Posts from the ‘photography’ Category
One of my images from last year’s holiday to Jordan has been selected for My Own Wilderness, a collection of international photography curated by Christopher Pacquette the editor of PHOTO/arts Magazine.
Pretty chuffed about this – there are some beautiful images in the collection so it’s great to slot in alongside really stunning work that approaches the theme from very different directions.
Feeling a little bit like Siku today after a 15-mile walk yesterday.
Walking from sunrise to sunset (the days are short, it’s not that we walk slowly), we covered 3 London boroughs and spotted (amongst other things), a triangular castle, a lake filled with terrapins and walked under the Thames.
Not bad for a Thursday.
The thing I’m enjoying most about the Capital Ring is its variety. Chris warned us various councils had lobbied to have the route pass through their districts, showing off new leisure centre complexes and flagship urban developments. Fine. It’s unremarkable stuff but interesting to see what they’re all intent on displaying, how different areas prioritise services and how much (or rather how little) they’re all used. Walking the Greenway through Newham on a Saturday morning we were alone. In contrast, getting the bus to the station to go home and the high streets are rammed. It’s not even Christmas anymore but no-one else seems to be the slightest bit interested in anything other than spending.
It’s the fluctuation between wild common areas, landscaped public gardens, manicured football pitches, overgrown woods, well kept forest trails, decrepit riverside paths, long-forgotten urban developments left to rot and incredible architecture that is making this journey worthwhile. Few of these bits (triangular castle excused) are outstanding in their own right but the combination is amazing. We’re constantly saying things like “I don’t believe this is London” ; “where the hell are we?” and “are you sure this is the right way?”
Occasionally you’ll emerge for a few hundred yards along a road, nip across some crossroads and be transported somewhere else entirely. Then again you’ll see a sign steering you down some dimly lit back alley between two razor wire fences along a non-existant path that has been replaced by a bog. No, really.
Olympic Stadium, London
October 2011
Tube gauge Underground trains are known by the year of their introduction. The 1967 stock was built for the first new tube line since 1907, the Victoria line.
In operation ever since the line’s opening in 1968, the trains have been steadily replaced over the past year with their 2009 counterparts. This past Sunday – 15 May – London Underground ran a special non-stop passenger service from Seven Sisters – Northumberland Park – Uxbridge – Ealing Broadway – Acton Town and back to North London. This was the last time a 1967 stock train would run over other parts of the Underground.
I sound like a geek. I don’t know how I became a railway enthusiast. Maybe it was because my Grandad used to work on the railways. Maybe not. Either way, I sat on an underground train for the best part of 6 hours as it zoomed through central London bemusing passengers patiently waiting for the next train, thinking it had arrived before being sadly mistaken.
I took photographs of trainspotters.
We clambered through carriages, into driving cabs and out again. There were a wonderful array of informative signs and clearly marked buttons and levers.
And a generous space for personal possessions.
More photos on flickr.
I took a few photos at the opening of Kate Brown and Paul Duffield‘s show at Orbital Comics on Saturday. Here’s a couple of my favourites:
BERG‘s Matt Jones also showed a few people a quick preview of their forthcoming comic SVK by Warren Ellis and D’Israeli, complete with UV torch. This made for some wonderfully animated faces.
More on flickr.
This is where I live. Or rather the UK constituency in which I currently reside.
How much do you know about where you live. Who else lives there? Where kids play? How many different sorts of houses are there? What are the parking restrictions? Well, actually parking restrictions are rather boring and probably known to all those that actually need to know but, I maintain that knowing more about where you live can’t be a bad thing in my book.
I’m talking about knowing that details like this exist:
So while the media is in a pre-election spin for General Election 2010 I’m going back to basics and getting to know my local area. I’m going to take at least a photo a day until polling day on May 6 and I’m going to do it all on a separate site, here.
And here’s the first post complete with home-made map.
