DannyB

Notes for a War Diary

The word ‘agate’ had to be looked up because I realised I only had a vague notion of what ‘agate’ might be. It seemed a small, trifling thing, referenced in Franz Hessel’s lovely book Walking in Berlin. As he describes, ‘In the evening of that overfilled day, I was welcomed into the home of anContinue reading “Notes for a War Diary”

War or No War?

It was that rather lovely period between the end of the afternoon and the beginning of the evening. This is particularly enjoyable when one has finished work for the day and the light in the sky is rapidly changing. There is a tension between the disappearing sunlight and the emerging neon light. The are complementaryContinue reading “War or No War?”

War Primer

A woman is sitting on a bench by the shore. She is wearing a black coat and a green scarf. She holds a phone in her hand and dials a number. She holds the phone to her head and then she moves again to dial a number. She does this over and over again butContinue reading “War Primer”

A Sea Crossing in Times of War

The air is heavy with war. In Ukraine the air is heavy with bombs, rockets, shells, machine gun fire. An account from someone who said her son vomited as he tried to eat some food. Vomited with fear. Pictures of people with their faces full of fear. The first reports of casualties. The British PrimeContinue reading “A Sea Crossing in Times of War”

Pimlico, Sunday morning

I made the journey again. It’s early Sunday morning and raining. The sea can hardly be seen but it lies there on the horizon under a grey brown squall. At the railway station the woman who sells the tickets is reading a book. She’s been up since 5am. ‘It’s ok’, she answers and makes aContinue reading “Pimlico, Sunday morning”

A Map of London Before 1987

Sometimes one buys a book instinctively. There will be one sentence, a headline, a particular type face, an image. Perhaps just the title of the book itself. Or maybe it’s the particular quality of the book. Such was the purchase of: 50 YEARS OR RECUPERATION of the Situationist Internationalby McKenzie Wark When the book wasContinue reading “A Map of London Before 1987”

An Unexpected Use of the Word ‘Capitalists’

There are low slung grey clouds, a thick grey blanket across most of the blue that lies below. The sun is over there in the blue, the light of the holocene at the horizon level. It seems a great distance away, as if that sky over there is the sky of another planet, one whichContinue reading “An Unexpected Use of the Word ‘Capitalists’”

Vauxhall Bridge Road

It was by accident. I was standing at the corner of Victoria Street and Vauxhall Bridge Road taking photographs of the Nova Building. The lights changed to red. I was aware of the a woman standing to the right of me. She was wearing a lilac anorak and black trousers and lilac coloured shoes andContinue reading “Vauxhall Bridge Road”

A Latin Mass

London feels different on an early Saturday morning. There are few people around and the streets can be appreciated without the domination of motorism. To study Victoria and Pimlico in more depth I am walking up and down streets, exploring each road that leads off, looking behind the facades at the delivery areas, walking inContinue reading “A Latin Mass”

Pimlico, in Passing

I took the early train. The man at the station is friendly and we had a chat about the morning so far; although it was still early, a lot has happened. The train had few people on it but I had work to do, and in that state, one rarely notices. Thick fog everywhere, butContinue reading “Pimlico, in Passing”