E // Back in April, Beth and I went down to London for the weekend to house-sit, and also celebrate her sister's birthday (happy birthday Jen!). We started the weekend off by visiting Hawaiin restaurant Kua 'Aina (you can read out blog post about it here). The next day we had a bit of time on our hands to explore, so we headed over to Camden for a visit with two of Beth's friends.
B // Shout out to Brogan and Joe, heeyyooooo!
E // As far as I can remember, I hadn't been to Camden before this (after all these years, I'm still a London newb), so it was nice to finally go check it out. Unfortunately, it was freezing cold and drizzling rain and the main food market was closed for refurbishment... So not the best time to visit! Part of the market had moved across the street though (we're not sure if there's always been another food market there and we just never noticed..?), so we still got to enjoy some of the culinary delights, including some delicious Jerk Chicken, and some very tasty little Dutch Pancakes. If I had a larger stomach and limitless funds, I would have loved to have sampled more of the food, there was so much on offer and it smelled incredible.
B // I'm not really a fan of Camden, but I do love the food market and seem to end up coming here quite often when I visit London with friends. There always some pretty cool street art dotted about too. The market stalls can be pretty fun to walk around too, but they tend to be the same kind of stalls repeated over and over again across the majority of London.
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| Brogan's yummy vegan lunch |
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| Jerk chicken, salad and tropical mayo |
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| Dutch pancakes! |
B // I've never ventured off the beaten track in Camden, so we typically end up going for a drink at Lock 17 as it's in such a central location. On a sunny day it's pretty nice to sit out on the decking and lock out across the canal and the lock itself. |
Lock 17 Pub |
B // After spending some time in Camden, we wanted to venture over to Southbank to soak up some artsy culture. But after getting off at the wrong tube station (which was Ellie's fault, just sayin'), we ended up the wrong side of the river. As we're all incredibly lazy we headed to Somerset house instead. We had no idea what exhibitions were currently on, but I always enjoy turning up at a gallery and finding new artists you'd never heard of before.
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| Brogan in Somerset House courtyard |
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| El in Somerset House courtyard |
That week we happened to stumble upon several gems. We first saw Invitation Strictly Personal, a collection of fashion related sketches and notes from Iain R Webb, including catwalk invitations dating back to the 60's. Some were presented in a conglomeration on the wall, each separated by thick black tape, whilst others where displayed in a more orderly fashion in glass cases. This wasn't really mine or Ellie's thing, but Brogan studies textiles/fashion so it was probably of more interest to her.
B // Next up was by far Ellie's favourite part of the day. Beards. So many beards. Beautiful bearded men. This exhibition was literally just called 'Beard' and shows portrait photography by Mr Elbank of glorious bearded fellows and explores the ~art of grooming~.
E // I love beards. I just love them. I didn't know it was possible for a lesbian to feel so strongly about beards, but I do. If Beth could grow a beard, I think I would be ok with that.
B // You pognophile (beard lover if u didn't know). All delicious beardness aside, the images themselves are pretty nicely shot and are displayed very pleasingly. The exhibition also features Harnaam Kaur, a British bearded woman who has been growing a beard since the age of 16 after being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition which causes excess hair growth.
B // The next exhibition we saw was my absolute favourite, and probably one of the best exhibitions I've ever been to. The Syngenta Photography Award 2015, this year responding to the theme of Scarcity-Waste.
"In the past 50 years, our demands on the natural world have doubled. Many of us are barely aware of the fragility of the resources we depend upon for our survival. While resource scarcity is evident everywhere, it sits alongside enormous waste. As nearly one billion people go to bed hungry worldwide, others are wasting over half of the food they buy. The award called for photographs that tell stories about scarcity and waste and the tensions and relationships between them. Photographers, whatever their approach, were invited to interpret this theme to spark dialogue about our changing planet." (somersethouse.org.uk)
 Abandoned Island Development (United Arab Emirates, 2012-2014) by Richard Allenby-Pratt |
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Freetown City Dumpsite (Freetown, Sierra Leone, 2012) by Mustafa Abdelaziz
B// The final exhibition we visited was War Requiem & Aftermath by Maggie Hambling. The exhibition showed delicious, texture rich abstract paintings and sculptural pieces, some of which reached from floor to ceiling.
B// We finished the afternoon off with a drink in Tom's Kitchen, the restaurant in Somerset House. Brogan got a fancy coffee, me and El got water because we are poor students. Cry.
Grabbing a drink in Tom's Kitchen
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