As always in life, plans change and the lightpainting workshop I was due to hold hadn't sold any tickets. So instead of sitting at home like "Billy No Mates" we decided to head down to London and do a little walkabout practicing my photographic nemesis, street photography!
It turned out to be not so much as a walkabout but a 16,500 step marathon! I'm built for comfort and not for speed and I hadn't walked that far in years. As I write this, it's Sunday morning and my legs are feeling it!
We set off on the 2.5 hour drive to Canary Wharf. From there we jumped on the Underground to the Tate Modern Gallery with the intention to come back and shoot Canary Wharf at sunset / blue hour. After getting a little confused with the Underground map wondering which in the heck tube route to take we finally arrived at the Tate Modern.
The Tate Modern was once known as Bankside Power Station. It was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Battersea Power Station and is located directly across the River Thames from St Paul's Cathedral. To get to the Tate Modern it's necessary to walk over the famous and popular Millenium Bridge.
This is a selection of what I got:
Brutalism
I didn't know it but I seem to be a big fan of brutalist architecture. Brutalism I understand to be something akin to concrete or steel structures with a semi industrial look and seems to have become a thing in 1950's and 60's. It's almost like a craze among architects and designers to create hard edged structures that poke the viewer in the eye and scream, "I'm brutal!"
I think the reason I like it is because in my day job, I'm an interior designer myself albeit more industrial than architectural.
As we ascended these curved concrete stairs, I popped my camera over the side and waited for someone pass through like a sniper with a rifle.
Tate got Curves
Another sniper shot. I waited ages for this person to pass through so I could click at the right moment for the composition. With it being a Saturday, there were many people walking up and down. Two people in the frame wouldn't have worked for me so waiting was necessary. Patience pays off!
Another shot with curves:
It looks like I may have hung around these stairs for way too long. This is a slightly higher key version.
Stood Leaning Against Walls
I spotted this composition and knew I wanted someone to stand in the window against the lighter background. The trouble was, this high up in the building there weren't many people passing by. I had to settle for my fellow photographer, @neilru75 to unwittingly pose for my shot.
Hold Still, Don't Move!
I spotted this unsuspecting lady browsing her phone. She seemed to be stood in exactly the right place for all sorts of rules of composition. I kept shooting hoping she wouldn't move and I adjusted my position to get the best point of view. Luckily for me she was so engrossed in her phone, I had ages to get the comp right.
In the main hall
We shot here at midday when the sun is presumably at it's highest in the sky. It was bright sunshine outside and the light pouring in created some nice shadows. I came away thinking maybe we should come here earlier in a morning with lower sun and later in the afternoon for warmer light.
Modern Art?
Modern art is something that infuriates me. The artist here has persuaded someone with more money than sense to place an "art installation" in the Tate. To me this is a bunch of ropes and cords with hessian fabric and cotton insulation material fastened to it. The artist can then charge hundreds of thousands of pounds for the "privilege." Give me 10 minutes, I could knock this up if anyone wants to pay me a few grand? ;-)
Canary Wharf Station
This is a shot I've wanted for ages. I'm not sure why despite visiting Canary Wharf quite a few times that I never captured it. So here it is, not perfect and if I had more time, I'd have obsessed over it and climbed on the escalator with a tripod. I would imagine the security guards might not have liked that!
And another view, this time with a human element or two:
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
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