Emerging from a tunnel under Islington, the Regent’s canal begins its journey through Shoreditch. The canal is wide with a spacious towpath. Many runners and pedestrians take advantage of the scenic waterway as it passes through the east of London. There are many narrowboats along the way each with their interesting names and individual colours.
Several roads pass over the canal allowing views up and down the waterway. Iron arched bridges spanning the canal, rumble as commuter trains pass over them. Old industrial buildings sit on either side of the canal and many are converted to city living whilst others wait for progress to overtake them. There are cafes, pubs and restaurants with people sitting at outside tables taking advantage of the mild spring weather. Along the way there are small recesses around the bridges that have been made into communal gardens. I particularly liked the bird boxes put up on the canal bridge wall. For the photographer there are lines, reflections and opportunities for street photography. The buildings offer a range of architectural styles and the boats often spring surprises with the way that people have either painted them or the objects that they have collected on their travels.
Yellow was a theme of my walk. I just seemed to find lots of yellow objects as you will see. They were either single, in twos or multiple!
My walk started at the Colebrooke Row entrance in Islington and finished at Queensbrooke Road turning around to go back to the A10. There were so many pictures and here is a final finish to my pictures featuring one or two of the eating establishments on this stretch of the canal.
This is just one of many photographic walks that I have taken on the Regent’s canal in London. I have mapped different sections of the canal as it leaves Paddington basin on its long journey across north London to Lime House Basin. There are many parts still to discover whilst revisiting those that have already been photographed. I have added some further links below and I wish to thank Peter Thompson for showing me this part of the canal. Please visit Peter’s Website for some amazing travel photography.
The Printworks on Fazeley street was the venue for this year’s High Vis festival. The event celebrated 50 years of HipHop bringing together Birmingham’s street artists and dancers. I went along on the Saturday afternoon and many of the street artists were nearing the completion of their street art. Printworks is on the other side of the railway bridge to HS2 and several artists were working underneath the bridge at the junction of New Canal street and Fazeley street. Security personnel from HS2 were present and a little bemused by what was taking place. The festival people were friendly and in good form chatting about the artwork and catching up with friends, some of whom were heading off to Birmingham City’s first home match of the season. The street outside the Printworks was traffic free thanks to the HS2 works although many of the signs were caught up in paint spray.
As with any street art, the colours are vibrant and the artwork eye catching. Inside the yard there was a large grinning face of Tempo33 looking down on the street art. Centre place was a caravan that was getting the Spray-paint treatment. The walls inside the yard were taken up with different artwork. Inside the building there was constant supply of HipHop music with dancers displaying their different skills. If there are any credits missing then please let me know via my socials. I have added (*) where I am unsure of artists.
All this activity was excellent for photography purposes and my Fujifilm x100v was put to good use. Outside the camera was on aperture priority with the colour balance set at daylight. For the hip hop dancing, I went for high ISO, f/5.6 and shutter speed 1/500. The dancers were fun to capture, with the freeze frame pictures. Their expressions tell so many stories.
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023 was on my radar when it was first announced earlier this year. Having photographed the street art in Digbeth, I have ventured further afield to Bristol and Leamington Spa to look at their street art. The Paint Festival in Cheltenham has a reputation of being well organised and attracting some of the top street artists from home and abroad. The festival director and artist Andy Dice Davies (aka dice67) had produced an audio map for the phone. I downloaded the interactive map and whilst there was a bit of a learning element on how to use the software, I found it very useful. I would love it if there was a narrative that I could listen to as a continuous streaming or even a podcast of the event. Still the interactive map was very good and I have used the app for reference for this blog.
