Archive for April, 2018

Cressingham Gardens

Saturday, April 28th, 2018


Cressingham residents and supporters outside Lambeth Town Hall

Cressingham  Gardens is a small council estate a short walk south from the centre of Brixton, between the road to Tulse Hill and Brockwell Park. It dates from the era when councils were proud to provide housing for their residents at the highest possible standard, and Lambeth had one of the better architects of the era,  Edward Hollamby as chief architect. Perhaps surprisingly, at the time Lambeth was under Conservative control, with a rather uninspiring young John Major as deputy chair of the housing committee.

It was an impressive and innovative development, achieving a relatively high density with low rise buildings and still appearing spacious, and built at relatively low cost.  Like most estates it has had a few problems and suffered from poor maintenance, but it has always been popular and largely crime-free.  It isn’t in bad condition but needs some refurbishment, at an estimated cost of around £25-30,000 per dwelling, and Lambeth Council – now of  course a Labour council – says this is unaffordable. Instead it wants to knock the lot down and have the entire site redeveloped and has signed a £6.7m contract with developers Mott MacDonald over a scheme that will possibly produce 16 new ‘affordable’ homes. The residents put forward an alternative ‘people’s plan’, “a sympathetic resident-led upgrade of the estate, as well as offering up to 37 extra homes for council rent, which entails no unnecessary demolition.”

Labour policy nationally is now that all such schemes should be subject to a ballot by residents which has been supported by London’s Mayor, but Lambeth Labour is saying that this is unnecessary for this scheme as they have already consulted with residents.  The residents are still calling for a ballot, and early in December they marched from the estate to Lambeth Town Hall to demand this.

They held a rally outside the Town Hall, with speakers and performances but it seems that Lambeth Council is still not listening, and is determined to push ahead with this scheme despite the personal hardship and the break up of the community it will entail.

Possibly the forthcoming local council elections will make some changes to the council and to others in London where communities like this are under threat from councils scheming to hand over publicly owned assets to private developers.  Already campaigns by local residents have led to Haringey Council having to abandon its huge scheme involving properties worth over £2 billion, and things are looking hopeful that changes may occur elsewhere.

There was a clear message to Lambeth from the protest, and it is one which comes from the heart of what local democracy should be. Unless it reflects the interests of the local people it is clearly failing.

More pictures of the estate and of the protest:

Cressingham residents say Ballot Us!
Cressingham Gardens

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There are no adverts on this site and it receives no sponsorship, and I like to keep it that way. But it does take a considerable amount of my time and thought, and if you enjoy reading it, a small donation – perhaps the cost of a beer – would be appreciated.

My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

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Grenfell Tour

Friday, April 27th, 2018

While the largest organised events taking place over the Grenfell fire disaster continue to be the monthly silent walks, many feel that these are letting those responsible off the hook. Although various political groups take part in the silent walks, some feel that the deliberate attempt to keep these non-political is counter-productive.

Of course there are more political events taking place, and several political groups are also highly involved in the work with the community, among those volunteering to offer support, as well as campaigning. People sometimes shout at those who take part in protests, telling them they should be doing something, not protesting but almost always many of those protesting are also people who are involved in positive actions in the community, while those shouting at them are far less likely to be doing anything but shout abuse.

The RCG (Revolutionary Communist Group) is a relatively small group which has some members in the area and which has taken part in various political actions in the area and has run a weekly street stall to try and raise awareness of some of the issues. I think some of those involved either as members or friends of the RCG have also been volunteers working in the area.

The RCG has a long history of raising issues about housing in London, over benefit sanctions and other issues which affect those getting by on low incomes in the capital, as well as campaigning against racism and imperialism, and bringing out one of the more sensible and thoughtful of left-wing newspapers. They seem to me, as an outsider, as being rather less doctrinaire than most left groups, and one that is happy to work with others without trying to take them over.

That doesn’t mean I always agree with all they say or do. I wasn’t sure that a tour of the area visiting the home addresses of the few councillors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea who lived in the area was really a good idea, particularly when the main culprit was known to have moved out of his address several months earlier, and the property was now let to someone with no connection to the guilty council.

