Clipper Round the World Race

Today London saw the start of the world's longest ocean race. Twelve racing yachts started their adventure of 40,000 miles, across 6 continents and 16 ports cheered by a large crowd at Tower Bridge and St Katherine Docks.

What is extraordinary about the race is that all the crew members are novices, with little or no experience in sailing. People of all ages, from students to investment bankers, accountants, nurses, film directors and more are attracted by the thrill of the adventure, of being out at sea for 11 months and circumnavigating the world.

I will definitely welcome them back in July 2014 when they return to St Katherine Docks.

The yachts have 23m length and were designed by architect Tony Castro

The crowd waiting for the start of the race

First boat to pass through Tower Bridge

Qingdao, China is one of the ports the race will pass through

Samba dancers entartaining the crowd

Empty docks

The race route

City Landscapes

Sculpture in the City:  More Really Shiny Things That Don't Mean Anything, Ryan Gander

Parallel Field, Anthony Gormley

 Reflections

Concrete jungle

 Surviving the times

The ten numbers, Robert Indiana

Old and new

 Squeezed in the middle

Reflections

Women of London

These pictures are a reflection on women's vulnerability, no matter the age, race or location.

There are still places in the world where, as a woman, walking alone in the streets at night, or even just venturing out of the house without a male companion would be considered improper or unsafe.

Although London Scores poorly in terms of safety (London has been ranked 68th out of 221 for personal safety in 2011 Mercer quality of living report, behind many other major European cities) we should feel fortunate that we live in one of the most cosmopolitan and liberal cities in the world, where women can enjoy the freedom of living an independent life.

Homage to Andre Kertesz

These pictures were an exercise of putting myself in Andre Kertesz' shoes, trying to see the world the way he saw it and recreate Paris 30s charm in modern London.

Kertesz, the Hungarian-born photographer was one of the pioneers of photo journalism, he is well recognised for the contribution he brought to modern photography and he has been an inspiration for whole generations of photographers, including Henri Cartier Bresson.

Kertesz was one of the first to capture the "decisive moment", that fraction of a second when everything aligns to create the perfect composition. He was trying to discover the poetry of every day life, creating beautiful images out of banal objects. 

You can check some of his wonderful work here:

http://www.photographersgallery.com/by_artist.asp?id=200

Hidden Courtyard in Covent Garden

St James Park Reflections

Lost Cloud

Covent Garden

Hidden Alley

Painting with light

White Greenwich

Snow always brings a frenzy in London, from transport disruption to cancelled flights and closed schools.

In Greenwich however there was a different type of frenzy. From colourful sledges to yoga mats, plastic bags, inflatable mattresses and even snowboards, everybody brought whatever they could get their hands on just to sledge on the tiny hilltop, next to the Observatory.

And it was lots of fun...