The Shard

The Shard is a project of Renzo Piano that will be a major addition to London's skyline. Once built, the Shard will be the tallest building in Europe. It has been designed to utilise solar power as a considerable source of power and will provide a public piazza underneath its base.


See this link for a grander view of London's panorama with the Shard.

What brand are you, love?

People watching can be good fun, but recently I find the brand parade in London a little obscene. I keep seeing the boys and the girls, the hot mums, the Shoreditch kids, and naturally the Posh-wannabes, all wearing sunglasses possibly worth more than their outfits. Being at the Borough Market every week, I keep seeing more and more frames, both shades and the classic variety, with big thick brand initials on the sides. Is this a bit off as far as style exhibition is concerned or am I the only non-shades-extravaganza follower in town?

Just another day in London

Short & Sweet

I feel a little guilty writing this, as already too many people know about Short & Sweet, but I feel that spreading the vibe will only increase the general happiness. Short & Sweet is the only weekly short film screening club in London. They promote new talents, but also present work of the major directors, both in animation and live action. I attend their shows every week and find inspiring work shown time and again. S & S is managed by Julia Stephenson, an ultra-energetic Australian chick, whose high pitch makes the whole thing click and sway.



Short & Sweet was selected to screen the short films nominated for BAFTA this year. I got to attend one of the two sessions and saw some very interesting work. The video above is regrettably only a fragment of 'The Crumblegiant' by John McCloskey. The video below is 'The Pearce Sisters' by Luis Cook, a strange and vaguely disturbing story of two lonely sisters living by the coast. Other than the BAFTA awards, yesterday at Short & Sweet I saw Signe Bauman's 'Teat Bit of Sex', which was commissioned for European television, but is still considered too explicit to be shown on iTunes or Netflix. I find it somewhat amusing that sexual content in animation is considered too explicit considering all the sicko violent movies out there...

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

Sailing in London

Today the city is full of wind and water patterns, slicing up the air and slashing people's faces as they struggle up the streets as though they had turned into currents to swim up against. Umbrellas swarm the streets like birds, bend and twist, not being able to withstand the forces of the wind, which seem to be playing a game of hit-and-run. The wind strikes you from around the corner, pulls on your umbrella, rearranges your hair, and blinds you with the rain as you turn your face away. It seems as though everyone was taking sailing lessons, stuck under their little umbrellas and desperately trying to navigate the gusts of wind and the geometry of the streets. Though irritating, there is something incredibly attractive in the rain's calm permanence and force, which doesn't seem to retire day or night recently.

Rain rain don't go away

5:45 this morning I got up to take pictures of the city before the sun set its eyes on it. But, as I waited and felt the shower water slowly leaving my hair, the rain created a persistent pattern across the sky. But what a morning and what a rain - so gray, serene, and permanent it almost makes you want to be in the rain just to experience the permanence of gravity.

Over these years in London I've come to draw a certain balance of emotion between the sleep I need to give up on in order to watch the city as it sleeps. This also why getting on those painfully early flights can be so strangely satisfying. The people you see have defined lines, usually either passing, sullen, or simply asleep. And oh, the cigarette smokers and coffee choked addicts you get. It's a strange moment to look and be, as though you shouldn't be there, as though it's a false start, an intrusion on this public moment of privacy.

Freewheeling London

This Sunday 9 miles around the river will be closed to traffic and open to the two-wheel community! There will be a big festival going on in St. James' Park, food, open air, and happy cyclists, what else could you ask for? I'm organising a group to join the festivities around London Bridge. Email if you're interested!

More details at:

https://www.londonfreewheel.com/event/event_details.asp

A Wider Angle

Yesterday I spent the entire day walking through London. My friend let me use his 10-22mm lens and I was happy as a clown all day. My mind kept flipping through memorized images I never captured before. I ran along the river to catch the light and felt a thrill every time I turned the corner. Yes, when it comes to photography, I don't need that much to keep me happy. I'll try to compose an album of my new images and upload it to my webpage soon!

A Mass Produced Reality

I've spent the past week living with a friend in London. We live in a marvellous space overlooking a square that changes its character with every minute as the sun, the clouds, and the day moves on. We've come to appreciate our little morning routine of sitting on the balcony, eating pain au chocolates, discussing life, and sneering at the people below. I'll miss these mornings, and it almost makes me want to resist the inescapable arrival of the next little routines I'll develop in place of this one.

