Spy vs. Spy on the dark side

 

 

So we've gone all stealthy today. This is my 50th London Street Photography Meetup and a welcome revisit to the imposing, brutalist architecture of the Barbican Estate. This time we were playing spy games. We are all disguised in black like sneaky photography ninjas, wearing hats and dark glasses, though a distinct lack of false beards, sadly.

 

 

 

 

We were set a series of challenges in various classified zones. Lots of classic looking up from below, looking down to those below, but coupled with surveillance, espionage, lurking, stalking and shooting from the shadows. Our themes today included looking for those leading lines framing little silhouetted people, negative space, and a Polly favourite - the odd random limb.

 

 

 

 

One of the joys of the Barbican is the multitude of textures. Around each corner there's rough and smooth concrete, long lines of bricks, tiles and the lighting can really emphasise those details. I'm particularly drawn to reflections off the shiny floor tiles, and the art deco style ceiling lights throwing intriguing pale pools to the lower levels.

The illumination beneath the handrails flanking the ramp leading up from the Barbican Centre makes me think of a runway or spaceship gantry, and I have to linger there for a whole hoping someone would walk up. Typically, there's no one for ages and then a little huddle of people make their way up the slope, and you sigh hopefully one would linger behind and make your image. I was fortunate that after being thwarted for ages, a passersby was happy to saunter down and up the slope. It transpired that he's an accomplished photographer as he showed me a couple of wonderful lit leading lines images taken at an airport. Obviously this wasn't very covert of me but I guess I'd been made by then!

For the second week in a row I grabbed a selfie. Good grief, what is happening to me? As I arrived at Barbican tube station I noticed the 'kids' were posing in front of the shiny panels alongside the platform with their smartphones. So figuring I was pretty anonymous in my ninja photography garb I thrust my Leica in the general direction of the big X and clicked!

 

 

We were seeking a film noir look for all our photographs today. So in post, I've emphasised the low key murky blackness especially for those shots inside the complex, where you're engulfed in all that towering concrete. I was hoping to evoke a spooky, mysterious feel, upping up the vignette and letting the inkiness creep into all the corners. Welcome to the dark side!

 

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Day 69: Dangerous neighbourhood

One little problem I have with visiting Leica in Mayfair is the close proximity to the new(ish) Chanel on Bond Street. I leave one and somehow find myself in the other...mysteriously. And yesterday was no exception. I have a little time to kill whilst my camera is being tended to by the Leica doctors and thought I'd have a look around. And then before I know it I'm stood next to a very sparkly crystal studded stag and a ginormous chain of pearls undulating from the floor snaking up through middle of the staircase to the levels above. I'm only in the elegant boutique briefly but find myself with a lovely new shiny pendant for my collection. Whoops!

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Terra firma!

 

 

We have a "thank god, we survived" cool drink overlooking a picturesque river, with Maurice and his balloons posing on the bridge. And then we meander around the town looking for a suitable spot to lunch, more opportunities for me to take some shots from the hip, but can that cat look any more indignant?

 

 

Also decided that the balloon vendor reflected in one of those discs used to pour wine without dripping, might be interesting. I have a series of bits of shiny pieces tucked away in my camera bag in case I need some reflective material to add a little highlight. Though we have been known to resort to the shiny inner of an empty crisp packet.

 

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Day 365 : blue ice

At this time of year ice rinks are popping up all over the place. I've spent quality time on a good few subsequent Tuesday hanging out at the one at Canary Wharf trying to lure bankers in. That sounds much dodgier than it was, it was legitimate work though I declined joining them on the slippery stuff due to a slight concussion incident many years ago.

This one is a particularly pretty example in the grounds of the imposing German Romanesque Natural History Museum. The blue ice, the twinkly lights Christmas tree and the purple illuminated brickwork. The handful of skaters gliding around rather elegantly, entirely devoid of polar bears. I guess these ones are pretty good at it!

It seemed a fitting final picture of my 365 photo-a-day project. A sparkly festive scene to wrap up the year and herald the beginning of a shiny new year.

