My Year....2014

After Facebook did such a dreadful job of showing the best bits of my year I decided to go one further and choose three photographs from each month that I feel highlight it better..... here is my 2014 in pictures....

January

The Fashion and Textile Museum, Bermondsey..The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon

Saving the Van Dyck self portrait...National Portrait Gallery and Artfund

Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington

February

City of London, Epping Forest, the View....Preview of art exhibition Forest Art and Crafts

My knight in shining armour!! Valentines Day at the Wallace Collection

A revisit to the newly reopened Kenwood House, Hampstead

March

A talk at the LSE, Holborn

Christ Church Spitalfields in the sunshine

The London Aquatic Centre, Stratford before sun screen panels put in

April

Osterley Park

St. Pauls Cathedral 

St. Dunstans in the East

May

The East London Group of Artists,,,From Bow to Biennale

Quilts at Danson House, Fine Cell Work

The Big Birthday

June

E17 Art Trail, Big Bob and Little Bob architecture tours

Balfron Tower, Poplar

The Year of the Bus, Regent Street

July

Street photography workshop, Victoria

Tour De France Day, Tourmaker

Regents Canal

August

Sulkin House, Bethnal Green...Lasdun

London Historians visit to The Government Art Collection

Rob Smith's Kings Cross walk

September

Tall Ships leaving London

Open House Weekend, Crossrail Canary Wharf

Lasdun Exhibition, Royal College of Physicians

October

London Historians visit to the British Postal Museum Store, Debden

The National Trust pop up at Balron Tower, Flat 130

The View, Balfron Tower

November

The Poppies near completion, Tower of London

Futura House, East London

Poppy Removal Team

December

Flagon and Flask, Christmas Pub Tour, Leadenhall Market

St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Connaught Water

The Photographers' Gallery..Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, The Conde Nast Years 1923-1937

Yesterday afternoon as the rain cleared I went to visit The Photographers' Gallery in Ramillies Street W1F, a quiet street just behind the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street.

It is a really good space covering 7 floors and includes a cafe, print room and a beautiful shop.  I was there to visit the Edward Steichen exhibition that started there on on Friday and runs until January 18th 2015.

The exhibition covers two floors of the gallery and shows over 200 vintage prints of Steichen's portrait and fashion photography. His work appeared in Vogue and Vanity Fair and as well as the pictures there are several display cases holding these precious magazines.

I had seen several of the works previously at the 2008 National Portrait Gallery exhibition, Vanity Fair Portraits, and the Gloria Swanson one behind lace is a particular favourite.

As well as the exhibition yesterday they were running free workshops to let you recreate some of the pictures.  I tried to do the Swanson one but the lace was too dense and it turned out more Halloween than Hollywood!

A definite if you love fashion and the Golden Age of Hollywood and it's free to enter between 10am and 12pm on a weekday.  The cost at other times is £4.50 and £3.50 concessions but that covers all exhibitions running there.

A Walthamstow Sunday

On an incredibly warm and bright October Sunday I decided to visit the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow to see a new exhibition and also walk to Walthamstow Village to look at the road set up for the Mini Holland trial.

Rossetti's Obsession: Images of Jane Morris runs until 4th January 2015 and is a beautifully curated exhibition of photographs, pastels and drawings of the wife of William Morris, This year marks the Centenary of her death and this exhibition is a travelling one in partnership with Bradford Museums and Galleries.  I really enjoyed this and will go back to some associated events as well. Opening times are Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm and it is free entry.

A walk along Hoe Street and into St. Marys Road took me into Walthamstow Village to see the Mini Holland trial in action. As usual on a bright day Orford Road was busy with people and a few bikes. As I'm not a resident of an affected road I'll reserve judgement on it.

A short walk around the corner is the Vestry House Museum home of the archives of Waltham Forest and a place I visit regularly for exhibitions. I hadn't though known about their latest one Raids, Rations and Riots: Waltham Forest and the Great War which started last week and runs until Sunday 1st of March 2015. It is a thought provoking and informative exhibition which has displays about the Chingford Royal Naval Air Station which was situated under what is now the William Girling Reservoir as well as about the Walthamstow AEC factory that made the B Type bus from 1910. There are also many display items which tell the human cost that the Great War had on what is now Waltham Forest. This exhibition is also free and I would recommend a visit to both on the same day. This museum is also open from Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm