Russian pavements

I went to the photo gallery on Gt Newport Street[1]. By far the best piece was Stories from Russia where the photographer had got the general public to take part in the photo shoots. She has them standing, in front of famous buildings, facing the camera. It's weird, all the people (in the main) are staring at the camera, looking almost like mannequins, and yet real. It's disconcerting. Since she sampled the general public there's a huge mix of different people, defiant trendies, tired old people, the works. Worth a look.
In the back room was a video installation. There is one person on each screen and, individually, they tell their version of the story behind the Hotel Moscow's two designs. First it is told round robin style and a central screen has the translation on it, then it merges and they all speak together and the translations are all merged together, leaving you struggling to pick any words out from the translation, in the same way that you struggle to pick out a single voice in the cacophony of them all talking at once.
Never photographing downwards, I spent some time today photographing downwards on my way into london. I've now got a collection of bits of pavement, tree trunks growing from gravel, railings, barriers and peoples feet in the crowds. I guess I#ve got to figure out what to do with it now but I suspect I'll build it into a sequence, in order of my descent into london.



[1] another weekend of lobbying failed to J of the merits of the V&A.