North Place Car Park
Not knowing the geography of Cheltenham, I did my homework. I found on arriving that the town has NCP car parks and I needed their app to get a good rate of parking. I parked centrally and made my way to North Place Car Park. Many street artists were painting on the surrounding walls and the place was a hive of activity. There were many photographic opportunities as I walked around the walls. I struck up a conversation with one of the artists @mycutecreatures. Her work was only just being started but it was possible to see the design that was planned. I find it fascinating how the artwork develops as the artist is painting during the day. I moved down along the walls where other artists were working away. The murals were on different themes, with different images and most of all differed in colours and content. Certainly a feast for the eyes.
Holiday Inn
Next stop was the Holiday Inn to see both last year’s mural and the progress on this year’s wall. Last year’s mural is amazing whilst the present mural is facing towards the town. When taking pictures of the street murals, I always look to take a different picture and seeing the mural, I lined up the traffic lights with the face. This made for an interesting picture. Curtis Hylton painted the pea hen for a previous festival whilst the uncompleted work in my picture is by Epod3000. Check his Insta account to see the finished painting.
Previous Festivals Artwork
There are so many murals to visit, and I went to several places to find street art that had been completed during previous festivals. As you see from the set of pictures each mural tells a story. I visited on the Saturday and several works are incomplete. This just means that I will have to revisit at a later date! This blog provides a real time account of how the festival was taking place.
Whilst I was in the area around the Holiday Inn, I met Stephen Gledhill, a street art blogger, who runs the Natural Adventures blog. This covers street art up and down the UK. Stephen was looking at the stencil done by the Street Artist Pogo Stencils UK. Stephen explained that this artwork was a wonderful example of complex multi-layer stencils. There is good attention to detail, and it is possible on close inspection to identify the layers. I love the explanations to paintings in art galleries and was indebted to Stephen for taking me through the Street art. I took a picture of Stephen next to the street art that was painted at a previous Cheltenham Art Festival.
Frog and Fiddle
Stephen recommended visiting the Frog and Fiddle which turned out to be a real gem of a pub. Ordering myself a drink, the bartender gave me some of the background to the place and gave me permission to wander around. I went upstairs where there is another example of the stencil work of Pogo. The positioning of the partial face against the windows adds a haunting feel to the pool tables. At the back of the pub, @Dice67 has painted a portrait of Jet Black, the Strangler’s drummer who is sadly no longer with us. There were other street artists at work in this area and were happy to chat about their work. This festival does provide a buzz to the town.
Leaving the Frog and Fiddle, I walked up the high street taking some detours to see previous festival work by @Zabouartist and work in progress on a new mural by @liambononi. The latter artwork was above an entrance to a factory. The artist was painting on a motorised platform with air filter protection. The tools of the trade. Having marvelled at the artwork I returned to the path down the high street and came into the Church yard of Cheltenham Minster, St Mary’s. My destination was the Two Pigs pub, the HQ of the Cheltenham Paint Festival.
The Two Pigs
The pub was busy and had many artists working both in the back yard of the pub and inside. Many of the painters took time out to chat about their work and most were happy to have their photograph taken for my blog.
More Street Art
The festival experience is remarkable in that the murals have become an interlinked feature of the town. I passed beautiful streets filled with examples of Regency architecture. I walked around the Royal Crescent and then into the streets behind. Here tucked away in a car park are the Bayshill walls where there were examples of artwork from previous festivals.
Agg Pavillion
Using Andy’s interactive map on my phone, I retraced my steps through an alley way to the Bottle of Sauce pub and Dodo establishments. I walked through the St Paul’s area, where the houses are predominantly white with some splashes of colour. My aim was to view an iconic piece of work by the street artist @whoamIrony. However, I went too far and found myself in Pittville Park. Here I discovered street artists painting on the Agg Pavilion. There were 5 artists at work, and I was pleased to meet @Titlegraffiti. I recognised his work at once having come across his work in Digbeth, Birmingham. My personal favourite was the intricate work being done by @faye.rai who explained that she was painting in a similar manner to a watercolour. Other street art at the pavilion included the painting of a Barbie doll on its side by @katiescott_creative. There were others there and I am hoping readers will fill in the artist blanks for me.
