Something from the streets, I really should walk with my 40mm more, I don’t think I’ve gotten a great shot with it yet…
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery
Tag: Regent Street
Vanishing Vanity
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.
The house on the corner
Last year sometime, someone called me to tell me that there was an old house on Regent Street that was being put up for sale, and they were letting me know just in case I wanted some photos before the new owners took over (and who would more than likely tear it down); I wish more people would call me like this actually.
I went out one Sunday morning, and took a few photos, some just to record the building, others with a more studied eye to the scene, and as usual I was always on the look-out for one or two that I think stand out from the rest; this is one of those.
Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm | Regent & Light Streets, Georgetown, Guyana | 2015
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery
A Dream
The idea that someday, someone in power would choose to make the decision to fix the beautiful structure that is Georgetown’s City Hall is likely a dream, one that may remain unfulfilled.
As it is, most of us can see that is makes more financial sense to let it fall to pieces and then put up a square unattractive concrete block of a building with no character and no appeal, probably all because of years of neglect, and the squandering of taxpayers monies.
Should it be fixed? That depends on your view I suppose. Guyana’s tourism depends largely on natural wonders like Kaieteur and the animals of the rainforest, as well as upon the old-world Victorian/Colonial architecture that is still evident in many structures along the “Heritage Trail”, but are our tourist numbers enough to justify spending millions of dollars on rehabilitating this beautiful building?
What would I know? I’m just a citizen 🙂
Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm | City Hall, Georgetown, Guyana. 2015
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery
2015 Deck – Week 32
Georgetown, Guyana.
The French called it Longchamps, the Dutch called it Stabroek, the British named it after King George III, Georgetown. Each generation always seem to wish for the “good old days”, but as I’ve aged and seen this edifice that I pass daily age as well, I think that City Hall has indeed seen its Glory Days, unless something radical is done quickly.
I look at the photo and the phrase that comes to mind is “everything looks better in the morning light”
City Hall, Georgetown, Guyana. Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20 Lens
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from the 2015 Deck Project
2013 Deck – Week 37
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.
2013 Deck – Week 23
Keeping a photo project going is not easy, I found that many times I “force” the images by going out looking for things to shoot… and often times I’m not entirely satisfied with the results. Most of the images that I like are the ones that I just happen to see, being in the right place at the right time 🙂
I was on the pavement near the intersection of Regent Street and Avenue of the Republic when I noticed the reflection of City Hall in the flooded pavement and road near to me, I actually had my camera in hand and tried to compose a few shots between people walking by me, and vehicles splashing the waters occasionally.
Some people can go out and “make” the photos, others are just the instrument that is manoeuvred into the right place at the right moment to see and capture what is shown to them 🙂
Canon Rebel T1i | Sigma 17-50mm | 17mm, f/8, ISO400
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with the other images in the 2013 Deck Project.
2013 Deck – Week 11
I’m not a Street Photographer, but on a recent PhotoWalk with other members of the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook Group down Regent Street, that type of photography was the primary aim of the walk.
I got a few images that I like, but this one, while not tack sharp was my favourite, there was a loud exchange of words between a few women across the street, then I noticed one of them running down the pavement, quickly snapped a shot 🙂
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with the rest of the Deck Photos for this year 🙂
Worth Saving
Some things are worth saving.
A friendship of many years is certainly worth saving, after a while you get to the point where an argument is just an argument, not a reason for “falling out”.
A job is worth saving, especially when there are fewer to find and when you have more to think about than just yourself,
Memories, as in letters and photos, video-clips and newspaper clippings, are worth saving, it is a record of the things we’ve done, things we’ve seen, and it becomes a story to tell our children and grand-children.
In this century (and the end of the last) there’s a great movement to save our forests, certainly worth saving if we intend to continue to breathe.
Endangered species are worth saving, why let a species go extinct because of the actions (or inaction) of another species, especially when we (humans) may be the main cause of their dwindling numbers.
Recently, there’s been a movement (championed by Annette Arjoon-Martins) to save the mangroves that form part of our sea-defence, I certainly don’t want my house washed away because people burn garbage in the mangrove areas, destroying our first line of sea-defence, so that is certainly worth saving.
I think most people may agree with much of what I’ve mentioned, many more will have other things to add to this list, but is a building worth saving? Is a building that is older than any of us, that has seen more mayors than we have fingers, that is one of the few remaining structures of its kind, that is a reminder of our colonial history worth saving?
Should we let the markers of our heritage, the work of the hands of our ancestors, the beauty of a golden age, fall into disrepair,slowly disappear and be forgotten?
Clink on the photo above to see it in the Gallery, along with other photos from around Georgetown, Guyana.
A Windowed View
When the new owners of the Central Garage building began their renovation works, I asked permission to take a few photographs inside the building and also from the roof. Although I took quite a few, this one always nagged at the back of my mind (I’ve yet to process that set completely).
The front of the building was windowed in sections, and at the time of my visit the windows and their frames had been removed from the eastern wall, this wall has now been remodelled and houses large glass panels, so the view may be similar 🙂
I had originally thought that the new owners would remove the old building and replace it, but they chose to retain the existing steel structure, remove and replace the old wooden and asbestos outer walls. Although they changed more of the facade than I’d have wished, they retained more of the original building than was expected 🙂
This view shows mainly City Hall, which itself is in danger of crumbling, you can also see part of the ACME building, and part of the Victoria Law Courts. I liked the contrast between the darker interior of the building and the brightly lit City, framed by windowless orifices.
Please click on the image for a better view in the Gallery, this Gallery also holds other photos from around Georgetown, Guyana.
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