Looking over a square with people on their way to work, wearing their suits and carrying their briefcases, we wondered about the uniformity of modern life and the human longing for uniqueness and creativity. Most of what we eat, furnish our homes with, and wear today, is mass-produced. The human touch on these things has decreased to a bare minimum. We live in a world of mass produced homes, objects, even experiences. It's like with the suits and the working hours - the rough lines of the daily flow leaves little room for independent creativity and feeling of being in control. It's as though we all hopped onto a big assembly line and now can't really afford to get off.


This is not to say that the quality of the mass produced objects is necessarily lower than those produced in limited numbers. Often great design stands behind the assembly lines and though it's hard to admit, if not for them, we probably wouldn't have it as good as we do. Unfortunately, personalised design and limited numbers usually mean higher shelf prices, which raises the red flag for most. However, there seems to be an increasingly vibrant market populated by people searching for foods that taste good and clothes that don't appear in every town of the developed world. The strive for individualism, tactility of design, and texture is increasing and more and more people supply these objects and experiences. The uniqueness and the closer interaction with the source of a given object somehow give people more contact with themselves, even if all they can determine is what their table or t-shirt looks like. It gives them a feeling of control and uniqueness, not to mention the style.

London, England

I'm back, breathing its air again. I don't know what it is about coming back to London, but whenever I do, I feel like I'm coming home. I'm always on a train, always happy, always there and not wanting to be anywhere else. I see the people sitting side by side and taking this journey for god knows which time in their life, but when I come back, the journey is mine. I watch their moves and feel as though they are all long-lost friends and that the city brushing past is reaching out to see me.
Beyond the happiness, some creeps of stress are here as well. The search for a place to live, starting school, finding a job, all these are approaching with every hour now. My hair can sense it too now. It's not just bad hair days now, my hair is frazzled and impatient, and looking around in all directions like those little prairie dogs when they sense some sort of danger. Yes, London is here with all its tricks and treats and I can't wait for all the pain and pleasure it's bound to bring.

Just a taste of it...

Here we go, the London Olympics team has finally given us what I guess was at least intended to be a pleasant prelude to the whole monstrous event. Having sat through the underground train delays, taken bus replacement routes, and generally thought of emigrating for a while from London for the time of the Olympics, you would think that at least the symbol I'm might be seeing all over London for the next 5 years would be designed to be more visually pleasing. There have actually been reports of people having epileptic seizures upon seeing the logo! (You can read about it here...)

With London having more than enough tourism as it is, I can't think of what the city will be like when thousands of people will arrive and behave pretty much as the British do in eastern Europe - which is watch sports with too much alcohol and drugs while effortlessly making the lives of the day-to-day Londoners that much more to get through. As though this wasn't enough, all of us getting through the construction and the dubious entertainment of the Olympics tourists, will also have to cover the bill at the end of the day. Yay!

I can't even imagine what the public transport will be like around that time either, as it is not much fun to be on the underground in the summer as it is considering both the amount of people trying to breathe in the same space and the novelty-free approach of the tube management to provide any wider scale cooling system. So far the only 'hot weather advice' is "Carry a bottle of water with you and, if you are feeling unwell, contact a member of station staff who will be able to help. Water will be available to passengers if it is needed." Luke-warm water anyone?
By the way, I've added a new album with some of my May 2007 London pics. Feel free to check them out!

London calling

I'm in London for a couple of days and all I can say is that it feels like a breath of fresh air. As the plane touched the ground yesterday I felt like I was home again. I love my life in Budapest and the city itself, but among all the places I've been to I've got to say that only London consistently gives me that thrill of being in the right place, in an aorta of the world, in a place I can call home.


I was going to come back to London in September when school resumes, but I think I'm going to come and take in some of the summer in the city after all. I guess it was all that work and study I had to do when I first got here, but I really don't have any worthwhile pictures from London yet. Just walking today and yesterday, with the skies loud and clear made me realise how much fun it'll be to be around this city with a camera by my side. I got some good shots today, but I'll wait a bit with making a first London album on the website to build up a catalogue to choose from. Oh London...

Tube Fashion Victims

Browsing the web this morning...

http://london-underground.blogspot.com/

'London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

Once again Friday's look at Tube Fashion Victims, TFV's or travellers spotted on the Underground with a style that they've made their own.

Multi glasses

Only one victim this week. As regular readers know, I really can't understand why people wear sunglasses inside. Particularly people who wear sunglasses on the Tube when they're in a tunnel. Particularly when they're trying to read. Particularly when they need real glasses as well.



Simply too many glasses.

That's it for now. The previous victim can be found here and the complete picture gallery can be seen on the following Flickr set.'

I do miss London sometimes.