Pink Sauce

You'll have noticed them on a pavement or at a street corner in the past few days. There's a new set of players in town trying to lure you into taking them for a ride. They are wild and free; they don't need docking stations; the  obikes are in town and they want your attentions. Since I needed to pay Canada Water a visit, which is unhelpfully located outside the catchment zone of the TfL/Santander Cycle Hire scheme, I decided to take the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity by using one of those obikes to take myself there from Elephant and Castle.  A similar hire scheme, called Mokibes, recently opened in Manchester and there's apparently been what we shall modestly call a few teething problems . Even the London scheme, where people are invited to leave the bikes near an official bike parking location, seems to have created some confusion, as seen in the image below I shot earlier this week. I should probably mention here that I am a great fan and have ...

Knowing that despite the staggering seven million copies printed, not everyone would have been able to see it, French blogger Antoine Léaument has kindly shared the editorial published by Charlie Hebdo in its issue following the terror attacks last week. With a similar aim of getting as many people as possible to read the piece, I have produced a rough and ready English translation of said editorial that you can read below. I attended two of the gatherings that took place in London (on 07th and 11th January) to show solidarity with the victims. My pictures of the events are here and here . You can make a donation to Charlie Hebdo here . Will there still be "yes, buts"? Charlie Hebdo Editorial, No. 1178 of January 14, 2015 For the past week, Charlie, an atheist newspaper, has performed more miracles than all the saints and prophets combined. What we are most proud of is that you have in your hands the paper we have always made in the company of those who have a...

I managed to get a press pass for Pride London again this year. This gave me access to a loo in a nearby hotel at the end of the parade(!) but more importantly to the pit at the front of the main stage where my arms got thoroughly burned by an unusual appearance from the sun. The dwindling number of fundamentalists protesting the parade (there weren't even 20 of them this year!) would probably remind me that that's one gets from pride: the burns of hellfire... I'm glad to report that no debacle like that of last year with Boy George took place this year and that the artistes with whom I shared my images on Twitter have been very gracious about it. Some have even asked for permission to use the images. On Sunday, to finish a gay old week-end in style, I was at Tate Britain for Queer Britannia , a mellow and relaxing tour of the newly hung galleries, highlighting some of the gay-friendly pieces on display. Again pictures were taken... ( full flickr set ) Full Pride se...

Saturday marks the opening of an exhibition organised by Foyles and the Gay Photographers Network. It will showcase the works of some of the GPN's members around the themes of Literary London, Travel, Love and Marriage and Mind, Body and Soul. I'm very proud to be among those whose images will be featured. As I also have an image in a show celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Pink Singers , this marks the fourth exhibition in which my work has been displayed. And I have more plans for later in the year... So if you find yourselves in Charing Cross Road in the next five weeks, drag yourselves to the gallery on the 3rd floor and (hopefully) enjoy our works. On your way down, you can stop at the cafe for a nice sit down and a cuppa and enjoy a few more works from some of our members. Beyond Words Gallery at Foyles, Charing Cross Road 29 June to 03 August Admission free more info: here and here .

The latest photowalk organised by the Gay Photographers Network was at Kew Gardens. I had been some years ago but the location (not really close from my patch) and the entrance fee had prevented me from returning. I must also confess to not being that excited by plants and trees... I had my fill as a kid, I suppose. As we got there it was raining which didn't bode too well for the next few hours. We took shelter in the sweltering atmosphere of the Palm House and thankfully the weather soon started to clear to finally offer a glorious afternoon. The rest of the day, punctuated by a well deserved and most welcome cup of tea with cake, went on without problem, taking us from the waterlily house to the treetops walk and the formal gardens of Kew Palace. My images can be viewed on flickr here .

You know how Facebook has decided to include "sponsored posts" to your timeline, advertising things you don't need or already have? Well, recently one of those adverts (let's call a spade a spade), actually turned out to be of interest. Sony is launching a new compact camera and to mark the occasion were inviting people to sign up to attend an event on the 31st floor of Centre Point. The highest building in the West End. Called the Viewing Tower, this was an opportunity to test the ultra powerful zoom of the new camera. And of course an great opportunity to whip out our own cameras. The weather was good for most of the time, though sadly it all clouded over later in the evening, anihilating any chance of a sunset and we got busy. My images can be viewed on flickr here .

