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Pavement Pictures

39 images Created 16 Mar 2011

A gallery of thematic coincidences carefully edited sequences of street incidents.

Using colour, circumstance and form as threads. They originate from the early 90s to the present and include the workman; dogs; faces; mannequins; backdrops; seasides; spillages.

Returning from aviation projects (Red Arrows, 2005) I have been drawn again into public places, spurred on after reports of farcical incidents when tourists were suspected of terrorist surveillance.

It's hugely exciting (and overwhelming) to venture from home and take street pictures. But while it is an exercise of unconstrained, spontaneous possibilities there can be no better examples of wasted days when walking pavements yields nothing but sore feet. People and landscapes are fickle and it's also easy to become paranoid at what one might miss simply by looking say, a few degrees to the left, mere feet from where the most magical moment has occurred.

While I prefer to seek the overly complex and complicated I tend to find the minimal and simple; the poignant and quietly incongruous. This isn't so much an annoyance as a surprise to me that I come home with twos and threes of people and objects rather than multiples. Outs become stock, laden with suggestive conceptual keywords: Worry; nerves; suspicion; tension; romance and oddity.

I would urge the viewer to see this gallery as a slideshow in full-screen mode and to watch until the end, where many of my favourite pictures have been deliberately placed. And if you care to help me edit this work, I will willingly send you an invite to rate the images within a lightbox.

