London Happens

About a year ago I collaborated with my good friend and a fellow street photographer on a little double exposure project. Exactly a year later we have another roll of film multiple exposed and developed! Yay! I shot a roll in London earlier this spring and shipped it to Berlin where the roll was shot through again and the photos developed over last weekend. Unfortunately this time the roll only had about four great double exposures, but more so quite weird and wonderful in their coincidences.

We agreed both times to give as little as possible in guidance of what the other had shot on the roll to maximise ... weirdness, I suppose. It's quite odd to see some of these photos and what we have caught in the images. This one above in particular is very ghost-like for me.

Or what about this one? How funny that the two images would be a slot machine and this logo. If I was superstitious I'd be quite freaked out by these photos by now. :D

This one is my favourite one from the roll. The trees of The Green Park embossed on the people and street life of Berlin - just lovely! :)

Looks like I am posting a lot of film at the moment as well. This is of course not a bad thing at all.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's another roll of film developed from my Holga 35mm! Wow! And not that long ago since my last one. ;) There were some more shots left from Covent Garden (see previous post) on this roll so I took the camera out again this week with me to finish it off.

It's always a nice surprise to get something developed after a while from actually taking the photos. None of this instant gratification of the digital era for me, I say! Just good old fashioned film, negatives and prints. The Fuji Superia 800 never fails with its colours on a sunny day out with the Holga either. It's a shame I'm a bit lazy to clean the dust off these scans properly, so please, just turn a polite blind eye to that fact and enjoy the colourful lounge wear! :D

Sometimes it still amazes me how close I can get to some people to take photos and for them not to care or notice. This couple had such nice mirroring positions and odd shoe arrangements I dared to step closer and I didn't even get them to turn their gaze at me. A lovely moment I wish happened every time I wanted to document something odd going on around me. :)

And here starts the "new" half of the roll (yes, he was yawning!). I went over to my favourite place of  quiet reflection on Thursday this week. I have spoken about the beauty and meaning of the British Museum to me before, so I won't bore you with the philosophy of it all today. Just enjoy the moments I had whilst visiting one of my favourite places in London.

The Superia really is superior for colour on gorgeous sunny days, don't you think? There is no editing on photoshop on the colours here. I swear! Just look at that intense blue of the sky. Good enough to eat, right?

Early morning is the best time to visit to get the best effect of the Great Court and see the play of the shadows the ceiling throws across this vast architectural space. A truly inspirational place to be standing in. And to think I remember the time there was no Great Court to admire when I first moved to London! Where would I be without it now? :)

Ah, and an old series creeps up on me... As a nice "lost" moment below me unfolds, literally. The best view of the Great Court is actually from the West Wing (no pun intended). Just take the first set of great stairs up from your left when you enter from the main entrance and go all the way up. From a small viewing balcony to your left at the top you're able to see the whole Great Court in the best light if you come first thing in the morning.

Like these shadows! I have taken photos in from this spot before, I know. I just can't resist the play of the people, the shadows and the architecture of those stairs here. And yes, this is a colour photograph (no more Superia gushing I promise!).

These tables at the cafe are usually more full, but for some reason there were only these two men, deep in thought, over their papers that Thursday morning. Nice light, nice posing. Shame about my scan quality. :)

In other (good?) news; there should be more blogging and street photography coming your way this autumn as the wedding season draws to a close and I can focus on some more personal projects. Next time I'll be out and about with the digital cameras, I'd think. Oh and I have been drooling over the new Olympus E-P1 cameras online. It's neither healthy or wise, but they look so gorgeous... Let's see how long I last before I cave in and get one! :D

Hello chaps! Remember me?!  :D Well, here I am after a lovely London Saturday on the streets of London after a long while. It's been aaaaaages since I've had a Saturday off and felt like picking up a camera, but today there I was. Armed with my trusty 35mm Holga, film and late August sunshine to spur me on I wandered about Farrindgon and Smithfields during lunch time.

Actually, it was early lunch time, as you can see and I was on my way to get my hair cut. (I wanted a change and I sure got one!) ;)

What a peachy Saturday it has been indeed. I get my hair cut at the Glass hair salon (site under construction by the looks of it) at Barbican, a skip and a jump away from Smithfields, so it was a lovely walk back for me showing off my new do. :D

Hope this wasn't a case of the old swine flu... She didn't look too well or too happy to be out and about today.

On a side note: Taking the Holga 35mm out with some film was so lovely. It's been ages since I shot anything on film and it was great. I had my prints done in SnappySnaps this afternoon though and they messed them up (again). So, I had to put the negs through my scanner and my Canon scanner has issues with film higher than 400iso. Perfect, as these Fuji 800ZPro prints come off nothing like the punchy colours they should be. (I called the lab and they are reprinting my film as they did 80% of the roll off frame *sigh* Labs just aren't what they used to be...)

Just couldn't wait for the reprints to show you these, so I'm posting these anyways. There were so many great moments going on today. I loved this guy hiding from me when he saw the camera. Really nice moment this.