But councillors are of course responsible for their actions as we all are, and a brief protest by a relatively small group outside their homes was not going to present any risk to them or their families, while it might do a little to increase the pressure on the authorities – including the RBKC council – to listen to the community and take the actions they should be taking but seem rather reluctant to do.

The man bearing much of the responsibility for the disaster had moved out of his home just a few hundred yards from Grenfell Tower almost immediately after the news of his involvement broke, apparently staying with wealthy family and friends elsewhere in London. ‘Wanted’ posters showing his face were almost the only sight of him in the area since, though he had apparently managed to get to the council offices a couple of miles away without being seen.

His house was put into the hands of a letting agent and was now lived in by someone with no connection to the councillor (except for paying an high London rent to the agents which they presumably largely passed on to him.) The tenant came out to explain to the protesters, asking them to go away and I felt rather sorry for him and his family being disturbed.

At the second house the protest stopped outside, the Tory councillor had been taking his dog for a walk and arrived back to see the protest. I felt some admiration for him as he came out to argue with the protesters and try to defend himself against some of their claims, though rather less for his defence of the council, who appear clearly to have failed their residents, in making their housing unsafe by cost-cutting modifications and by refusing to take seriously their complaints and in what appears to have been a virtually complete failure to respond properly to the disaster.

He did tell the protesters that he personally had gone to Grenfell in the early hours of the morning to do what he could to help, and there were some hints in what he said that he agreed with some of their complaints against the council.

It was a long walk to where the next councillor lived – most councillors live in the leafier and more expensive areas of the borough, and this was an outlying part of it. The house appeared empty and the protest made a lot of noise in the street outside, bringing out another local resident to complain noisily about being disturbed. He seemed intent on making an ass of himself and it was noticeable that none of the neighbours came out in his support. Of course his presence prolonged the protest there and greatly increased the noise.

The protesters turned around to walk back towards Grenfell Tower and I left them to walk the short distance to Holland Park Avenue to catch a bus. I felt I’d taken enough pictures, and the batteries in my LED light unit had long ago run down enough to make it of little use.

The light has a decent light output when they are fully charged, though only really useful within perhaps 2-3 metres of the camera, but this does seem to drop off pretty rapidly, though the unit continues to give some light for an hour or two. Where possible I had been using available light – often at ISO 12,800 – but some areas were just too dark for this, particularly when people were moving and so a higher shutter speed – perhaps 1/100th – was needed.

More pictures: Protesters visit Grenfell councillors
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There are no adverts on this site and it receives no sponsorship, and I like to keep it that way. But it does take a considerable amount of my time and thought, and if you enjoy reading it, a small donation – perhaps the cost of a beer – would be appreciated.

My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

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Slavery in Libya

Thursday, April 26th, 2018

It comes as a shock to learn that slave auctions still take place, and that Black Africans are still being bought and sold. One of so many things we like to think of as no longer taking place in the modern world, but which are still going on.

Slavery was found inconsistent with common law here in the UK in 1772 and trading in slaves made illegal in the British Empire in 1807, though another act was needed to officially abolish slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833, and it continued in some parts for another few years. The world’s first international human rights society, the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, was formed here in 1839 (and continues now as Anti-Slavery International. But slavery has continued around the world, and even in the UK the National Crime Agency says there may be “tens of thousands” of victims of modern slavery and trafficking now.

Slavery has a long history in Libya into modern times, but has changed following the overthrow of Gaddafi by NATO-led forces, since when the country has been in disorder. Both Black Libyans and migrants on their way to Europe through Libya have been targeted, including those taken back to Libya while making the Mediterranean crossing and put into camps. Captured by people smugglers or militias they are often tortured to try and extract money from their families, and may be sold as slaves.

Reports about the slave auctions had leaked out and led to complaints by some African governments, but it was the leaking of videos of the auctions that led to large-scale protests in France and to hundreds of people at this protest outside the Libyan embassy in London.

The narrow pavement of Knightsbridge outside the Libyan Embassy soon became very full, spilling out onto the road, which was almost blocked by the time I left. Many of those at the protest were Black, and some carried flags of African nations.

