One place that has fascinated me for years is a little corner of London’s Hyde Park. Speakers Corner is situated on the north eastern side of the park, up near Marble Arch. It is a place intended for open air public speaking, debate and discussion, but these days there seems to be a lack of real debate. Instead, it seems to be replaced by certain colourful characters, spouting off who’s god is better.

What draws me to Speakers Corner is it’s a haven for photography. It’s a place I can go and practice my photos skills, whilst watching peoples body languages as they interact with each other.

If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough. – Robert Capa.  Which is a very true statement, and at Speakers Corner you have the ability to get up close to your subject, I mean, really close without them even noticing you, as they are to engaged in their causes and beliefs.

If you are interested in documentary or street photography and feel a little intimidated, shy or getting caught pointing a camera at a stranger, then Speakers Corner is a great place to practice. Give it a go, you might surprise yourself.

I have been lucky enough to ‘join in’ on a fair few in my photographing life, whether I stumbled upon them accidentally as I wonder the streets or making a point of being there to capture the days events as they unfold.

The Occupation Of Palestine – 2009

C.N.D Protest – 2006

Mayday 2010

This won’t be the last time I live in this buzzing metropolis, I can guaranty that. But for now I give you London, through the eyes of The Random.

Part 1
Chaos Movement

A couple of years ago my weight wasn’t the only thing shooting up in London. Thanks to TFL for hiking the price up to ridiculous level for public transport, it was becoming a costly commute to work. I’ve never really enjoyed the gym and I really needed to crawl myself out of debt once and for all. So I decided to take the plunge and take up riding a bike. And it’s one of the bests things that could of happen to me.

These days, riding a bike feels a big part of my life, as much as travelling and photography. I get an incredible buzz zooming around my city, darting in and out of the traffic, passing frustrated drivers stuck in queues and jams with angry looks upon their faces. I can get from A to B via Z faster than using any public transport, and at the fraction of the cost. Now, my favourite part of my working life is the ride to and from work. I’m not sure why I didn’t do this before, I could of save myself a small fortune.

Critical Mass
Critical Mass happens on the last Friday of the month in over 300 cities around the world. A mass bike ride which lasts for a few hours, with the aim to take the streets back from all the motorised vehicles and celebrate the bicycle. People come to the mass for different reason, green issues, showing off their fixies or just simply have fun and ride with friends in a safe traffic free environment.

I have been on the past 6 rides and I’m hooked, If you have a bike come a join in, it’s one of the best things you can do in London for free. I promise you’ll have a great time. Links to info at the bottom of this post

This months Critical Mass I was without my partner in crime, Stu. So instead I thought I’d dust down the camcorder and make a little film of the ride. Enjoy.

Critical Mass – London June 2010 from Sam Smith on Vimeo.

Click for large

Links to information about the Critical Mass.
criticalmasslondon.org.uk/
wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass

Click for detail.

The protest I attended had far fewer people attending than the previous weeks, with about three thousand people marching their way from Hyde Park through the streets of Mayfair and on to the Israeli Embassy. The protest itself was certainly very vocal, passionate and at certain points felt like it was turning aggressive, as hoods were pull over heads and shemagh’s covering the faces of young men, hoping not to be recorded by the police photographers that seemed to be strategically placed at many of the junction along the root. The marched was heavily flanked by an army of  police officers who weren’t taking any chances of the repeat of earlier protests.  Armed with my Leica M6 I joined the march, ducking and diving between the protesters quickly capturing anything that stood out. These photos are a small selection from that day.

I was beginning to give up seeing the sun again until today. I was firmly tucked up in bed with my ear poking out from under the covers, listening out for the rain tapping at my window and the gusts of moaning wind that get caught between my house and my neighbours. But today seemed different, I peered out of my covers half expecting to be blasted by the cold air whilst watching the penguins and Polar bears make their escape out of my room to warmer climates, instead I observed bright sunlight breaking through the gaps of my curtains, beaming it’s blinding rays on to the wall opposite. Taking a deep breath and lifting the curtain up, I was greeted by white fluffy clouds floating on the river of light blue sky. Could this be what we have all been praying for? Can we safely lock this angry winter up once and for all?

