14 Sunday Oct 2018
Posted in Diversions, London, Photography
More of that Saturday afternoon autumn light in Deptford, this time in Giffin Square just off the High Street. Today’s started as grey and damp as can be, and it’s almost impossible to imagine that the light looked like that yesterday.
All photos shot on a Fujifilm XT20 with XF35mm f1.4 lens, in case you’re interested in that kind of thing.
More of my Deptford pictures here.
02 Tuesday Oct 2018
Posted in Diversions, Down by the river, London
The Woolwich Free Ferry has been taking people across the Thames for centuries, most latterly as a key route for lorries to avoid the Blackwall tunnel. The current roll-on, roll-off boats, built in 1963, are to be taken out of service this week to be replaced by new vessels which promise hybrid diesel-electric power (check out the exhaust fumes in the picture above to see what the current boats produce), and magnetic berthing. One striking feature of the soon-to-be-redundant ferries is the large space for foot passengers under the car deck, not barely used, but a reminder of the ferry’s past role in getting dock and factory workers back and forth before containerisation and deindustrialisation arrived.
I thought I should get some pictures before these boats bow out, and went down for a trip to North Woolwich and back on a bazlingly bright late September day. See the full album ‘Last days of the old Woolwich Ferry here’.
16 Sunday Sep 2018
Posted in Down by the river, Photography
Viewed from the top of the ramp leading the Thames Path up the relatively new ‘missing link‘ east of Thames Side Studios on the Woolwich-Charlton border, the Thames Barrier and the former Mersey ferry ‘Royal Iris’. The latter, which has featured here before, looks a little sadder each year. I saw a rumour on Twitter that it is likely to be cut up soon, but haven’t been able to confirm it – if you know better, get in touch!
28 Tuesday Aug 2018
Posted in Diversions, Photography
A walk to the pub on Bank Holiday Sunday evening (because you have to go out on a Bank Holiday Sunday evening, don’t you?), the rain almost stopped after pouring down all afternoon. This shot taken from Charlton Road, looking into the Springfield estate. I’d love the chance to take my camera to the top floor of one of these blocks, with their view across the river and over to Canary Wharf.
03 Friday Aug 2018
Posted in Down by the river, London, Photography, Uncategorized
Tags
cruise ship, dusk, Fuji XT20, Fujifilm, graffiti, Greenwich, london, River, signs, Thames, Thames Barrier, Thames Path, Viking Sky
A dad joke at dusk. Spotted on the Thames path, between the Anchor & Hope pub and the Thames Barrier, while out on a Sunday evening admiring the sunset and the sailing skills of the Thames tug captains piloting the Viking Sky cruise ship out of Greenwich.
06 Monday Feb 2017
Posted in Down by the river, London, Photography
Tags
Charlton, Down by the river, Fuji XT10, iphone video, london, photography, Semi-submerged shopping trolleys, Thames Path
A Saturday afternoon interlude spent peering over the edge of the Thames path near Charlton.
See the full set of ‘Semi-submerged shopping trolleys of the Thames foreshore near Charlton, south-east London: a study’ on my portfolio website.
PS. I’m working towards making a much wider range of my pictures available to purchase as prints (all on high-quality, archival paper). If there are any photos on this site that you’d like to own as a print (prices start at £40), please get in touch.
(I’m also always interested in print swaps, if you make paintings/photos/linocuts/woodcuts/screenprints/similar – just get in touch!)
04 Sunday Dec 2016
Posted in Down by the river, London, Photography
Tags
Charlton, Down by the river, Fuji XT10, Greenwich Peninsula, london, photography, Thames, Thames Path
Down to the Thames by the Anchor & Hope in Charlton on a crisp, cold early December day; the pollution layer that’s been hanging over London for the last few days very evident in the clear skies. Views north across the river to Silvertown give a clue as to how the south side of the river could look when the planned Charlton riverside development has replaced the remnants of industry in a few years time. Looking west, it’s suddenly noticeable that views of Canary Wharf and the O2 Arena are starting to disappear, obscured by new developments on Greenwich Peninsula. London needs more housing, but it’ll be worse for the loss of links with its industrial past.
27 Sunday Nov 2016
Posted in London, Photography
A Friday lunchtime trip to Tate Modern to take in the Elton John photography collection show, A Radical Eye. It’s a pretty good show: more comprehensive than I’d expected and I particularly enjoyed the Imogen Cunningham pictures, which I’d not previously been aware of (and who really deserves a better ‘official’ website). Overall, I felt that there was something missing that left it short of being a really great show, but it still feels like a kind of step forward when the Tate put on a big photography show.
The sun was out, so after the exhibition we headed up to the viewing platform of the new extension (having been up there in August, and back when it opened in June). It’s pretty unbeatable as London views go, even if there view to the west is getting increasingly obscure with architecturally-unimpressive new developments.
22 Saturday Oct 2016
Posted in Diversions
To Somerset House for the excellent (and free) Malick Sidibé show: “The modern eye of Mali”.
Highly recommended: great to see some really big prints of work that I’ve mostly seen online and in small-ish books. Nice soundtrack, too.
13 Thursday Oct 2016
Posted in Down by the river, London, Photography
Tags
Charlton, Field recording, Foreshore, Fuji XT10, Greenwich Yacht Club, london, regatta, Thames Barrier, thames barrier test
Up and out early (well, early for a Sunday morning) to meet The London Sound Survey and head down to the Thames Barrier in the hope of recording the dramatic sights and sounds of its annual test closure. It turns out, though, that the Barrier goes about its business very quietly and with little drama; good for London, I guess, not so good for field recording.
I got some photos, anyway, and after a diversion to Woolwich for breakfast and a walk along Powis Street, we returned to the river to check out Greenwich Yacht Club’s annual regatta and to check the state of play with the Barrier.
Regardless of the field recording outcome, it was a good morning: down by the river in good company, with interesting light; hopefully we’ll do more of this, but with more sound accompaniment.
Click images for full-size versions.
