The crisis of a broken washing machine prompted a visit to this place – better known as a laundromat to my friends on the other side of the Atlantic.
I haven’t used one since my student days, but there are plenty of them in west London and they seem to do a good trade. Along with our suitcases filled with clothes needing a wash, I took my camera.
Although a public place, maybe this was too intimate a venue to take photographs. But in this establishment on King Street in Hammersmith, the mild-mannered attendant was too busy emptying machines and dealing with customers to worry – strange for a place where rules and guidance are plastered on every wall.
With its banks of washers and tumble dryers, the lines and shapes caught my eye, along with the movement of machines constantly in motion. Still, I was careful to avoid taking candids of people doing something that is best suited to your own private space.
Our machine is finally fixed now and a visit to the washeteria is unlikely to be repeated soon. It might be a mundane, functional place, but one to stretch your photographic eye and achieve some unexpected results.
