Books
A man looking through second hand books in Cheshire Street, 1984
Books of all kinds have always been available at street markets in Spitalfields.
A man looking through second hand books in Sclater Street, 2009
The precarious nature of book collections in markets adds to their attraction. Unlike a book shop where everything is well ordered alphabetically a market selection is random. You never know what you might stumble upon. You will also find collections from dead people. Spending time looking through these is like reading an autobiography. You can imagine and construct the character of the former owner of the books. A box of books in a market once examined with a cursory browse inevitably draws you in to inspect every volume in the box.
A boy in Bangladesh with his school books, Sylhet 1993
This boy has covered one of his school books with brown paper. This neat endeavour reminds me of my own school days when we were encouraged to do the same with unused wallpaper rolls or brown paper. One teacher in particular would inspect books to ensure they were covered and would cane boys who had failed to cover their maths exercise books. Our art teacher however would have no problem with graffiti and lewd remarks enveloping sketch pads.
A woman looking through second hand books, Sclater Street market 2008
Legs
Legs at Alternative Fashion Week in Spitalfields Market, 1995
Legs at Alternative Fashion Week in Spitalfields Market, 2009
Man pulling two wheeled cart in Dhaka, Bangladesh 1994
Legs at Alternative Fashion Week, Spitalfields Market 2009
Market Trader with camouflaged legs, Whitechapel 1984
Legs at the Alternative Fashion Week, Spitalfields Market 2009
Boy running down Swanfield Street,1983
Legs at the Alternative Fashion Week, Spitalfields Market 2009
Legs at the Alternative Fashion Week, Spitalfields Market 2009
Headwear
The headwear to be seen around the world can be functional, spontaneous, hierarchical, outrageous or driven by fashion. Here are a few examples mainly from East London:
Man with woolen hat, Brick Lane 2009
In contrast with the functional woolen hat that keeps the man on Brick Lane warm, Solly (below) has a more fashionable fedorah hat. He is staring out across the bottom of Hanbury Street.
Solly wearing a fedorah hat, East London 1984
Woman wearing a Burka, Whitechapel 2004
The man and woman (below) would probably consider themselves undressed if they went out without their hats. No doubt the woman above would feel undressed without her Burka.
Man and woman wearing hats on Whitechapel Road 1983
The two women crossing Vallance Road in Whitechapel are wearing the Jilbab which is a cloak worn in public. The cloak continues into a head scarfe.
Three women crossing Vallance Road in Whitechapel, 2007
Headwear with a splash of leaf design at the entrance of Whitechapel station.
Two women outside Whitechapel Station, 1998
Man wearing a woolen hat with a red shawl, Roman Road 2010
The characters above and below add a mark of eccentricity to the collection. The red shawl seems slightly out of place as does the attire of the boater hat on the old lady crossing Vallance Road; it’s as if she has been transported from the Whitechapel of the 1920’s.
Lady crossing Valllance Road, Whitechapel 1983
Below we have a man wearing a turban buying tobacco from a man wearing a cap.
Two men in Sclater Street, 1985
The lady below is wearing a functional plastic head scarf, popular a few decades ago. They could be wrapped into a small ball and used for raining emegencies.
Woman in Cheshire Street, 1987
Hazuan in Budapest, 2010
Barbican at night
I’ve always been impressed by the Barbican Estate. I had to interview and film Mavin Khoo in a Barbican flat a few years ago so I have experienced the housing as well as the arts and music offered by the estate. In an ideal world all social housing should reflect elements of the Barbican: a mix of safe public space, high quality housing and the arts. Additionally rents should be fair and within reach of people who work in London. We now have the shameful situation where key workers such as ambulance drivers and firefighters are sleeping in vans over night or commuting many miles in order to get to work in London.
The Barbican reflected in a window early evening, 2003
Pedestrians are guided into the Barbican complex by a series of yellow lines on the ground. I’ve always thought that this gave the place a touch of the ‘Wizard of Ozz’.
Walking in the Barbican complex, 2009
A combination of movement, slow exposures and subdued lighting combine to produce these moody images.
Walking in the Barbican complex, 2009
Walking in the Barbican complex, 2009
Walking in the Barbican complex, 2009
Bagel Paint
The wall ‘painting’ illustrated in these photographs could be found at the top of Hanbury Street for a few days before it was removed. My only interest in it was the interplay between the painted wall and passers by.
Man passing bagel illustration, Hanbury Street 2010
Man and woman passing bagel illustration, Hanbury Street 2010
People passing bagel illustration, Hanbury Street 2010
People passing bagel illustration, Hanbury Street 2010
Woman passing bagel illustration, Hanbury Street 2010
Woman passing bagel illustration, Hanbury Street 2010
