This book is a collaboration between Lucinda and Frances. Frances is an aspiring photographer and took these pictures between 2019-2021.
After seeing the photographs, Lucinda wanted to contribute to these beautiful shots by adding inspiring poems and written word.
Many of these images reflect how we felt during COVID 19.
In an age of super connectivity and high technology, we can still feel alone – but it is up to us to find each other despite the obstacles of life.
Thankyou Franki, you are loved.
Inner-city life (13.02.19)
Although these monolithic structures sit stark in their setting - at night when all lie still, red and white lights still burn strong.
These lights signify life; they hold within them all the great wonders of the world - warmth, love, laughter; tears, anger and hard work.
Inner city life is lit up like a stage, dazzling and striking to look at - One world lies asleep while the other dances the night away.
In juxtapose, there are those that feel alone in this big city; They lie awake in their beds, unable to drift into dreamland. The Big Smoke offers its only solace by shining through windows, reminding the isolated that even in this huge world, you will never be alone and of the world beyond.
EARLY MORNING (14.02.19)
The clouds descend like a multicoloured blanket, filled with warmth on this early morning.
The hue of orange through the clouds seem to warm my soul even though I cannot see the sun.
You could not draw a more perfect scene; Monet and Van Gogh would salivate at such a sight!
Of all the poetry about London, Wordsworth’s’ sonnet “Composed upon Westminster Bridge’ is a transcendent view of London that all ages can understand - he sees the city as glorious in the early morning because it has not woken up yet.
Although a Romantic writer, Wordsworth found beauty in the city when the industrial and government slept.
On Westminster Bridge (although close to the seat of government) the world looks calm and uncorrupted.
Looking through this window into my soul, reminds me of the warmth I have within.
UPSIDE DOWN CANAL (21.05.2019)
As we look at our reflections,
Time stands still in this visual perception.
Ripples on the surface along with memories below
Fade with the tide and dissipate like a shadow.
The water is our reflection of who we are, who we wish to become,
And the innocent child inside.
Like the ever-loving Father, it washes away our woes.
And flows with understanding undenied.
Once we know who we are and where we need to be,
It carries on calmly, searching for others looking for answers.
To their reflection in its peaceful blue sea
THE CAVE, GLASTONBURY (29.06.2019)
Taking inspiration from limestone caves, revellers at Glastonbury Festival walk through a cave-like structure and under a waterfall. Once inside they are "submerged in sound and born again" according to The Common. This venue joins old favourites The Temple and The Rum Shack in the The Common field. The Common is one of Glastonbury Festival's late-night areas of the site, and it comes alive with colour and sound once the sun goes down.
An aquatic paradise, a side-step into another world - the basslines and rhythms take over you.
To be able to live your passion or find times in life which force you to remain present. These memories are always yours – and you can visit them whenever you want to regain that energy you felt at that poignant moment.
For me, this picture signifies everything I love about expression, music, dance and culture. The subtext behind Samula is what I feel from music every time I hear something love.
Cenote Samula is a cave in Valladolid, Mexico. I have experienced this wonder of the world twice in my life and taken the plunge through the mouth of this mesmerising creation of nature. The dazzling light beams and the cascading vines which descend through the small opening in its roof into the cenote waters below.
CAVE MOSS - BLUE CAVE CROATIA (27.07.2019)
The Blue Cave is a unique natural phenomenon in the world - a magnificent work of Mother Nature (thanks to the sunlight’s reflection) which creeps through an opening of a vault at the top, filling it with a mesmerizing blue hue. Caves are customary in the world of legends and myths; related to the symbolic HEART and often a place where self and ego unite. They can be secret passageways to the underworld; places to connect with powers and forces. In dreams they have been interpreted as the ‘search for the meaning of life and represent stored or hidden memories and instincts. The caves signify a natural refuge, a place to hide or hide something that we don’t want to show. In a nutshell, the caves represent protection, both in real life and in your dreams.
It is the great womb of earth and sky, a symbol of life, but also of death. It is a sacred place that constitutes a break in the regularity of space, an opening that is a passage from one cosmic region to another, from heaven to earth or, vice versa, from earth to the underworld. All caves are sacred. Some are considered the center of the universe.