Although there have been reports about the terrible conditions in the Libyan camps and the slave auctions for some months, little has appeared in the Western press, and many see the Western intervention to remove Gaddafi as part of a wider continuing neo-colonialist attempt to control Africa’s natural resources. They complain the west and those it has put into power in Libya are engaged in a process of de-Africanisation and elimination of Black Libyans and that the slave auctions are a logical extension.

Although I was able to photograph those at the centre of the protest, the crowding made it difficult to move around as the numbers at the event grew, and many of my pictures show the same small number of people, particularly those who had brought national flags and who spoke at the event.

More at: End Slave Auctions in Libya
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There are no adverts on this site and it receives no sponsorship, and I like to keep it that way. But it does take a considerable amount of my time and thought, and if you enjoy reading it, a small donation – perhaps the cost of a beer – would be appreciated.

My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

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London University Workers Protest

Wednesday, April 25th, 2018

Workers at the University of London protest outside Senate House while University of London Chancellor Princess Anne was visiting on Foundation Day, calling for all workers in the university to be directly employed by the university. People attending the event had to walk past a noisy crowd, though Princess Anne was sneaked in through another entrance.

They call on the university to play fair by the workers whose services are vital in keeping the university working rather than abandon them to the poor conditions and bad management of companies who get contracts as the lowest bidders. They underpay and overwork staff, often fail to supply proper equipment and materials to do the job, and bullying the staff who are generally employed on the statutory minimum legal conditions, far inferior to those offered by any responsible employer, often on zero hours contracts. Staff doing similar jobs directly employed by the university get much better treatment with proper contracts and far superior conditions of service.

The university sets the contracts and could insist on proper conditions and pay, but generally seems to disclaim any responsibility for these staff, though as a result of the continued campaign has stated it is considering direct employment for some of these workers. But both London university and Cordant who employ the security staff refuse to recognise the IWGB or have proper talks with them.

Security workers belonging to the IWGB (Independent Workers Union of Great Britain) were on the latest of a series of one-day strikes, and at the end of the working day their picket was joined by supporters for a noisy protest. People attending the event had to walk past some noisy protesters on their way in, though there was no attempt to stop them.

The pavement outside the main gates to Senate House is poorly lit and except for a small area close to the gates I needed to add some light for most pictures. Because there was quite a lot of movement I used flash rather than the LED light source.

There were some large differences in colour temperature between the street lighting, the floodlighting on Senate House, the temporary lighting around the security entrance and my flash, with the occasional flashing blue from a police car adding to the palette.

For some pictures I’ve used Lightroom to selectively change the colour of parts of the images, making local adjustments to temperature and tone, though others I’ve left as they were made. The picture of IWGB President Henry Chango Lopez speaking in front of a floodlit Senate House above needs correction to give a more natural skin tone. Deep yellow sodium street lights and police blue lights are too monochromatic to allow correction.

IWGB protest London Uni outsourcing
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There are no adverts on this site and it receives no sponsorship, and I like to keep it that way. But it does take a considerable amount of my time and thought, and if you enjoy reading it, a small donation – perhaps the cost of a beer – would be appreciated.

My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

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Yarls Wood 12

Tuesday, April 24th, 2018

It was a difficult trip to Yarl’s Wood for me this time. There was a bad atmosphere in the run up to the protest, with one of the more active protesters from the organising group leaving, making some unpleasant allegations about her treatment by the group, but also taking control and locking them out of the Facebook group that was organising the protest.

I felt great sympathy for her, though I knew as I read her account that some of the allegations she was making about the group were not entirely justified. Movement for Justice have never made any secret of their political affiliation and their history which apparently she had been unaware of (though it is clear on Wikipedia and on the group’s outdated web site.) I felt rather like the friend of both partners engaged in a messy divorce, with both partners seeming to me to have behaved badly.

My personal sympathies went out to the wronged individual, but I also knew of the long record of support of detainees by MfJ, who have kept the whole issue of immigration detention alive when most of the left have ignored it, and of the many former detainees who have come to protest after protest with MfJ and spoken of their gratitude for their support.

The dispute, coming just a few weeks before the protest was a blow to MfJ and considerably cut down the attendance at this protest – contributing to a large financial loss for them – I think around £4000. Perhaps in the longer term it will result in more groups becoming involved in organising protests against Yarls Wood and other detention centres rather than leaving it to MfJ, which would certainly be a positive outcome.

