MYLDN moves to Substack!!

If you want to see the latest posts from my blog MYLDN: a streetview of London Life please click on link below and subscribe:

https://babycakesromero.substack.com

MYLDN – a streetview of London Life.

“MYLDN – a streetview of London life” is now out. It is published by Carpet Bombing Culture and available in all good bookshops (always wanted to say that) and online. You can buy via link below:

BUY BOOK HERE: https://babycakesromero.com/buy-myldn-a-streetview-of-london-life/

MYHOUGHTON 24 (01) & Important announcement!

Hello folks! Hope you had a wonderful August..I had a splendid time and am now back in the saddle and ready to roll..I don’t actually have a saddle..and am afraid of horses full disclosure..I’m actually at my desk..it just didn’t sound so dynamic..

And as you are back for a new season of Babycakes Romero..I thought I would shake things up a bit..and am going to usher in a whole new beginning! Drum roll puh..leeeeaase!

After extensively trying (and failing) to resolve issues with my wordpress site (people disappearing off my mailing list, photos not showing in the email and other glitches too boring to go into) I am finally moving my blog over to Substack and I simply ask that you continue with me on this photographic journey…

If you do, marvellous, you don’t need to do anything, you will receive an email as usual tomorrow and hopefully normal service will resume as before..only better! Only now with an actual photo in the body of the email..which I know so many of you have been missing for soooo long…


If you can’t find my new posts, please check your spam folder. And please mark this address as ‘not spam.’ If the newsletter isn’t in your spam folder, either, you could look in the Promotions tab (altho I don’t even know where that is to be fair, think thats a Pc thing but I could be wrong)

And you might need to confirm your email with Substack but don’t think you need to sign up to read my posts but if you do its pretty painless..

So let’s see how this goes..and please would love to hear from you if you get a mo..just to let me know you are receiving the new posts fine and dandy..

p.s soz a bit late today but one of my harddrives with all my photos blew up and evasive action had to be taken..

MYLDN 1961 – Notting Hill Carnival? In July?

ok, so you might be wondering why the hell have I been looking at pictures of the Notting Hill Carnival in July? It’s a good question. It is not because I have a time machine and zipped four weeks into the future so I could document an event ahead of time so it fitted in better with my schedule..but holy shit, how amazing would that be? No, the truth is slightly more basic. These shots were actually taken in 2022 but I took a major dive right after which lasted for about a year and a half (yes, that’s a big dive) and so I was never able to go thru the shots and share them. Until now. I looked at them recently and it seemed such a shame to not at least get some of em out in the world so here they are. The way I see it is, if you capture a wonderful moment, but then no-one sees that moment, was there any point in capturing it in the first place? I would argue possibly not.

That was the Sunday

The modern way is to get photos out as soon as is humanely possible following an event. If it takes you more than a week or so to get them out you might as well not bother. Everyone has already moved on. Most documentation in this era is shared in real time, in situ, almost instantaneously. Laters is just too late. I don’t take photographs on my phone so this is not option is not available to me but even if it was I wouldn’t do it. Why would I waste time sharing my experience with other humans who aren’t even present when I could instead be fully present? Yes I am still looking down a lens but I am in totally in the moment. It makes sense to me to process and post photos in your down time but younger generations would undoubtedly not agree.

mebbbe not the best place to take baby out for a stroll
That was the Monday

I couldn’t attend last year’s Carnival because I still wasn’t in a good way but since then have been climbing the mountain of recovery (not quite at top yet but I can see the summit) and have my sights firmly set on Carnival 24. It felt weird to miss a year and so will be glad to be back in the thick of this magnificent event and returning to my usual position to document the Disya Jeneration sound system and its crowd in all its glory, which I have been doing since 2007. But as I will be taking my usual summer sabbatical and not posting in August you might have to wait a little while to see the photos. But is that such a terrible thing? Does immediacy always win? I think photography takes a while to distill, like a good wine (not that i know shit about wine). It needs time to ferment and needs distance from the present before it’s full impact can be felt.

So I wish you all a lovely rest of summer and I will be back in September…

MYLDN 1960

Anyone looking to cast “Boris Johnson – the early years”? Look no further. I bet the real Boris has the exact same tat too..you know it.

MYLDN 1959

MYLDN 1958

MYLDN 1957

MYLDN 1956

Words on the street this week. The writing’s on the wall..but are any of us actually reading it?

The question is..who let them out? whoo? whoo? 🐕

I didn’t bother to pick it up to find out. All I know is it ain’t me.

