Rough Guide Project

The first project we were set was to make a rough guide of an area of London that we had been appointed. Each person on the course would contribute a photocopied page of their sketchbook to create a collaborative 'Rough Guide to London', covering areas such as Notting Hill, Waterloo, Covent Garden and Spitalfields. The area I had been given was Brixton - a place I felt I was already quite familiar with, although there were some parts I had not explored yet e.g. the windmill and Brockwell Park.

I found it a lot easier to take photographs while walking out and about in Brixton, especially since the weather was a bit too cold for drawing outside. I decided to use some 35mm slide film for this project, as I felt that the colours of Brixton would be shown at its best in this medium. I also used a trusty digital camera in case the photos were a no-show once processed.

Claudia, owner of 'Pure Vinyl'. A little record shop I discovered in Reliance Arcade the day before this project was set.

Brixton Village

Graffiti outside Brixton Rail Station

My photos and where I snapped them

Brixton is an extremely busy area and I wanted to capture the people as they hurried to and fro along the busy high street. I went to the Cafe Nero on the 1st floor of the Morleys department store and sat by the window overlooking the high street and facing Brixton underground station. I drew sketches of people at the height of the hustle and bustle of rush hour, sometimes only catching a hairline or the outline of a coat. I manage to get more detail from the people waiting for a bus.

In order to capture the essence of motion, I photocopied the sketches onto tracing paper, some of them enlarged or shrunken, and overlaid a few of them at a time. This gave the impression of depth and motion blur and also, unintentionally gave a sense of desolation in the solitary faceless shadows.