Clerkenwell Birthday Visit with University Granddaughter

         My birthday was to start fairly early, as the plan for the day was for me to meet up with my elder daughter and one of her twin girls who has just settled into student accommodation having started at University in London.

         My daughter had to take the other twin to work before she could take a train to town, so Poppy and I chatted as she finished getting ready then we all headed for the Tube to Farringdon, where I could show Poppy Clerkenwell where I had spent much of my time as a photographer, with two studios just off Hatton Garden, and also the last employed job before I started ‘SOLUTIONS photographic’ — Longacre Colour Labs, where  I had been their Sales Manager.

         This area of London holds many pleasant memories for me, as I maintained many contacts even after becoming self-employed and return for Clerkenwell Design Week despite all the changes to the area that I first new.

         For many years this area held the workshops for London, and once held numerous photographers and Designers, who moved to either Covent Garden or the less expensive areas of East London around by Old Street and City Road.

         Poppy, despite being here a short time had already acquainted herself with parts I had thought she would not have found; that I had considered known to only a few! I was pleased by that. We took a stroll around the garden of St. John’s Priory, which allowed me to create a montage of Poppy in three windows, to depict ‘See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil, as a small piece of fun. We were greeted by a Friendly Robin and some late roses there before a walk to Clerkenwell Green where Catherine and Poppy found a quirky piece of architecture just by one of my erstwhile clients Design Bridge.

         I was treated to lunch by Catherine and we later headed towards areas familiar to Poppy, and soon we were seeing London heading into evening and Christmas, and as darkness was falling seeing the lights reflected off the Thames, and we spent a short time by the Festival Hall and the skateboarders by the river, and all too soon it was time for Catherine to head for home to pick up Holly from work, and for Poppy to head back to Halls to catch up on her work, and for me to head back to my car back at East Finchley and drive back home, in the knowledge that I had another early start as my other daughter was treating me to a visit to Brooklands Museum.

Sent from my iPad

Clerkenwell Design Week 2016

I had been up very late the night before, having attended a networking event in Hemel Hempstead and decided to take a swift look at some of the shots before going to bed, ending up by not doing so till nearly three in the morning. Waking at six-thirty five, I realised I could make it to London with enough time to take the Tube to Leicester Square, walk round the corner into Shaftesbury Avenue, pick up my iPad that very fortunately had been found by the QParks car park attendant a few days back when I had been photographing at a Casino and after that getting back on the Tube to reach Old Street station where I was due to meet Catherine at around nine.

I was unaware that the message I had sent in the early hours suggesting I had been unrealistic in my timings had meant that Catherine had taken me at my word, as she missed the later message that said I was back on schedule! So despite my being at Old Street at four minutes past nine, it would be considerably later before Catherine would make it! The plan was for her to meet me and take a wander through the streets of Clerkenwell to visit various showrooms taking part in Clerkenwell Design Week. This was to be a far more joyous three-day-week than the ones I endured back when this area of London was my milieu.

I therefore walked into Clerkenwell on my own to get the feel of the atmosphere and see who was participating this year. Along the way, before reaching Whitecross Street, I took out my camera having just witnessed a scaffolder taking poles from the back of a Lordy and passing them up a ladder to his mate at first-floor level — it caught my eye because of the flourish with which he took the pole from horizontal to vertical with a flourish worthy of a highlander 'tossing the caber'! Another passer-by and myself exchanged amazed comments as we passed as we had both witnessed the same action! I did record another few shots that recorded the sequence again, but the man did not have the same energy in subsequent tosses! These shots were for myself and do not appear in the gallery, but did get me into the swing.

In passing Whitecross Street, I texted Geoff Dann whose studio is at the top end of the street, to let him know where I was as we planned to meet up later. Opposite the ex-Colour Company building was a London bus decked out to display wooden floor tiles, and I got into conversation with a man inviting visitors to their mobile showroom for a morning drink of tea or coffee and learned he was into equestrian photography but was interested in improving his skills, so we chatted awhile, and I said I would take some shots inside the bus, but await the arrival of my daughter before accepting his offer of a drink.

The  call came through a few minutes later and I headed back towards the station to meet Catherine and let her know I had a coffee ordered for her! This was a very civilised way to start the day. We chatted and formulated very loose plans of where we were to visit and were soon on our way, the only sad shame from our point of view was the dismal light and occasional drizzle, I shall let the gallery of pictures tell the rest of the story, accept to mention that we were both definitely going to pay a visit to Zaha Hadid's Gallery to pay our respects.

CDW 2015 – Two Photographers Clerkenwell Design Week 2015

Clerkenwell has been my milieu for many a year, and much has changed since I first arrived, and worked out my RAF leave for a basement photographers’ studio in Hatton Garden. Gamages Department Store was still trading, and seemingly had given rise to much of the trade in the Leather Lane Market. I worked simply for the experience and expenses for six weeks at Francis-Thompson Studios. It was part of Sidney Barton PR Services based in nearby Breams Buildings, Fetter Lane. I had absolutely no idea at that time of the part that this area of working London was to play in my working life.

