Walls and Bridges:
by Joel Meadows

1-26-06

This week I spent some of the time up to my knees in filth. Well actually, it was only Saturday midday and only for about fifteen minutes. For the past few months, I've been researching a book on London's bridges which would be partly photographic. I have an interested publisher so the past week or so I've been heading out with my compact camera and tripod to take some shots to go into the proposal. Two Sundays ago, it was Chelsea Bridge, one of the smaller bridges across the river but surrounded by a lot of greenery. Friday took me to Waterloo Bridge on a glorious bright but slightly chilly day with some fantastic white fluffy clouds and blue skies. Since the weather was equally perfect in terms of its light on Saturday, I made my way to Vauxhall Bridge. As I walked to the bridge, at least half a dozen people asked me if I'd seen the whale on the river even though I was there for another purpose. Vauxhall Bridge is a very elegant bridge, erected in 1906, and is decorated with a number of grand figures on each side. But annoyingly, it's hard to get decent shots of the bridge from the Thames path because of a number of barriers in your way. Next to Vauxhall Cross, MI6's headquarters, is a slipway for the Duck, the vehicle that takes people on tours along the river, and you can get some great unobscured views of the bridge from there. So gingerly I wandered down it and set up on the muck and scum of the river. Converse really aren't designed to wade through mud! But the shots were worth it…

Coming back from the bridge, looking for a garage to buy some water and tissues to clean up my shoes, I was asked if I was a photographer. I don't know the answer to this since I dabble with the camera but I'm a journalist by training and experience. I still don't consider myself a real photographer but maybe I am now…