On the coast.
A scant one hour south by rail from London – if the trains are not on strike – Brighton is a showpiece of glorious Victorian architecture, replete with ornate cast iron and beautiful masonry work. These snaps were taken in February, 1974.
Leica M3, 35mm Summaron, TriX, ‘scanned’ on a Nikon D800.
The upper end.
Taken in January, 1974, Mayfair and Kensington are the ritziest areas of London. Then occuppied by the beneficiaries of inherited wealth, once those fortunes were expropriated by the state via inheritance taxes the properties largely passed to middle east oil seeking a safe haven.
Leica M3, 35mm Summaron, TriX, scanned on the Nikon D800.
All of a piece
The uniforms may have changed and the perambulators (“prams”) are now high tech, but the rich still delegate child care to paid help in upscale London.
Leica M3, 35mm Summaron, TriX, ‘scanned’ on a Nikon D800.
Insane violence.
Doubtless Punch & Judy are long retired in out woke society, but the shows were incredible fun. They usually ended up with the two puppets beating the hell out of one another, much to the delight of the children watching. A single puppeteer did all the work.
These snaps are from August 1973 in Kensington Gardens, London. Note how well dressed the children are in what was an upper demographic area:
Leica M3, 280mm Telyt, Visoflex II, Ilford FP4 developed in 1:50 Rodinal, rated at 250ASA. Negatives scanned on a Nikon D800, 60mm Micro Nikkor.
Atmospheric.
Along with Père Lachaise in Paris (Chopin, Jim Morrison, Proust), Highgate Cemetery in London is as atmospheric as these places get. Its most famous resident is Karl Marx and let’s hope he stays six feet under.
These were snapped in July, 1973 and for once I appear to have abandoned my favorite Kodak emulsion in favor of Ilford’s HP3 processed in Agfa’s high acutance developer Rodinal, diluted 1:50. Disclosure: TriX was better.