I left many times – each time I returned there were subtle changes, but its heart kept beating, and the Twentieth Century brought the most extensive changes of all, and now many of the streets I first knew have disappeared, but Clerkenwell Design Week allows visitors to see the spirit of both the old and the new, and the warmth of the place lives on. A few of my past work colleagues still work here and for the past three years I have taken a camera to capture glimpses of both past and present and the quirky, and welcomed the establishment of Zaha Hadid’s Gallery that opened on my first visit to CDW.

On the Wednesday I treated myself to a break from the stresses of moving my home from Caddington to Marston Moretaine to pay a visit this year, and in chatting to a salesman in one of the first places Geoff Dann and I visited, he knew precisely where my new abode was situated, so this is indeed a small world. On a purely personal level both of us visitors were interested in working chairs for the lengthy times spent in front of Mac screens to post-process images from our respective cameras, and Elite had two interesting task chairs, the iSit and the Airflex which we flight-tested and flagged as worth considering.

Another showroom, Mosa held our attention from a background perspective with individual 300 x 900mm tile panels, we then headed to the Farmiloe Building, now seemingly termed the Design Factory, where my interest in cars was tweaked by the main Sponsor this year, Renault. Taking detail shots of this made it feel as if I was transported to Goodwood and the Festival of Speed. An old school that used to house studios for a couple of photographers I knew has become the London office for Zaha Hadid, whose influence could even be seen on the red Renault Concept Car, when you look at her acrylic furniture on display in her gallery, which we later visited. See if you can spot them.

My own interest in the quirky and amusing can also be seen in some of the more random shots taken during the day, such as architectural details, and amusing juxtapositions such as the lone blue Barclays Boris Bike amongst the line of Santander red ones – an omen that Barclays should heed? Our last major call was in Zaha’s Gallery, before a brief visit to another ex-business colleague John Swift of the Colour Company and his wife Annie, Retouchers with whom I worked before setting up ‘SOLUTIONS photographic’– they also are shortly leaving old London Town, but I end my visual trip where I started, at Old Street and the Tools of Change, the cranes. Till the next time, farewell to Clerkenwell; the beating heart of working London.

Clerkenwell Design Week 2014

Since my meeting up with fellow photographer Geoff Dann was going to be late morning, I decided to visit my erstwhile working partners at the Colour Company before visiting various showrooms taking part in the Clerkenwell Design Week. Since it is some time since John and Annie Swift and I had met, we spent much longer catching up than I had planned, resulting in less time spent visiting the various venues, but I had no regrets. It also meant I would try to catch a few moments with another former colleague Steve Warner on the far side of Clerkenwell.

It was good to see the area buzzing with activity as numerous visitors thronged the streets of an area I have always considered to be the working centre of London. I have considerable affection for the area having spent a goodly proportion of my working life treading the local pavements, and it is good to see just how much the area is welcoming change. It used to be home to numerous photographers, graphic designers, printers and small advertising agencies, most of those I knew well have left, but their spirit lives on.

I visited and was made welcome in all the showrooms I, and later Geoff, visited. We broke for a snack lunch alfresco in Clerkenwell Green and discussing what we had seen and reminiscing. After our repast, we headed for Sans Walk so I could introduce Geoff to Steve Warner. On arrival we met Mark who shares this bijou workspace, and despite my having no recollection of meeting Mark, his memory was far greater than mine and was able to recall that we had met and he was able convincingly to prove it: he knew of my interest in motor racing and my knowledge of Photoshop, so advancing years are having a greater effect on me than I had thought! Both Steve and Mark showed us some of their recent impressive work, resulting in even less time being spent on touring locations connected to CDW 2014, but we assured them both we were headed for the dungeons of the House of Correction with its underground catacombs of cells, now given over to artists, craftsmen and women and their exhibits.

Whereas above ground in the various showrooms and outside I was shooting at ISO levels from 200-400, down here I was handholding shots as low as 1/6th of a second at 256000 ISO! Both Geoff and I recollect the days of film, when such shots could only be undertaken using a tripod and heavy lighting gear with its attendant loss of atmosphere and spontaneity, and a lengthy delay before seeing the results of our labours!

We had also earlier paid a return visit to Zaha Hadid’s gallery and one particular installation still held and enduring fascination as it yielded new viewpoints, and it was interesting to note they had brought down some of their historic models and concepts and placed them on open display where last year they had been in a secure area only available to the fortunate few.

Altogether the day was once again a success and was full of interesting encounters.

I hope the gallery of images gives as much pleasure to those viewing as it gave me capturing them.

Clerkenwell Design Week 2013

Clerkenwell has long been a part of London during my working life, and I have a great affection for what I always thought of as the working centre of the great city. It has changed almost beyond recognition in some areas, but it has retained a strong beating heart. Design Week – a tad over-egged since it takes place over just three days certainly showed how much hard work can be found in such a small area, a considerable effort had gone into creating a warm and buzzing atmosphere, and creativity abounded. I joined fellow photographer and resident of the area, Geoff Dann to explore what was on offer. I started by going to the bottom of Charterhouse buildings which was a cul de sac I once knew very well indeed as I used to park there when I first set up ‘SOLUTIONS photographic’ in 1986. Back then the Ahrend showrooms which inhabit the building now, was a Car Park on a former bomb site belonging to St. Bart’s hospital.

