Gainsborough Studios

Shoreditch Park, Hackney, is a London park near the Regent's Canal, which hereabouts is the boundary between the boroughs of Islington and Hackney. I imagine that many people using the park wonder why the word "Gainsborough" is spread along the top of a block of flats, and what the rusted metal sculptures in the park signify. The fact is that the block of flats incorporated parts of what was once Gainsborough Studios, a British film studio that produced movies from 1924 to 1951. The studio buildings were not purpose-built: prior to their use for films they were a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway. Alfred Hitchcock did his first work in movies at Gainsborough Studios. That large circular sculpture is, I imagine, based on a film reel.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Shoreditch Park, London

A favourite subject of Victorian painters and photographers was the humanity on show in London's parks. It remains an attractive subject today. This shot of Shoreditch Park on a day when the temperature climbed to 35 Celsius contrasts the tree shade and messy humanity enjoying itself with the clear blue sky and the perfection of the recently completed Hoxton Press mid-rise hexagons, two towers offering 198 flats.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Sunny Shoreditch Park

On a recent weekend the warm weather brought people out into sunny Shoreditch Park in London. Dry weather and the popularity of the park had turned the green grass yellow but that didn't stop young and old coming out to feel the sun on their faces and backs. As we passed through the park the looming buildings under construction gave a dissonant note to the tranquil scene.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10