Critique Welcomed One short link in a long chain

[Peter Roberts]

We're lucky where we live. Whichever way we turn when leaving the house we have easy access to the Green Chain Walk. This is a 50 mile network of paths linking together many of the open spaces and woodlands here in South East London. Last Thursday we took advantage of a morning of winter sunshine for a gentle walk to celebrate the end of the January blues.

I knew where we were heading even if my good lady didn't.


Or perhaps she had Crystal Palace in mind.


There are of course dramatic possibilities with this view, one day I may even get round to trying some.


Seen in the distance of that shot is Avery Hill Winter Garden which is where we are headed. Here everything has been swept and cleared after a few years of neglect and is ready for regrowth.






As always I was distracted by the intricacy of the Victorian ironwork which I find just as interesting as the greenery. The two complement each other well I think.




We left Galatea basking in the sun with the fantails and koi, a tricky shot as she's so - well, white.


And worked our less green way home via the main gate arch. The gates are original, the name for the gate-house isn't.


Canon 5D mkII / Canon EF 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 USM

 

[Gianluca Drago]

@Peter Roberts I am in no position to make a critical assessment, so I will abstain, but I really enjoyed being guided step by step through this tour. The passages along the earthen paths, the signage, the gates, and especially the photos inside the greenhouse are evocative and resonate with me. And the Galatea with the koi! Thank you.

 

[Julian Tanase]

Good photographs, Peter, thank you. Back in the late 90s I was living in Clapham Junction, and I remember taking trips to photograph the Crystal Palace which is only a few miles away. Loved the Victorian feeling of the place, although at the time I thought it was a bit unkept. However, the area was really nice to photograph, especially in the spring and summer. Also, one of my usual routes was to take the tube down to Angel, then just walk to Camden Market. Great photography route, and in the summer the Regent's Canal with its ironworks was a great sight to photograph.

 

[Peter Roberts]

@Peter Roberts I am in no position to make a critical assessment, so I will abstain, but I really enjoyed being guided step by step through this tour. The passages along the earthen paths, the signage, the gates, and especially the photos inside the greenhouse are evocative and resonate with me. And the Galatea with the koi! Thank you.

You do yourself an injustice, Gianluca. These photos have no pretensions to being art or particularly imaginative. They are what they are: a pleasant (I hope) record of an enjoyable walk. The fact that they resonated with you means that they have succeeded in their intention. Thank you for commenting.

 

[Peter Roberts]

Good photographs, Peter, thank you. Back in the late 90s I was living in Clapham Junction, and I remember taking trips to photograph the Crystal Palace which is only a few miles away. Loved the Victorian feeling of the place, although at the time I thought it was a bit unkept. However, the area was really nice to photograph, especially in the spring and summer. Also, one of my usual routes was to take the tube down to Angel, then just walk to Camden Market. Great photography route, and in the summer the Regent's Canal with its ironworks was a great sight to photograph.

Thanks, Julian. I'm glad they triggered a few memories for you.
Crystal Palace, like many other places in the south and south east of London, is slowly sprucing itself up. You may be amused to know that rumour has it newcomers to Clapham Junction like it pronounced Cla'hm. How true this is I don't know.
Camden Market, Camden Lock and the Regent's Canal are still great areas to wander around. However, now that street photography appears to have become the in thing it is sometimes difficult not to include another photographer or two in shot. The South Bank, an old favourite of mine, has become the same in this respect.

 

[Julian Tanase]

Old stuff from the 90s, Camden places, when life was a bit, well, more lifey OM1 with Kodak film of some type, don't remember.

Re Clapham, I have heard an East Ender saying it like Clap'm, sort of a muted "p" ...

 

[Peter Roberts]

Old stuff from the 90s, Camden places, when life was a bit, well, more lifey OM1 with Kodak film of some type, don't remember.

Re Clapham, I have heard an East Ender saying it like Clap'm, sort of a muted "p" ...

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Great stuff, Julian. It's all a bit changed now.

If we're playing the photos from the archive game. Here's one of the South Bank in 1973! Taken with a Halina Paulette, which was my first 35mm camera. I wonder how many photographers of a certain age remember them? The film would have been Agfa CT18.



On the other hand, if you want Victorian ironwork, here's the Coal Jetty in Greenwich taken far more recently. Minolta XG1 / Rokkor 28mm f3.5 / Foma 100 / Rodinal.

 

[Julian Tanase]

Those are really beautiful images, Peter !! I especially like the vibes of the second one here, you really nailed it !

 

[Gianluca Drago]

If we're playing the photos from the archive game. Here's one of the South Bank in 1973!

Wow! I really like these two photos, and particularly the first one I can't say why. Maybe because I like colors more than B&W, or because I enjoy this retro-game, but mainly because I just like it.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

This has been a really enjoyable thread to read through, and I love all the images. Thanks to all the contributors.