Market Day

On April 5, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

Sundays are well known Market Days for various markets within and outside of Georgetown. Within the city limits two notable markets that abound with activity on a Sunday morning would be Bourda Market and the La Penitence Market.

With Friday’s announcement of COVID-19 Emergency Measures, I heard that the Markets would be closed on a Sunday morning (5th April 2020). My friend Shola mentioned that she passed Bourda and that she ” never thought there would be the sound of silence at Bourda” – as tempting as it was to pounce upon the cricket reference, I knew what she meant.

At La Penitence, traffic along Saffon Street and along Sussex Street are usually very slow moving on a Sunday mornings, this morning there was little traffic to speak of, and Bourda is ever a hive of activity, any day of any week of any year.. except now.

I was parked just before the old Yong’s Bakery building and across from the Kaieteur News building. This gent on the bicycle was approaching from the other side of the road, and he casually angled across the lanes and came towards me, there was no traffic to interfere with his maneuvers.

The La Penitence market off to the centre-right of the image above is almost never seen in such a quiet state. On a Sunday morning I’d be lucky to see the market itself from this vantage point, actually, on a Sunday morning I’d never be able to stand in that vantage point, it being in the middle of the road.

Bourda Market consists of the main Market Building that is surrounded by Orange Walk, Regent, Robb and Bourda Streets, to the north of the main structure, over Robb Street is the extended market area with stalls filling that block up to North Road. This was further extended onto Merriman’s Mall that lies between North Road and Church Street, the main section between Orange Walk and Alexander Street having enclosed stall structures, the additional section with open stall structures lies between Orange Walk and Cummings Street (pictured above).

Above you can see the market area along North Road (approaching Orange Walk) this junction is usually quite busy, noted for the Coconut Vendors on the corner there.

Above you can see a view of the Market area along North Road, I had originally hoped to catch a scene with some clear skies, but the accompanying clouds added to the mood.

A view of one of the north-south entraceways, looking into the market area between two stalls tat face onto North Road.

Not a street I make a habit of traversing, but I have gone through here on a couple of photo walks, and even at it’s more quiet times it is usually bubbling with life and activity

There are essentially two street in Georgetown that are usually described as the busiest, Sheriff Street and Regent Street. Regent Street outside of Bourda has probably not been this quiet since Good Friday 2019, and even that I’m not sure of.

Robb Street between Alexander Street and Orange Walk is usually known for being a section of street that you don’t ever try to rive through, unless you have the patience of Job. Here it is today, you could roller-skate (blade) own it and probably try a few stunts while you’re at it.

COVID-19 and the precautions we need to take will change things, are changing things, and will change us, but it will also help point out the things we take for granted.

Be Safe, practice social distancing as much as practical, please don’t spread fear with all those inaccurate social media posts, try to think for yourself.

Please click on the images to see them in the Gallery

Goodbye Unity

On October 25, 2016October 25, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography8 Comments

Robb Street begins in Robbstown, down on the “waterfront” by the John Fernandes’ wharf area, both the ward and the street got their names from the man who designed the area in terms of the building lots and landscape, it ends at the famous Bourda Cricket Ground (Georgetown Cricket Club), on what is now Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, renamed to honour the achievements of one of Guyana’s great cricketers of the 1990s into the first decade and a half of the new millennia. The original name of Shiv Chanderpaul Drive was New Garden Street, because Robb Street was to originally end at the new Botanical Gardens, but that was pushed back a further block (an area that is home to the Georgetown Cricket Club, Georgetown Football Club, Ministry of Agriculture, and Office of the President.)

At the end of Robb Street, on the northern corner, is the Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church (if you’re a Portuguese language speaker, you may want to check out their Portuguese language mass that caters to our growing latin/spanish/Brazillian population), in the southern corner is (or, in a few days/weeks, was) Unity House, a three story wooden house.

I don’t know enough of it’s history, but it once housed the chapel in which Holy Mass was celebrated while the church across the road was being built (on the middle floor), and for many years it was the headquarters of the United Force, a political party which has held parliamentary seats in Guyana up until two elections ago. Prior to the last elections, also, there was some in-fighting among the executives, primarily as to who would lead the party, but that’s just politics. As I write this the building is being torn down, let’s hope the party can last a bit longer 🙂

I was processing a photo that I had taken near the gate, but that would not enlighten anyone as to the structure of the building, so I went on to process a wider photo for elucidation 🙂

Closed – 15-9996 | 2015 | Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm

Unity House – 15-9986 | 2015 | Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm

Click on the images to see them in their respective Galleries.

Vanishing Vanity

On October 20, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Commentary, Photography5 Comments

There once was a time when we created not just for function but for appeal, when we designed things to make our lives easy, as well as for those things to be easy on the eyes. There is a sense of loss, its physical, but also emotional, when the older buildings are removed and replaced with structures that closely resemble steel slabs or concrete cuboids.

I don’t do it often enough now, but I once had a fascination with capturing old buildings around Georgetown… but they seem to be vanishing faster than ever now; I hear it’s the sign of progress.

Like everything else in life, if we don’t fight to keep it, then we will lose it, but most of us seem to have grown up in a time when that “fight” is not in us, where we accept the decisions of others, because we believe that our voice, our opinion does not make a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm | Regent Street, Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana.

Click on the image to see it in the gallery, along with other images from around Georgetown, Guyana.