I did get to see the iconic wolf moon mural by Irony on the way back.
There were also some other artwork on the streets which were fun to photograph. I went back to the car park and came across @ n_4_t_4 with his colourful mural of a bird. I introduced myself to Nathan and he took time out to talk to me about his work. He is a well-respected street artist and this was one of my highlights in my travels around the festival. Around the corner @mycutecreatures was finishing her mural and several others were nearing completion. Members of the public were admiring the street art.
Homeward bound
By now I was ready for home, I realised looking through Andy’s map that I had missed several other large projects such as buildings and carparks. Therefore, I will have to come back to Cheltenham and see the street art that I had missed and take pictures of those that were in progress. I did pick up on Instagram what was happening elsewhere and there is a good record on many Insta micro-blogging sites.
If you want to follow some excellent street art photography, then Max Johnson @Moxsblag is a must. Her documentation of the artists is first class and very detailed. Another insta blogger is @Streetartuk2023. Again, nice photography and documentation.
Many thanks both to Andy for organising the festival and all those artists that allowed me to take photographs of their work. I hope that I have got all the credits right and apologise if there are mistakes. I am happy to amend when I have the necessary information. Please contact me via this website or @dammodammo if there is anything that I need to correct. The featured image at beginning of this blog was by @sam_art_34. BBC Gloucestershire did a feature on the return of the event prior to the festival.
Camera use for all pictures was with my Fujifilm x100v except for a couple of iPhone pics. The x100v was on aperture control and colour balance daylight. For the artists out there, I was the guy in the hat wandering around with the silver retro camera.
If you enjoyed this blog then here are my Street art walks around Digbeth, Leamington Spa and Bristol.
I enjoy a photographic walk with my Fujifilm x100v camera around the streets of Birmingham. The early hours are best when few people are around and about. This series of photographs begins at Eastside where the HS2 works are taking place. Digbeth was next and I returned to Birmingham along the canal exiting again near to the HS2 works.
What is there to tell you about my walk? No surprises, as building in Birmingham has not finished and HS2 is still digging and putting up barriers. I took a few pictures and was interested to see BBC midlands covering the HS2 disruption in the evening news. Why is HS2 taking so long and why is there so much disruption? I do get upset with the blasé way they are undertaking the HS2 works. I am sure it will look wonderful when finished but is it worth the upheaval and time taken. The latest BBC item puts HS2 under the spotlight.
Digbeth was quiet for a Monday morning and since the pandemic there is less footfall during business hours. The nightlife is always busy but there is a definite change in activity during the day. My next observation is the encroachment of high rise living around Digbeth and the loss of character with the demolition and neglect of buildings.
There are several brownfield sites around the area that will become large skyscrapers. Other signs of change include the former Typhoo tea building which is starting to see activity around the relocation of the BBC to the building. Change may not always be positive and one of my pictures is outside what was the DigBrew entrance. Sadly this excellent brewery has ceased trading and artwork from the street artist Tempo33 marks the spot.
There is much chaotic colour around the streets of Digbeth and the morning sun brings out the light and shadows. The canalside is another area in Digbeth that is changing with several buildings undergoing renovation. How this change will progress will be interesting to document in future months.
My final picture was taken on my iPhone as I went past the Selfridges building. I went low and framed the iconic discs in the background. I was in luck as a woman walked past although she was confused by what I was doing. The picture turned out well but was also a reminder not to attract undue attention during my street photography.
Returning to the HS2 theme then there are more stories about the construction on my blog. I have been documenting 16 acre wood and the damage caused by HS2 around Balsall Common since 2020. Here is my account of this part of the HS2.
There is a tunnel in Utrecht that leads from the Ganzenmarkt to the Oudegracht wharves. I discovered the tunnel by chance after a late night in the town as part of the conference dinner. Walking back to my hotel, I passed by the restaurants and the bars. My eye caught a flashing light and I looked over the railing and saw colourful lights radiating out of a tunnel close to the canal. I walked down and found this colourful psychedelic tunnel. The lighting of the tunnel kept changing and there were three people dancing in what looked like a trance. They were oblivious to my presence and so I took some pictures and then headed home.