The staff of Ahrend were extremely friendly and helpful, and more than happy for me to wander around taking photos, and I duly entered my votes for the best exhibits by architects in their Art Competition, and this visit was made before meeting up with Geoff. Later we not only made another tour of Ahrend, but we also met up with one of my former colleagues, retoucher John Swift in the very building from which I started my solo career. Back then I sat in a deckchair with a pile of telephone directories by my side and a  monolithic ‘luggable’ Motorola mobile phone atop this ‘desk’ as I rang around drumming up business from all over the country.

Geoff particularly wanted to visit the Priory Church in St John’s Square opposite another of my earlier haunts when I had been Sales Manager for Longacre Colour Labs, and although it did seem somewhat irreverent for their to be exhibition stands within the very chapel itself, there was a cabinet maker who was very happy to discuss with Geoff, the making of custom furniture which involved both modern digital techniques with old-world craft skills – one cabinet, a steal at £8,000!

We also visited a company whose range of bathroom furniture featured a magnificent SuperLoo which promised to cleanse the sedentary occupant front and back when flushed – a snip at a mere £7,000! There we met up with photographer Gareth Gardner who was exhibiting some of his work downstairs and with whom we had a chat. In toto, we enjoyed our visit there; there were several bathroom variants, the baths often complete with water!

Brewhouse Yard had changed to such a degree, I even had to ask Geoff what had been there previously, even though I then well-remembered the brewery as it was somewhere my father frequented when he worked for Allied Breweries! Earlier, before I had even entered Ahrend, I got a call from Charlie Campion of the John Thompson Partnership whom I had met during the Chaulington Planning Weekend, and he very kindly agreed to meet up at lunchtime even more generously taking me to a restaurant where we had a very enjoyable conversation as he had his lunch and I joined him in a white wine.

The further two highlights of the day were our visit to the new Zaha Hadid Gallery, and where we arrived in time to be invited to the inner sanctum on the first floor where they housed a vast range of maquettes which showed how many of their projects were developed, this was a guided tour so we learned the story of their organic growth from concepts that evolved from constant research and refinement. Once again we were allowed to photograph in the two floors; ground and basement, but photography was naturally strictly out of the question on the first floor. Our stay here was far longer than anywhere else! The Americans would have justly described this as ‘awesome’.

We also paid a visit to Milliken who had three excellent speakers who covered the 3D Modelling scene, and that was very interesting and well presented with some very open and honest commentaries of how journalists loved hype, but were less than interested in practicalities.

 There were two areas: the Farmiloe Building and the House of Detention where entry was restricted only to those with registered badges, something neither of us wished to do as we like to control the access others have to us, so sadly that meant there were areas we never visited. I felt that was unnecessary intrusion; I am happy to let anyone know who I am and what I do, but I receive enough spam in my email without extending this reach further. I do feel the Organisers let themselves down in this instance. I hope this is something they reconsider for the future.

January Photo Miscellany

The last few weeks have provided me with few photographic opportunities, but some subjects have come before my lens, so the gallery I am putting up now is very much a miscellany of situations that have come my way.

Receiving several of the large bars of Toblerone provided one such occasion – having broken off a piece, I noticed that the silver foil left on, closely resembled the snow up on a mountain, so I resisted the immediate imperative to scoff the chocolate and instead brought my camera to bear!

Only yesterday I was up in London to visit one photographer in UCL, and having helped in a very small way as Tony Slade’s assistant whilst we held conversations as he worked, I then headed for Clerkenwell to visit my erstwhile retouching colleagues in The Colour Company, and although when I first arrived only John Swift was working away at his screen, I was soon joined by both his wife Annie and another past retouching friend, Steve Warner.

I had taken the opportunity to grab some Furniture and Interior Design shop windows before calling in, so this brought the changes I had noted within the Clerkenwell area into the conversation, before I set off once again to the studio of Geoff Dann, where he was coming towards the end of the day’s shooting of farmyard scenes for Trina. When this came to the end and she left for the evening we both ventured upstairs where I joined Lizzy Perry to chat over a welcoming cup of tea.

Today after clearing work in the morning I took off on a visit to the Stockwood Discovery Centre, where I took a few quick shots in the park area, and a squirrel on a wall, then wandered into the Museum area where the Wildlife Photography exhibit was, and where amongst the permanent displays was a small display of Varda by visitors from Pakistan. The disappointment for me was that two boxes for visitors in which to place comments had no forms for them to fill in, and only a couple of ladies came in to view the shows whilst I was there. I had packed away my camera before leaving when I noticed the light on a figure by the exit caught my eye. I grabbed that shot before the moment passed!