It's been a couple of weeks now. Almost every day I see people on the roof of a building I know to be broaded up. And of course, I want to get on that roof too. I made a first attempt on Sunday but unfortunately couldn't find access. In desperation, I decided to email JB , who specialises in shooting London from the rooftops . Perhaps he would have an idea on how to get there. I met JB at the meeting of my photo group where he persented his work. I chatted to him afterwards and offered a couple of leads of possible places I could use for future shoots. JB kindly offered to meet up to try and find out a way. First we went to a nearby building and took a few shots from there before having a walk around the Heygate estate. Finally we managed to find hidden access and found ourselves on the roof just in time for sunset. We weren't alone there. Street artists were at work already and other visitors joined us later. It is clearly a popular spot. That's how I spent an...

The demolition of the Heygate Estate is apparently soon to begin. Technically it already has, with phase 1 of the project, at the far south east of the site, already flattened for some months. I'm talking about the main building, those big looming slabs of concrete that delimit the site. First they will start by the buildings south of Heygate Street. That should happen by the end of this year. Within 3 years, it should all have gone. In the meantime, street artists are taking over the place with Southwark Council desparately and ineffectively wasting paint and money to try and keep everything a uniform grey. Urban gardeners, photographers and parkour adepts are also at it and the place though decrepit still welcomes a surprising amount of activity. Goaded by the sight of people on one of the rooftop, I made my third proper visit to the site yesterday. Sadly, I couldn't figure out how to access that rooftop but I got a few nice shots. Yesterday's images can be viewed...

At the beginning of December, I learned via Twitter that the owners of the Shard , the EU's tallest building which has recently being completed, had donated 4000 tickets to access The View from the Shard , the viewing galleries on the 68th and 72nd floors of the giant to Southwark residents. All we had to do was go to our local library with proof of residence and collect our tickets. I did and this Saturday, a week before the viewing galleries open to the public, I got to admire the views over London. Luckily, after a week of snow, the weather had turn to a more sunny disposition and we were treated to the extra spectacle of window cleaners abseiling the southern side of the building and playing to the gallery. As can be expected the views over London are unparalleled and my worry, based on the pictures I had seen so far, that we may end up being too high and therefore at the wrong angle were unfounded. From the entrance on Joiner Street, we queued to have our bags scanned a...

On Saturday I had decided to spend some time wandering around Vauxhall with a friend. After meeting at the RVT, we walked across the Pleasure Gardens, having recently seen an exhibition on the former attracts that used to stand on the site. After a quick look at the animals of the Vauxhall City Farm and a cup of tea in a local greasy spoon, we moved back towards the river. As we were passing an anonymous office block, I noticed a couple of sign on the pavement advertising an exhibition of photographic portraits. After some hesitation we decided that the images must be on display inside that office block which looked abandoned. We walked in and were informed that the exhibition of 200 images was indeed using the 21 floors of the empty building. The exhibition is organised by The Photographic Angle , a charity that "holds free exhibitions that travel across the UK transforming otherwise empty spaces into temporary galleries". We took the lift directly to the top floor o...

The first vigil had been organised following the fatal attack against gay man Ian Baynham on the Square. This edition of the vigil now directed against hate crime in general but gathering mostly members of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) community. Speakers included Lynn Featherstone (minister), Brian Paddick (out mayoral candidate) , Ken Livingston (mayoral candidate), Elly Barnes (No1 in the Independent's Pink List 2011), Sue Sanders (co-chair of Schools Out and LGBT History Month), and Stuart Milk (nephew of Harvey Milk). There were performances by a choir made up of members of London's three LGBT choir (London Gay Men's Chorus, Pink Singers and Diversity Choir) and the London Gay Wind Orchestra. No representent of the current mayor was present. Two minutes silent were held at 8pm followed by the reading of names of LGBT and disabled victims of hate crime. Other vigil were taking place simultaneously around the country, including at the Occupy London camp outs...

Another year and another Pride have gone. My 10th Pride in London. Like last year, I was walking with the London Gay Men's Chorus but for some reason it all felt a bit underwhelming. And I am not even sure why as no noticeable difference springs to mind. My pictures of the day can be found on flickr, here . Previous sets of pictures: Pride London 2007 Pride London 2008 Pride London 2009 Pride London 2010

Today I popped in the National Portrait Gallery to view the paintings shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award 2011. This year was mostly underwhelming, I have to say, with many examples of a trend in modern portraiture that I find particularly annoying: the photo look. Paintings with the slick, smooth, slightly-soft-focused look of a photography. I do like hyper-realism but for some reason I can't abide that look in portraiture. The overall winner , by Wim Heldens, just about escapes my ire in that respect. Although I rather like it, it is also not part of my favourites. You can find them below in bad iPhone pictures I took myself (the links provide more info about the paintings and the artists): George O'Dowd by Layla Lyons, oil on canvas on wooden stretcher, 1800 x 1400 mm Abi , by Nathan Ford, oil on canvas, 280 x 200 mm and just because I like Maxi: Maxi Jazz by Joe Simpson, oil on canvas, 600 x 600 mm There was another one I liked, which I didn't photograph and doesn...