The caves represent often stored or censored memories, our instincts, and all those feelings that can hardly leave out the light.The caves constitute a natural refuge, a place to hide or hide something that we don’t want to show. In short, the caves represent protection, both in real life and in your dreams.
WILL IT BE THE SAME AGAIN THIS YEAR? (03.12.19)
The end of another year -
time rushed by so fast,
looking forward to the future
contemplating the past
This year has proven how much can happen.
so much uncertainty and unwanted change
How much we took for granted,
A simple cuddle is now estranged.
Will it be the same again this year?
We all look out our windows and wonder,
To not sit alone and think the worst
But to huddle close and feel disencumbered.
SPRING GRAVEYARD – Tottenham Cemetery (15.04.2020)
Cherry blossom is a symbolic flower of Spring - a reminder of renewal and the fleeting nature of life. Blooming in the hundreds, they gently unfold, reaching their peak as tiny delicately coloured blossoms. Shortly after, they die, detaching from their stems and billowing out into the wind in beautiful clouds of petals that clothe the ground in white and pale pink.
The samurai of feudal Japan lived by a strict moral code of honor not only in life, but in death as well—it was their duty to simultaneously realize the inevitability of death, and free any fear of it. Their lives, marked by battle and conflict, were often cut short, and the fallen cherry blossom became the symbol of that short life.
During World War II, the cherry blossom became similarly associated with Japanese kamikaze pilots, who decorated their fighter aircraft with images of the flower before going on their suicide missions, dying “like beautiful falling cherry petals for the emperor”.
This idea is tied to the Buddhist theme “mindfulness”—to be able to concentrate on living in the present. The life cycle of these flowers make us question why we fail to live life to the fullest, why we don’t spend time with our loved ones, and why we do not take the time to simply pay attention to the living, breathing world around us.
We all are embodiments of the cherry blossom - every one of us has a life that burns brightly and beautifully for a short time, but one that is destined to end. But as the pink and white petals show when they fly through the air, blanketing the ground like snow, there is beauty in endings, as well, as the cycle ends, only to begin again the next year in a beauteous rebirth.
MOON AND VENUS (26.04.2020)
The bright "evening star" Venus was hard to miss this week, as the planet reaches its greatest brightness of the year on Tuesday (April 28). The waxing crescent moon was in conjunction with Venus, meaning the objects will appear close together in the sky. Although the conjunction occurs during the daytime, when most objects are rendered invisible by sunlight, Venus was so bright that you could see it in broad daylight — if you knew where to look. But the pair were much easier to see once the dusk faded. After its close encounter with the moon, Venus continued to grow brighter for the next two days and the planet appeared to shine brighter than its competitor, Jupiter, and Sirius, the brightest star in Earth's night sky.
In astrology, a conjunct is the coming together of different planets. This event usually results in both planets combining their energies, traits, and vibrations. As a result, the energies of both planets are intensified even more than normal.
Venus is the natural ruler of love, relationships, and beauty. Due to its affinity for all things artistic and aesthetic, Venus is typically depicted as the feminine planet. On the other hand, the moon rules over the family and home. Apart from that, the moon is also in charge of feelings, moods, emotions, and sensitivities. So, when the moon is in conjunction with Venus, it leads to an affected individual having a high level of emotional response or attachment to things of beauty and art.
RIVER LEA OLYMPIC (19.05.2020) PYLONS
The Lea Valley was the industrial centre of London and home to many inventions over the years. Here was the first monorail (horse-drawn), the driving power behind the motorcycle industry, the great railway works, buses, guns, gunpowder, chemicals, shipbuilding and much more. In the first half of the 20th century this was the UK's 'Silicon Valley''. There are plenty who decry these metal giants, but time has turned the 1930s designs of Great Britain’s pylons into something of a modernist classic.
Pylons symbolise modernisation and safe and reliable electricity for all, but with this comes a sense of sadness as despite the improvements that it brings, visually our countryside will never look the same again.Set in rural scenes, where we associate simple country-living, these pylons also create unsettling imagery - symbols of modernity in a rustic environment. These pylons are the unstoppable signs of progress but will forever seem out of place.
In Egyptology, a pylon is a gateway with two monumental towers either side of it. These represented two hills between which the sun rose and set, with rituals to the sun god Ra often carried out on the structures. It was an epic name to match the grand ambitions of creating a national grid. Typically, a pair of towers at the entrance to a temple, the pylon symbolised the mountains of the horizons.
