SNAPPY SNAPS!

Following on from my vintage seaside picture yesterday, I've dug out a photograph album I bought recently in Glastonbury.

It contains some absolutely stunning photos of London taken in the 1920s. 
It also has a few charming seaside snaps of classic days out by the sea.

The London pix however are the best, they have an atmospheric, ghostly feel to them.

Have a look at some of the pix here ...

Yes, the album is actually called Snappy Snaps!!

An amazing street scene with St Paul's Cathedral in the background. Taken in Ludgate Hill, just look how empty it is!! Only 1 car and 1 bus, plus a few people.

An unusual view of the Old Bailey, where you can see the Lady Justice statue on top. This photo can only have been taken from the Monument, the only tall building other than St Paul's around at the time. Sadly this area would be devastated during the Blitz.

I love this photo of Big Ben, the car whizzing by in the foreground reminds me of one of my favourite Jacques Henri Lartigue photographs. The one where the racing car is hurtling by and Lartigue has captured the back wheel in a crazy position!  Funnily enough, it was probably taken around the same time as this.

This is easily the most atmospheric and poignant. The Cenotaph in Whitehall.
The Portland stone memorial, designed by Edwin Lutyens was built in 1920, replacing a wooden version of it. It be would become the centre-piece for national Remembrance. Throughout the 20s and 30s it would forever be covered in flowers as people flocked to it. As you can see it this photo, it is indeed surrounded by flowers, with people paying their respects to a lost family member or friend. I love this photo, with the slightly awkward angle and positioning, it has a natural feel to it.

This chap is enjoying a day out at the fair! Not sure what his costume is, but he's definitely up for a bit of bowling! 

And two lovely seaside shots here, above a woman in a very fashionable 20s swimming cossie and below Grandma just happy to sit quietly on the beach, near the pier, letting the bright young things get on with it.

I often use old photographs as part of my artworks and collages, and these pictures lend themselves perfectly to it.

I've already started on one, with the Cenotaph photo. It has a sad and ghostly feel to it, so I thought it would be perfect to have a soldier looking down on the people, with the headstones of a First World War cemetery, known as Silent Cities, in the foreground. With the wording LEST WE FORGET.