Sometimes I wish I could zoom a bit with the Holga, but alas, this is also still quite nice. If the scan wasn't so crappy you could actually see the "Love" ads more properly at the front of the newsagent, just have to point them out for now... ;)

Dad's are great, aren't they? :D What a safe crossing for the little ones. I wish I caught some traffic in this, but the cars were too quick and so was the daddy. You can barely see a shadow of the traffic passing in the bottom left hand corner.

A true photographer always finds the best angle. She certainly had the right idea for her tourist photos. :) Blackfriars is undergoing some major works at the moment to get ready for the crossrail to come (for the Olympics of course). The traffic is bad, but it also provides a nice backdrop even on Saturdays.

There are also a lot of workmen around in their high viz gear around all over Blackfriars Bridge all the time. Not sure what he was supposed to be doing, but what he was actually up to was quite photogenic. Look at the lovely London clouds as well. Perfect August day today, really!

All the legs and shadows caught my eye in this. And then there's that ad up there pulling a nice oops-face as a bonus. Damn SnappySnaps, if I could only show you the prints from all these photos...

... this one especially. The scan does this no justice, but what can I do. This was actually my last frame before turning the film in for processing. It's a a hip shot from walking across the road. I saw this couple, aimed, shot and this is what I got. A nice photo for my ongoing couple series, don't you think?

It really was lovely to be out there again to be shooting, I can't say that enough. And of course on film. I really have missed my Holga(s) and good analogue action, but the weddings are still going on thick and fast and I am really enjoying shooting them as well. You can see my SusieShoots gallery for updated wedding goodness (in the gallery section) and I do blog over there now as well. This far 2009 has been an amazing year and I really have enjoyed it. Let's hope it can only get better. :)

Before I knew it the last days of the holiday was drawing to a close, the summer days over and I was yet again packing. Living abroad certainly has its benefits, but being in two places can sometimes be quite hard. I am glad I am able to enjoy two countries, two cultures, two separate ways of living in my life though.

The home sickness and melancholy don't hit me usually until I am above in the skies looking down to my home country. It's a funny feeling of deprivation flying. For me it's like a teleport between two lives between where I am from and where I belong.

Planes are also often very melancholy places that I don't get to photograph, so I'm glad I brought my digital SLR with me on my holidays this year. It made the ease of documenting and capturing moments very organic for me. I have some lovely memories to go with all photographs this year as well. But this lovely diptych my friends also brings my visual diary in this blog to an end. For now it's back to the weddings, events and the occasional street photography! :)

Finland is a beautiful country in the summer. And one of the best things is that even in most larger cities you have to walk less that 5 minutes and you are in the middle of some kind of greenery, forest or a park. I miss the nature dreadfully sometimes in London and often crave for peace and quiet that in the big city is hard to achieve.

  There is something magical about the light in the summer as well. Finland is one of the countries that has midnight sun, so the summer months are very light almost 24 hours a day. This photo brought me back memories of my childhood summers in the countryside when the fields turn a golden hue this time of the year and every day is full of sunshine.

The summer fruit and veg are also gorgeous, and most things you can pick yourself, making everything automatically organic. One of the best tastes of the summer for me is slightly melted vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries.

Oh and being so close to the nature all round you also get to share the city with the wild life. This little fella was sharing an evening walk with mum and me one night. Not far from the city centre! :) I think I prefer the rabbits in Finland to London's city foxes to be honest, after having experience of both this year. :D

During the days in Tallinn we took a few day trips. Part of one of them was a visit to the annual flower festival, which was by the old town walls. What a beautiful setting!

Another sunny day was spent in the Tallinn Zoo, which is HUGE! I always feel very ambivalent in zoos; it is great to be able to see all the different animals so closely, but at the same time my heart breaks for the captives. The polar bear was magnificent if not a bit hungry the afternoon we met.

The city centre is full of tourists from all over the world in the summer months. Some of them are cooler than others. ;)

But before we knew it the days had flown by and it was time to head home. The easiest way to cross the Gulf of Finland is on the ferry, with all the other travellers.

Tallinn is actually an easy day trip do from Helsinki, if you ever happen to that neck of the woods and thinking of something different to do. But for us it was time to spend some more time in Finland.

Our apartment in Tallinn was opposite of one of the many beautiful orthodox churches. Sitting on the deep window sills was one of my favourite moments of the morning. It was lovely to start the day with a quiet, private moment with our new best friend Nikolai.

I was often accompanied by a cup of fresh coffee, the daily paper and my holiday book (the very funny The Worst Date Ever by Jane Bussmann). The summer clouds and people passed by like in a film.

Our last night we actually went to visit the church. It was open to tourists and undergoing some major renovations, but the details visible were still very beautiful. There was a quiet, otherworldly atmosphere inside filled with the lovely scent of the beeswax candles lingering.

We couldn't have asked for better (and quieter) neighbours really.

A day after arriving back home we were on the road again. Well, actually on water, as we took the ferry across to spend few days in Tallinn, Estonia. The trip across the bay is pretty quick, less than 2 hours, and Tallinn is such a beautiful city. Especially in the summer. Whilst waiting for my sister to join the party I snapped a photo in the ferry terminal as the light sifting in was so lovely.