In the Open Letter sent out 7 June regarding the Gay Free Zone case, a number of gay and feminist activists closed by saying: "The East London Mosque claims to have no responsibility over those who speak there. The East London Mosque also claims to be opposed to the 'gay-free zone' campaign and homophobia. We demand that the East London Mosque live up to its stated word, take ownership of its platform and stop allowing its premises to be used to promote gay-hate campaigns." Salman Farsi, Communications Officer from the East London Mosque, speaking to the Guardian responded by saying: "Any speaker who is believed to have said something homophobic will not be allowed to use our premises, whether that is us organising an event or someone else. As for the condemnation of homophobia, our director has gone on the record on this." We, the undersigned, welcome the East London Mosque's statement that they will no longer allow their premises to be used by homopho...

In a bit to avoid the wall-to-wall coverage of a certain event taking place in Westminster this morning, I had to take refuge in the gym (which was thankfully open). In the afternoon, however things took a more subversive turn. First with an aborted queer zombies flashmob organised by Queer Resistance in Soho Square. The aim was to protest the current budget cuts made by the government and affecting various part of the LGBT community. Unfortunately the police seems to arbitrarily decide that such a gathering would be an inconvenience to the more conventional revelers and gave the handful of peaceful protesters five minutes to leave the Square under threat of being arrested. This really did smack of an abuse of power worthy of the worst police state. Later I joined a group of members of the London Gay Men's Chorus who had dragged up as bride to enjoy a little pub crawl around Soho. This happened without any problem and was met with cheers and many requests for photographs for the c...

My pictures of the second kiss-in which took place on 21 April can be found on flickr here . Don't forget to sign the petition here . (My pics of the first kiss in can be found here .)

You can join us in this by signing the petition on Facebook. (click here if you are not on Facebook) On the evening of Wednesday 13 April 2011, Jonathan Williams, 26, and James Bull, 23, were asked to leave the John Snow public house for kissing while on their first date. A member of staff allegedly described the couple’s behaviour as obscene and evicted them from the establishment. The media have reported several accounts of this incident. The general consensus has been that the couple's behaviour was entirely appropriate for a couple enjoying their first romantic evening together. The strength of feeling that this mistreatment of a gay couple raised in London’s LGBT community was such that in the course of less than 30 hours, a gay kiss-in was organised with several hundred participants at the John Snow on the evening of 15 April 2011. Another kiss-in followed the next week on 21 April 2011. Rather than allow the LGBT protesters into or around the pub, the John Snow closed its ...

Musings on the John Snow pub events - The Events There are of course always two sides to a story and it would be very interesting indeed to hear the management's side of this particular one. The problem is that the management has shown a remarkable lack of PR savvy throughout the whole story. Not only have they consistently refused to answer enquiries from the press or issuing pithy comments like “I have every right to kick people out if I wish.” or “Can you just stop calling this number please, or we’ll have you done for harassment.” but the Samuel Smith Brewery, who owns the pub has been equally silent (although this is apparently normally policy from the company in the face of crisis). What is utterly astounding, and, in the mind of many, further proof of foul play, is that the landlord, cutting his nose to spite his face, should have deemed it preferable to close the pub on a Friday night, on what would no doubt be a very busy and profitable night, rather than let openly and vi...

Last night about 600 people gathered outside a pub at the heart of Soho to protest against homophobia, of all things. On Wednesday night, a young couple was having their first date. After pizza, they went to a favourite pub, the John Snow, and as the night progressed and they enjoyed each other's company, they started kissing. Independent witnesses have assured us that this was all very light stuff. Nothing that should worry anyone in a Soho pub. Yet Jonathan Williams and James Bull (pictured), both in their 20s say they were asked to stop by a customer who identified himself as the landlord and professed himself "bothered". A couple of hours later, as Bull was preparing to leave, he gave, Williams "a peck on the lips". A woman claiming to be the landlady apparently asked them to leave at this point calling their behaviour "obscene"; the earlier customer/landlord allegedly lending her support and grabbing Bull by the lapel of his jacket. The couple lef...

Yesterday, I took my camera around the neighbouring Heygate Estate. You can read about it in Londonist here . All the pictures of my visit can be found on my flickr account here . -------------------------- The Londonist article has been picked up in the Guardian's list of top London blogs .