Missing a beat in the West End

I had a random Friday off just over a week ago and with no Arsenal to shoot, I thought I’d head to my old stomping ground, London’s West End. I haven’t properly done this for some time. It usually takes me about an hour to get my eye in, but 90 minutes into Friday my shutter count was still a big fat zero. With the weather getting warmer, a couple of “hydration breaks” were required, which did seem to grease the shutter button.

One interesting moment I came across was at Oxford Circus. There was a huge robotic “Frankenchicken” lying on the ground as part of a protest against the chickens used by Pret. Surrounding it were lots of photographers, so I took a couple of photos and thought I’d return in 20 mins to hopefully get a clean shot. 20 mins later I returned to find not only the photographers had gone but also the chicken. Moral of the story: don’t chicken out.

*Ideally I would have got a wider shot to juxtapose the giant Frankenchicken with the public*

A few hours later and I was back home, flicking through the images from the day and ultimately not very excited. I wouldn’t say disappointed as it’s all part of the process. It reminded me that street photography really is like a muscle. Leave it alone for too long and it takes time to loosen up again. The more consistently you shoot, the quicker your eye starts seeing photographs. For the last couple of years I've been focused mainly on events and Arsenal, where something is almost always happening and emotions are already heightened. Pounding the streets of the west end on a Friday afternoon is a very different challenge. Fortunately, next weekend brings one of my favourite events to photograph...

London Pride

Pride is one of London's biggest annual events and one of the most fun. It returns this Saturday, 4th of July and the forecast is currently looking 28°C and sunny. I’ve been shooting this since 2022 and have a few tips:

The Parade starts at 12, with the 35k marchers setting up between Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner. I would recommend getting to Marble Arch at 10am and walking to Hyde Park Corner, shooting what you can, then heading along Piccadilly
Once it gets going, you can either shoot along the parade route (ending on Whitehall), shoot in Trafalgar Square (I’ve never done this… let me know if you have) or shoot around Soho, where there are a few stages set up. For me, I usually just head straight into Soho, but it can take a while to get going as you’ll be waiting for people to join after the parade
Late afternoon / early evening is a different scene, pop out your flash for some more risqué photos

Pride is my second favourite annual London event, behind the incredible Notting Hill Carnival (Sadly, the Arsenal parade is not currently an annual event) and definitely not one to miss!

No difficult second album for Josh

Speaking of things you can’t miss, Josh recently released his second zine, Like Nowhere, all shot in Cyprus between 2022 and 2024. While his debut zine, An Excuse to Linger, showcasing work from Morocco, was excellent, Like Nowhere feels much more distinctly Josh. If you are familiar with his work, this is much more what you would expect to see. It really is a brilliant piece of work, and like his debut, it will undoubtedly sell out, so don’t dilly-dally!

Rustiness, Pride and Josh’s Zine

The Parade