St Pancras Renaissance

My nephew had thoughtfully chosen The Gilbert Scott restaurant in the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel for our meeting and meal in London. Thoughtful because it is just across the road from Kings Cross station, from where our train departed in the evening; grand but not intimidating, it is relatively quiet in the early evening, with tables spaced quite widely and soft furnishings to absorb clatter; and they have a good gluten free menu - so it was ideal for deaf old me and my dietary needs. The food and service were excellent and it was such a delight to be able to converse quite easily, at least until the venue started to fill up with diners as the evening progressed.

I've admired the amazing building many times but I'd never been inside and it is even more amazing inside. It was designed by George Gilbert Scott, opening in 1873 as the Midland Grand Hotel, in front of St Pancras railway station. The original hotel closed in 1935 and the building became railway offices. There was a fierce campaign to save it from demolition in the 1960s. Between 2004-11, it was extensively redeveloped into a hotel and apartments. It really is magnificent. It would have been a crime if it had been demolished. My phone pics aren't brilliant but they give an idea of the grandeur.

Help, we need everybody!

Following the sound of drums, we found ourselves on Regent Street, in the middle of an Extinction Rebellion 'Enough is Enough' march. Extinction Rebellion, as you no doubt know, is a global environmental movement, mainly using non-violent civil disobedience to compel governments to take action to stop us reaching the tipping point of climate change, biodiversity loss and the risk of social and ecological collapse. Hundreds of activists were marching through London, I think hoping to recruit more people to the cause. They did appear to be a diverse bunch, with a few hippy-looking (what we would have at one time called) eco-warriors among them but many older people and families with children. It is a wide movement. It was quite a fun atmosphere, seemingly peaceful and good-natured, despite the dozen or so police vans tailing them, presumably there to incarcerate anyone arrested. I pretty much support what they are doing. We definitely need governments and big business to commit to some radical measures, both grand and small, before it gets too late (if it isn't too late already). It seems they won't act without being pressured.

Going upmarket

My sister and I had a day trip to London recently to meet up with my nephew and his wife. We found ourselves in the upmarket district of Mayfair, one of the most expensive districts in London, so we popped into the famous Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly, just for a quick look round the foodhall. It's a long-established (1707) department store and grocer, eye-wateringly expensive of course but the goods are undoubtedly high-quality and not the kind of thing you can pick up in Sainsbury's. Miso and seaweed butter, anyone? I was most interested in the fruit and veg: such colourful displays to lift the spirits and tempt the photographer, even if I only had my phone with me.  Who knew there were so many different varieties of lemon, for a start?

The front elevation of the store is very elegant, with its distinctive eau-de-nil colour scheme. Above the door is a mechanical clock, out of which Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason emerge every hour to bow to each other!

Colourful

I was reading a feature in a photography magazine the other day about 'developing (no pun intended!) your own style' as a photographer. I'm not sure if I have a style or not; that is, whether my photos are recognisably 'me' or not. I suspect I take too many different subjects to really nurture a style. What I do know, though, is that most of my images that I truly love are rather colourful.

Here are a few that I've taken recently, just for the sheer joy of the colour. (Yes, there's a self-portrait there too!)

The next two are in-camera double exposures, just to capture even more colour!

Finally, a selection of beaded necklaces I spotted on a thrift stall.

London oddments

After my day in London, I ended up with a series of oddments: photos that defy categorisation and even, in some cases, explanation. Just for the fun of it, I've included some here.

I called the one below Legless in London :

My collage below has an alpaca (that wouldn't lookout of place in Saltaire), a bizarre warning sign painted on the road (look out for low flying pigeons?), an old and elaborate door-knocker and some graffiti that was sprayed on to a van. 'I shoot humans' might be a good strapline for a photographer...

 or maybe I'll adopt this as my motto:

Keep smiling!

Spitalfields

The Brick Lane / Spitalfields area of London is an interesting one with a rich and varied history. It developed in the 1680s when French Protestant (Huguenot) refugees settled there, bringing little but their skills as silk weavers. In time, fine terraced merchant dwellings were built to accommodate the master weavers who controlled the silk industry. In Victorian times, with the decline of the silk industry, it degenerated into a notorious slum of overcrowded houses, disease and crime. Lately, it is going through a gradual restoration and gentrification. Many artists and creative types have settled there, including Gilbert and George, and Tracey Emin. You can now join guided tours of the area to find out about its history.

