8
In this chilly evening I am surrounded by worn out carpenter’s benches, red deers stuck on the walls and the occasional sound of the London overgound buzzing overhead. I have been passing this café every morning and every evening to and from work. Never really to any notice, which is a mystery in it self since the front yard is filled with colourful toys that might have belong to a cirkus at some point. Hurwundeki is just that, mysterious, it has just popped up in between a car-rental and the Cambridge Heat station, unfortunately it closes at 18.00 which is a petty, I could have stayed her for much longer pretending to do work when f*@_<?§ mostly occupies my time.
6
I bought some tea in a shop on the right side of Well Street, the tiny one. It appears the shop has been selling tea and other remedies for 28 years. John, the owner, a man with glasses, a sharp eye and a very sharp tone told me he was worried about what is going to happen with this side of the street. Apparently it was donated to the community for the poor people of Hackney. Some years ago the trust sold the whole shebang to an estate agent, Lambert, and now the rent has gone up three times of what it was. 600 000 pounds is the total amount a year, but only 60 000 pounds go back to the community. Even he doesn’t know where the rest goes. I nodded and agreed and put up an understanding face. Taking my tea and camera I left the shop and walked to the other side of the street. I spotted a charity shop. Outside there were stacks of battered tubs filled with children’s shoes for 1 pound a pair and the rear wall inside was packed with 17 inches TV monitors. Yeah, I kinda get it now, I get how people are struggling. John even answered my question “how can families live off a Tesco-salary?” - They are lucky to even have a Tesco-salary.
Taking long walks in East London with your camera is an adventure. Getting the great photographs, and the possibility someone might nick the camera from you is the ultimate London experience. Sneaking up on people might not be the smartest thing to do, considering the outcome. Will they make a face or will the pull a knife?
5
Tomorrow I’m going to work. Funny enough, scrambling trough new videos on vimeo I discovered that this one is partly filmed in the London Fields area, where I am having my lunch tomorrow! Fine, if you must know - coffee, orange juice and an egg-roll. Everything that makes my teeth scream for mercy.
4
Yesterday I left my cosy prison for a walk in the park. I ended up on a bench taking sneak photos of a dad and his child, or so it seemed. What if it wasn’t his child, maybe he was an uncle, he certainly didn’t look like a dad. He looked like a musician or an artist of some sort, he reminded me of Pushwagner. It made me aware of myself. People walking by my bench in the sun, what did they think of me if they took a notice? Most walked furiously fast, so they couldn’t have seen much. Just a messy dry bleached head, a pair of new blue converse stretched out on the bench, a pink knitted jumper and a book slightly covering the title, afraid people would think of me as the total romantic. There I said it. Whatever they thought of me, hope they didn’t think that. But the dad/uncle was definitely aiming for Pushwagner.
