An ?L? of a choice

An “L” of a choice

I hadn’t got a specific idea what my photographic “L” would be. I wondered about low-key, light meters (I’ve just rediscovered my 1969 Johnsons of Hendon Photographic Diary, with the built-in exposure calculator)…

And then, I thought of a Location. London.

I come from another L-place, Lichfield, sharing my birthplace with Samuel Johnson, who produced the first dictionary – and a memorable saying or two. He was right about cucumbers, and he’s right with this – ‘If a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.’

I love visiting London – it reminds me why I live in the provinces, where on an ordinary, busy day, there are seats on public transport. And it’s also fascinating, with more different things going on, more moods and faces than just about anywhere else. The ultimate multicultural, mongrel city.

At the moment, not a great place to be, I know. But when normality returns – when, not if – I want to go back yet again – to combine seeing a model or two who I want to photograph again with some street photography, maybe a little bit of architectural shooting – not forgetting a little landscape toggery in one of the big parks…

If you have friends or relatives there, visit: if not, find a cheap chain hotel somewhere interesting – we spend two or three nights within walking distance of Kew Gardens for the sort of money you’d pay to be on the outskirts of Maidstone. Even parking a car there was affordable.

Catch the Underground, book a river trip down to Greenwich, walk a lot. Maybe try one of the open-topped (should I say topless?) tour buses.

And make plans beyond lockdown!