Sundays are full of surprises.
Barbican
Not only because Sundays are particularly eventful when I go to church, but (ironically) also because when Sunday afternoons become uneventful my mind decides to wander around.
On a particularly recent Sunday, I tried to go on a trainspotting tour in Southeast London, only to realise that the Overground was closed. This is pretty funny considering that being a train enthusiast myself I completely overlooked such a common recurring event.
So because of TfL’s (somewhat expected) recurring “Sabbaths”, I decided to head back into the city centre, as I would have to catch a coach a couple hours later anyway
Peculiarly, I ended up at The Barbican Estate, a complex of residential units, the Guildhall and several art centres or museums, situated in the City of London. I think this place must have popped into my mind after watching Jago Hazzard’s video about the Barbican’s brutalist architecture.
Whether it is a masterpiece or an exhibit of the 60’s hideous Soviet-inspired design practices remains a topic of debate, but what strikes me the most about the Barbican Estate is its atmosphere which reminds me of Hong Kong.
This might be the red tiles or the landscaped podiums and walkways talking, or it might just be the fact that I hardly see such a harmonious blend of recreational and residential land-use in any place beyond Hong Kong. I would say this resembles Shatin or Tuen Mun, which immediately makes me picture a red-tiled podium surrounded by a red-bricked city hall, a red-tiled library and a very vibrant new-town population leisurely strolling on a Sunday afternoon.
Interestingly it also reminds me of Rondo Alla Turca or Themes and Variations of Andante Grazioso or some other famous piano piece by Mozart that was constantly being played in the background of LCSD library or city hall lobbies. Maybe its the atmosphere of people being constantly on the move that reminds me of Hong Kong. Or maybe it’s because I’ve been watching a couple McDull cartoons recently.
Somehow my impression of my hometown has very much stagnated in my formative childhood years.
This might be the red tiles or the landscaped podiums and walkways talking, or it might just be the fact that I hardly see such a harmonious blend of recreational and residential land-use in any place beyond Hong Kong. I would say this resembles Shatin or Tuen Mun, which immediately makes me picture a red-tiled podium surrounded by a red-bricked city hall, a red-tiled library and a very vibrant new-town population leisurely strolling on a Sunday afternoon.
Interestingly it also reminds me of Rondo Alla Turca or Themes and Variations of Andante Grazioso or some other famous piano piece by Mozart that was constantly being played in the background of LCSD library or city hall lobbies. Maybe its the atmosphere of people being constantly on the move that reminds me of Hong Kong. Or maybe it’s because I’ve been watching a couple McDull cartoons recently.
Somehow my impression of my hometown has very much stagnated in my formative childhood years.
Anyways, why is this story boringly called “Shot on iPhone*” you ask? Well obviously all these shots were taken on my iPhone, which comprises of a camera I rarely come to appreciate. In fact, several weeks into using the phone did I realise that the second camera on my iPhone is an ultrawide rather than telephoto.
I was slightly bummed as I loved shooting using telephoto on my old iPhone, even though it was technically (and very apparently) an inferior camera compared to its main counterpart. While I wouldn’t say I have an inextinguishable passion in photography, I would say that I have taken lots of photos to have developed an informed opinion; a “normal” (24/28/35mm) lens gives “normal” but boring perspectives, a “telephoto” (50/75mm) tells immersive stories, and an ultrawide lens is a niche accessory that mostly sits in a dustproof box collecting dust.
An ultrawide is an extremely valuable tool for architectural photography, and in fact I’ve used my iPhone ultrawide for a couple shots when strolling around the Barbican. However it doesn’t seem to produce photos that fit in to this post, considering that most of the shots up until this point are cropped into squares. A couple of hawk-eyed readers might even start noticing the fisheye distortions and blurry imperfections towards the corners of the photos, which is especially troubling when passerby’s and humans are an important part of the formula when doing street photography.
Speaking of square photos, there is a certain allure for square photos which makes it an excellent candidate for street photography. I think it is its ability to exhibit confined perspectives and present simple geometries in a pleasing and cohesive manner. For example, with square photos, I find it easier to make the diagonals meet the photo’s corners or to compose with balanced symmetries.
That said, I might be a hypocrite anyway, as all these photos were originally shot in 4:3. In my defense, making the best use of the entire sensor always the most sense for post-processing.
Nevertheless, a square photo’s capability to convey simple geometries is also perhaps its own enemy. In particular, the image can look very unpleasing when parallel lines do not align, or when horizontals and verticals do not align with the photograph borders.
It might not come as a surprise that the colors of these photos have been edited. Afterall, skies on iPhone shots always look a bit too blue, and not every day is a magical day at Disneyland resort. It might however annoy you to learn that many of these photos have been horizontally and vertically warped to make the parallel and perpendicular geometries pleasing to the eye.
And this is why this post is called “Shot on iPhone*” with a huge asterisk*. You would be able to do the same shoot at the same location your iPhone, but you wouldn’t be able to achieve what you see in the post merely with an iPhone’s built-in photo editor.
On a completely different topic, as I leave I scurry by a still-unopened Purple Line/ Elizabeth Line/ Crossrail station. The purple roundel certainly looks very much in place alongside the colorful decor panels of the buildings, but disappointedly this does not change the fact that I have to wait till 24th May for its opening!
And finally as the time uncomfortably ticks towards the departure for my coach to Leicester, I end my journey at Mansion House.
For those of you who have somehow made your way towards the end, thank you. And thank you to the peculiar man at the stall who photo bombed my mirror selfie!