The next morning I retraced my steps to the tunnel. The location is a photographer’s dream site for pictures especially as the colourful lights are constantly changing on a regular cycle. The street art is colourful and the illumination provides a changing backdrop. I asked a colleague to return with me so that I could place him at the entrance then use his silhouette to provide a focus to the pictures. Enjoy the result. Sorry if it is somewhat self-indulgent but it was such a great place to photograph.
Figure at the end of a green tunnel.Lost in colour.Street Art in the tunnel.Artistic detail.Get down low.
I had the opportunity to take pictures during a recent visit to the streets and canals of Utrecht
Utrecht in the Netherlands was the base for the Ultrasonics Industry Association conference. My research group were presenting at the international conference and I was there to support their activities. We stayed in the Karel V hotel which has a picturesque view of the adjacent canal. There were many opportunities in the early morning or during conference breaks to explore the streets and canals. This Dutch city is very photogenic and I had brought along my Fujifilm x100v to accompany my iPhone13 for the photographs. For the readers of this blog, I will just show a selection of the many pictures that I took during my short stay. At the end of the blog, I have provided some links to Utrecht which provide ideas for your travel to this ever-surprising city.
Early morning in Utrecht.Another early morning view.Canal reflections.A nod to Greek architecture.Flowers, bikes and the canals.Canal scene in black and white.WindmillReal and unreal.Reflections.StreetlifeThe train station.More canal scenes in UtrechtThe Utrechts Conservatorium and part of the Utrecht School of the ArtsBiking over the canals of Utrecht.The holocaust memorial to people murdered in Utrecht during WWII.
So many pictures of this city and here are some more from both iPhone and camera.
“Walking after you” is a line from an old CCS song called Walking that was released in 1971. The band CCS was led by Alexis Korner and was my introduction into blues music. The song mirrors my photography as I walk along the streets of Digbeth. Arriving early on a January morning before 8am, the street lights were still on in Floodgate street and there were not many distracting cars around. I quickly got out and started taking pictures. In my excitement, I did not get the right focus on my Fujifilm x100v but my iPhone came to the rescue. The opening picture caught the reflections in a large puddle formed from the overnight rain. This is a classic view of Floodgate Street and one that fortuitously worked very well. It did not need much processing and the cropping was critical to remove lettering and stray reflections.
Gibb St provides many photographic opportunities plus reflectionshots.
Having parked my car in Selfridges multi story, I wandered back to Digbeth as I had time before my morning appointment in town. I used my x100v exclusively for the majority of the pictures. The streets were shiny as the rain had been heavy the previous morning. Puddles were grouped along Gibb Street and Floodgate Street providing more photographic opportunities. My visit included a wander to the edge of Deritend to see the sunrise and then back down Upper Trinity Street which completed my trip around of the area.
Mind where you park
Constant change is synominous with the area. Shops have changed hands, new restaurants and night clubs have sprung up. There is new Street Art and old graffiti has to survive the constant mindless tagging that takes place. Around there are new building projects and Digbeth High Street is still scarred with tram works although one lane is open for traffic.
Street Art, arches, lamposts and people, all add to the photographic mix.
For street photographers, there is a constant stream of scenes forming in front of your eyes and most of the inhabitants seem resigned to being photographed as it goes hand in hand with living in such a creative district. Walking after you is my theme and we have several people set against the backdrop of the Digbeth buildings. There are also pictures of the latest street art on the different buildings. The street mural highlighting Parkinson’s disease was previously advertising Peaky Blinders. This wall next to the High Street has become a sought after location.
Parkinson’s Disease Mural.
There are more pictures below taken during my visit to Digbeth. At the end, I have put links to several of my past Digbeth blogs for further reading.