So follow me in raising your two fingers at the morbid skies and tell that Winter it can stick it’s low pressured into it’s cold front, because from today we have a date with the sun and Mr blue sky. Lazy picnics in the parks & day trips to Brighton will be here very soon. You’ll soon be cycling those empty city streets every Sunday with a grin from ear to ear, and lets not forget those long hazy nights spent in beer gardens of your favourite hipster/media tosser gastropub . Hallelujah.
Whether it’s carnival, the festivals season and yes, even The World Cup (Yawn), it’s all coming to a Great Britain near you. The wait is over, spring is here, so that can only mean two things. Girls in short skirts and low tops. Yes, but no. I mean, sunshine and happy(ish) Londoners worshipping the almighty ball of yellow. So, dust off and slide uncomfortably in to those union jack shorts, expose your pale body parts and raise that ice cold glass of cider you have been saving for those hazy days and steamy nights ahead of us…. Summer is on it’s way.

Shot on my Holga: Londoners: 2009

Roy Ayers: Everyone Loves The Sunshine
Purchase from iTunes

Wow, time has flown by and can only mean one thing, I’m getting old.
As I did a review of the first 6 months, I thought it would be rude not to follow it up with the last 6 months of the year. So here we go.

I guess we start off back July, after I caught Swine Flu and Crispin’s wedding.
The birth of my new camera system, The Olympus EP-1. I love this camera, but I’m afraid it doesn’t look as pretty now, with all the dents and scratches that it has acquired in the past 6 months.

I walked 192miles across my fair country, on the epic Coast to Coast path devised by the late Alfred (glutton for punishment) Wainwright. I managed to raise £1000 for Cancer Reseach UK as well. You can find out how I got on, here.

My trip to Alaska had to be three of the most incredible weeks of my life.

Wild camping with new and old friends.

We saw bears and Guy shit himself.

A Killer whale swam around our little boat. “We’re gonna need a bigger boat”

Chatted up by M.I.L.F’s

Grew a beard and tried to look Alaskan drifter.

and saw some of the most oar inspiring views I have ever seen.

Met up with my old friend, the clunge magnet that is Chad. Top boyo.

Met up with a couple of my favourite Tweeps (Twitter People) – Pam. She showed us around her most excellent city of Minneapolis.

And Bournemouth finest – Lisa & Phil. I’m gutted that I couldn’t meet up with Laura, next time.

Got a camera phone? Get a Polaroid Pogo printer. I love mine, It’s the printer everyone is talking about. My review can be found here.

I shit my pants watching Paranormal Activity on Halloween with Guy & Stu. Great film.

At last, I got to watch one of my favourite bands performed live, The Cinematic Orchestra live at the Camden Roundhouse. They were more incredible live than I could ever imagine.

The Random Photographer had a record number of visitors in November. I’ve have also created a Random Photographer ‘Fan Page’ on Facebook and my own line of T-Shirts. I’m branching out, these days.

Addicted to yet another social websites, Foursquare. Watch this one, it’s going to be big for 2010.

I started making a time lapse film about London. It should be finished in middle 2010. The soundtrack is being produced by my good friend – The Citizen.

This is a test film.

My niece Molly turned one, and I became a Godfather.

The best restaurant I’ve found in London for a while – Wahaca.

A new pub I rather am taken with – The Punch Bowl.
It’s Guy Ritches own pub, located in the heart of Mayfair, so you would think it would be a rather pretentious place, pulling in the tourists and fame seekers. But it’s not, it’s a quiet & pleasant little London pub. And with that, I salute it’s charms.

My love affair with Speakers corner continues.

Mr Stu and I start our Sunday bike riding club. Basically, it’s us cycling 30 miles to find a pub, eat a roast and drink a cider before heading home a little slower.

View Larger Map

The next big trend of 2010: Naming your Wireless router an amusing name for your neighbours to find.

Thanks to me and my random friends, London had it’s first Snuggie pub crawl.

And we end this year with one of the best New Years Eve’s in a long time. Mersea meet London, well you’re just asking for trouble.

What’s in store for 2010? Who knows, but you can count on me, it’s going to get more Random. Keep it Random for 2010.

I wanted to achieve the chaos and mayhem of the daily commute that we face as Londoners. This is an ongoing project which I hope to have many more photos to show you. Enjoy.

This set was taken back in 2006 when I was experimenting with a Zero Image wooden box pinhole camera.
I had forgotten how much I love everything to do with pinhole photography and these images make me want to buy another pinhole camera.

Soft, dreamy & simply beautiful….. enjoy.

The Embassy – Kensal Green

Old Oyster Shed – Mersea Island

The Hard – Mersea Island

Old Timer – Mersea Island