Bishopsgate Fashions and the Conventional High Street
Apparently the world’s first pop-up shopping mall will be assembled within the next month at the former Bishopsgate Goods Yard. The historic site will be renamed ‘Boxpark’ and will house 60 recycled shipping containers, spanning two floors. According to the advertising hype it promises to be “a radical, ground-breaking alternative to the ailing conventional high-street”. What the organisers have failed to realise is that such an alternative existed for years when every Sunday a small army of people would sell a range of clothes and household items. One of my favourite retailers was the woman below.
An 'alternative' shop keeper promotes her stock at the Bishopsgate Goods Yard. London 1998.
Indo Mosque
My local pub (the pub closest to where I live) is opposite the East London Mosque. These photographs provide a splendid view of both at the same time.
The Indo pub and the East London Mosque. London 1999
The Indo pub and the East London Mosque. London 1999
Exchange Square
Built in the early 1990’s as part of the redevelopment of Liverpool Street Station Exchange Square has always felt to me like a space designed to pay homage to Capitalism. The tablet of stone (below) once touched by bankers, gives them unrivalled powers to rob money from the rest of us. The curvaceous sculptural steel architecture hints at a menacing alien spaceship which has brought privileged knowledge about quantitative easing and Armageddon Hedge Funds. Possibly I was left with these feelings after a security guard told me I needed ‘written permission’ to take photographs on the square as it was private property.
Exchange Square. City of London, 1993
Exchange Square. City of London, 1993
View from Exchange Square. City of London, 1993
Michael Nyman Says It With His Hands
In 2008 Michael Nyman, composer & filmmaker, took part in a Q&A chaired by the East End Film Festival Director Alison Poltock. I was struck by his animated hands; surely the hands of a conductor?
Michael Nyman engaging with an audience at the 2008 East End Film Festival
Michael Nyman engaging with an audience at the 2008 East End Film Festival
Michael Nyman engaging with an audience at the 2008 East End Film Festival
Michael Nyman engaging with an audience at the 2008 East End Film Festival
Michael Nyman engaging with an audience at the 2008 East End Film Festival
Michael Nyman engaging with an audience at the 2008 East End Film Festival
Kerbside
Kerbside, Brick Lane bridge. London 2007
Kerbside, Dhaka. Bangladesh 2009
