Urban wildlife
nature
Urban allium
Across the street here in west London there is a community garden. An oasis in a built-up area and a precious resource for the many people without their own outdoor space. There are swings and slides for the children, a pond, and a wealth of plants.
It’s also a place for me to come and do some macro photography. Walking through the other day, I noticed a clutch of allium bursting into life. These little lilac pom-poms – members of the onion family – are a delight to capture at close quarters. The lens revealed that these ones were still coming into their own. Enjoy a taste of nature and flowers in the city…
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The new joy of film
I recently became the owner of an Olympus-35 EC, a compact film camera made in Japan around 1970. It’s close to pristine and its battery-powered components remain fully functional.
The proof of the pudding is in the shooting, however, so I quickly and easily loaded a Fuji ISO 400 colour film and went on my travels around west London with it tucked away in my pocket. Unloading the film was also slick and stress-free with this clever little gadget.
The first results have arrived after a trip to the developers. The bad news first – some close-ups I attempted were out of focus failures, simply beyond the range of the little Zuiko lens.
But that was the only downside. I’m impressed that a 45-year-old camera is still able to produce such clarity, depth and colour with that authentic granularity. Film definitely rivals digital on this evidence – and has its own magic too.
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Spring fall
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A photo session on my very own doorstep. These are the few weeks when the trees on this west London street bulge deliciously under the weight of their own heady blossom. No sooner does it arrive, it starts to cascade from the branches, leaving a carpet of fragile petals all around – including by the front door. This was the moment to capture them before they wither under the sun or are washed away by a tide of April rain.
The Chiswick stretch
The west London suburb of Chiswick has a long high street lined with smart little shops and cafes. It has some grand houses and a smattering of celebrity residents. I forget that it possesses its very own stretch of the River Thames, which meanders up to Kew Bridge. It includes the wooded haven of Oliver’s Island and a smattering of quaint pubs and cottages.
A man and his dog were paddling as we walked, while the gulls were in fine form. Past the river you find the incredibly tall and ornate Kew Bridge water tower. As we pressed on, there was a less attractive encounter with the vast Chiswick roundabout and its flyover – this London neighbourhood has it all…
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- An old sign on Chiswick roundabout
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- Beneath the traffic flyover