I’ve come in for some rather unpleasant comments for continuing to photograph MfJ’s events and their participation in other events. But this doesn’t mean I’m a supporter of the MfJ, just that I, like them, think that our immigration detention system is a shameful system that should be closed down. And I admire the effort that they have put into pursuing that end, and supporting asylum seekers both inside the detention centres and in the community.


Mabel Gawanas who was held in Yarls Wood for a couple of days under 3 years

Practically too, the dispute caused one small problem, with MfJ being unable to fund a shuttle bus from Bedford Station. It’s never been financially viable, with donations of a fiver from those who can afford it for the return journey probably usually meeting well under half the actual cost, probably around £4-500. It’s about six miles there and the same back, and while there are taxis at Bedford Station it can be difficult to get one when you want one, and harder still to get one for the return journey. Fortunately I could take my Brompton, and it’s a fairly easy ride, though a little uphill.

You can read more about the protest, which followed a similar pattern to the eleven previous protests MfJ have organised there at Shut Down Yarl’s Wood 12.  Though smaller it seemed a little better organised than on previous occasions, and as usual there were a procession of speakers who were almost all people who had themselves been detained in this or other detention centres, as well as voices from inside relayed by mobile phone.

Apparently the staff running the detention centre make considerable efforts to prevent the people imprisoned there from coming to the windows and taking part in the protest. This time they had organised a fashion show for the women well away from the side of the building we were facing. But many of the windows were still full of people, shouting their thanks to the protesters and calling for help, with some managing to wave through the small slits the windows can be opened.

______________________________________________________

There are no adverts on this site and it receives no sponsorship, and I like to keep it that way. But it does take a considerable amount of my time and thought, and if you enjoy reading it, a small donation – perhaps the cost of a beer – would be appreciated.

My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

________________________________________________________

 

Twickenham 1979

Monday, April 23rd, 2018


18s-63: River Thames flooding at Twickenham, Richmond, 1979

I’ve often enjoyed the walk along the River Thames in Twickenham, walking from the station and down Water Lane to the Embankment opposite Eel Pie Island and then into along Riverside, often going into York House Gardens, past the Naked Ladies and over the bridge. Back in the old days I would pause to admire the urinal from the inside before exiting the park and returning along Sion Rd to Riverside, past the White Swan and on to the Orleans Gallery, or perhaps the swings beyond, where I would release a child from a push chair to play.

We might then resume our walk, continuing along the towpath to Richmond, or, on a rare occasion taking Hammerton’s ferry across the river to Ham House, continuing later along the Surrey bank to Richmond and the train home. And always of course I would have a camera with me, though I didn’t always take any pictures. Often my mind was on other things and there seemed no time or reason to do so.

On one day in January 1979 things were rather different.  I had just got back my Leica M2 from an expensive service following a shutter fault which had given uneven exposure across the frame and I was keen to make sure it was working properly, particularly in cold weather where the fault had first shown up.

It was also rather different because of the weather and the tide. It was a bright winter day with was snow lying on the ground. So I took what for me at the time was a lot of pictures, virtually a whole 36 exposure cassette of Tri-X.  Here are a few of those pictures that I’ve posted to Facebook recently, along with the comments I wrote to accompany them. They are all on my London Photographs site, and clicking on any image should take you to a version shown slightly larger there.

18r-14: River Thames flooding at Twickenham, Richmond, 1979

The Beer Garden of the White Swan is a pleasant place to sit with a beer or two in Summer, but in January we had both snow and a little flooding. It isn’t unusual for the Thames to overflow its banks at high Spring tides onto Twickenham Riverside. The boats at right are moored by the downstream end of Eel Pie Island, with a rowing eight just making its way along the main stream beyond.

Across the river at left is the road leading to Ham Street Car Park by the river, which helpfully has a notice warning motorists that it is liable to flooding, though not everyone bothers to read it – or to consult their tide tables.

Another picture of this with a woman walking her dog.


18r-15: River Thames flooding at Twickenham, Richmond, 1979


18s-35: Cyclists in snow, Marble Hill House, Twickenham, Richmond, 1979

We had a lot of snow in December 1978 and January 1979, enough on at least one day, together with icy roads to stop me getting to work, and some days when I and my colleague did struggle in it was to find few pupils had struggled into school with the day starting later than usual and finishing earlier to enable them to journey home while it was still light.