2013 Deck – Week 37

On November 18, 2013November 18, 2013 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography4 Comments

Some scenes catch your eye, and you just have to try and get it on film or pixels, or a sketch. I was walking with Nikhil around Bourda Market, primarily looking for some of his previous victims (photographic subjects) to whom he wanted to give a print of his labours… it is always interesting to watch their faces when he presents them with the print… indescribable, especially since most of them never expect to receive one :-), enough digression… yes, so… I was walking with Nikhil, taking the odd Street Photograph or two, just for practice, since mine never come out as good as Nikhil’s or Avinash’s.. and this scene presented itself to me as I looked back up Bourda Street towards Regent Street.

It’s a scene I know Nikhil would have shot had his hands not been full of envelopes 😀

Street Photography isn’t everyone’s thing… I hope you like it.

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

2012 Deck – Week 45

On December 10, 2012December 10, 2012 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2012 Deck, Photography4 Comments

I was checking out some photos taken by a young lady recently who aspires to become a professional some day, and there were a few images that had a distinct style that I think she can build upon. One of the images were of some wind chimes, and because she approached the subject from a different perspective than we normally look at wind chimes, it was interesting. Changing your perspective and shooting an object/subject from a lower or higher perspective, or a closer or wider perspective can alter the impression significantly and lend to the story you are telling.

Changing your perspective need not be only from a physical standpoint, as in where you place the camera in relation to a subject, but also a mental shift in perspective. I see some things everyday, others less frequently, but they quickly become part of the fabric of life as I know it, yet sometimes its important to look at things with fresh eyes, or to remind ourselves that what we take for granted, others may be intrigued by.

This was taken on a walk through Bourda Market…

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery!

2011 Deck – Week 29

On August 13, 2011August 13, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2011 Deck, Photography6 Comments

Several weeks ago my Deck photo was an exterior photograph of the Saint Barnabas Anglican Church. That church is now in the process of being demolished, but luckily, I got to take some photographs of the interior just before that. I happened to be on the outside of the church doing some more exterior shots with the wide-angle lens when I was approached by another local photographer, Amanda Richards, recent winner of the local chapter of the PAHO Safe Motherhood Photography Contest, she was awaiting the priest to open the church for the Deconsecration Ceremony. So fate stepped in, and I got to go inside the church to photograph parts of it before all the items were removed.

This photograph was pure luck! I was facing the altar taking a photograph, when I saw the area lighten around me, on turning around, a man was opening the doors at the back and just at that moment Ms Marjorie Kirkpatrick walked across the aisle. And there it was, one of my favourite photos of the set.

I called the photograph “Final Entrance Opening”, referring to the doors themselves and to the final service to be held there.

I will do a later blog-post on the rest of photos from that set. 🙂 I promise.

2011 Deck – Week 24

On June 18, 2011June 18, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2011 Deck, Photography18 Comments

Earlier this week I saw a Facebook Note from a local Journalist, Neil Marks, about the St Barnabas Church being sold, I always find it sad when any place of worship is sold, even more so when there is historic significance to the site (as is the case with most of them as they usually go back several generations).

Nikhil and I took a walk there hoping to find it open, we really wanted to get inside. As it was closed, we settled for taking a few more photos of the exterior from outside the fence. I went to the website of the National Trust of Guyana looking for more information on the site and found that there was pitiful little there.

2011 Deck – Week 16

On April 23, 2011April 23, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2011 Deck, Photography12 Comments

In keeping with the season of Easter (and just being lazy) I used a photo from Palm Sunday for this week’s Deck photo, I “reserved” two from that day just in case I didn’t get anything else I liked for the week, as it is I haven’t even downloaded what little else I did take, so it’s a good thing I did keep back two.

This one is more in keeping with the period, and is somewhat symbolic. The photograph was taken early in the proceedings, the lay-ministers had just brought up all the ciboria before the altar, and I took a few snaps of them, this one happened to use as the central ciborium the one from the Sacred Heart parish. The Church of the Sacred Heart was destroyed by fire on Christmas day in 2004, the building was then 135 years old. The parishioners long to see the church rebuilt and like Christ, rise to new glory.

Happy Easter folks.

Passion Sunday 2011 – Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana

On April 19, 2011April 19, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography3 Comments

Sunday past was the celebration of the Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, also known as Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday, a remembrance of the day that Jesus entered the Holy CIty of Jerusalem, the beginning of His final days of ministry upon earth. This marks the beginning of Holy Week for Roman Catholics; for the past few years the Passion Sunday celebration has been on a grander scale than that of my youth, all the Parishes of the area process to the Church of Our Lady of Fatima, and there the blessing of the Palms take place, thence the procession of all those gathered takes place into the grounds of the GCC Ground, Bourda, once famous for its Cricket matches.

As my sister pointed out to me, this was more a recording of the event rather than a serious attempt at photography, but there still might be a gem or two to be gathered from the day 🙂 I’m still not able to “make time” for the blogging and following up on other blogs, but too many friends and family were waiting for this one, so I just had to get through these photos at least 🙂

Click on the photograph below to go to the gallery for photos of the event.

Market Day

On September 21, 2010September 21, 2010 By themichaellamcollectionIn Introduction, Photography20 Comments

You can call this an introduction to a new album I decided to start. Part of Nikhil’s fascination with Street Photography led us into the market area at Bourda, and since I am less of a street photographer and more of a non-human subject type person, I took more of the items being sold than the persons selling them 🙂 So, I decided to start a Market album, it may not go far, or if Nik drags me screaming and kicking into the markets again, it might grow 🙂