MYLDN 1955

So he does or he doesn’t have a fridge? I’m confused. And is it just me he has a picture of or everyone on Earth? Cos that’s one big fucking fridge right there. I mean don’t get me wrong I love the idea of being on one of God’s fridge but if he does actually have one I think I’d really want to know what was in it rather than what was on it..I can’t even imagine what perishable goods he would be storing..is he a houmous kinda guy? or maybe some old school Dairylea? Last night’s pizza?

And for the record am just saying “he” for ease..obvs could be a she or a they..altho seems unlikely the supreme being would have a human gender at all.about as unlikely as him havin a fridge…and we’re back..

MYLDN 1953 & 1954

Once again apologies for no post yesterday, I have no excuse. I just forgot. Standards are clearly slipping. I hang my head in shame. In my defence it feels like the last week of school before the summer holidays and in your mind you’ve already broken up. At least it proves this blog isn’t run by an AI…altho I’m sure Chat GPT could do a better job…

And so you don’t feel left out here are two pix for the price of one and as synchronicity would have it I kinda feel these two shots were meant to be together..

MYLDN 1952

MYLDN 1951

Just a few random moments this week…although maybe all moments are random and it’s only when we start joining the dots that patterns start to emerge..but are they really connected or do we just cobble them together to simulate a sense of order amidst the chaos? Discuss

MYLDN 1950

MYLDN 1949

Ok, I accept, its a pretty sketchy service this week..that’s me hiding my face of shame..not actually obvs..I’m the one taking the photo of this rather extraordinary looking gentleman..who has clearly seen one too many Spidey movies..

MYLDN 1948

Soz no post yesterday. I was on an assignment all day deep within the other side of the border..aka south london.

MYLDN 1947 – The Blue door

Now if you aren’t familiar with the film Notting Hill you may not be aware the blue door and are wondering why are all these people getting their picture taken in front of it and why am I taking pictures of them taking pictures of themselves? These are good questions and ones I have often asked myself during this ongoing photographic project which has spanned a decade or more.

The blue door is basically where Hugh Grant lived in the movie and since then it has become a major photo opp for tourists visiting the area. But not just a few, like a shit ton. It is very rare to go past the door, especially in peak summer season, and not see someone getting their picture taken in front of it. I am actually staggered by how many people want to do this. I really can’t get my head around the fact that this film is still that popular.

Richard Curtis said he wrote the film as a love letter to the area he lived in but by making it the title he kinda ruined it because after it came out this neighbourhood was propelled onto the international map and suddenly rents went through the roof and a lot of people who had lived here contentedly until then were then forced out. I was living in a shared 3bed house with garden 500m from Portobello and paying £85 a week in rent at the time (I know it seems almost impossible by today’s insane prices and was booted out almost immediately after film’s release so they could sell it.

Curtis also then sold his property for 1.5 million squid and then fucked off somewhere else. Doesn’t sound like the actions of a man in love with the area does it? I mean don’t get me wrong the gentrification of this area would always have happened but it accelerated it with a turbo boost transforming it virtually overnight.

So understandably there was some local animosity and resentment towards the movie and the he tourist traffic it generated. The blue door was even graffitied over a few years back, undoubtedly by a disgruntled local who clearly wanted to tarnish the film location and those that flocked to it . This incident even made the news (daily mail obvs) and headline read “Notting Hill fans fuming at shocking condition of door” (musta been a low news week)

I actually thought the “tourists suck” graf scrawled on the pillar pretty funny as the tourists have to get their picture taken next to it, although some attempt to cover it up, clearly not wishing to suck.

I mean I get why locals are fed up with the tourist trade as it has ramped up prices across the board and ushered in a relentless amount of coffee shops, ice cream parlours and 90% of all establishments and market stalls now cater towards the tourists. I mean, its not been all bad for the area, it has brought in a gi-normous amount of business but its character and inhabitants, the two things that made it what it was, have been somewhat squeezed out.

And so back to the blue door..these are just a few of the photos I have taken over the years..I’ve pretty much got enough to fill a book..is is a book anyone wants is a different question. Why am I so drawn to it? I guess there is something about the endless repetition with slight variation that gravitates me towards it..I think there is also something about the glee on the faces of the fans..its like they feel one step closer to the film they revere and adore…and I guess the way the movie made them feel is present in their faces and that is worth capturing. And it probably also gives them a thrill to think Hollywood stars had stood exactly where they had. The essence of Julia Robert’s clearly still lingers.

And just for the record I don’t loiter outside the door..I do have better things to do..these were all taken on flybys or while waiting for Mrs B to get a coffee from the starbucks on the corner…gotta every moment count and all that..

MYLDN 1946

MYLDN 1945

MYLDN 1944

MYLDN 1943