Thursday 20 October 2016

Sunshine and shadow

In front of Kingsway college in Camden is a garden surrounded by a low brick wall, a square of mossy tarmac made special by the seated figure nestled among the dingy bushes. On this occasion there were in fact two seated figures, one permanently immobile, the other sitting in almost exactly the same attitude but busy texting. Taking photographs, you often miss this sort of moment, but the two remained still while I got my camera ready. Even so, it took a lot of work in Photoshop to reconcile bright sunshine and deep shade.

The statue is made of ciment fondue, which means working with wet cement rather than casting. It was made by Jean Bullock in 1977, the same year as the Sex Pistols released Anarchy in the UK, although it has nothing else in common with the whole punk thing.