Another view of Floodgate Street with the Floodgate on the left.The link entrance to the Custard FactoryMiddle of the RoadCareful who you walk past.Walking past the Floodgate.
.
Welcome to Digbeth
Looking back through my blog, I found that I have an extensive collection of pictures that feature Digbeth. This includes a few more pictures of Floodgate St and Gibb St as well. Please feel free to browse through my pages and comment on what you see and read.
The High Vis festival this year was at the Tea Works on Canal street. The wide open setting allowed for a range of Graffiti artists to ply their trade on the surrounding walls. I went to the festival with my family on the Saturday afternoon.
In ProgressDetailsAnnatomix at workPenguinFinal touchesColourful
The street art painters were in good form as well, with many ready to chat with you and let you know what they were painting. All the walls were in action and several artists were already working when we arrived. Seeing Annatomix painting was a bonus. The family were keen to get back to the shops and I only discovered her working on her scorpion design on the way out. There were many different art works on display but due to timing, most of them were works in progress. I will go back later in the week to check out the finished artwork. Stay tuned. The queues for the children’s art painting were slow moving and we did not get a chance for the grandchildren to try out some painting. There was just a high demand in that area and we will be ready for next year.
Redbull gapTaking offMind the gapTake a lookWatch out skaters aboutThe rail
We loved the skate boarding and the energy around the place. The skate boarders were excellent and there was the opportunity to get up close and see them in action. There was a gap which the skaters jumped over before turning around on the ramp. All the skaters negotiated the RedBull Road gap successfully and there was also a rail to skate along as well. The boarders are very skilful and also fun to photograph.The High Vis event is organised by Graffiti Artist and I am already looking forward to the next event in 2023.
Tea WorksDiscussing techniquesTea WorksResident DJPenguinPlanning the next stepsDiscussions
Just off Sky Blue Way next to a street called Far Gosford, there is a trendy village called Fargo. The area is an up and coming part of Coventry and it is the place where a craft market is held at the weekends. I first heard about the FarGo market when I went along to meet my daughters there.
What a cool robot!The variety of stalls in Fargo Market.Iconic design and colours.
My youngest daughter was helping her friend Gemma on a stall. Gemma is an excellent baker and she is the owner of Love Lane Brownies. If you are a lover of brownies then I would recommend the blondie version, so a visit to her stall is a must. The FarGo craft market is a busy friendly place and I took the opportunity to buy some of the produce there. My main purchase was a locally produced Gin from the Warwickshire Gin company. I did not forget to buy my Love Lane Brownies although most of them had already been brought by an appreciative public.
There is some great street art at FargoSomething for everyone
I enjoyed my visit to the FarGo market as there was much to see. The market is decorated by colourful graffiti from well known local artists and there is a rather cool looking robot ready to great you in the front yard. There is a riot of colour on the walls which I have captured with my camera. There is a pleasant atmosphere to the place and if you are looking for a different style of gift then the market will not disappoint. If you are interested in craft markets and produce with some spare time on your hands then I do recommend FarGo market. Enjoy the photographs and hope to see you at there as well the next time I visit.
Market going wellThe street art of FargoLady Godiva rulesLove the colours on this car
I just love taking pictures of street art around the West Midlands. As a companion piece to my photographic walk around Royal Leamington Spa, this is a detailed look at the street art around the Grand Union Canal area. There are several wall murals that are worth highlighting and many are curated by the Brink Street Art group. Each is interesting and whilst I know some of the artists, the vast majority I am unsure about. I have put down the Instagram link to Brink Street Art Group if you wish to find out more about these images. I will update the blog to give the recognition to the artist and their mural so please contact me. If you are visiting Leamington Spa, then they are worth a visit to see.
Those eyes!The pen is mightier….Almost Neon light eyesCheese, cat and a mouse. @JulesMuck
BalancingAcross the canal.A pair of eyes.Crow in the moonlight.The beauty of swans.Colourful street art by N4t4
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