and is one of only two functioning enclosed docks on the south bank of the Thames.
An about turn revealed this seated grafitto under a road bridge: another work by Banksy?
Our return home took us through one of London’s many green spaces: Russia Dock Woodland. I have an impossible dream of visiting all of London’s green spaces; impossible, because there are so many of them and so many more being developed. The woodland was developed by the infilling of the former Russia Dock: the park itself was long and narrow. This artificial hill photographed, Stave Hill, was created by using spoil (waste material and rubble) from the works to fill and landscape the areas formerly occupied by commercial docks.
It has a viewing platform on the top, but my friend and I didn’t ascend it, encumbered as we were with our bikes. But I’m sure we’ll return to take a view from the top across this infinite city.
Left to right
I am a big fan of taking photo walks. Getting lost somewhere new or familiar and taking a lot of photos with my camera is a great way to get to know an area; a good walk enhanced.
Occasionally, I may pass an area by car, bus or tube; a little too fast to take a considered photo. On buying a new camera recently, I decided to break it in by photographing one or two of these particular areas that I’d seen across London on something of an epic photo walk, which took me from west to east London.
I started near Westbourne Park, home of the Trellick Tower, designed by architect Erno Goldfinger. I’d heard a lot about this building; its prized flats and its grade II listed status, but I’d only seen it from afar.
Approaching the tube station nearby, I glanced across the road at the bus depot. I’d always been a big fan of large, cavernous spaces (possibly a hangover from seeing Ken Adams magnificent set designs, especially in the Bond movies). After asking permission from a couple of Transport for London operatives standing nearby (“No problem, mate: do what you want…”) I took an image.
Getting off at Edgware Road, I walked to a nearby park in the Paddington area. Despite an old friend living here for some years, I had hardly explored the area. Intrigued by a green expanse north of the A501 road, I walked to Paddington Green conservation area, where I was entranced by the entrance to the local Church of St. Mary. Nestled among the leaves, the bright sunlight dappled pleasantly over it.
Next, I wanted to look at some big ceilings. I had photographed Lord Foster‘s glass-roofed Great Court before, but I wanted to see how my camera’s 50mm lens would take it.
I also took this view of the columns at the entrance on my way out. I’ve always loved this classical architecture; my early drawings as a preteen were full of them, maybe from being a fan of the Thames television logo, or from early, half-remembered family journeys around London as a child. I’ll be attempting more views on return visits.
A short bus ride took me to King’s Cross railway station; particularly to the semi-circular departures concourse designed by John McAslan. Magnificent stuff, which my lens couldn’t really take in entirely. This view from Wikipedia does it more justice: I’ll return there sometime and try photographing it again.
The last part of the journey took me from north central to east London. I stopped at Mile End, where its attractive park straddles a bridge over the A11 road. I had previously taken a view of the Canary Wharf development, framed by the undulating park, but this was with a zoom lens at its longest end: not do-able here. I had to settle for this different view: the financial oasis, framed by local buildings.
Journey’s end came at Blackwall, in particular, the junction of the A13 East India Dock Road and the A12 Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach. I find the hardened, industrial aspect to this area exciting and love photographing it. On a car journey, I remembered seeing an odd hoarding about lifestyles. Was it a trick of the light? No, it really was there: graffiti artist Banksy was up to his tricks again.
I quite liked juxtaposing it with a closer view of Canary Wharf: lavish lifestyles out of stock? Who’d have thought it?
Untamed
I should have made a visit to a different display of public art this week, but odd circumstances led me to an exhibition in Mayfair’s sunny Berkeley Square.
Displayed were sculptures by Dylan Lewis from an exhibition called Untamed, held by Christie’s auctioneers. The artist had been exploring the wilderness of the human psyche and the animal / human interface in his previous work.
The result? Dynamic sculptures, intergrating human and animal, wrapped in ancient myth. It looked like gods of our imagination had touched down in the city.
Land’s Ending
I spend an annual camping weekend with friends in the New Forest. The day we arrive, we go on a long walk along the coastline, passing such places as Lymington and Milford on Sea, facing across the Solent to the Isle of Wight.
The fabulous weather reminded me of a family holiday on the Isle of Wight; the first one I remember at three years of age. Memories of bright, sharp light and play come to mind: constant sunshine; classic holiday memories.
This time, the sun beat down upon us as we walked and drove along the coast; the clear, blue sky over water, marshes and beaches . The whole place looked beautiful.
Land's Ending
I spend an annual camping weekend with friends in the New Forest. The day we arrive, we go on a long walk along the coastline, passing such places as Lymington and Milford on Sea, facing across the Solent to the Isle of Wight.
The fabulous weather reminded me of a family holiday on the Isle of Wight; the first one I remember at three years of age. Memories of bright, sharp light and play come to mind: constant sunshine; classic holiday memories.
This time, the sun beat down upon us as we walked and drove along the coast; the clear, blue sky over water, marshes and beaches . The whole place looked beautiful.
On top of the city
I find that I hardly ever look up when I’m walking around in London. In a foreign city, my eyes will glance everywhere, around buildings, shops, windows and people, but in my home city, I focus on getting to my destination and precious little else. I must miss a fair amount.
While I am lucky enough to work in a tall building with terrific views, a lot of this city’s tall buildings are security guarded; we can look at them but can enter no further than the reception. While one can make a journey on the London Eye or make a trip up the Shard, the views are from above the city, staring down at an angled map, rather than looking at the city’s peaks and troughs.
This is why I appreciate places like the Portrait Restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery. Situated on the gallery’s third floor, it boasts views that skim the roofs of the National Gallery, across Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square; an entirely refreshing view of London.
While my friend and I sipped our wine, I saw others take advantage of the beautiful afternoon light to get an untypical image of the city: not looking up at, or looking down to, but looking over. I had to do the same.
In the clouds
This is an artwork called Cloud: Metéoros, by husband and wife team Lucy and Jorge Orta. It’s comprised of two cloud-like structures, suspended from the roof of St. Pancras International station by wires. When I read about this sculpture I knew that I had to visit and photograph it before too long.
Facing the end of the Eurostar platforms, the cloud forms are laden with what seem like travellers who have been on a similar train journey.
The awfully nice staff at the Searcy’s champagne bar let me shoot from a decent angle in their establishment, but I could never get the angle I wanted: straight on. For this, I think I would need to be on the Eurostar platforms themselves. And to do that? Maybe there’s another trip to Paris, Brussels or Lille on the cards…
Somerset House
A friend and I visited Somerset House near the Aldwych on a sunny evening. The courtyard was filled with water fountains; in the winter, an ice rink takes their place. The exhibitions there are always entertaining (we went to see the Sony World Photography exhibition) and the cafe / bar is a delight. And the building itself? Most impressive!
New website
The Moonfruit website is now no more: I’ve just uploaded my new photography website, http://www.burningdetails.com. I am using it to display various groups of photos and it will be developed and expanded pretty regularly. At the moments there are just 15 images, but I hope to have some new photos up in the coming week.
Burning Details 
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