What is the link between the photographs this week? Answers on a postcard…or an email: bcr@babycakesromero.com
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It was the probably the greatest and most intensive collective documentation effort I have ever witnessed. There was barely a person on the Paris tourist boat cruise up la Seine that wasn’t constantly recording every single moment on their smartphones. (some having more than one device). When they weren’t taking photos of every single thing they saw they were reviewing or posting their shots in real time. It was relentless. And even though they were predominantly Asian, this wasn’t about one culture’s  relationship with technology, it was merely an intense example of this era’s dedication to documentation.
So what did I do whilst they were shooting the shit out of everything? I shot the shit out of them. (I think that would be difficult to say out loud without developing a lisp) And, obvs, I was fully aware that here I was, excessively documenting the documenters and both myself and my unwitting subjects kinda missed most of the boat trip as a result. Oh, the joyful irony.
Studies have shown that if you take a photograph of something you are way less likely to remember it as the brain assumes that the job of storing it is being covered so consequently doesn’t bother. And bear in mind, apart from their fleeting moment of existence on Instagram or whatever social media platform they might be uploaded to, they will barely ever be looked at again. So we will all go to our graves with hardly any memories because our brains have passed on that responsibility to our tech  and the likelihood of that surviving is slim. So maybe we should ditch the devices and start looking around a bit more otherwise we will have nothing to look back on…
A word about Paris: I used to think it was a bit too posh and pretty and a bit too quiet in the centre but as all cities eventually went that way I have developed a greater appreciation of this city. And as it’s starting to get stuck in an era it really feels like you have gone back in time . The Woody Allen movie ‘Midnight in Paris’ captured this feeling beautifully and so, as we sauntered around on cobbled streets in the greyness and the cold and the mist, it all served to evoke an atmosphere of yesteryear  and felt like we had been planted in a period film. There was also a classic car rally when we were there so there were all these vintage motors cruising around (see gallery below) which only added to this overlapping of the past over the present I was experiencing…
To see a gallery of other photographs from Paris other than the ones you have looked at this week please click here
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The Gilet Jaunes mobilised again the weekend I was in Paris and we saw them congregating before marching up to the Arc de Triomphe. They went off and started a mini riot and were met with police brutality, tear gas and water canons. Meanwhile we went off to the Henri Cartier Bresson Foundation and saw a great exhibition of the work of Martine Franck. We live in strange times.
Civil unrest is definitely spreading all over the globe and in the news there is now a familiar, almost daily sight of shots of riot police surrounded by billowing smoke violently pulling protestors to the ground but it is not until you read the caption can you tell where the photograph was taken. And all the while life carries on as normal.
We returned to the Champs Elysee the next day and apart from a few smashed windows you could not tell anything had taken place at all. Everything had been cleared up, swept away, but the truth is you cannot brush these problems aside. That is why movements have sprung up across the world in the first place. There are giant chunks of populations who have been ignored for too long and they are now making themselves be seen and heard. The Gilet Jaunes are not fucking around. The French probably do civil unrest probably better than anyone and have a strong history or defiance and revolt and by the looks of determination on their faces this is just beginning…
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Spending time on a underground system is definitely a busman’s holiday if you are from London. Its also a bit like being in a parallel dimension (which I visit now and again) Everything seems familiar yet very different at the same time. Main differences are its a lot cheaper, quicker, less crowded and more efficient than the London tube. Similarities? Everyone on it still looks pretty miserable.
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They have a scooter scheme in Paris like the Santander bikes in London but people do not return them to a designated area, they just leave them all over the city. You see them everywhere. It would appear that the system is failing as no-one puts them back where they should so they appear in random places wherever you go. Poor things, left there, lost and lonely, abandoned. Life’s tough on the streets, at least sometimes they are together…
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Me and camera in someone else’s town…
Rodin’s work at his museum and former home in Paris blew me away, best sculpture I have seen in my life, an incredible collection, an amazing body of work, and in a beautiful building and grounds. His most famous piece is The Thinker but wasn’t my favourite at all. That would have to go to The Gates of Hell (a small detail featured in 2nd shot above). Jaw-dropping. He was inspired by Dante’s depiction of Satan’s lair and it was clearly a very positive influence as it produced some of his greatest work. Just shows evil can sometimes be a force for good, and a killer paradox in the process…and a pertinent piece for these times.
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This week’s photographs feature the current Portobello Wall Public Art project by Anastasia Russa. Over the summer I passed by most days and saw it come to life during an endless stream of sunshine. On most days you could see the artist, mostly hidden under her customary sun hat, working on the next portrait.  It was great to see this work of art build and grow as the project progressed. The mural which spans one entire block along Portobello Rd shows the changing eras and inhabitants of the area. The artist is not from the area but spent months talking to locals as to who should be included.
Among those featured are Piers Thompson who runs Portobello Radio, Khadija Saye, an artist who died in the Grenfell fire and Tim Burke, who was a lovely man and a neighbour of mine, who tragically took his own life at the end of last year. These are interspersed with other locals from both past and present.
I am interested in how art on the streets, whether commissioned or not, affects the inhabitants of the area it appears in. Whether we are consciously aware of it, there is an interaction, a connection, a moment of reflection. Even though art is not technically essential for survival, it is still integral and necessary to our lives. Its presence can uplift and create a fleeting instance of calm in the chaos whilst also providing little pockets of  visual pleasure from within the humdrum of the daily backdrop. A lot of art related projects were the first things to be axed by councils when austerity measures slashed their budgets in half as they felt extraneous to living but I think art, of any nature,  is vital and can make the difference between being happy and not.
Last week I showed a lot of local tagging and how little it contributed other than to serve as a force for defacement. Maybe I was a little hard on Boner (sorry ;) but signatures used to accompany a piece of work, not be the piece of work and so, when you see actual art in action, as in this mural, you see how it can light up a street and bring colour to the greyness.
To see the full gallery please click on this link: https://babycakesromero.com/photography/artwall/Â
for more info on this project:Â https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/culture/current-portobello-wall-public-art-project
Have been doing a lot of doorstep documentation recently so going to venture a little further afield..next stop, Paris!
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Several sightings in several days. Is the Prince of Denmark back? Is it some nod to their being something rotten in the borough of kensington and chelsea? Or a Shakespeare fan trying to illicit more reading of the classics? It doesn’t sound like a graffiti taggers name nor does the style look like it so what’s the deal? Am curious…will the real Hamlet please stand up?
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This scrawled statement puzzled me. I had no idea what this meant so I looked it up and apparently BUFF stands for Big Fat Ugly Fuck which is a pretty horrendous acronym. Who knew? Not me. But even with this information I still have no idea why someone would graffiti this? Why would they be trying to incite this? Do they feel they are part of this demographic and are trying to illicit some action? Or maybe they’re trying to encourage others to embark on carnal relations with people who fit this category out of some bizarre sense of civic duty?
Maybe this is a declaration of body positivity and a call to arms to reject the perfection peddled in advertising and on social media? Or maybe the author of this confusing statement had been harassed by members of this group  and was consequently expressing their anger and defiance towards them? I kind of wished I hadn’t looked it up.
I thought it was written by someone who didn’t like people being in the nude. This did seemed pretty random and made no real sense as you are mostly without clothes for the act they are suggesting  but I preferred this theory to the knowledge of the real meaning which is actually pretty hateful. Whoever did this clearly has issues but I am curious to what motivated them to bother in the first place. There is no artistic skill here, no purpose. It’s just a mess. And a nasty mess at that.
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