Street Photography blog:
http://ukstreetcollective.blogspot.com

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  • A businessman strides along a London street holding a banana whose shadow appears to be part of another man's penis (from a film original).
    banana_man01-15-01-1991.jpg
  • A movie industry 'standee' (a display board placed in cinema foyers) is carried past pigeons through London's Soho after use. All watched by a girl with binoculars ..
    film_board03-16-02-2011.jpg
  • Two young girls dressed in traditional Spanish flamenco attire stop at the childrens' fairground during a lull in the celebrations for the April Feria, Seville. A pair of eyes painted on the front of the train ride engine looks across to one of the girls' similarly-designed dress. It is part of a lively event that Seville holds annually in the vast area on the far bank of the Guadalquivir River. Rows of temporary marquee tents, or casetas, host families, corporations and friends into the late hours during the April Fair which begins begins two weeks after the Semana Santa, or Easter Holy Week in the Andalusian capital.
    RB-0067.jpg
  • People wearing striped tops outside the spotted shop window of Urban Outfitters in central London.
    circles_stripes01-02-04-2011.jpg
  • Disney character Rapunzel from their film Tangled stands looking at women, exemplifying feminine beauty.
    disney_window08-22-03-2011.jpg
  • Three Parisians gain an advantage by climbing higher than pavement level to watch the patriotic Bastille Day Procession from a doorway on the Avenue Champs-Élysées, Paris. The young men have lodged themselves awkwardly a metre above the ground, resting their feet on various door catches and ledges, as if floating in mid-air. On a street traffic sign the French words 'Defense de Stationner' are written which in English translates as 'No Stopping', referring to vehicles not pedestrians. There is graffiti tagging sprayed on the walls and a brown stain at the bottom of a drainpipe
    paris_spectators01-14-07-1992.jpg
  • With three drinks cartons sit propped up on a stone ledge, three tourists rest around its corner, surrounded by the shadows of three commuters.
    london_bridge12-08-04-2011.jpg
  • A passer-by walks through narrow winter sunshine street past a tuxedo suit rental shop in Fleet Street, City of London.
    tuxedo_window02-19-11-2010.jpg
  • Striding across the picture in different directions, two office workers: A lady in a red coat whose head and identity is lost in shadow, and a man wearing a dark suit whose stride is purposeful and confident. A third person, another man, leans against a wall looking thoughtfully into the distance. There is more shadow than highlight in this scene taken at Broadgate, a private estate of financial institutions and global businesses in the heart of the City of London. There are no spring leaves on the trees whose shadows are falling on an opposite wall. The headless lady looks sinister minus her face and there is tension in this image of linear and diagonal space. The City of London has a resident population of under 10,000 but a daily working population of 311,000. The City of London is a geographically-small City within Greater London, England. The City as it is known, is the historic core of London from which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew. The City's boundaries have remained constant since the Middle Ages but  it is now only a tiny part of Greater London. The City of London is a major financial centre, often referred to as just the City or as the Square Mile, as it is approximately one square mile (2.6 km) in area. London Bridge's history stretches back to the first crossing over Roman Londinium, close to this site and subsequent wooden and stone bridges have helped modern London become a financial success.
    RB-0129.jpg
  • A family shift house sofa furniture in an alleyway during their move from a home in Lisbon's Bairro Alto quarter...Bairro Alto quarter is located above Baixa and developed in the 16th Century. Suffering very little damage in the earthquake of 1755, it remains the area of most character and renowned for its residential and working quarter for craftsmen and shopkeepers. At night, life takes on a diferent personality when bars and up until the 60s, prostitution gave the district a bad reputation in the past but nowadays tourists and the chic frequent its streets and traditional 'Fado' (classical Portuguese opera) bars.  ...
    lisbon_street01-20-03-1994.jpg
  • The massive IRA bomb in Bishopsgate Street in the heart of the City of London destroyed a substantial number of businesses and disrupted a major part of London's financial hub. In the days after the attack on 24th April 1993, we see the pictorial evacuation of smiling faces in a portrait of Pret a Manger staff, the sandwich and lunch chain (from the French 'Ready to Eat'). The image was hung above the premises and construction workers wearing hard hats transport the picture, like hundreds of other nearby businesses whose workers carried away company property, for temporary safe storage. This store was also badly damaged and had to be transferred to another location. The City of London has a resident population of under 10,000 but a daily working population of 311,000. It is a geographically-small City within Greater London, England. The City as it is known, is the historic core of London from which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew. The City's boundaries have remained constant since the Middle Ages but  it is now only a tiny part of Greater London. The City of London is a major financial centre, often referred to as just the City or as the Square Mile, as it is approximately one square mile (2.6 km) in area.
    RB-0140.jpg
  • Five elderly women on-lookers are lined against a wall outside the famous Ascot race course on Ladies' Day, the annual event on the English sporting and social calendar in June. Each are standing in order of size, from tallest (who holds a Tesco supermarket bag) to smallest and watch as two posh couples arrive for the day's racing dressed in showy dresses for the ladies and the men in formal top hat and tails. The posh lady in the front is in yellow and holds on to her straw hat on this windy summer day. Each wears their red Ascot badges allowing them entry to this exclusive royal event attended by the Royal Family and the hoi polloi of English society. We see the two sides of the class system but it is a humerous scene. There is good nature between the two groups with smiles exchanged with one couple but discomfort from those behind.
    ascot_ladies01.jpg
  • Near Rodin's Thinker poster, a Foyles bookshop customer window shops outside the shop in London, Charing Cross Road.
    foyles_thinker05-06-10-2010.jpg
