“Go where we may, rest where we will,
Eternal London haunts us still.”
When I look at photographs of London on pinterest they all seem rather shiny and there never seems to be anyone out and about. I took these on a quick stop-over during the Easter holidays and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. They reflect what I see. My London is busy and hectic, grainy and dirty. I love that one quick turn into a side-street can shift the pace from chaotic-commuter to bumbling-bruncher. It has the reputation of being unfriendly, yet London contains some of my favourite strangers; from the Cafe Nero barista at Waterloo station, to moleskine man in Foyles on the Southbank, to the ticket lady at Charing Cross, to the eccentric playwright in the Royal Court Bookshop and the barista on Beakstr. whose first-day-on-the-job enthusiasm made the sun shine brighter and the coffee taste sweeter. The city has always been a constant in my life and though I have never called it my home, I have lived many a significant moment within it's geography. Not all these moments have been positive; some of the darkest seasons in my life have been very much synchronised with the South West train service up to Waterloo. But it has also spurred most of my childhood dreams from prima ballerina, to painter, to writer and now actress; all of which have been explored among the plethora of London theatres, galleries and bookshops. More recently the city has become a place to catch-up with special friends, the ones that help you put the world right, whose sofa-bed soaks up the tears of lonely lostness and dinner time conversation reminds you that a belly-laugh is one of your five a day. Whatever the next few months and years hold for me, I know that London will be a part of it. I may never call it home, but it will always be a city of unrelenting significance.
Loved this post! Keep up the good job.
ReplyDeleteSiim