Shadow

Brightwells Yard, Farnham, UK

Given the strong shadow against the building, I thought this might make a good black and white image. But it turns out I prefer the colour version.

Sculpture of the Artist

Sumner St, Southwark, London

There’s more going on here than meets the eye. Below this statue on the plinth is found a plaque reading, “Non Plaudite, Modo Pecuniam Jacite,” which translates from Latin as, “Do not applaud, just throw money,” perhaps a comment on the assumption of the art world into that of commerce so nearby?

I discovered this piece changes in response to the viewer at Atlas Obscura (although I did not witness any change myself).

Sugimoto Theatre

Hayward Gallery, London

One more little joke before we leave Sugimoto and the Hayward. When you left the exhibit, you could go up the stairs to the cafeteria where a small theatre had been set up, screening a short video about his work on the Enoura Observatory in Japan. There was no one there when I entered, nor when I left. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make my own homage to his theatre pictures by brightening the screen and adding a small glow and darkening the side windows.

Sugimoto Space

Hayward Gallery, London

And, as always when I’m visiting a museum or gallery, I’m as interested in the space and the geometry as in the art exhibited (and finding some place for my reflection). Click any of the images below to see them full-size.

More Sugimoto

Hayward Gallery, London

I never knew about these metallic constructions of his. In the first image below I’ve centered and isolated the structure in black and white on its mirrored plinth, in the next I show a little more, including the reflection of a passerby and, in the final image I show the whole room with the object centred so as to cover the structure shown above (click on any of the smaller images to see them enlarged – clicking through to the web site first if you’re seeing this in an email).

Sugimoto

Hayward Gallery, London

It would be hard to overstate the scale and impressiveness of the Hiroshi Sugimoto survey now at the Hayward. My pictures of both the exhibit and the gallery will occupy these pages for the next few days. Click on any image below to enlarge them all (you may have to click the post-title above to get to the website first if you’re seeing this in email).

Barbican Space

Barbican Centre, London

After the Tate Modern I made my way over to the Barbican Centre, expecting to see an exhibit of Simryn Gill photos adverted to me by the Saltoun Gallery. As it turned out, Gill was just a small part of a much larger exhibit on ecofeminism and its illustrious (photographic) history with works by Gauri Gill, Francesca Woodman, Simryn Gill, Fay Godwin and many others.

The Tree

Waverley Abbey, Farnham, Surrey

I think I probably posted a picture of this tree last time I visited Waverley Abbey but it really does stand out from its surroundings. This time we brought our US visitors on our hike to the ruined abbey and I took a bunch more shots – I hope not too similar to those I posted last time. Click any of the images below to see them enlarged (you may have to click into the post title first for this to work if you’re seeing this in email or on social media).

Chair

Brightwells Yard, Farnham, UK

Nothing much going on here. I was struck by the sharp shadows and the combination of modernist shapes and lines with the wood grain and plant shadows so, of course, I had to see what it would look like in a photograph.

Construction

Brightwells Yard, Farnham

I shot this looking out the window because I liked the geometry of it. The men were about to dig up a lot of the brick so they could lay some conduit along the base of the building, then cover it all up again. I thought of it as a black and white image at the time because of the strong shadows and the triangle formed by the two men and the circle of conduit in the lower left.

Leaving Paris

Gare du Nord, Paris

We took a bus from the area of our hotel to the Gare du Nord to catch the EuroStar back to London. Click any of the images below to see them full-sized (you may need to click the post title first if you’re viewing this in an email or on social media).

Walk to the Musée d’Orsay

Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, Paris

Our first full day we walked through the Tuileries Garden and over the Seine to the Musée d’Orsay which I had purchased timed tickets for a month in advance. Click any of the pictures below to see them all larger.

Museum Spaces

Stairwell, Scotish National Museum of Modern Art

No visit to a museum would be complete without a review of the geometry of the spaces. Click any of the pictures below to see them full sized (you may need to click the post title first if you’re not seeing this directly on the web-site).

Streets of Antwerp

Just some street shots from our first wander around Antwerp. I spotted the older fellow in the shot on the right and bottom left while we were stopping for a sandwich and he looked so forlorn and hungry I planned to go talk to him when I was done and see if he needed some help (or food) but when I next noticed him he was walking past with a tray piled with food, so I guess my initial prejudices were wrong. Click any of the pictures to see them all bigger (if you’re seeing this in email you may need to click the post title, above, first).