London Calling
We arrived late in the evening, got some grub in the hotel restaurant, and turned in for the evening. We were staying in Heathrow, not inside London proper. This added an extra bit of stress as the CrowdStrike update that shutdown the world for a few days happened as we got in to London late on July 19th. This meant that we were seeing with our own eyes no planes landing or taking off. I tried to push the fears of being unable to get my students back home out of my mind and finally fell asleep watching reruns of The Office.
The following morning we had an early breakfast followed by exactly the sort of day in London you expect tourists to experience. We started at Buckingham Palace, which was positively packed. I had been in London before and remember what the crowd at Buckingham was like, but it is easy to forget just how impressive it all is, crowds and palace alike.
My mind was swirling with thoughts of being unable to return home on time, but I told myself that there were far worse places to be stranded than London. Surely we could find ways of keeping ourselves entertained while still maintaining the educational aspect of the trip for our students.
Evidently I wasn't doing a great job about not worrying about things out of my control, because it seemed like mere minutes later we were back on the bus and heading to Westminster Abbey.
While my favorite abbey of all the ones we visited over the last week and a half remained York Minster, Westminster is truly a work of art. Of all the structures in London, this may be my favorite. Its gothic architecture speaks to me in a big way as I have, as far back as I can remember, been fascinated with this architectural style. We thankfully arrived with the sun high enough in the sky to provide some nice backlighting for Westminster, but not without some diffusion from the cloudy skies. Without some nice front-lighting it was difficult to meter for this situation, but the end result is one I rather like. The same is true of Parliament Square, as we took some time to make photos and memories in front of Big Ben before we were off to the Tower of London.
At the Tower of London, the very best sights to photograph are actually from without, as the crown jewels and their rooms are strictly camera free. I found that from various spots throughout the Tower I was able to find my favorite compositions of Tower Bridge.
This one in particular is one I rather like as the Tower of London is providing foreground for Tower Bridge in the background. I always try to include layers into my photography as I find it more interesting than minimalism. Now, I have nothing against minimalism and some of my favorite photographs I've ever made - and in fact all the photos I've ever won awards for - have been minimalist, but I definitely lean towards maximalism where photography is concerned.
Lunchtime at Covent Garden
We gave the students free time for lunch at Covent Garden. Being so near Piccadilly and Soho, this was an ideal place to have some time to explore. It seemed my quest to find whitebait in England had failed and I resigned myself to have some fish and chips, not a bad compromise, followed by some street photography.
By far, my favorite photographs of London on this trip were made here. While every location we had visited so far had been jam-packed with people, the energy here was different. Just about every big city I've ever been to has districts like this: luxury shops, fine dining, and excellent entertainment. But at Covent Garden, the backdrop of centuries old buildings and streets mixes with these elements to create something beautiful.
And what's more, everyone seemed to be here to have a good time, no matter what they were up to.
Most of our students had never seen bhaktas before. In fact many had never even heard of Hare Krishna. So when the music got louder and the infectious smiles and energy rounded the corner and came towards us, it was a rather beautiful thing, seeing these sheltered kids from Miami learn a little more about the world. Some of my favorite photos made here were already written about in the London in Ektachrome blog a few months back, but this one captures the energy of the moment quite well.
I could go on and on about how amazing this afternoon was for me and how intimate it felt to make these street portraits, but really the best thing I can write is that you must experience it yourself.
Our students had, in democratic fashion, voted on how they wanted to spend this day. It was great that they got to experience this first day in London exactly how they had wanted to. And how they wanted to end the day was with a ride on the London Eye. Mike, my friend and chaperoning partner decided, as did I, not to ride. I had already ridden the Eye on my first visit and I was a man on a mission. So we saw our students safely on the ferris wheel and started a timer. We had approximately half an hour to accomplish what was really the only thing I wanted to do in these ten days: recreate a classic London photo.
As an incredibly, even unhealthily so, big fan of James Bond, the first promotional photograph of George Lazenby as James Bond, made by Terry O'Neill on the south bank of the Thames with Big Ben in the background, is one of my all-time favorite photographs. I would be unable to recreate it exactly, as O'Neill utilized a Hasselblad 500 medium format camera and I had 35mm and full-frame digital cameras with me. However, I could approximate the composition and background compression by using my Vario Elmar at the 70mm focal length and composing carefully.
I had done lots of research on which lamppost O'Neill had chosen for the photograph and had half an hour to find it, meter for the ever darkening skies, compose the shot, and make the exposure. I was prepared to do this alone, but thankfully Mike had decided he could not pass up an opportunity to recreate this photograph with me. No self timer needed!
I will be forever indebted to Mike for helping me with this photograph. I wanted to do this when I first traveled to London and did not have an opportunity to do so. I was prepared to do this with a self timer and risk someone swiping the camera as I stood far away from it. But Mike ensured I accomplished this mission. Thank you, my friend.
Shakespeare's London
Our second full day in London would also be our final day. This one was to be a more structured day full of tours of workshops. We started with a guided tour of The Globe theater. Shakespeare's famed theater had been meticulously recreated and his productions had been run here ever since. Cameras are not allowed during productions, however during tours they are encouraged.
I made many photographs at The Globe, as having such an intimate experience with this theater was something very special for me as and English teacher. This was also something new for me as we did not have a chance to visit The Globe so many years ago when I first came to London. But this one photograph, taken from the seats directly in front of the stage, is my favorite made here, framing the stage as it appears decorated for Much Ado About Nothing.
The tour had been exceptional, our students had learned much of the history of Shakespeare and his relationship with the theater. When it finished we made our way back to Soho for a workshop with a Shakespearian troupe. Our students worked on a scene from Much Ado About Nothing in what, I think, was one of the most amazing experiences of the entire trip. Our final day was going to about literature and theater in a big way!
Having free time once again for lunch meant that we had all of Soho, Piccadilly, and Covent Garden once again at our fingertips. While I looked for something to eat, which ended up being some delicious mediterranean food at Seven Markets, I made a photograph of, presumably, a mother and daughter walking together. I can't explain why this photograph works so well for me, but it is one of my favorites from the two days we spent in London.
We spent the remaining time that afternoon again in that area as we would need to return to The Globe in the early evening for their production of Much Ado About Nothing.
On our way back to the bus we walked through Lincoln's Inn Fields. I was able to make this photograph which reminded of a modern impressionist painting in the vain of Monet. We were running late getting back to the bus and I managed to see this composition out of the corner of my eye as we bolted through the park. I had my camera slung around my neck and stopped to make what would be the last daytime photograph of the trip.
The rest of the day would be spent running to an early dinner and then immediately to The Globe where photographs were not allowed.
The production of Much Ado About Nothing was nothing short of magical and a perfect way to cap our time in England. And thankfully our day had been so full of activities that I had managed to push most thoughts of not making our return flight right out of my mind. We did depart on time and made it back home with amazing stories and memories. For a couple of the students on this trip, it marked their final bit of learning at our school as they had graduated just weeks before and were receiving college credit for this study abroad. Beyond the academic, though, this trip gave many students their first chance at international travel and a desire to much more of it.
I've scheduled our next study abroad for summer 2026 in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris. I'll be traveling with a much larger group of students and, thankfully, an equally larger number of chaperones. But this first study abroad I organized will remain a unique experience for me. I was certainly happy to be reunited with my family, but the time spent in England was unforgettable.
More Photographs in London
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