When I stepped into Bloomsbury, home to The School of Life, my holiday began: the sun shone, the architecture glowed and none of it looked like Peckham Rye where I live.
About twenty of us gathered: several Americans, the rest of us natives. We were encouraged to ‘snap vigorously’ and our first mission was to photograph interesting examples of body language. We looked at examples of successful street photography, before meandering to the British Museum, one of the few public buildings where you can photograph with impunity (and your camera). Foreign languages filled the air. It was, as promised, like being far away.
From antiquities to Oxford Street is quite a jump, but we made it and encouraged by Matt and Stephen acted like paparazzi on the West End’s mean streets. We wended our way through two ribbon-thin alleys I’ve never seen in my life… and eventually arrived at the Photographer’s Gallery where we paused before hitting Soho.
Early evening back at The School of Life, weary and hungry, we enjoyed a delicious meal ferried from the restaurant across the road; wine and conversation flowed.
The FleaPit in Columbia Road’s floral paradise was our starting point for day two. I don’t know how many years it is since I was in Columbia Road, but I rued every Sunday morning that I had not been there. Set regular challenges to photograph themes, this time we were to snap with colour in mind: ‘Think Matisse but leave out the flowers!' And it was around there that I drank the best cup of coffee ever, made by the world’s top barista who operates from a shack on a side street off the main drag. I’d heard about this guy and now like a tourist I had discovered him.
Brick Lane was next with its spirit of elsewhere and market stalls that sell something of everything and people who are surely out to be photographed. In the nearby super trendy covered market I savoured a dish of delicious sushi, wiped my brow for the day was steaming and thought, yes, I really am on holiday.
Next on the itinerary: the Bank of England which I’m not sure if I’ve even seen before. Here our mission to photograph everyone and everything that appealed to our sense of humour or aesthetics came to a close.
We walked back to Bloomsbury for a show ‘n’ tell - each of us showed five photos to match the assignments. We ate scrumptious carrot cake and toasted our holiday happiness with a cool glass of Pimms.
I’m told (one person had a pedometer) that we walked 14 miles on the first day and eight the next. Each of us had been on our own journey: to improve technique, to find the nerve to take candid shots or solely for the pleasure of giving our cameras a workout and, in my case, see more of London. We left with a sense of achievement and the camaraderie that comes from sharing a memorable vacation. And, we had our snaps to show the folks back home. Here are a few of mine.
More photographs from The School of Life’s Photographing London holidays can be found here.
The holiday runs again on 12 and 13 September. Details can be found here.
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