  • A man walks down a street practicing his Three-ball cascade skills. For the three-ball cascade the juggler starts with two balls in one hand and the third ball in the other hand. One ball is thrown from the first hand in an arc to the other hand. Before catching this ball the juggler must throw the ball in the receiving hand, in a similar arc, to the first hand. The pattern continues in this manner with each hand in turn throwing one ball and catching another. All balls are caught on the outside of the pattern (on the far left and right) and thrown from closer to the middle of the pattern. The hand moves toward the middle to throw, and back towards the outside to catch the next object. Because the hands must move up and down when throwing and catching, putting this movement together causes the left hand to move in a counterclockwise motion, and the right hand to move in a clockwise motion.
    street_juggler02-23-03-2011.jpg
  • Mother carrying child past street construction site showing tropical beach paradise and images of world cities with a No Parking sign.
    tropical_hoarding05-03-03-2011.jpg
  • On the eve of transfer of law in Hong Kong from the UK to China, construction workers in Central Hong Kong carry on their tasks during a monsoonal rain shower on the last day of British rule. Some are dressed in yellow waterproof coats and hard hats, we see a British-style sign warning drivers of Men at Work resembling a man holding an umbrella. Lastly, on the right another man on a wall, also holding an brolley. In the foreground a car park sign states that the space is full in red letters and a local authority sign saying "Working for a better environment" is written in Chinese and English lettering. The transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China, referred to as "The Handover" occurred at midnight on June 30, 1997, signifying the end of British rule, and the transfer of legal and financial authority back to China.
    hong_kong01.jpg
  • Construction workers wearing hard hats hook up a pile of concrete beams on to a waiting crane hook. One man bends down to help loop a chain beneath one of the girders and attached to the dangling hook while another secures the chain and another man is in radio contact with the crane driver out of sight. Importantly, behind their low-loader truck is a Smirnoff advertising billboard with a famous ad campaign for the Vodka distillery. It depicts three carved Polynesian statues of Easter Island but seen through a botttle of the alcoholic beverage, is a representation of a face wearing a head band and MP3 headphones. Seen juxtaposed with the construction men and their building technology this scene describes a visual pun between an ancient lost civilization and the modern age of technology. Smirnoff is a vodka distillery founded in Moscow, by Piotr Arsenieyevich Smirnov. The .brand is now distributed in 130 countries and includes flavored vodka and malt beverages. The Sminoff advertising campaign is said to be based on the Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte whose paradoxical images stretched our ideas of what was reality and the fantastic...
    RB-0141.jpg
  • While visiting London's tourist sites, a young boy of about 5 years-old spends time at Horse Guards where a soldier from the Household Cavalry, also dressed in a deep red coat, stands motionless and at-ease. It is a bright day and the gray stonework amplifies the scarlett uniform tunics as the boy has his picture taken by family. The British Household Cavalry is classed as a corps in its own right, and consists of two regiments: Life Guards (British Army) and the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons). They are the senior regular regiments in the British Army, with traditions dating from 1660.
    RB_134-25-06-1989.jpg
  • Taking a break from the London Marathon, a young runner dressed as Superman emerges from a Portaloo after a quick toilet stop. Located at the London Fire Brigade's station on Lower Thames Street in City of London in the capital's historic financial district, their empty fire hose snakes across the ground. The young man wears trainers, a red skirt, a Super-hero top with the Superman emblem on his chest and he walks out of the portable convenience adjusting a green frizzy wig. Disgarded mineral water bottles have been thrown on the ground by other passing athletes but this is a theatrical pun, that Superman changes personality, name and powers when leaving a telephone box. Apart from the colour (color) of the toilet, the runner and the hose, the background is drab and overcast.  The City of London has a resident population of under 10,000 but a daily working population of 311,000. The City of London is a geographically-small City within Greater London, England. The City as it is known, is the historic core of London from which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew. The City's boundaries have remained constant since the Middle Ages but  it is now only a tiny part of Greater London. The City of London is a major financial centre, often referred to as just the City or as the Square Mile, as it is approximately one square mile (2.6 km) in area. London Bridge's history stretches back to the first crossing over Roman Londinium, close to this site and subsequent wooden and stone bridges have helped modern London become a financial success.
    RB-0133.jpg
  • Woman shields her face from bright light along Piccadilly in late afternoon sunshine.
    street_people27-12-10-2010.jpg
  • In late afternoon winter sun, a lady emerges from deep shadow wearing a fur hat on the Kings Road in Chelsea, London, England. Foreign magazines line a rack of an outdoor newsagent and we only see the lady's head in the sunlight. There is a low colour temperature orange glow to the picture and only the lady's face wrapped in a fur hat and the magazine covers can be seen in detail. There are few highlights apart from the magazines in the sun, and more shadow area making this a dark image. The Kings Road has been famous in London since the 60s when fashion and flower power was the label most associated with being young and hip in the Swinging Sixties. It is more sober these days but families and young people tend to be wealthier, white and middle-class than other areas such as Carnaby Street which is seen as seedy and cheap.
    RB-0035.jpg
  • Shop workers deliver new items to accompany other bright furniture on sale in a London street.
    pink_furniture17-23-03-2011.jpg
  • Following UK commercial driving law, a lorry driver relaxes by reading in a window at the M40 motorway services in Warwickshire, England. Leaning back while engrossed in his book, the man is sitting in sunlight on this summer's day. Outside is a poster advertising the premium ice cream brand, Magnum. A girl is shown also lounging about enjoying a Magnum on a beautiful sun-kissed beach, with the sun reflecting on a calm sea. We see Magnum's web site and their products of Classic and White chocolate snacks in their wrappers. The man is oblivious to the nature of the ad but it lends a sense of paradise versus reality, between the fantasy of youth, natural beauty and the reality of an older working man on the road.
