London – Life Before Lockdown Part 2
It’s been a year now since I last set foot in the Capital, something I would have previously thought unthinkable after working my office job there for four years. That year feels both very short and also very long in a weird distortion of time that I think we are now all feeling. Despite this, I am beginning to feel excited again. With the vaccine rollout going as well as we could hope in the UK and a clear roadmap of how we will leave lockdown, in stages, by June, I am daring to dream of a more exciting spring and summer. One of the first things I will be doing is heading back to London with (film) camera in hand to capture all the interesting nooks and crannies that the city is full of. For inspiration I went through more of my old photos from the past few years to remind myself of what I had been missing for the past twelve months.
Looking at my photos gives me a sense of the activity of the city which is hard to forget. It is just such a busy place with endless shops, businesses and people marching about from one place to another. All things that currently seem almost strange but will in a month begin to be normal again. There’s just so much to do in London, whatever your interest is, you’ll will find a way to enjoy it. Museums, restaurants, theatres, or just interesting places to walk there’s plenty on and off the tourist trail to be found. There’s no doubt that, come June if all the restrictions are removed and we have half decent weather, the throngs of people will return just as quickly as they were forced to leave.
For me it is the parks and ornamental gardens that I am looking forward to seeing the most. There’s so many great sculptures and features that make for ideal photography subjects, with inspiration from around the world that we may not otherwise get to see this year if other countries are still limiting travel. I can’t see myself getting to Japan anytime soon so for now I’ll have to settle for a bit of inspiration from the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park. Whether you can get abroad or not in 2021 make sure not to overlook what you could be exploring in London or the cities near you. For now, let’s just hope that the scenes in the photos will soon be playing out in real life again. Hopefully next time I bring you photos of London they will be new ones of a city rejuvenated.
If you enjoyed this blog then please consider leaving a tip below.