Reflecting on stainless steel

click photo to enlarge
No buildings last forever, though some such as Stonehenge, the Sumerian ziggurats, the Pyramids, and the temples of ancient Greece are probably enduring for longer than their builders imagined. There are a number of features that help to make a building last a long time including peace, reverence for the past, and the materials of which it is constructed. War destroys buildings more effectively than anything else, though in Britain the cultural vandalism of national and local politicians in the name of "improvement" runs it a close second. Understanding the importance of the past results in selected old buildings having a long life, though which are chosen for life-support is somewhat arbitrary, and varies with the period in time.

Building materials used to be more important than they are today when buildings are often expected to stand for less than a century, and sometimes only a few decades. Consequently the materials chosen are frequently transient, and where they have the capacity to be long-lived they frequently don't fulfil their potential. In recent years I have despaired of the fashion in Britain for hardwood cladding, a finish that stains badly and warps in our damp climate, that will rot and rarely looks well on a city building. Stainless steel, a material that should last a long time, is one that I have increasing doubts about. It initially looks sleek but requires cleaning because, despite its name it does mark and stain, and isn't always cleaned as often as is required. The Lloyds building in the City of London was completed thirty years ago and still looks fine due to regular maintenance, but it gets much of its force from its complex shape. Will 5 Broadgate (above), a new London building that gets a lot of its power from its contrast of flawless surface with sharply drawn lines, as well as its silky sheen, disappoint in thirty, forty or fifty years when it is dull and stained?

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: 5 Broadgate, London
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 14mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.) crop
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Chromorama, 5 Broadgate, London

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In a recent post I remarked how architects who build sharp, angular buildings frequently seek the soft, wayward, natural counterpoint of trees and shrubs. The architectural firm of MAKE and its leader Ken Shuttleworth seem of that persuasion. Today's photograph shows the building at 5 Broadgate, London, with its rigidly etched verticals and horizontals broken by the scribble of the branches of a nearby tree.

But this photograph also shows the other accompaniment that is today the de rigeur addition to expensive offices - sculpture. The Broadgate website describes this piece, "Chromorama" by the London-based artist, David Batchelor, as "totemic" - which it isn't. That word means the mark, badge or totem of a tribe, and by extension a group. Unless the brightly coloured matchbox-like shapes (that illuminate at night) represent bundles of money, then I don't see it being totemic. I think they mean "like a totem pole", and certainly that image came to my mind the instant I saw it. As a piece of sculpture I don't care greatly for Chromorama. But, as a loud burst of colour in a space overwhelmingly steel grey with blue glass highlights, it is a welcome presence.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Chromorama, 5 Broadgate, London
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 20mm (40mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Number 5

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About seven years ago I took a photograph in which the most important element was a small number 9, and so that became the title of the accompanying written "reflection" which was about the track of that title on the "White Album" by the Beatles.

No such strong association leaps to mind when I consider the number 5, though I am reminded of reading that the Roman "V" (five) comes from the shape made by the hand with four fingers together and the thumb separate. In fact what is prompted by this massive number 5 on the wall of 5 Broadgate, a massive new tower that will hold six UBS trading floors in London, is the thought of how dystopian it looks. It dwarfs people, appears to be the product of a machine rather than humans, and imposes itself on passers-by in a way that few such numbers do. The whole building is clad in the same stainless steel panels, sharp angular shapes and windows breaking the perfection of the surface. It will be interesting to see how perfect it looks after several years of English weather.The building is an enormous "lump" that overall is a poor contribution to the locality but which has some interesting details that drew my camera.

I took a quick shot of a passer-by to give scale to the enormous number. Unfortunately I framed it badly and the feet of the person got chopped off. We waited for someone else to come along but, after a few minutes no one had come along and so I asked my wife to walk by.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: 5 Broadgate, London
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 29mm (58mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The appeal of stainless steel

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I don't wear jewellery of any kind unless you consider a wrist watch to be decorative. And, if it is jewellery, then it says something about my preferences. Were I someone who did hang decorative items on my body then I would spurn gold and silver and head straight for the stainless steel. That is, if jewellery is made of such material - I have no idea whether it is or not.

