The Red House at Kew Gardens

London: a glimpse

one of the travel pages on muellerworld

Near the River Thames:

London is just plain huge. Not so much in the geographic sense, but it is a massive place to try to photograph. It has it all for the photographer, historic buildings, beautiful statues, elaborate gardens, interesting fashion, and it is definately a unique city to watch people. Realizing that there is no way to see and do it all, I just wandered around and enjoyed the city (also see Philip Greenspun's Guide for Photographers).

From the River Thames, many of London's most obvious sights stand out along the skyline: The Tower of Westminster and the London Eye, to name but two.

Tower of Westminster The Tower of Westminster Traffic near the Tower of Westminster Statue in front of the Parliment Building

The Palace of Westminster has been the seat of Parliament (Lords & Commons) since 1512. The Victorian archetect, Sir Charles Barry, designed the mock-Gothic building that contains the 1½ million Acts of Parliament. Remarkably, the oldest part of the structure, the Westminster Hall, dates from 1097.

London Eye Statue cross from the London Eye London Eye London Eye

 

The Squares:

For some reason, I always ended up in Leicester Square. When I would leave my flat in Kew, I would be heading somewhere specific, but would always end up back there. For me, it was the central magnet of London. I'm sure others will disagree with this, but it seemed to be close to just about everything I liked about London. Near by were Trafalgar Square, Russell Square, Soho and the Theatres and book shops.

Street artists, Leicester Square Street artists, Leicester Square Street performer in London's Chinatown

lion statue in Trafalgar Square fountain in Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square: some tourists like the pigeons Trafalgar Square: some tourists don't like the pigeons Breastplate of a guard

 

Parks:

London is littered with parks and green strips of all sizes.

Flowers in a park in London statue in front of Buckingham Palace in a park in London a fountain in a park in London in a park in London

Theatre

I grabbed a Time Out guide and saw about 25 shows while I was living in London. I loved The Lady in the Van, The Real Thing, Copenhagen, The Lion King and many others. When a show was sold out, I'd stand in line for a couple of hours, and buy a last-minute single seat. I never got turned away from any show I wanted to see (although I did pay dearly a couple of times...)

The Dutchess Theatre: Copenhagen The Dutchess Theatre: Copenhagen The Queen's Theatre: Lady in the Van

 

St. Pancras Station:

I spent a lot of time in St. Pancras Station in early 2000...

The Orient Express in St. Pancras Station at 3am St. Pancras interior clock St. Pancras Clocktower at 3am Train in St. Pancras Station at 3am Film Crew in St. Pancras Station at 3am All-night Cashier at St. Pancras Station (2am)

 

Kew & Kew Gardens:

I was fortunate enough to live in Kew, just a little bit southwest of London, near Richmond. It was a delightful little neighborhood.

my flat & Rover 75 in Kew, London funky little rock shop in Kew stores in Kew cool little store in Kew people bridge over the tube tracks at Kew Gardens Station The pub in front of my flat in Kew, London

At the end of my block in Kew was the world-famous Kew Gardens. It is touted as the best garden in the world, and I have no doubt that this is true. I most enjoyed an exhibit of sclupture from Zwimbabwe that were placed throughout the grounds.

Bluebells. Kew Gardens. Kew Gardens Kew Gardens Kew Gardens Nikon FM Zimbabwe Statue. Kew Gardens The man who arranged the Zimbabwe Sculpture Exibition

A sculpture from Zimbabwe A sculpture from Zimbabwe A sculpture from Zimbabwe

 

Near London:

The Millenium Dome, Greenwich Felled trees in the Chilterns Mike Talarico ponders all things English Pentax ME Super, 20/2.8, 4 second exposure, balanced on a fence Pentax ME Super, 20/2.8, 4 second exposure, balanced on a sign

Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge

 

A few from 2006:

I was in London for a few weeks in 2006 working on another movie, and took some more shots around town:

copyright 1999-2006 matt@muellerworld.com