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Sunny South Bank

16/3/2014

Spring in London has come at last, at least for now, and has stayed a week or so. It’s amazing how much sunny and warm weather has in uplifting people’s spirits and moods.

One of my favourite places to people watch and photograph is along the South Bank in London. It can be very busy on the weekend, but well worth it for photographs.

I try not to be intrusive when I take my photographs, but increasingly I am including people in my photographs. My primary focus is on the architecture around me, but the interaction of people and architecture can be interesting. People also give context to the architecture, and vice versa.

Today, a friend and I walked along the South Bank. I have included my photos below.

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Birds Eye View

21/4/2013

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London, UK

The Shard is one of the more recent additions to the London skyline. Towering over London Bridge train station, it stretches into the sky and points to the stars above.

A friend and I went up to the viewing gallery at top of the Shard, and it was well worth going up. I’m not one for heights, and was a little apprehensive. However, the views over London were amazing, to say the least.

The weather was not bad with sunshine and some cloud – we were fortunate as it hailed not long after we came down. To see the city from such a height was such an experience, and my fear of heights managed not to bother me particularly. I think I was far too busy looking at the view, and taking photos of it. It was amazing how far you could see.

To see the London and it’s iconic architecture was amazing.

London, UK

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The South Side

30/9/2012

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Southbank Centre, London, UK

I love walking along the Thames River. I enjoy discovering the parts of London that live along it, and revisiting more favourite parts of it. One of my favourite walks routes in London is along the south of the river from Southbank Centre to London Bridge station.

I have walked this stretch many times, and often with my camera. Each time I walk the route, there is always something to photograph – whether it’s a street performer, something new or seeing something familiar in a different way.

The Southbank Centre, and some of the adjoining buildings, often provides photographic fodder for me. The bold, and somewhat brutalist, architecture of the arts complex draws me in. While I am not always a fan of 1950s and 1960s architecture, I do like photographing it.

Often there is a certain geometry or flow to them that lends itself quite well for more artistic photographs. If all else fails, though, the brutal nature of the architecture often lends itself well to black and white photography.

Over the last decade, I have seen subtle changes to the Southbank Centre. I can imagine that there have been quite a few subtle changes since the Centre’s inception in the 1950s. Lately, arty or trendy restaurants have woven themselves into the fabric of the Centre.

Also, artworks come and go, and a white stairwell I photographed a number of years ago recently changed its colour to yellow.

Southbank Centre, London, UK

I enjoy revisiting familiar places and re-photographing them. It shows how the changes and adapts to the current time – whether it’s a changes in style or taste, or even a way of thinking.

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The Face

5/6/2012

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London, UK

Living in a large city, public art is taken for granted, if not sometimes ignored. Walking along the Thames, not far from London Bridge, I stumbled upon a piece of public art that caught my eye.

I had been taking some photos of boats along the Thames, and while I was heading off towards London Bridge to catch my train, a statue of a face with closed eyes made me reflect on how I pass by so much in a bit city and don’t necessarily see – even as a photographer. There is so much crammed into a city that it’s nearly impossible to see everything.

Passing through places and spaces on a regular basis can often make one immune to what’s around. It often becomes too familiar, and humanity often takes this for granted. While our eyes are open, they aren’t often seeing things.

In familiar places, I sometimes try to slow down and look at it more closely – often with my camera in my hand. There are details that even I become immune to. Seeing them – looking at them more closely – I start appreciating the city around me more. To imagine the human history of London is just around us – waiting to be listened to.

It reminds me how impermanent we are, as well as our surroundings. Whether we look and listen or not, time moves on.

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The Queen’s Walk

4/12/2011

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Tower Bridge, London, UK

Timing can be everything. Catching a moment is not always easy. Being in the right place at the right time, and having your camera ready, is part luck, part intuition and in part, having a sense of what’s happening around you.

Often, photographers ‘wait’ for photos to happen. This could be waiting for the right moment in a sports game, cars to pass or people to move. Other times, photos just happen – unfolding in front of you – and, if you’re lucky, you’ll be ready with your camera.

I was walking along the Thames last week over one lunch hour, and saw a shot of Tower Bridge I wanted to get. It included the walkway street sign with the bridge spanning over top. I liked the angles. After taking one shot, I wanted to get a closer shot and got into position.

As I was taking the photo, a red double decker bus drove along the bridge. This wasn’t planned for, or expected. However, I think the bus made the picture.

If I took the photo a fleeting moment before or after the bus would have meant a very different picture. Without it, the photo isn’t as interesting. The bus gives a splash of red, which is pleasing for the eye, and also gives colour to an otherwise muted photo.

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Sunny South Bank

Birds Eye View

The South Side

The Face

The Queen’s Walk

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