Christ Church, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, was built in the early 1700s, partly as a show of Anglican authority to the Protestant 'dissenters', who preferred their own plainer chapels. By 1960 it was all but derelict, and has been meticulously restored by the efforts of the Hawksmoor Committee and the Friends of Christ Church. It is now once again used as a place of worship and for many other events and activities.                                                                                                                                             Spitalfields is a fascinating area that I didn't really know about. In fact, I'd like to go back to explore and learn more about it.  

Creative London

I've been continuing my adventures into creative photography. This is a multi-layer composition based on some slow-shutter speed images I took in Spitalfields in London. I guess you either like this kind of thing or you don't. I think it's a step forward from my earlier attempt in Saltaire (HERE).

Street London in colour

Even though classic street photography tends to be presented in black and white, as a lover of colour and with all the colour of the Brick Lane area, it seemed a waste not to enjoy the vibrancy. These are some of my favourite images of the day.

I call the one above 'The Eyes to the Right'.

A group of young men were enjoying trying on hats in Spitalfields market:

Lost in his mobile world.. I think he may have been a food delivery cyclist waiting for his next call.

A lady in a hurry...

and an intimate moment on the dumplings stall in the food market.

I enjoyed my day out and I'm happy that I learned a lot and got a few images that are meaningful to me. I'm still not sure about the genre of street photography and its ethics, so it's not something I'll ever do a lot of.

London graffiti art

Near to Brick Lane, a railway embankment formed a blank canvas for the graffiti artists' expressions. It appeared to be a known and accepted venue where you can watch them at work. There seemed to be some kind of loose arrangement of divvying up the walls between different artists, and some of them were encouraging passers-by to add to the work with a spray can.

I wouldn't normally dare to photograph anyone painting graffiti (mainly for fear of the spray can being turned on me!)
Here, they seemed to welcome being watched and photographed. I enjoyed the verve and energy of the guy who was working barefoot

'Low on paint, high on life' says the artwork below. 

Street London portraits

My real Street London challenge, as well as taking candid street shots, was to approach a few people and ask for a portrait. (As I've mentioned before, being profoundly deaf does not really help with that!) I happened, however, to fall naturally into conversation with this young man, who was setting up a market stall selling alpaca wool jackets. We chatted about alpacas and I told him about Saltaire and Sir Titus Salt's discovery of alpaca wool, from which he then went on to make his fortune. After that, it didn't seem too hard to ask for his photo. (It's arguably a better portrait without the mannequin in the background but I've left that in as that was his environment.)

A little later, I was standing on the pavement outside a shop, chatting to a few members of the photo group, when a young man came to the door. Without really thinking, I asked if I could take his photo "to add to my 'handsome men of London' collection"! That seemed to be a good chat-up line, as he laughed and posed readily for me.

Huge thanks to both of them for being so obliging and - yes - handsome!

The third portrait was a man drumming in the street. He was really friendly too, though I guess he's more than used to being photographed and I did feel I needed to add some coins to his bowl. So it doesn't quite count as a proper street photo, I guess.

I really wish I could engage in conversation more easily; there are some such lovely and interesting people out there. Mind you, I might get myself into trouble! 

Street London, candid mono

The street photography genre is usually shown as contrasty black and white photos, so I have chosen a few of mine and given them this treatment. You also need to find 'a moment' that lifts the photo a little out of the ordinary. Not easy!

The image above seemed to me to be 'made' by the pigeon strutting along. Those below were careful captures of 'the moment': when the man was just at the right spot with the graffitied 'angel wings' behind, and an intimate moment between lovers. I was smiling at where he has his hand!

I came across a pro photographer taking a model shoot, with the stylist watching. It seemed a good opportunity to catch a shot and I liked the triangle the three figures make.

I didn't quite get the focus right on the one below, but I like the 'meeting and yet not meeting' within it.

Street London

The London skyline, quite recognisable I think... I went there for the day recently, to meet with members of the online photo group that I belong to. Some of them I know, some of them I've only met 'virtually' before, so it was very good to put faces to names. Our aim was to try some 'street photography'. That is well outside my comfort zone and not a genre that I have any expertise in but I had a very enjoyable day and was a little braver by the end of it!

We chose the area around Brick Lane in East London, as it is lively, 'alternative' and multi-cultural. It is a well-known area for street photography so a bunch of people with cameras wasn't unusual and seemed to be very well-accepted. There's lots of graffiti - of the genuinely artistic kind, not just rubbishy scrawls - so that makes for some interesting photos too.

It was tempting to start browsing the shops and the many markets but that wasn't my objective and I did manage to resist! Just the general juxtapositions of old and new, lots of colour, buildings and graffiti, were interesting to my eye, so I took some shots like that in between trying for people pictures, if only to bring my stress levels back to normal!

I also enjoyed taking some window reflection shots, like this one into an indoor street food market.