    truck_stop4-30-07-2007.jpg
  • Standing late at night in the doorway of a Soho nightclub in Old Compton Street, London England, a bouncer provides security for his employer. Otherwise known as doormen or door supervisers, these usually hardened men offer a deterrent for anyone causing trouble inside ot out of licensed bars and clubs such as this. Lit from overhead spotlights, he looks menacing and capable of street violence - enough to urge troublemakers to move on quick. reflected in the glass is Ed's Diner a well-known eaterie in this street. Soho is known as a rather seedy but vibrant area of London's West End and late-night social disorder fuelled by excessive alcohol is pretty much normal.
    RB_136-08-10-1992.jpg
  • Woman waits for interview with life-size carboard cut-out of Prince William in a London street during filming of vox pop.
    prince_william_prop05-07-04-2011.jpg
  • Retail window dressers prepares the small features in a new display at the London brance of department store Harvey Nichols.
    window_dressing06-20-01-2011.jpg
  • A daytrip of old age pensioners are seated on a bench in Great Yarmouth, a seaside resort in eastern England.
    seaside_pensioners05-27-05-1992.jpg
  • Seen from behind as they stop at dotted give-way lines on this empty road junction, we see a strange perspective of deserted housing and empty roads, Jen West and her elderly wheelchair-bound mother Margaret - both residents of the experimental community village of Poundbury, Dorset, England. As if they are pedestrians about cross a busy highway, it is an incongruous scene of irony. Poundbury is the visionary model village that Charles, Prince of Wales sought to develop in 1993 as a successful and pioneering town near Dorchester, built on land owned by his own Duchy of Cornwall, challenging otherwise poor post-war trends in town planning and to some extent following the New Urbanism concept from the US except that the design influences are European.
    poundbury05-07-06_2003.jpg
  • A large man with a shaved head and hairy back is seen from behind as he watches a display by the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team at Weymouth, England. A heart shape which grows from his bald head has been drawn with red smoke in the sky two Hawk jet aircraft taking part in the town's annual air show along the sea front. Such a tough-looking male specimen contrasts with the romance of this valentine symbol helping to make this picture's quirky juxtaposition touching. The Red Arrows use smoke to emphasize their flight-path, help the spectators see their manoeuvres and to make more of an enjoying spectacle. In blue sky they use white smoke for The Heart and red when overcast. We watch the man from below and see him craning his neck skywards, the skin on his thick neck wrinkling as he looks heavy from this angle.
    Red_Arrows614_RBA.jpg
  • Holidaying ladies in blue look out across the harbour at Monkstown, Co Cork, Ireland, towards the local Pfizer factory that manufactures Viagra.
    Cork Viagra13 RBA.jpg
  • Three children echo the three sizes of a tailors mannequin shop in Whitechapel, East London.
    whitechapel_shops01-08-07-2010.jpg
  • With few visitors to see, a young boy pees into the water surrounding a model town at the Splendid China model village, the 30 hectares large tourist attraction in the city of Shenzhen, China. The kid aims into the water with his mother's help. In the background we see some of the 50,000 ceramic figures and scenes from a period in Chinese history and further away, modern skyscrapers in the metropolis contrasting with ancient, traditional village life. Splendid China is an attraction at the Overseas Chinese Town, Shenzhen that has scaled down replicas of China's historical buildings, wonderful scenes and folk customs. The scale models are of a 1:15 with 100 miniaturized landmarks such as The Terracotta Warriors; Great Wall; Forbidden City; Old Summer Palace etc. all laid out according to their geographic locations.
    shenzhen_peeing04-21-1995.jpg
  • A marathon runner in insulating foil bends over manure left at Horseguards, appearing deceptively to have been at fault.
    london_marathon04-25-04-2010.jpg
  • A model from the Alion Couture fashion house takes part in a street parade with horses for the benefit of the media in Kensington, central London UK. We see the lower section of a horse ramp and another horse is in the background. Seen from a low angle, both the horses hoof and her foot in red high heel shoes appear to be askew in a postural echo, when two mannerisms or body language are similar.  The light is blue because of the shadow both subjects are in but her shoes and matching short red dress appear vibrant in saturation and hue.
    RB-0014.jpg
  • Two Catholic nuns from the Asia region have walked from St Peter's Square in Vatican City, though Piazza Pio XII and are continuing down the wide street called Via della Conciliazione. Dressed in fine religious gowns complete with beautiful sashes around the waste they walk in step past a shop called Galleria Savelli that sells religious trinkets and other tourist ephemera. Sat basking in the sun is a dalmatian dog with its coat of dark spots and white skin as clean as the nuns' long dresses. Near the centre of the picture are the postcards of the Cisteen chapel and of Pope John Paul II who is seen waving at various Papal events. Also spotless is the Roman pavement which has been swept and cleaned very recently. In the distance is the magnificant Basilica di San Pietro from where the Pope addresses the weekly crowds. .
    rome_nuns01.jpg
  • Image of stag once fed by tourists and cafe owner on A82 on Rannoch Moor but shot with air gun by juvenile Hogmanay revellers.
    rannoch_stag02-07-08-2010-1.jpg
  • A middle-aged businessman make a call on his smartphone while sitting on his briefcase while a suspicious man stands in corner.
    briefcase_man01-09-02-2011.jpg
  • man is lying down on the steps of Royal Exchange opposite the Bank of England in the City of London, to take a nap under a mid-day sun in the heart of the capital's financial district. A red double-decker Routemaster bus has stopped in a queue of traffic opposite with an advert for London buses saying 'We've got to get this city to work' but with tattoos on his arms and his forehead and wearing heavy army-style boots, he is clearly not on his way to a job and therefore out-of-place in this busy part of London. With arms folded and head resting on an unseasonal coat, the man is asleep and going nowhere.
    city_bus_sleep-20-06-1993.jpg
  • As normal life continues a man under the influence of alcohol lies unconscious in Hollywood near a poster of Charlie Chaplin.
    chaplin_drunk01-20-08-1998.jpg
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Richard Baker Photography

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