Tallinn is a very popular holiday destination these days. Not so much about 15 years ago when we first visited, but it still has an amazing architecture and the people are so lovely. We stayed in the Old Town and rented an apartment this time. It was a great choice and brilliant location. Everything in the city centre is within walking distance, but feeling like really being part of the city was certainly better than staying in a hotel.

Every corner you turn brings out something interesting to look at or touch. The Old Town has a very medieval architecture, but the city itself has some amazing buildings still standing and inhabited from all eras. And if you ever think about renting a place be it for one night or couple of weeks we can certainly recommend the Old House! The apartment we stayed in was gorgeous and the service perfect.

Whilst on my holiday in Finland my sister asked me why I take photographs. This is a question I often have to think about and answer. There are actually many long and winding answers to this particular question I can reel out according to the situation/person asking, but talking to my sister about her own passions and thinking about it now a week later I have a different kind of clarity about the whole subject. Since I was 12 years old I have been writing a diary, on and off, by hand. I could say taking photographs is somehow my visual diary, among the so many other reasons I have for why I do it. The need to record, document, remember - to have the ability to go back and look - or read- again what I had been trying to say seems always to be at the core of any kind of answer I give to people. It's about what I saw and about trying to understand what is going on around me. Answers that often come retrospectively, by returning to something a while later, to try and make sense of it all.

Therefore, I'm going to blog my holiday photos a little differently than usual this year. Partly because I have been thinking (obviously too much) about photography again, but also because I wanted to share this visual diary with you, too. So in short, the plan is to blog more often, but with less photos. :) This year I spent a week and a half in my native Finland and had a short break with my family in Tallinn, Estonia. The weather was super, the pace of life coma-inducingly relaxing (just what I needed!) and I had a chance to meet friends, at times in quite surprising circumstances. The blueberries are in season in Finland and we had to walk less than 5 minutes from my parents' place to go pick some this week. Life is so different compared to London. But in a good way. I hope you enjoy sharing these memories with me.

This weekend is one of my rare free weekends this summer and funnily enough I had a big itch to get out there and do some good old fashioned street photography today. It has been such a long time, although I have been taking a lot of photos these past months. Just that it's not been on the streets of London. So, it was time to get my hands dirty again!

The London Pride parade was on today, but I decided to steer clear this year. I was not in the mood for crowds, especially as the week-long heatwave London has been baking in is finally coming to an end. Today was a lovely summer day and I caught the first bus across the river and started off around St Paul's.

It's not like I could avoid the crowds, but at least I had some room to manoeuvre to catch strange moments with the tourists. It was lovely to be out there today with my camera and just be. The freedom of not shooting for anyone but me was really lovely to remember and experience again.

It was also just lovely to amble around my favourite parts of London and try to get... lost in one word. I managed to cover some new ground around Barbican, so even though I started off in a default place I am still sticking to the plan of steering clear of old familiar hunting grounds.

Having shot a lot professionally these past months has made me look at composition in a new way. It's one of the things that actually I've improved upon. And there is something happening automatically now with my "eye" and the thinking process in the split second of seeing something and lifting the camera up to capture the photo. I am more efficient and economical somehow in the process of taking photographs. I wonder if that makes sense. :D

There were some lovely minimalist moments going on all around me today. I loved the box on the bag as well with this lady for example. She didn't look too happy having to wait for her ride to come and pick her and those quite heavy boxes up today though.

Nice minimalist moments all around me indeed. I love the red flowers in the background in this. :) I was out with my 50mm prime lens today. It was hard, and come to think of it I would have probably shot less economically if I'd brought something else with me. But the lens is the lightest to carry and was so easy to handle so I don't regret bringing it along today at all.

Barbican is one of my favourite places in London. The architecture is so ugly that it is fascinating, and there are always weird corners to go around and get lost in the place. The layout of the area and the very urban feel to the place makes a great backdrop for some interesting photos, too. Don't you think?

Different kind of eye contact in this one compared to the photo above! That dog (and the lead) really makes this for me, although I was initially going for that bright red hair on that woman to set off the telephone boxes. See, it's not only people now who are suspicious about me, it's the pets as well! :D

There are 30 of these "Play Me I'm Yours" pianos around London at the moment to celebrate the City of London Festival and I've been dying to see them in action. This one at Paternoster Square, right next to St Paul's Cathedral, was given a good seeing to by the lady in the middle. She roped all these tourists in to sing along with her, too which they gladly did!

My walk ended up at Liverpool Street Station and before going home I managed to capture this lovely lady texting (I presume) on her mobile in the middle of the hustle and bustle. All and all it was a lovely day out, weather and photography-wise.

For now I think the next photographs in this blog will be from my holiday to Finland and Estonia in a few weeks time. I'm not shooting another wedding again until towards the end of July, so hopefully I'll have some more street photography time as well for you. Hope you enjoyed these photos and are having a lovely summer! <3