PHOTOGRAPHY! WRITING!CREATIVE WRITING
Shooting London
A city in black and white (3)
Nature always gets through. It might go around, over, or under, but it always gets to the other side. That might sound like the kind of aphorism found in centuries-old cultures. I don’t know. All I know is that in my life I’ve seen plenty of examples to convince me that we mess with nature at our peril.
The first photo (above) was taken in Bunhill Fields Burial Ground. The one that boasts both William Blake and Daniel Defoe amongst its various famous “customers”. I’m used to seeing tree roots breaking through pavement slabs. After all, I’m a regular user of the canal towpath on my bicycle and this is a common sight. I’ve also been to Bunhill Fields many times but it was only during a recent walk with my Saturday group that I noticed how the elephant foot-shaped tree roots had managed to break through the railings.
It brought to mind Andrew Motion’s poem London Plane, for the specimen in the picture belongs to that species, too. In short, in Motion’s piece the tree is felled down because a resident is worried about his house. Will the same fate await our friend in Bunhill Fields? Only time will tell.
The next two photos were taken during the WhiteCross Street Festival a few weeks ago. I love seeing…
