A (sick) Day in the Life

I spent this week out on the streets of Soho and the South Bank practicing street photography and photojournalism.  It was a great class, and one that I was really looking forward to, but just as I was surprised by how much I enjoyed working in the studio last week, I was equally surprised by how anxious I was trying to take stealth street photographs! I did get a few interesting shots in Soho (always a hotbed of interesting people and scenes!) on the first day of class, and found myself getting a bit more comfortable with it as the week progressed.

On Wednesdays, we have the day off from class to do an assignment on our own.  This week, our assignment was to document our day in a photo essay, applying the basic structural elements we studied, like establishing shots, detail shots, relationship and portrait shots, while turning the camera on ourself.  I went to bed Tuesday unclear about what my day would look like, but woke up with the horrible realization it was not going to look like much because I was sick.  As in fever, sore throat, can't believe I have to get out of bed and go to Boots (the pharmacy), oh-dear-me I wore sweatpants in London, sick.  I'd like to blame it entirely on some germs picked up on the Tube, but it's probably a combination of public transport, not enough vitamins/exercise and possibly a dose of too much fun.  Needless to say, my photo essay was pretty boring...

  

I managed to make it to class Thursday and Friday despite the bug, and we ended the class with a field trip to Borough Market. Since I already managed to take loads of foodie photos there in June, this time I focused on "street portraits" of the vendors.  One thing that I have learned through this whole course is that if you spend a whole day shooting and you come away with one or two shots you really like, it was a successful day.  For as instantaneous as digital photography is, it requires an incredible amount of patience!  Thankfully, a market like Borough gives you plenty of good excuses to chat with the vendors and ask if they wouldn't mind you poking around with your camera.  Some people posed, others went right about with their work as if I wasn't there.

 

After being out and about so much with class, I am firmly rooted in the flat today in an effort to kick this bug once and for all.  Thankfully, I kept my Netflix streaming account active, have plenty of tea and honey, and despite the actual heat wave that has hit London (it's nearly 90 today, though they have been calling it a heatwave once the temps reached 80...) my little garden flat is relatively cool.  I feel confident that I will be in fine form to celebrate Bastille Day tomorrow and take on Portraiture on Monday!

A Capital Citizenne Fourth!

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays.  Not because I embraced living in the nation's capital and enjoyed all of the spectacular fireworks and concerts, no, rather it's because Winston and I usually boarded a flight to Sanibel for "Betty's Annual 4th of July Party."  The house I call home happens to have one of the best views of the Sanibel Island fireworks display, and as a result we have had friends and family over to the house to celebrate Independence Day for as long as I can remember. This year, hopping on a flight to Sanibel simply was not an option, but I was determined to make the most of it.  I am not one of those tourists who immediately looks for signs of home, in fact I actually avoid them at all costs (after all, I have chosen to come live in a different culture!).  But on the 4th, I wanted Americana, I needed it!  Mind you, I wasn't so homesick/desperate that I headed for the Golden Arches, but I will openly admit, without shame, that I stood in line (I can't call it queueing in reference to the 4th of July) for half and hour to enjoy the delicacy that is a Five Guys cheeseburger, fries and a Bud heavy.  In a stroke of good marketing, both Five Guys and Shake Shack opened their first UK outposts on the 4th (just a few blocks from each other in Covent Garden) - being a DC-based gal, I obviously chose Five Guys.

It was actually quite fun to stand in line with both American Five Guys veterans determined to get a taste of home (including a VERY pregnant Chicagoan living in London for the past four years) and total newbies who were concerned they may have chosen wrong ("should we have gone to Shake Shack instead?  will the Little burger be big enough? how many fries do we need" my answers: NO!, yes absolutely, um you can probably share one small order between the three of you...we have portion control issues in the US!)

I have to say, that burger, fries and Bud were exactly what the Dr. ordered (no, not Dr. Who), but the icing on the cake was meeting up with my friend Scott in Borough for an impromptu Independence Day pub crawl.   Scott and I went to college together, studied abroad in London on the same program, albeit one year apart, and have both been in DC for many years, but sadly didn't really get to know one another until recently (thank you Jenn!).  I still think it is some sort of divine intervention that we both moved to London this summer.

We started at The Globe (aka home to Bridget Jones, she made her blue soup upstairs), then headed towards Borough Market where our "Happy 4th of July" overtures received a decidedly mixed reception...

After a visit to Scott's adorable "local" (where everyone was convinced he was Mitchell from Modern Family) we ended the evening sitting on his amazing deck, where we could hear, if not see, fireworks, toasting to being two Americans, trying our best (again) at life in London.

(PS, everyone should be so lucky to have Scott for a friend, foreign country or not.)

Strolling Along the South Bank

After getting sucked into the black hole that is watching Wimbledon for the past few days, my camera and I headed to the other side of the Thames for a day of people watching, photographing and eating on the South Bank. First stop of the day was Borough Market.  I've always enjoyed visiting London's many wonderful and eclectic markets, from Portobello Road to Camden Town, but had never made the trip to Borough.  My dear friend and fellow recent-Londoner Scott alerted me to the area as he is going to be calling it home very soon, and a classmate of mine in photography school -- who happens to be a very clever food blogger  -- gave me the great and helpful tip to visit the market on Thursday to beat (some of) the crowds.

While the markets I mentioned earlier are an eclectic mix of antiques, handcrafts, arts and food, Borough Market is primarily about the food.  Stall after glorious stall of food, featuring everything from English cheeses and charcuterie to more varieties of mushrooms than I have ever seen, cases of savory pies, and loads of fresh breads, seafood, produce and the most incredible looking meringues!

    

 

I smartly decided to eschew the leftovers in my fridge in favor of a market lunch, and after a few laps, I decided on a duck confit sandwich, topped off with a very dainty "scoop" of salted caramel goat's milk ice cream.  Not really a fan of goat cheese myself (cue the shocked cries of "but goat cheese is sooo good, I love it" - I've tried it a million times, you can have all of mine) I was offered a sample, and it.was.good.  So good!

After the market, I made my way back to the Tate Modern.  The TM is a pretty divisive museum, much like modern art itself, you either like it or you don't.  After an Art History class that focused on the art of the 1960s, that put the artistic movements in the historical and political context of the times, I became something of a fan, and especially a fan of the Tate Modern.  The space is a converted industrial park and showcases works by the likes of Mondrian, Flavin, Ellsworth Kelly and a fantastic collection of William Eggleston photographs.  I also get a kick out of eavesdropping on other visitors, hearing a lot of "why is this art, I could do that" or just giggles of bewilderment.

a felt sculpture by Robert Morris

One of the biggest luxuries I have afforded myself this trip is time; I don't have to do the whole museum in one visit, because I can come back (did I mention they are free, thanks London!). So after spending an hour wandering the fourth floor, I called it a day (to be honest, the museum was also quickly filling up with school children and getting very crowded!).

Rather than cross the river via Millenium Bridge or Blackfriars, I chose to walk the Thames Path down to Westminster, taking in the sights and sounds of the South Bank along the way.  It's a vibrant river front with loads of street performers and people everywhere you look.

 

And just as it started to drizzle I was back over the river and on my way home.

© 2013, Capital Citizenne