Status report

Status report, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

After some firefighters came out of the building, one of them start chatting with others that were outside. He did not seem to be preoccupied at all of the smoke coming out from the shaft, probably the fire was already gone at that moment.
It was funny to see these three firefighters in front of a very well known luxury fashion shop!

The Hooded Angel

The Hooded Angel, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

London is a crossroad of many cultures, and this defines a city with many differences, well mixed. There are cultural approaches I cannot entirely understand, but I do not judge (maybe I judge my ignorance towards the culture itself). Women with burka, men with shiny turbans and… the hoods.
It is very common to see young people walking around with their head covered by a hood, with big shiny necklace and a constant angry expression. I admit that I have never understood why there is the need of shaping ourselves around clothing or attitudes, but it is very probable that someone, watching me, would think the same. These are the cultural differences that wise ignorant accepts for what they are, while tiny people judge.
I spotted this youngster when he was just few steps from me. He wore a snowy sweatshirt, with its hood covering an angelic face. He was pure.
I shot from my hips, missing the focus as you can see, but in the end I got something I like very much. i like the fact that he is out of focus, the fact that he is the only visible real face, the fact that the focus falls on the perfect faces watching Oxford Circus from the Adverts on the windows.

I Love My London.

Self Portrait! Can you see?

Self Portrait! Can you see?, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

It is told that we look for ourselves in the reflection of the others, that we are what we are only in the comparison with the others. When i saw her sunglasses I did not see anything else but the world reflected and I shoot.
Later on, when I watched the photos, I saw my white pants, dark shirt and camera reflected there, in those shades.
For the first time I have decided to over-use the white instead of the black… an attempt. What do you think?

In the Crowded Market

In the Crowded Market, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

Markets are the perfect place to become more confident in shooting people at short distance. Usually there is a lot going on, many stalls full of items people are interested in and many distractions in which you can blend in and take candid shot. The Borough market in London, near London Bridge, is the perfect example. We were there with Jonathan Taylor during our workshop and I have to admit that it has been very educative. Many sellers behind the stalls do not mind a photo of themselves and going nearer is something you get used to.
This is not the perfect photo, there are many distractions in it, nevertheless I like it. I like it because of the movement, of the crowd you cannot simply stop, because of the big bags and the many colors, because of the shadows of an open market under a roof.

Milady…



Milady…, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

She was walking down Old Bond Street and she had her priorities very clear. With her classy bag, that special hat and dress. I think she did not think she had enough jewels on her: that Cartier shop window was so inviting to her.
Jokes apart, she was extremely classy!

Is it desperation?



Is it desperation?, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

When I saw her expression I was puzzled. She had a few words with the Incident Commander and then she headed away from the location. She seemed to have an air of desperation, even though nothing serious happened.
I hope she was just lost in her thoughts, without anything wrong.
There are times when I am able to freeze an expression I cannot decipher. This is one of those times.

Nonchalance

Nonchalance

There are people who are heavily affected by what is going on around them, in the street of London. This man, on the contrary, seemed lost in his thought to such a degree that he did not seem to notice the Fire Brigade and the many firefighters.

Or simply he did not care.

He walked secure, hiding his eyes behind a huge pair of sunglasses.

Shooting manual always gives you better results and lately I am using my camera in Manual mode only. London is a hard school for this: in few second the sun can be covered and you can be forced to moved the time from 1/3200th of a second to 1/80th. And back again few seconds later and then once more before a minute has passed. The fast clouds covering and going away continuously are a hard teacher!

The scene



The scene, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

The lack of tight security can already show you that the fire in Old Bond Street the other day was not something serious. The Firefighters prepared everything very fast in case something had gone wrong. In the end water was not spilled and the fire brigade just checked the situations. The street was blocked, so I simply stepped in the middle of the road to get this.

Sweet Dreams



Sweet Dreams, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody’s looking for something

I have to be honest and admit that even if not so common, people like him can be seen on the street of London. I do not believe this one was a homeless person, his clothes and shoes were good. Passing near him I had the impression that he was simply recovering from a huge hangover.
When we moved here I reckon I thought that the number of homeless person living in the streets was incredibly low. I still think this if I dare to compare London to other big cities I have visited. Nevertheless scenes like this one are more easily associated to some alcoholic excess than to a homeless state. The thing that still hits me is that hungover are socially accepted, drinking until you collapse is treated like a funny story, not as a social problem.

Contraddictions



Contraddictions, originally uploaded by Carlo Nicora.

Fire brigade was in action today in Old Bond street, where black smoke came out from a shaft. There were no fire and the atmosphere was quite relaxed amongst the firefighters. A man near me have his office in the same place and told me that there had been a problem with the electricity.
I believe the situation had been solved before the second and third brigade came in front of Prada’s store.
When I saw this man lightening his cigar with all the firefighters behind him I could not avoid taking my camera and taking a photo.