Reef cone

Lone cone #6762. May 2009. Copyright Malcolm Raggett

Disabled cone

Lone cone #0373. June 2012. Copyright Malcolm Raggett

interesting geometry

Lone Cone #3417. April 2013. Copyright Malcolm Raggett

Country cone

Lone cone #3792. May 2013. Copyright Malcolm Raggett

At last spring! And the ditch has finally dried to reveal? Yup, a cone!

Smoking area

I have a long-running interest in the single road cone.  Occasionally I am less than purist and photograph multiple cones but generally it is the isolated cone that draws my attention: the one that’s past its sell-by date or has been pressed into service for a purpose beyond its original design.

I have already produced a book, but still the images accumulate so this is where I document the Lone Cone on a continuing basis.

Lone Cone #3794. May 2013. Copyright Malcolm Raggett

Photo gallery walk, central London

Here’s a walk I take when I want to see lots of quality photography in central London. I don’t rush and I take street photos on the way – allow a couple of hours at least.

A British summer in Oxford Street

I’ve made a Google Map if that helps:

I start by getting off the tube at Piccadilly Circus and visiting the Chris Beetles gallery,

Chris Beetles Gallery, Swallow Street

then head up Regent Street or one of the many interesting back streets, to the Photographers’ Gallery.  By the time I’ve had a good look, including a dangerous browse in the bookshop, it’s time for some lunch in their excellent cafe…

The Photographers’ Gallery from the Oxford Street approach

…then over the road to the Getty Images Gallery.

Getty Images, Eastcastle Street

Sometimes this is all I have time for, but the walk can be extended to  the Margaret Street Gallery and the Atlas Gallery.

If you like ‘straight’ architectural photography, it’s worth detouring via the Royal Institute of British Architects where there are high-quality images on display. They are also planning to open a gallery space in 2014, which could well be interesting, photographically speaking.

Claire Aho and 1950s Finnish Photography

The Clare Aho exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery, London

I have been a fan of the Finnish photographer Arno Minkkinen‘s surreal self-portraits for some years, so I was curious to see what other Finnish photographers’ work is like.  Claire Aho has an exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery, London, at the moment (ends 21 July 2013) so I went along.  The photos are from the 1950s to the 1970s and show a mastery of the sparse use of colour and design that we have come to associate with Scandinavia.   And yet they also have an international twist – they are reminiscent of the modernist-influenced work of Beaton and Parkinson.  There are individual images and a short video interview on the gallery Web site.  They also have a very good quality blog: well researched and written. Check out  the entry for Claire Aho and 1950s Finnish Photography.