I had the pleasure of photographing Kamila, for a forthcoming transgender magazine feature, at Shepherd Market in Mayfair the other day. Kamila as a doctor, plays an important and positive role within the transgender community and continue to help dismiss stereotyping and transphobia attitudes in the society.
France24 broadcast journalist reporting live from the Candlelight Vigil at Trafalgar Square for the victims of the terrorist attack at Westminster on 22 March, 2017. The last vigil I attended here at the same London landmark was on the occasion of the Paris attacks of November 2015.
This evening’s vigil was attended by thousands of local residents and visitors who filled the square, surrounded with armoured police vehicles, road closures and many armed officers.
This was taken about a week ago when the Pen Pond in Richmond Park was frozen. Not a deep freeze, as overnight temperatures were only down to about -4C, but sufficient to form a thin ice crust on all the outdoor water features.
Last week, the lights went out in Piccadilly Circus. The giant multi-display screens that have lit the circus ever since the very first billboard advertising Perrier in 1908, were switched off for the dismantling and installation of a new single ‘state of the art’ digital billboard – apparently the largest in Europe.
The screens have only been turned off a handful of occasions before – for the duration of the Second World War, Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965 and Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997.
Expect something amazing in the Autumn.
This is it! My lucky shot this morning whilst walking the doggie in Richmond Park. It was cold and frosty and the low winter sun was streaming down in between the skeletal trees. Grabbed four shots in succession before this young deer bounced away into the woods. This was the the sharpest image, taken with an ‘unprepared’ 50mm lens. Cropped slightly.
The National Gallery is a wonderful resource and public institution to gaze at religious art – right from the early 1400s to contemporary periods. At this time of the year, paintings depicting the Christmas story particularly draw a lot of attention from visitors from all over the world. Here are a few that got my attention during a recent visit. It is always a great honour to view these masterpieces in real life, up close, snd see all the detail and intricacies of the strokes and depth of the oils on canvasses and boards.
The Adoration of the Kings, 1500 Vincenzo Foppa
The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius, 1486 Carlo Crivelli
The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1496 Luca Signorelli
More at : https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
Wishing everyone a Happy and Peaceful Christmas.
With a little over a week till Christmas, and soon 2016 comes to an end, I look forward to another awesome year ahead to new projects, new friends and more personal photography projects.
Coming straight up, in February – KLPA2017 will be launched with a brand new and exciting theme. In May, we will hosting the first ever Photography Symposium Asia in Kuala Lumpur, promising a great line up of presenters and focusing on Education and Opportunities.
2017, also sees the second phase of the Two Mountains Photo Project taking shape. Six photographers from Japan and Malaysia have been commissioned to photograph stories surrounding the mythology, socio dynamics and natural aspects of Mount Fuji and Mount Kinabalu.
KL-Ga was also launched this year and we continue with this photoblog for 2017. We have already seen some great single images and stories about the city, as we take on new photographers.
In the pipeline also – is a personal project centred around the printed image and more details will follow.
Happy Holidays!
Steven
Sting reopened the Bataclan in Paris, last evening, with the words “We will never forget them”. One year on, the gig venue has been completed renovated, after 90 people were massacred by terrorists on 13 November 2015, along with another 40 people, killed in three other sites that evening. Coincidentally, today also is Remembrance Sunday, when Britain pays respect to the war dead from WW1 and also subsequent world conflicts.
I wasn’t in Paris, but noticed this poster in the amazing art-deco interior of Brasserie Zedel, a lower ground French restaurant and bar constructed in the Grand Cafe style in London’s West End.
As the Last Post ended, thousands of people standing in Trafalgar Square fell silent for 2 minutes at exactly 11am as they observed Armistice Day, commemorating the cessation of hostilities between the Allied Forces and Germany in World War 1, at 11am, 11th of November, 1918.
I could hear Big Ben ringing in the distance. Even the traffic around this monument halted. The red London buses paused alongside, their passengers peering out to see what’s going on. The traffic lights alternated between poppy red, amber and green several cycles but weren’t directing traffic.
A surreal moment in what is one of London’s busiest tourist spots.
The famous fountains weren’t spouting this morning either, but became a translucent resting mantle for thousands of red poppy petals, thrown or scattered gently by the guests, school children and amazed tourists alike.
Today, we had the first frost in London, and the winter sun gives what little warmth to a flock of pigeons. The USA votes it’s 58th President today and the whole world is awaiting the results with bated breath.
explorenation.net ~ photography posts, workshops, writings and thoughts by Steven V-L Lee 
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