I had extra time on my hands an spent quite a lot of it photographing snow, mainly in walking distance from where I lived, but also up in Derbyshire around Paul Hill’s Bradbourne Photographers’ Place and on a trip from there to Alton Towers. Unfortunately when I got home and developed those films I found my Leica M2 had developed a shutter fault, sticking slightly three quarters of the way across the frame, probably brought on by the cold weather, ruining most of my pictures and making a large hole in my pocket for the expensive repair needed. Though to be fair, it hasn’t needed another repair since I got it back later in January 1979.

Fortunately I was also taking some pictures on my Olympus OM-1, which were fine. It wasn’t a weather-sealed camera, but didn’t seem to mind getting cold or wet, and on at least one occasion I’d removed the lens after being out in driving rain and literally (and I do mean literally) poured the water out.

But I’ve never found snow appealing as a photographic subject. It covers everything with its overall gloop, removing subtlety. This is one of the few snow pictures I’ve ever shown or sold, taken on a walk from Twickenham to Richmond along the riverside. The snow forms as useful rather blank background for the three boys on bikes, who I’d stopped to photograph. In the first frame they were together in a group and there was another riding away near the right edge of the frame; it wasn’t a bad picture, but my second frame caught them just as the three were moving apart, those on each side of the group in opposite directions, their six wheel just still linked.

This was made with the revived Leica, which is perhaps why I’ve never cropped the image though I think it would improve it to do so a little, though there is something attractive about the huge expanse of white nothing with that small group in near-silhouette at its centre.


18s-51: Figure on gate, Orleans House, Twickenham, Richmond, 1979

Taken on the same walk, this is a figure I photographed on several occasions, of which I think this is the best. Crudely drawn, something between a ghost and a human, it appeared to me as someone’s scary phobia emerging from this locked gate.

Behind is the elegance of Orleans House, where I helped organise and took part in several exhibitions of our small photographic group.


18s-54: River Thames, Twickenham, Richmond, 1979

Another picture from the same walk in Twickenham, with branches and their reflections combining to form a screen through which we appear to see the river and the moored boats at the top of the picture. Its an image which plays with space in a way that interested me, and which I still find difficult to resolve.

Hammerton’s ferry across the Thames to Ham still runs from a jetty not far from where I made this picture in Orleans Gardens.


18s-65: Twickenham Ferry, River Thames flooding at Twickenham, Richmond, 1979

There have been several ferries at Twickenham, the subject over the years of great rivalry and court cases. The oldest record is of Dysart’s Ferry, licensed by the family which owned Ham House, known to have been in existence in 1652 when it was prohibited from running after sunset by the Privy Council, but thought to be much older, dating from the reign of King John

The Dysart family managed to close down rivals which opened up until 1908, when the Earl of Dysart lost a court case against Hammertons ferry, in a case that went the whole way up to the House of Lords. Victory for the ‘The Ferry to Fairyland‘ was commemorated in song, one of a number written about Twickenham’s ferries†.

The rivals continued in operation until around 1970 when the old ferry, which had been sold to a private operator when the National Trust took over Ham House ceased operation, again at least in part over a long legal battle, this time over its use of the slipway. There was a long legal battle and the owners of the property at left put up the signs on their fence ‘This Slipway Is Private Property’. I don’t know what the outcome of the court cases was, though I think the public (and ferry) had used the slipway for many years, but of course the appropriation of the commons for private use has always been one of the basic aims of our legal system.

The old Twickenham ferry (it’s song is better known) was the one I went across as a child to visit Ham House, rowed I am fairly sure by the man who appears in a fine photograph on the Historic England site, and it ran from this slipway close to the White Swan.

Hammertons ferry, which runs from a jetty around a quarter mile downstream still operates during the summer and at winter weekends, and has an active Facebook page which includes interesting posts, pictures and videos about the river and the tides, which still trap many careless drivers parking in the area. This ferry is still a good way to visit Ham House though now a little closer to St Margarets than Twickenham station and with a few yards to walk on the opposite bank.