A couple of weeks ago I was emptying the washing machine and the sunlight reflected from the white wall behind me illuminated its interior. The stainless steel's metallic lustre and the pattern of the holes appealed to me. So I got the small Sony camera, stuck it inside and took this photograph.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 13.9mm (37mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Inequality

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Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), a man who was on two occasions the prime minister of Great Britain, once said, "There are three types of lies - lies, damned lies and statistics". One of the implications of his remark is that statistics are not only frequently untrue, but are often deliberately used falsely. And yet, statistics can be very revealing because they can quantify, and therefore clarify, that which may be hidden or obscured. When they do this the revelation that they uncover can be startling.

Yesterday my newspaper reported a statistic that not only brought me up short, but made me feel extremely uncomfortable: in fact, made me feel ashamed to be part of our society. The charity, Oxfam*, has calculated that the total wealth of the five richest British families exceeds that of the poorest 20% of the population. In other words this, handful of rich people have more money and assets than the least well-off 12.6 million Britons. Could the starkness of that contrast, the iniquity of that inequality, the shame that it brings to every politician and law maker, and to every individual voter, be made without the force of that statistic? I would encourage anyone who reads that statistic and is as appalled by it as I am, to at the very least, remember it when elections come along; to cast their vote for the party that pledges to reduce inequality; to vote for those who will ensure the rich pay a greater share of their wealth to achieve that goal; and only endorse those determined that the poor and less well-off will receive a larger share of the national income.

I was recently in Canary Wharf. Along with the City of London (the financial district not the greater metropolitan area) this is one of the two centres of finance in the UK. It exudes wealth. From the up-market eateries to the private security guards, manicured gardens and spotless streets it speaks of money. What better to represent today's post than the gleaming steel and glistening glass of two of the many banks to be found there.

* In January 2014 Oxfam also reported that the 85 richest people in the world had more wealth and assets than the poorest half of the world's population!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec
ISO:125
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Condensation patterns

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Every time I've had a cup of tea recently I've examined the inside of the teapot lid fifteen minutes or so later. Why? Well, shortly after we started using our new stainless steel teapot I noticed that the brewing tea caused condensation to form on the underside of the lid in radial patterns. Unfortunately, this pattern was often disrupted when I took the lid off and turned it upside down to view it. So I determined that I would look at it regularly until I found and saved a good enough condensation pattern for a photograph. It took just over a week but I finally got one as you can see above.

The underside of the lid has fine, concentric grooves as though it has been turned, milled or finished in some way. I assume that the radial pattern of condensation that forms is due to the nature of the surface of the metal. Whatever the reason, I liked it and thought it worthy of a macro shot. Perhaps I can consider it a further addition to my "kitchen sink" collection. For more in that vein, see here.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm macro
F No: f11
Shutter Speed: 1/5 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: Off

Low key teapot

click photos to enlarge

My high key photograph of hydrangea petals made me think that I should complement it with a low key photograph that consists mainly of dark tones. And, since we bought a new stainless steel teapot recently that still retains the perfect lustre of its newness, it occurred to me that would make a suitable subject. So I took it to a spot that was lit by a single window, set it up on a piece of black vinyl that I curved up the wall behind to create a shadowless background, and took a few shots. As you can see, I dialled EV -1.33 into the camera to make the dark parts of the reflected steel merge with the black background and I made the subject of the photograph the light reflections as much as the elegant shape itself.

The difficulty in photographing shiny surfaces is that the photographer and/or the camera tend to be seen in the reflections. The first shot largely overcomes that problem by having the camera above the subject, though my legs and two tripod legs can still be seen. However, you wouldn't have known that was what they were if I hadn't told you, would you?! The other photographs have several colours in the reflection that give clues to what the room contains. But the conversion to black and white masks those distractions quite well. One method of avoiding reflections of this sort is to have a large flat sheet of card, paper, plastic or some such material that you stand behind, with a hole in for the camera lens. That way the reflection is pretty much a uniform surface.

Incidentally, when we bought the teapot our main concern was that we should buy one that pours well. You'd think that after millennia of making containers designed to pour properly this was a problem that mankind had cracked. But no, as we found out with a previous teapot, what is learnt can be unlearnt and it is perfectly possible to buy a teapot that pours badly. Fortunately, this one pours perfectly.

photographs and text (c) T. Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm macro
F No: f11
Shutter Speed: 2 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -1.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: Off