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Photo Story: The Big Smoke, On The Water

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:04:57 +0000

Once charged with the all important job of supplying the HP factory with saucy spices, London’s canals now offer residents (and visitors) a delightful change of pace. Words and photos by Magda Wrzeszcz.

The idea of Regent’s Canal came to life in 1802, to create a link between the newly-opened Grand Junction Canal, which ended at Paddington Basin, and the River Thames in Limehouse. That’s a pretty good opportunity for a long walk, unfortunately spoiled by three tunnels – under Maida Hill (now known as Little Venice), Lisson Grove and under Islington. The canal’s main purpose used to be ferrying commercial traffic, and goods shipped via the canal ranged from lead and iron to the raw ingredients used to make Britain’s iconic HP sauce.

I first fell in love with the Canal while living just next to the Whitmore Road Bridge (number 43), just next to the Kingsland Road Bridge and Basin. Living in the heart of the hip and trendy Shoreditch often required a moment of calm and that’s exactly what the canal was giving me: an opportunity to walk under the sun, with my headphones on, and sink into my own thoughts. I’d often pass cyclist – as the canal became a very good alternative to commuters after the London bombings in 2005 – joggers, dog walkers, 24 party people, couples snogging on the benches… A great people spotting place. I soon discovered that from where I was living, I could easily stroll down to my favourite Broadway Market, to get a bit of the East End hype, shop for bargains in Miki Fukai’s jumble sales, drink cheap beer in London Fields and run into Facehunter. But if I went the other way, I would get to my beloved Angel with all the tiny boutiques, great pubs on Essex Road and my favourite charity shops (highly recommended in this area – wealthy residents!).

What I love about the canal is the feeling of freedom from the rest of the world. The water instantly makes you calm down and look into yourself – I had some life-changing conversations with my mum while walking there. It seems like along the canal people stop pretending – like the elderly couple on the bench. London’s canals give you the freedom of expressing yourself – an opportunity often taken by Banksy. But the most free and inspiring are all the people actually living on the boats – you get to see many of barges moored in the basins with their residents sunbathing on the docks. When you’re lucky, you get to see the boats go through the lock – the most famous is the Camden Lock. It’s simply addictive to watch the water levels even to let them go through.

Taking a walk along the canal is like taking a walk on the wild side – so often needed in a city ruled by the routine of the daily commute, grey city suits and the never-ending rat race…

For the real canalcoholic a couple of hours at the Canal Museum is highly recommended (follow them on Twitter), whilst Jasons and Walkers Quay offer barge trips on the water if you can’t resist a cruise.

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Photo Story: Port Life in Sicily

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:14:52 +0000

Travellers who find themselves continually bemoaning the loss of traditional customs and cultures to the all-devouring monster of Capitalist commerce might find a trip to Castellammare del Golfo, near Trapani in Sicily, refreshing. This ancient port, with its medieval fortress, has retained its fishermens’ heritage and many a stocky Sicilian still earn their living by ploughing the Mediterranean in a shabby blue and white boat, enticing various fruits of the sea to hop in and join him. Monika Chodakowska was struck by the simple charms of daily life at Castellammare del Golfo, and thankfully had her camera on hand when she visited one Sunday morning.

“People from the town had come to the port just to buy their fish for lunch. The transactions were made straight from the boat, and within 15 minutes everything was gone!”

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Photo Story: It’s Oh So Quiet…

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:33:41 +0000

The cafes of Paris are where the intellectual, social and gastronomical life of this great city takes place. Politics are discussed, art criticised, love affairs formed, and – naturally – plenty of good food and drink is digested along the way. With a little help from the millions of tourists who descend on the City of Light each year, the Parisiens comfortably fill ever table of every cafe in the capital during lunchtime and evenings… but a strange lull occurs in between. The sight of these, usually bustling, meeting points almost completely empty struck Urban Travel Blog’s Monika Chodakowska as every bit as romantic as cliched scene of amours gazing at one another over a bottle of Bordeaux.

“There is this funny time in Paris when it is too late for lunch and too early for dinner. As a tourist you don’t really know what to do – sometimes you are just killing the time having a drink somewhere (like the couple in photo 5), but I prefer to take photos of empty cafes waiting for evening service or chefs running between their kitchens.”

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Photo Story: Portraits at Zhenski Pazar

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:27:12 +0000

The largest and busiest market in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia’s Zhenski Pazar (Women’s Market) is a chaotic centre of cheap commerce where traders vend fruit and veg, cheeses, cured meats, dried fruit and nuts, homemade halva and handcrafted ceramics, along with fake designer clothing, expired medicine and tourist tack (recently Syrian sheesha pipes have become popular). The market gets its name because once-upon-a-time only women were allowed to trade their wares there. Today both men and women, of various nations and ages, hold court over their stalls. The vast array of goods are what attract most visitors to the Zhenski Pazar, but for Urban Travel Blog’s Krystyna Dul it was the people who demanded to be photographed.

“The true beauty of this market are the locals. Their rough and beautiful faces were all smiling at me… so I really had to capture them on film.”

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Photo Story: Ticket to Ride

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 20:00:27 +0000

Krakow’s trams are an integral part of the city’s infrastructure and aesthetic. These rumbling blue machines stretch out from the medieval Old Town, with its spires and steeples, to the outskirts of the city, where a mix of Communist and modern apartment blocks house the majority of the population, ferrying students, grannies and workers between the two. Keven Erickson captures the tram passengers, lost in thought, as they stare out from their mobile window on the world.

“I like the trams, there is something old, fragile, romantic and comfortable about them. In this city everyone uses them, even the pensioners. I often wonder where do they all have to go? What do they have to do? Some trams are so old that you have to climb a ladder to get into them, that is not easy for the elderly! As a photographer, I thought what do I do with this? I realized it’s the windows, a screen when you pass it, you can’t help but look at it. So I photographed it.”

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