18s-66: Twickenham Ferry, River Thames flooding at Twickenham, Richmond, 1979

London Photographs by Peter Marshall
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There are no adverts on this site and it receives no sponsorship, and I like to keep it that way. But it does take a considerable amount of my time and thought, and if you enjoy reading it, a small donation – perhaps the cost of a beer – would be appreciated.

My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

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Free Education

Sunday, April 22nd, 2018

Students marched through London calling for an end to all tuition fees, for living grants for all and an end to the increasing marketisation of the education system that is resulting in cuts across university campuses and a dramatic reduction in further education provision.

They say that the Teaching Excellence Framework which was supposed to ‘drive up standards in teaching’ is intensifying the exploitation and casualisation of university staff as a part of the marketisation agenda.

The march was organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts. Shakira Martin, NUS President, was elected on a manifesto which included her promise to “Fight for a Minimum Living income for all students and securing the return of Grants” but somehow that didn’t include supporting this march. And although she was criticised by the other candidates for her failure to actually get involved in the fees campaign, she was easily re-elected for her second term this year.

As usual now for student and some other protests, the march was accompanied by liberal pyrotechnics, as show in quite a few images on My London Diary. The one at the top of the page is a little unusual, but only in its aspect ratio. For some reason the RAW file produced by the Nikon D750 is only 6016×3376 pixels rather than the normal 6016×4016 pixels, corresponding to 16:9 ratio rather than 1.5:1. I didn’t know the camera could do this.

Looking at the D750 manual it would appear that this is possible when taking pictures with the camera in Movie Live View, if Custom Setting g4 is set to ‘Take pictures’, and pictures use whatever Image Quality setting has been made in the photo shooting menu.

So my mistake was having the Live View selector on the camera back in Movie rather than Still mode and putting the camera into Live View. It works in much the same way on the D810 as well.

I find that Live View is often a problem for still images in any case unless you use manual focus, as managing to get focus is sometimes a major problem, with some lenses momentarily giving a green rectangle to show focus, then going off to whirr away again. It’s one aspect where Fuji – where the view is always live – really does so much better. Perhaps there is something wrong with they way I press the shutter?

Many more pictures at: Students march for free education

______________________________________________________

There are no adverts on this site and it receives no sponsorship, and I like to keep it that way. But it does take a considerable amount of my time and thought, and if you enjoy reading it, a small donation – perhaps the cost of a beer – would be appreciated.

My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

________________________________________________________

Armistice Day

Saturday, April 21st, 2018

I can still remember when the whole country seemed to come to a standstill, traffic stopping on the roads for the two minute silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Still remember too standing in my Wolf Cub shorts, legs freezing, at the parades which took place on the nearest Sunday. At least the cubs had thick jumpers unlike the Boy Scouts we would become, standing whatever the weather in their shorts and shirt sleeves.

Things were different then. All of the adults present remembered the war, at least the Second World War, and many had fought in in, and some – like my father – in what many still called The Great War (or The Kaiser’s War.) Though it is something of an exaggeration to say my father fought, though he was in the Royal Flying Corps (and later the RAF) in France and Germany, the greatest risks he faced were probably from his own side.

But people then knew the realities of war. A few years ago I photographed the annual Remembrance Day Parade in the town where I live, and it was still a solemn occasion, but nationally – and particularly in the media – it seems sadly to have become an occasion for militaristic and ‘patriotic’ posturing, with a hounding of anyone who dares to appear in public in the previous month without a red poppy on their coat. While of course we should remember the sacrifice of many, we should remember too that they were fighting for peace and for the war to end. That Great War was supposed to be the “war to end all wars“, a war against German militarism.

Thanks to a late-running train, I was coming up out of Charing Cross Station onto Trafalgar Square as the Underground announcer was informing people that it was about to be 11am and that some might wish to observe the two-minute silence. I walked up the side of the square, and there were several buses pulled in to the side of the road, and a few people obviously standing at attention, though where they could cars and lorries kept moving and the tourists mainly ambled on oblivious.

A small group of people stood in silence in front of the National Gallery, mainly Quakers, wearing white poppies. This was the start of their 45 minute silent remembrance peace vigil. The white poppies, now made by the Peace Pledge Union, are in memory of “all those killed in war, all those wounded in body or mind, the millions who have been made sick or homeless by war and the families and communities torn apart. We also remember those killed or imprisoned for refusing to fight and for resisting war. ”  In modern wars, over 90% of those killed are civilians.

