Asking A Stranger Twice

One of the things I wanted to be achieve from this project, was to build up a bit of confidence in asking people if I could take their picture - well this week I asked two people and neither objected. Hooray. It was more a case of them happening to be in the picture rather than them being the picture, but I still  felt the need to ask, and had the confidence to do so.

I again decided to start my journey home from Moorgate and fill in a few of the streets around there. First up was Circus Place, which is just off London Wall and leads onto Finsbury Circus. This is the second time I have tried to get good shots of these two places and failed. Circus Place is a short street with not a lot on it, so this shot will have to do, but I will try again at Finsbury Circus another day.

Directly behind Moorgate is Moorfields. There is a lot of development near the station at the moment, and I spotted this construction worker in the closed up shop window; I was drawn to the colour of his gear matching that of the writing in the window.. He was my fist success, when asking if he minded me taking his picture,

At the north end of Moorfields is Ropemaker Street. The following picture is from under the porch of the CityPoint building, built in 1967 and renovated in 2000.

Further down Ropemaker street at the junction with Moor Lane and Milton Court, I took the following picture - nobody quite walked where I wanted them to, perhaps they thought they were getting in my picture.

Milton Court, is I think, a new street, houses a new building for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but that isn't what I photographed (though perhaps should have). Instead, I liked the reflections of the building seen here, and this lady was the second persons whom I asked if I could take her picture. She was very obliging and I told her a little about this project. The building in the reflection, is I believe the new Guildhall school of Music and Drama building mentioned above.

Round the corner is Moor Lane.

Still on Moor Lane, or at least above,  we come to the of the Barbican Centre and Willoughby Highwalk. I think there may be a lot of walkways in the Barbican, which probably don't count as as streets as such, but do count according to my definition given in an earlier post. I think it will be very interesting to explore the Barbican, so hope to include if further in the future.

Making up for lost time

After two days of tube strikes I was keen to make up for lost time, and cross a few streets off the map. Starting off is St. Mary Axe and the Gherkin. The Gherkin is on the site formerly occupied by the Baltic Exchange, which suffered extensive damage from a IRA bomb in 1992. After years of sitting derelict due to planning issues, the site was redeveloped and the Gherkin opened in 2004. I used to work directly opposite, at number 33,  and watched the construction progress; I also remember the whole office vibrating all day long during the excavation of the foundations. Soon to move away from the site, are the three dinosaurs named the "The good, the bad and the ugly" by the Chapman Brothers, one of which is seen below.

On the other side of the Gherkin is Bury Street.

Just off Bury Street is Cunard Place, which is a smallish lane leading to Leadenhall, with not much to photograph. The picture below shows the trading floor of the ACE group, a multi-national insurance group.

There are a few small alleys that link Leadenhall to Fenchurch Street, one of which is Fenchurch Buildings.

At the end of the the alley above, is a tiny passage which leads through to the road below, which is still Fenchurch Buildings.

There is probably more obvious images to take on Fenchurch Street, such as the "Walkie-Talkie" building, but as I came onto Fenchurch Street I was immediately struck by the tree through the arch in the picture below. I tried to get some symmetry in the people walking past, but didn't quite manage it.

The building inside the arch, seen below, is occupied by Lloyd's Register Group.

Next door to No.71 is small alley called St. Katherine's row.

This leads to the strangely named French Ordinary Court, a narrow passageway below the platforms of Fenchurch Street Station which then opens out into a much bigger space (relatively anyway). The name comes from a probably French place of eating and "Ordinary" would have referred to the fact that all the items on the menu would have been the same price.

My final stop on this particular walk was to Fenchurch Place, home to Fenchurch Street Station.

On the way to the tube after work,I managed to get one shot in the pouring rain, on my way to Moorgate; the side of a restaurant on Wilson Street.