Tate Modern Photo Walk
It Is Art Everywhere
When in London I visit Tate Modern. Without fail. And at least twice during my stay.
I boarded the Thameslink line. A lady also boarded and took the seat ahead of me and I noticed her dog. He lied down quietly. Cute one. I clicked this photograph before I alighted at Blackfriars Station.
Curious I was about this name Blackfriars. So, I googled. Friar means a member of any of certain religious orders of men. They wore white tunics and black cloaks, which gives rise to their name ‘blackfriars.’
As you approach Tate Modern, you hear music – a man with a guitar. This is a common sight here although the singer changes. I have seen three or four singers so far. Interestingly he was singing for a little girl and adding the words Harry Potter! Such sights captivate me. A man quietly handed over a tip in appreciation, though he did not solicit it.
I decided to go to the bridge. The London Millenium Bridge. WalkLondon.com tells us that ‘Although the bridge is designed to support up to 5000 people, initial problems were caused when it first opened when thousands crossed together and set up vibrations which resulted in the bridge swaying sideways.’
As you get on to the Millenium Bridge this beautiful sight stuns you. That’s St Paul’ Cathedral. It was completed in the year 1710. Everything in London comes with a long history!
Magnify the photograph to see the Big Ben to your left.
The entry (or exit, if you wish) to the bridge is designed creatively. And you will also see the Tate Modern Building.
You enter Tate Modern from the Turbine Hall entrance. The entry is free although I pay a small donation. Nothing in the world is free, and the pleasure of watching art should not be free too.
As always, the Turbine Hall – Tate was a power generating station before it was closed down and converted in a museum – houses a major event. It became clear as I entered.
Oscar Murillo invites all visitors to pick up a paintbrush and create a collective artwork called The Flooded Garden.
And there was a flood of visitors who wanted to paint. They were waiting in line for painting The Flooded Garden.
This stairs is my favourite spot for photography. It provides such a beautiful combination of curves and lines.
And this shot too of the same stairs.
I returned to London Blackfriars and boarded Thameslink. There was a dog on the floor who ignored me.
Unlike the Indian dogs who chase me. The dogs in this island country have absorbed the British aloofness!
Vivek S Patwardhan
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others/ All work copyrighted.
Sir, thank you for this visual journey with you to your favorite spots. Every picture is brought to a reality(especially when you see it on desktop) ! I loved the cute dogs !!! Looking forward to more moments and stories from the past and the present!
Nice. Feels like being with you there.
Such a marvelous idea to get visitors to paint. I wonder why more galleries don’t do this.
As for dogs, here in America there are dog parks where you take you dog and let it loose with other people’s dogs and they all play together. Unheard and unimaginable in India. Our dogs would be at each other’s throats. I was on a 3-hour flight to Florida and a family boarded with their Golden Retriever. I wondered where the dog would sit and what would happen on the long flight
But to my astonishment there was no dog on board. That family was very much there. Husband and wife with two children and an infant but no dog. But as I was getting off the plane, I lo’ed and beheld that the dog had been lying on the floor under the seats, totally silent and still throughout the flight. I think this high degree of socializing has to do with how dogs are raised and trained.
Maybe also the result of the high cost of having an aggressive or misbehaved dog especially if it attacks anyone.