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In and Around The Southbank
Without any modesty I feel my photos are doing for London what Atget did for Paris and Abbott did for New York! With that in mind I'm really only interested (mostly) in old unusual buildings. The Southbank itself doesn't fall into that category, in my opinion, so I haven't photographed those cathedrals to post-war Britain. Monolithic grey doesn't grab me. Maybe a mistake as the complex is so charmless it's charming. And I've left the London Eye alone as everyone must know what it looks like.
Instead I've mostly photographed old buildings and one of my favourite streets in London, Roupell Street. Situated near Waterloo station, John Palmer Roupell developed the Lambeth Estate from the 1820s to 1840s. The development has uniform terraced houses incorporating corner shops and a public house. The streets, which include Roupell St as well as Theed St and Whittlesey St, represent an impressive and little altered example of their type. Utterly beguiling.
Also the old Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women by Warring & Nicholson, now Schiller International University, at 51-55 Waterloo Road. London. First built in 1823, rebuilt in 1905, and closed as a hospital in 1936, this is by far the most beautiful building on Waterloo Road.
Also photographed the rather disappointing statue of Laurence Olivier on the Southbank, unveiled in 2007 to mark the centenary of the birth of Mr. National Theatre. Maybe it's just me but it's supposed to be life-size and Olivier looks about 5ft 1! I'm sure when I last read his official height was around 5ft 10? Still, it's better than nothing. And imagine if this starts a trend and the powers-that-be decide that a statue of Britain's greatest ever film actor, Alec Guinness, should stand next to Olivier to mark his 100th birthday in 2014. Well, that statue would dwarf the London Eye!
If Olivier is in the tower of acting then Guinness is a 100 floors above him.
Hover over each thumbnail image for details on picture and click on each to open a bigger picture.
Most of these photos are available as signed prints. Please e-mail for details. Some photos shown in various stages of manipulation.
I'd be grateful if the photos are not used without prior permission. Please e-mail any request for usage or to obtain any photo without the copyright wording, and I will get back to you to decline your request as soon as I can.
- Paul Page (2009)
{ R e c o m m e n d e d R e a d i n g }
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