EAST LONDON SUNSET SKY (22.05.2020)
On this date the UK was in a state of shock from the emergence of the global pandemic Covid- 19. The virus had taken hold of our country and squeezing the NHS for all it had, we had entered our first lockdown on the 16 march. We discovered a new race of superhero: the front-line workers.
In amongst this confusion, we needed hope, something beautiful to gaze at during this unprecedented time; such things as sunsets remind us that each sunset brings the promise of a new beginning. A sunset can set your soul ablaze with all the colours of love. The mere sight of the sun setting is enough to bring calm to the stormiest of minds. In art, sunsets are used to illustrate life and death. The sun gradually creeps up the horizon as new life grows out of fresh ground.
The sunset is the sun’s passionate kiss goodnight. A sunset is mystical scenery for anyone who’s having a bad day. It tells us that finally, whatever grief we went through today will end in a few moments. This brings with it a new hope that the next day will be better - A moment to pause and reflect on worries and concerns and a chance to rest, rebuild, and try again tomorrow.
Sunset is a perfect example of Mother Nature’s beauty – the mesmerizing mix of colours mixing in the sky can take your breath away. They can evoke a sense of wonder in us all: We look at its beauty with awe- how can sunset look so perfectly put together in such an array of amazing colours? As if it has been painted in the sky on a canvas, the resulting perfect palette that lights up the sky in brilliance before everything goes completely dark.
A sunset can change your mood and perspective in an instant, or make you rethink any negative thoughts. If everything is moving too fast and you feel lost amongst the chaos, sit and teach yourself to every colour of the sunset.
Just look up! Learn from the past, dream about the future.
“People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, “Soften the orange a bit on the right-hand corner.” I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.” – Carl Rogers
ESTATE LIFE (02.06.2020)
This summarizes my beginning of Djing in London.
The free party scene in the early 2000s was so exciting – as the weekend approached, we prepared to party!
Waiting for the location to be put up on the phone line,
Using an OS map to try and find the warehouse.
Having to put our windows down to feel the bass and then know you’re in the right place!
Walking through the smoke towards the speakers - an abandoned warehouse or a huge monstrosity of an estate block, or even the post office at Tottenham Court Road! My inspiration was my friends: Gizelle, Rachel, Jerome and all who went to Castlemorton.
We did it anywhere and everywhere.
LONDON OVERGROUND (12.11.20)
We could travel anywhere; see anyone - do anything, before.
These tubes of connectivity used to bustle with life,
So much so at rush hour, we were packed like sardines.
Now, these carriages meant to connect us together,
Lie desolate, stark and somewhat eerie.
In a world so connected
How can we feel so disconnected?
Is this the inevitable trade-off?
Does gaining individuality and personal gain undermine community, family and meaning?
For us to really get through any depression,
Should we be focussing on helping the greater ‘we’
Rather than the insular ‘me’?
BARBICAN ESTATE (17.01.21)
Brutalism is a style that emerged in the 1950s and grew out of the early-20thcentury modernist movement. Brutalist buildings are characterised by their massive, monolithic and ‘blocky’ appearance with a rigid geometric style and large-scale use of poured concrete. The movement began to decline in the 1970s, having been criticised for being unwelcoming and inhuman. The term ‘Brutalism’ was coined by the British architects Alison and Peter Smithson in 1954. It derives from ‘Béton brut’ (raw concrete) and was first associated in architecture with Le Corbusier in the late-1940s.
Brutalism became synonymous with socially progressive housing solutions that architects and town planners promoted as modern ‘streets in the sky’. With an ethos of ‘social utopianism’, together with the influence of constructivist architecture, it became increasingly widespread across European communist countries such as the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia.
As high-rise buildings became associated with crime, social deprivation and urban decay, so Brutalism was increasingly reviled, and across the UK, many Brutalist buildings were demolished. Typical of this adverse reaction was the demolition in 2019 of the multi-storey car park in Welbeck Street, London W1. However, Brutalism has continued to influence later forms, associated with high-tech architecture and deconstructivism. In recent years, it has been critically reappraised, with certain buildings being seen as architectural landmarks.