Year of the Horse

   

Last Sunday saw the celebrations for the Chinese New Year - the Year of the Horse - take place in London's Trafalgar Square and Chinatown. For once it wasn't raining, in fact some there was some (very) early spring sunshine and wall to wall blue skies. This year there was a short parade around the environs of Chinatown. I like to get into these events early; and get in amongst the performers as they are getting ready, and last Sunday was no exception.

The blue skies and red lanterns also provided opportunities for photos ......

Een the blue Cockerel - the artwork cuurently occupying the Fouth Plinth in the north west of the Square , was coordinated, colour wise.

 

A New 4th Plinth Artwork

A new artwork arrived on the fourth plint in Trafalgar Square this week - ‘Powerless Structures Fig. 101', replacing the Ship in a Bottle which was there previously - you may have seen my previous postings on the various offerings on trhe fourth plinth elsewhere in this blog.

Some good early spring sunlight and a vivid blue sky assisted my humble photographic efforts here and my polarising filter - which can at times be an almost permanent addition on my lens - was unnecessary on this occasion.  Whilst I don't always like aircraft vapour in my images, in the case of the 4th image above, perhaps they add something ?

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but what does the title of the artwork mean ?

Countdown Continued

That Olympics countdown clock in Trafalgar Square here in London has a constant stream of visitors using it as a backdrop for photos of themselves. At times there is almost a queue.

New Year is a few weeks away - the Square usually fills with 1000's of people welcoming the new year at midnight on Dec31st. I wonder if this clock will be the only one to have a night off ?

The Countdown Continues

The countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games here in London continues, and this is being marked by an offical clock in Trafalgar Square. You may have read a previous countdown post here. The clock is being used by visitors to the Square as a backdrop for some portraits ....

Countdown

Next year - 2012 - the Olympic Games come to London again.  I'm sure the intervening time between now and then will provide many photographic opportunities. 

In Trafalgar Square, central London, an official clock was installed, which counts down the time to the Games start, froma starting point of 500 days.

Since the clock has been there, it has almost become a tourist attraction. People come and sit by it, pose by it, and have their photo taken by it.

The clock is just nearby the Fourth Plinth in northwest corner of Trafalgar Square, which was empty for many years but now shows artworks. Currently on show is "Nelson's Ship in a Bottle", and you can read my posting on it here. Other previous posts on the Fourth Plinth are here and here and here - one and other. The artwork is due to change in 2012 and again in 2013, so I plan to be back and photograph what goes up then.

In the meantime, I wonder what will happen the Olympic Clock next December 31st ? The Square usually attracts 50,000 revellers at midnight to welcome in the new year.

Ship in a Bottle

Next up on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square is "Nelson's Ship in a Bottle" by Yinka Shonibare MBE - one of the first sculture to give a direct nod the the adjacent monument.

 Here's what it looked like on May 23rd, the day before it's unveiling  -

and a few days later (note the clouds ... we had over summer in London, in 23/5 and its now over for another year ...) -

I wasn't expecting very much beforehand but now that I've seen it, I like it.

I may try to photograph it again, from a different angle. Whilst I enjoyed the bright May sunshine, it does make photographing a "bottle" a little more difficult,  with refections and hot spots. What looks interesting also
is capturing Nelson's column through the Bottle - you can the effect in one of the above.

Fourth Plinth, continued ....

Passed through Trafalgar Square the other day for the first time since the "One and Other" project on the Fourth Plinth had closed (in mid October). I had heard that a new statue was in place there and I was curious to see it.

A new statue has indeed been placed there - of Sir Keith Park, a World War 2 RAF hero. It's larger than life size, made from fibreglass and should be in place for 6 months (until next April ? It was unveiled early November 2009). It has had some mixed reviews, but then so did the previous project, One and Other, and so will, probably, the next, whatever that will be.

The green coloured One and Other production studio (along with the 2 bright yellow cherry picker type vehicles) have also long since been removed from the Square, giving it back some space.

Fouth Plinth

I see the One and Other/Fourth Plinth art project - where 2400 participants each spent an hour alone on the otherwise empty 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square - came to a close this morning. It first came to my attention back in July shortly after it began, when I was passing through the Square on my way somewhere else. The participant at the time didn't interest me - he was merely pacing up and down. What was more interesting then was the change-over - the new participant was driven up in a platform on a cherry-picker, lifted up to the plinth, change-over occurs and then the previous one driven away.

Since then I've made a point of passing through Trafalgar Square when in central London - around the time of the change over (usually on the hour) - to photograph it. And I've built up a small collection of photos, from which I'm posting a short sequence ....













From what I've seen, an eclectic mix of people on the plinth - some eccentric, some interesting, some boring, others forgettable. But Trafalgar Square will seem a little emptier to me now that the project is over. I guess the plinth will be used for something else ?