london bridge

Bridging the past: hybrid images of London

The Museum of London released 16 gorgeous and ghostly images of London today merged with London of yesterday to mark the launch of its revamped app. To celebrate the Bridge exhibition, which runs until 2 November 2014, the museum has continued this historically creative adventure by releasing 16 images of London's bridges, spanning from present to past. Tower Bridge c. 1903–10, by Christina Broom

The original images, which are all part of the museum's photography collection, were shot in the 19th and 20th centuries. Their photographers include: Henry Grant, Henry Turner, Sandra Flett, Christina Broom, Roger Mayne, and George Davison Reid. They depict Tower Bridge c. 1903-10; the demolition of Old Waterloo Bridge c. 1934; Albert Bridge c. late 19th century; London Bridge c.1937; and the view of London’s skyline from Tower Bridge c.1930, among others.

Richmond Bridge late 19th century, photographer unknown

Francis Marshall, curator of the Bridge exhibition says: 'Contrasting historic shots with those of today allows us to see how the city has changed over time. Or in some cases, how it has remained the same.'

A Windy Evening on London Bridge c. 1937, by Henry Turner

You can see all of the images at the Bridge exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands. It's free!

Charing Cross Railway Bridge, late 19th century, unknown photographer

Blacked Out

Blacked out 2

As part of my terribly glamorous lifestyle, which yesterday included writing a story-telling workshop for a theatre company and doing my laundry, I also attended the opening of the Blacked Out exhibition, held in an old railway arch in south London.

The exhibition features the work of eight artists, all of whom explore the interplay of light in a blacked out, urban space. There’s everything from a mirrored tunnel to an installation that uses glow-sticks. But it was of course the photographs that grabbed my attention the most. Okay, no, it was the glow-sticks. I admit it. How could I resist a neon Minnie Mouse hairband?

Convulsion Compulsion, by Sally Butcher

However, I was drawn to Sally Butcher’s beautiful photographic prints that layered delicately lit different aspects of the female body. Their subtlety was almost unnerving, but I found myself captivated by their strange contrast of tension and ethereality. And this contrast was taken up a few notches by the prints being in black and white, and the strange lighting of the venue.

If you’re in or around London, and the London Bridge area in particular, it’s worth an hour of your time. (And not just to play with the glow-sticks.)

Blacked Out runs from 21 to 28 August, 13:00 to 18:30, at Arch 897, Holyrood Street, London, SE1 2EL.