 

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Day 364 : helping Mother Nature

I was right about the rain. Today it has been full on. Again the wintry frosty conditions I crave for are alluding me so I’ll have to make do with the drip, drip, and the drop, drop. The holly bush at the end of the garden path seems to be a good subject and became my quarry after the rain had abated. The close-up filters are dusted off and trained on the shiny red berries, glossy with the recent rain. And just to add a little more polish, I shake the spiky holly leaves above to rain on my chosen cluster of leaves. Well sometimes Mother Nature just doesn't send raindrops in the exact spot I'd like them to be, is I have to assist her.

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Day 350 : homage to Miley!

So how do I explain this? Miley Cyrus’ video for Wrecking Ball has been much pastiched and even though I haven't viewed the actual video, I've seen enough stills from various comedy shows to be aware of its curious content. I know there’s a naked, apart from workman’s boots, Miley astride a wrecking ball and there’s some hammer licking! Apparently some tenuous link to the wreck of a ended relationship. Hmmm possibly just some excuse to whip her clothes off. Though that makes me sounds so old, doesn't it?

I thought it would be fun to imagine what the penguins would be like if they'd been left alone on the internet to peruse YouTube. I suspect something like this would occur!

 

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Day 253 : no penguins were harmed in the eating of this cake!

Some of the lovely people I work with arranged a surprise lunch at a local French restaurant I've been hankering to sample. One of Otto’s specialities is the canard à la presse, the renowned dish of the restaurant La Tour d’Argent in Paris. Coincidentally I had reservations for a birthday lunch a few years ago at that actual restaurant, plus other Parisian delights, before I had to cancel just before the trip due to one of our party basically...let’s say...ummm...ruining everything!

I have since returned to Paris several times but haven't yet availed myself of La Tour d’Argent’s fine cuisine, nor had the merest sniff of the acclaimed duck dish. Lunch today wasn't the time to break the duck (excuse the pun), not just because you have to preorder the dish, but it’s one to be savoured one evening, on another occasion. Nor did I partake in the famed steak tartare as I opted to join everyone in the set lunch menu, but this was far from a deprivation, as we had a most delicious and very filling lunch.

Even though I couldn't really eat a “waffer thin mint (sic)” they had also organised a beautiful chocolate cake from Cook and Konditor. One lavishly frosted with vanilla icing, studded with deep pink roses, and generously dusted with glitter. And briefly the penguins also cavorted (seemingly drunkenly) in the sumptuous frosting. I did remove them before slicing up the lighter-than-air cake though, I'm not sure I can stand to lose any more of my penguin flock. There’s one languishing in a museum of oddities just outside of Dijon in France, and Swedish CJ has temporarily kidnapped one for some fiendish plan involving her most scary Stasi dog...shudder!

I've had a lovely day, delicious food, fabulous company, a beautiful silver stiletto charm (thanks to EM), a plethora of cards and kind messages and a little bit of penguin. Birthday bliss!

 

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Day 178 : shiny curves

There's a buzz at Canary Wharf outside the tube station they have parked a McLaren Formula 1 racing car and the iPhones are snapping away. I'm drawn to the gleaming silver and orange curves, the glinting metal of the wheels and the fat tires. Everybody else is either taking a picture of the entire car or the mysterious racing car driver all suited and helmeted up. I wonder if it’s Jenson Button. There's a huge picture of him behind the car but I can't find any identifying features on his suit to confirm that. The driver has Johnnie Walker across his helmet (though I suspect it’s promoting the scotch rather than his name). There’s a large McLaren Mercedes down one leg and BOSS and a Mercedes logo on one shoulder, SAP on his elbow and Vodafone...pretty much everywhere!

I could have checked with the other eager liggers but whether it’s Jenson, Top Gear’s Stig or someone posing as Jenson to add to the atmosphere, I'm more interested in small details of the car rather than the whole scene. I suspect it's not Jenson anyway as I would expect him to be without helmet and hence draw a bigger crowd, but people are queuing up for the official photographer to shoot them with whoever he is.

The photographer is intrigued by my camera and one of the hostesses points out that it’s a Leica. A Leica that likes shiny things!

 

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