To date I have visited Blackfriars 4 times, and to date I have the least number of ‘successful’ photographs percentage-wise compared to any of the other project destinations. I feel that I am yet to find it’s heart. Blackfriars sits five miles south of home, and using My Maps lands me squarely on Blackfriars Bridge. I know the bridge well, from my days assisting a photographer in Oval: I would often find myself crossing over by bike or as a passenger in a car. I have also had commissions within the former UBM Building, which is the big one on the left as you cross to the south. What I had never really done was to stop and try to make sense of the area.
Twenty years ago I did take this image on one of the Thames Bridges. I cannot be sure which bridge this is, but I know it was rush hour!
The first time I travelled down for 4 x 4 x 4 was by bicycle. It was a hazy sunny day, and I ambled around the bridge for a bit, getting my bearings, and figuring out what to shoot. I crossed the bridge and headed along the Thames Path, looking east to see the bridge on my right. There wasn’t much occurring, but there were plenty of people around. I set up my tripod on the steps next to Doggett’s Coach and Badge Pub (apparently named after a 300 year old boat race), and waited patiently for something interesting to fill the frame. I was snapping random people as they came into shot either walking up or down the steps, and finished my first roll of film. I attempted to replace the Dark Slide, a critical step in rewinding and reloading the film, but soon discovered that there was a problem. Whilst struggling with the camera a large man appeared, bouncing and beaming toward me and asked what I was photographing. I explained why I was there and my dilemma with the camera, and with his help managed to get the slide back in, and separate the camera from the back. There was a little piece of metal dangling in the back where it shouldn’t have been, so I had to abort mission and ride the five mile journey back home. According to my notes that man was called Kevin and he is the ‘Cashbox Millionaire’. I have a vague memory of us discussing Instagram handles, but that’s all I can say! The back was sent for repair.
I captured this image before the camera-back jammed.
For my second encounter I travelled by bus early one morning, with the idea of capturing the throngs of cyclists that ordinarily whizz up and down Farringdon Road: did you know Farringdon Road becomes Farringdon Street as it crosses Charterhouse Street? I didn’t. The two images below are from that trip, and may be worked into the project yet.
Freezing motion decisively on a busy pavement in rush hour, with a flat sky didn’t prove easy.
This is one of the images I do like from my second trip.
The third time around I had hoped to achieve something of the intensity of Robert Frank’s image Canal Street - New Orleans, but British commuters shot on a square format, in colour, in 2019 were just not cutting it!
Canal Street - New Orleans © Robert Frank
Covered car - Long Beach, California © Robert Frank
Just throwing in an additional image from Robert Frank for your viewing pleasure. I don’t know what it is about this image, but I love it!
Not bad?
Scenes of a bygone era!
Much like I said in my last blogpost about some images looking too clean, this one has a similar feel, and somehow doesn’t seem to fit the wider aesthetic. However, I do feel scenes like these help to paint a picture of society, but maybe they just show what’s on the surface. The superficial nature of things is something I am exploring more, back here in the machine room!
I have written before about the last time I visited Blackfriars for project 4 x 4 x 4. It was on 31st January this year, when our skies darkened as we left the European Union, and before we knew of another layer of darkness that was set to befall us. It’s been quite a year.
11pm, 31st January 2020
There are of course things to celebrate in the Blackfriars region, but it doesn’t appear to have much of a centre, and so far I have not found it easy to interact with people as they always seem to be on the move. One person I did meet however was a lady selling coffee from a small van. It was a quiet time for her, as it was a chilly morning, just after rush hour, and the tourists weren’t out and about yet. She didn’t want to have her picture made, but she was glad of the company, and we struck up a conversation. We managed to talk about liquorice, love and relationships. She gave me a free coffee and she stood for a picture 💛
If you have any insights about Blackfriars, do let me know!