Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/06

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Subject: Re: [Leica] A palate cleanser...
From: Johnny Deadman <deadman@jukebox.demon.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 10:50:30 +0100

on 6/6/00 5:58 am, Ted Grant at tedgrant@home.com wrote:


> Orator's Corner or Speakers Corner, has been a gathering place in London
> for probably a century or more and is a photographer's picture paradise,
> you just can't miss as there are so many people speaking out about every
> imaginable subject on the planet.  And best of all, they love having
> their picture taken

I think it's been going for a lot longer than a century. And yes, almost
no-one cares in the least about having their picture taken. Moreover, these
fabulous arguments almost never end in violence.

I say *almost* because the black guy in the cowboy hat is an exception. He
attacked the man he was arguing with, and then threw a punch at Brian, who
was photographing him. Luckily he missed. Also according to Brian the Nation
of Islam folks can get pretty antsy about being photographed, though they
just stared at me and looked cool.

However, the overall atmostphere is *extremely* friendly and conducive to
photography. Great, also, to see that the spirit of rhetoric and debate is
not dead. Not everyone is a lunatic; in particular there are some very
intelligent *hecklers* -- the most impressive of whom that Sunday were some
Islamic types who were arguing with the Jews-for-Jesus guy in the 'israel'
photograph. Also, the heckling is often hilarious, but even more impressive
when the speaker finds a comeback.
> 
> I've never seen any other location in the world like it,  a mother lode
> of picture potential for amateur and pros alike.  So, if your frustrated
> with the picture potential around home town, check the travel agencies
> for a quick weekender flight to London, hell you can buy round trip
> airfare for a few hundred US.  Go shoot your brains out and spend the
> next few weeks making prints! ;-)

I'd say that if you can't take a good people picture at Speaker's Corner,
give up.

Incidentally, Ted, I'm definitely going to check out your archive in Ottawa.
You know, there may actually be a good book in photographs of Speaker's
Corner from various sources over the years.

- --
Johnny Deadman

photos:      http://www.pinkheadedbug.com
music:       http://www.jukebox.demon.co.uk