The white poppies were introduced in 1933 by the Co-operative Women’s Guild  who felt that the message of the original Remembrance Days, of  “no more war“, was increasingly being lost as these became more militaristic celebrations. It seems to me to be even more important now – and more and more people seem to agree.

Silent Remembrance Peace Vigil

Later in the day I was outside the rather Orwellian-named ‘Ministry of Defence’ (opposite is the Old War Office, from an age where they called a spade a spade) with Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants, who had organised a commemoration of the many refugees who had died fleeing  their war-torn countries, with many drowning as they made their way across the Mediterranean.

They had made large orange wreaths to resemble lifebelts, remembering the many who died on the crossing because of inadequate boats and life-saving equipment, though that they should feel no alternative but to make such a risky journey is a sad reflection of the failure of wealthier and less stressed countries such as our own to properly respond to the crisis.

Among those taking part in the procession and wreath-laying were a number of people who have managed to come to the country as refugees as well as some of those who have gone as volunteers to the Greek Islands and elsewhere to assist refugees on their horrendous journeys.

The wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph, and as well as several large wreaths there were 17 smaller ones – for the 17 people who have died on average on migration every day so far in 2017.

Remember Refugees on Armistice Day

I hadn’t come intending to photograph the annual Remembrance Day parade in central London by the London City District No 63 and the Houses of Parliament Lodge and visiting lodges, but they came along the road just as the previous event was finishing.

Orange Lodges Remembrance Day parade

Islington in the Dark

Friday, April 20th, 2018

Another cyclist dies, killed on a main road on his way to work when a van drove into him on a mandatory cycle lane.  Roads like the Pentonville Rd need protected cycle paths, and Islington has not built a single protected cycle route in over 20 years.

Vigil for Islington cyclist killed by HGV

It really is time to get moving on better facilities for cyclists, which would not only stop deaths like this, but also encourage more people to get on their bikes for some healthy exercise, at the same time helping to reduce London’s terrible levels of air pollution and reduce congestion.  Everybody wins from getting more people to cycle safely on our roads – even those black cab drivers who lobby against it.

And of course long past time when vehicles designed with highly restricted driver vision were allowed to be built and to drive on our roads. Better mirrors and, where necessary built-in CCTV, would prevent these deaths.  It wouldn’t be difficult to improve vehicle design and not very expensive to make them safe.

But we continue to suffer from years of a failure to invest properly in facilities for cyclists – and we all suffer, whether pedestrians, cyclists or motorists. Stop Killing Cyclists are doing a great job in bringing the issues to greater attention through events such as these, and through the detailed studies that they and others associated with them make to lobby the London Mayor, Transport for London and others.

As usual there were a series of speeches followed by a die-in, with police holding up traffic to allow this short protest to take place. Police do seem to have developed a greater appreciation of the problems faced by cyclists now that a number of them patrol on push bikes.

I’d like to see our driving tests have a cycling proficiency test as a prerequisite – with those medically certified as unable to ride a bicycle or tricycle being allowed to qualify in some kind of virtual reality.  Back many years when I rode in France, driver behaviour towards cyclists seemed so much better, perhaps because many more French drivers had cycling experience.  Not only might it improve attitudes towards cyclists, but I think would be a safer and cheaper way of learning how to use our roads sensibly. But this is probably one of those common sense ideas that is totally impracticable.

The protest took place outside Islington Town Hall, not far from where the death occurred.  I don’t think it is sensible to call any of these deaths accidents when there are so many reasons why they happen.

It’s surprising how dark it can be just a few yards from a major road in London. I struggled with light levels  as you can see in the pictures. For some I used the LED light, but most relied on whatever ambient there was, with just a couple where flash seemed the only possibility. Particularly when photographing candle-lit vigils like this it’s important to try and retain the feeling of the lighting, but candles seldom really give quite enough light, especially if there is any movement.

Candle flames are also pretty bright in themselves, and an exposure which retains detail in them often is just too underexposed over most of the frame. The D750 and D810 do a pretty good job, but it isn’t always possible or entirely predictable, and the preview on the camera back doesn’t work quite well enough to let you know which highlights can be recovered in Lightroom.

