Changing London - # 122/2011

"As solid as the Bank of England" used to sum up just about everything in the architecture of  The City - massive, grey, somewhat dirty and still a bit smoke-scarred by WW2 bombing and not particularly "uplifting", but definitely "resilient".  I liked working in The City but I didn't enjoy the built environment very much. That's changed. New Change was the site of some typically massive offices once occupied by the Bank of England (I believe) - the bank building itself is a little further down the street.


New Change was knocked down and this year replaced by a steel and glass marvel that prays to the gods of shopping as well as commerce: the circulation of money rather than the careful stewardship thereof.


I like this 6 floor miracle of modern architecture in the new City of London. Interestingly, the whole structure seems to fade away into nothing when given certain kinds of photographic treatment. Is that also symbolic of our modern, post 1945 consumer-capitalism.........an economy based on consumption rather than solid investment? 

Tower Bridge after the rain-storm - # 116/2011

Looking through the glass of the high-speed river bus the scene is slightly brown-tinted and shows some traces of rain and river water droplets. But this actually enhances the drama. The terrific rain storm has passed, the sky is blue, but more "weather" is building up.

Diagonal - # 114/2011

Another abstract impression of a glass and metal marvel opposite the Lloyd's building in the City of London.


Here's the original shot.  Sunlight shines on the aluminium and glass and produces are a wonderful effect.  London is no longer city of heavy grey stone, blackened by smoke.

All change at New Change 112/2011

I'm experimenting trying to "see" things differently.  Here is my vision of the magnificent glass and steel creation on the No. 1 New Change site that opened this year, opposite St.Paul's.


Below is what it looks like to the "unimaginative" eye.  I really like the light, ethereal, ultra-smooth, smokey-glass structure. Packed inside is an Aladin's Cave of shopping and commercial delights. The previous post showed how it offered a new and enjoyable view of its neighbour, St. Paul's Cathedral.

Split St. Paul's - # 111/2011

Another new, unexpected vista created by the new architecture in the City of London.  "New Change" was a large office block and is now a major new shopping centre and commercial area.  Looking out towards St. Paul's Cathedral the glass structure creates this vision.

Lost in the City - # 110/2011

Over the last 20 years the City of London (the Square Mile - financial and trading district) has continued to go through a rapid and radical and highly expensive period of building renewal and transformation.  Here, glass and stone and natural light work together to create a new vista, and a new way of seeing things in a very old part of London close to the spot where the Romans founded their first London quayside.

Police on call - # 97/2011

The photo shows a London River Police boat streaking down river, blue lights and sirens wailing, past the 1980's Docklands apartments towards the distant towers of the mighty Canary Wharf finance district.


In the late '70s and early '80s the derelict docks of the old Port of London were developed into funky flats and "loft apartments" for City bankers. Rupert Murdoch busted the Printers' Union stranglehold on Fleet St. and moved to a brand new Dockland site, using modern computer technology in old dockland Wapping.  A little later the financial "Big Bang" lead to the construction of a gigantic addition to London's financial district in the Canary Wharf development, on more derelict dockland, about 3 miles away from the old City Square Mile 


The power of London as a world leading financial and news information hub was re-confirmed, and its might grew even stronger.


Move forward a few years - not so long after the flawed British politician, Gordon Brown, heralded the opening of Lehman Brothers offices in Canary Wharf the "toxic mortgages" crisis in America brought down Lehman's and triggered the current world financial crisis. Bankers were justifiably vilified, and now Rupert Murdoch's empire is under police investigation in Britain, America and Australia.  


30 years is a long, long time.
  

Batman's London - # 96/2011

You'll have noticed a lack of "content". While looking about for a bit more inspiration and something "different" I've been spending some time trying to take a look at "the new London", and trying to see what I can make of it. Richmond itself will come back one day, but I need a rest.


This week end took me to the area around Tower Bridge and London Bridge where they are building  the new "Shard" tower  all around there is stunning new architecture with creative view points and vistas. This is indeed 21st Century London, straight out of a 1950s Marvel Comic; and one expects Batman to turn up at any moment, or maybe Superman to snatch somebody to safety, away from an oncoming red London Transport bus. I like it.


And it's very photogenic.

City stunner - # 95/2011

Nothing posted for a week.  Naughty.  But a good excuse.  Weather, stuff happening etc.  However, here's a little something I did recently while working up a project based on London and The City (you might have guessed).

It's a detail from a very fine Victorian building in the City.  I'm keeping it anonymous. I'm more interested in the image abstract than the precise reality.

Stress and The City - # 88/2011

You'll recognise the skyline from yesterday's picture. I'm not so sure about coffee and stress relief going together but it makes a good talking point for the photo.

Black Friars' Bridge, St. Paul's and the City - # 87/2011

Another shot of the the City of London under a dramatic cloudscape. Brilliant sunshine, the time of day and the weather came together to produce this and reward my day out hunting for good images of London.

Changed times - # 80/2011

Severley cropped for discretion - and so a little bit grainy: we see how times have changed.  Taken during a recent walk through the City of London, we see an elegant black-suited lady banker pausing to have her shoes polished in the old fachioned way.

The City of London, midday - # 55/2011

"Waterloo sunsets (I am in paradise)" is a famous song by the Kinks.  French impressionists (I think I'm right) have painted it. 


This is "Waterloo lunchtime" - at noon.


Many will recognise it and love it. Those of you who have no idea about London will now see.  This is London in March. On sunny days London's nice, but on grey days it's, well, just Grey!  London has enormous amounts of culture and entertainment to offer the tourist, but the overall sense of London is "Business and Commerce"; "world Business"; and that's how I like it.


I am standing on Hungerford Bridge looking East towards Waterloo Bridge and the City of London in the distance. St.Paul's Cathedral, with its distinctive dome, is more or less in the centre and the towers of the city are clear on the right of it.  On the extreme right we see the rising central core of the new "Shard" - the skyscraper going up at London Bridge.

London from Richmond Park- # 08/33

Richmond Park is high on a plateau and London sits down in the London Basin. I thought you would like to see this classic view from one of the favourite vantage points in the park. The extreme telephoto setting scrunches it all together - we a looking across about 13 miles/20 km distant. You can see the "London Eye", the big wheel which is in the West End (the City of Westminster) opposite the Houses of Parliament, and behind (almost as if they are close by) you can see the already "iconic" Gherkin tower and the mass that makes up the the City of London (the financial district). There's more to the left and right. I'm trying to get a decent night time wide angle shot, but weather conditions must be perfect.

Trials and tribulations of success - # 359

......'roony turns towards home after his day out. He turns for a last look at the City of London, powerhouse of the world's foreign exchange money market, and the premier market for raising new capital and trading derivative financial products. And yet, even here, where financial expertise allegedly reigns supreme, the American subprime mortgage scandal has spread its tentacles.

In this picture we are looking at the riverside edge of an area measuring approximately one half square mile. The City - apart from Canary Wharf, further East - is just one mile square, so this picture shows the edge of roughly half of it.

If you think it looks like an unholy muddle......then, yes, you are absolutely right. But, golly, it sure is exciting.

Camera: Olympus E3