Colour temperature is also a problem, and I should have remembered to use the amber filter on the LED, which is roughly daylight balanced, to bring it closer to the candles. It doesn’t matter too much what white balance you set the camera to when working in RAW files, as this can be adjusted later. I think I had the D810 set on Auto WB and the D750 on ‘Tungsten’  and can see no real difference in the adjusted images.

Vigil for Islington cyclist killed by HGV

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On my way back to the station I stopped to talk with a friend outside the squatted bank and was invited in and took a few pictures.

Groups like this are important both in bringing attention to homelessness when we have so many empty buildings, and also providing at least short term shelter to a few of the homeless. It would make sense to change laws on empty properties to persuade their owners bring them back into use, or allow councils to compulsory purchase them.

ORAL Squat empty NatWest Bank

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My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

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LSE Homophobic Abuse

Monday, April 16th, 2018

During the successful campaign to get the LSE cleaners the London Living wage, another problem affecting one of the cleaners emerged and was taken up by his union, the United Voices of the World.

The UVW made complaints about to both the LSE where the cleaners work and the direct employer, Noonan, about the continual harassment suffered at work by Daniel Gichia, the first Kenyan man to marry another man, because of his homosexuality.

Noonan who claim to be one of the market leaders in cleaning services in Ireland and the UK, “carried out by our own, well trained and highly motivated, people. Our cleaning teams work under the management and supervision of professional managers with deep industry expertise.”

Apparently part of the deep industry expertise is in allowing what the UVW describe as “vile, homophobic harassment” and they say both Noonan and the LSE have always stubbornly and callously refused to take any action against Daniel’s harassers, despite admitting that some of his compliants were true.

The UVW took his case against Noonan to an employment tribunal, but the harassment was continuing. The protest took place at the time when the LSE as hosting as hosting a talk, “LGBT Rights: what next?”, which the protesters felt was hypocritical when the LSE was refusing to take action – or pressure its contractor to act – over a clear case of discrimination on grounds of homosexuality taking place in its institution.

A few days before this post was published, the employment tribunal eventuually published its decision, finding Daniel was harassed on multiple occasions at the LSE merely for being homosexual, finding that he was told that “homosexuals were not human”, and that he should “sleep with women to cure his problem”.

As well as this personal victory for Daniel, the tribunal also found that that there existed at the LSE a culture whereby it was acceptable to make such comments, and that Daniel was called “a woman” for having raised his grievance in the first place. Clearly the LSE management now has to take seriously the standards the institution has long stood for and used in its own promotion and apply them in its own practices.

More at: LSE against Homophobia

Photographically the main problem was lighting.  The area around the back of the building where the protest began was very badly lit.  For most of the pictures there I used the cheap LED light source, the Neewer CN-216. It doesn’t have a huge light output, and, run from 6 AA cells the output falls off fairly rapidly after a few minutes of use. It’s best to keep switching it of after taking a picture, but that slows you down as you have to put it back on for the next.

I’m only gradually becoming used to using very high ISO on such occasions, and while it would have been better to have taken most of these pictures at ISO 12,800 there are quite a few at much lower ISO.  And a few at 12,800 were still seriously underexposed, which isn’t a good idea. Almost every image was made with lenses wide open, and shutter speeds varying from around 1/30s to 1/100s, sometimes not fast enough when people were moving.

I did make a few using flash. There was more light at the front of the old main building where people posed with banners in the lowest of the pictures, but it fell off leaving those furthest from the camera in deep shadow.  The SB800 flash without a diffuser doesn’t cover the whole field at 18mm and by swivelling a little towards the right gave little illumination to the already brightly lit steps while adding enough to the more distant protesters. It did need a little dodging and burning in Lightroom to even out the coverage.  The flash also is considerably warmer than the ambient light and I quite like the effect here (again in some areas with a little help from Lightroom.)

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There are no adverts on this site and it receives no sponsorship, and I like to keep it that way. But it does take a considerable amount of my time and thought, and if you enjoy reading it, a small donation – perhaps the cost of a beer – would be appreciated.

My London Diary : London Photos : Hull : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

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