Tuesday 12 August 2008

7.18 AM, Piccadilly, W1

Escaping the rain, a young man boards the Number 38 bus and sits down. On his lap he holds a packet of chocolate-covered teacakes. He opens the packet, revealing two plastic trays, each containing eight cakes. Each cake is individually wrapped in blue and purple foil. He unwraps one and begins to pull it apart, eating the chocolate coating and biscuit base whilst holding the mallow portion between his fingers, which he eats last. He immediately follows it with another, and then another, continuing to work his way through the cakes.
Just before he finishes the first tray the bus driver brakes hard, and the entire packet slips from his lap onto the wet floor of the bus. He leaves his seat and bends over to pick up the domed cakes that are rolling around, ignoring the packet and the empty wrappers. He exposes the cleavage of his behind to the other passengers as he does so. He sits back down and continues to eat the remaining cakes. A short while later, he leaves the bus, packet in hand, while the wind picks up several of the empty foil wrappers and deposits them onto the wet pavement.

Tuesday 3 June 2008

6.45 AM, Embankment, SW15

With its sirens activated, a police car swings into Lower Richmond Road from Putney High Street. It turns right into Embankment and pulls up by the slipway leading down to the Thames. Two female officers climb out of the car and walk towards the railings, looking searchingly out across the river. Locating a tiny white craft emerging from beneath the bridge, they begin to wolf-whistle, trying to gain the attention if its proprietor. Nearing the shore in response to the official summons, it becomes clear that it is not a kayak or canoe, but a surfboard, and that its owner is navigating by laying on his belly and paddling with his hands.

Monday 31 March 2008

7:17 AM, Piccadilly Circus, W1

An East Asian girl leans back against a lamppost outside a branch of Zavvi. She holds a sketch pad, and appears to be drawing the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain. Her male companion loiters nearby. He wears a brown ‘parka’ jacket with a fur-trimmed hood, and a white surgical mask.

Wednesday 23 January 2008

7:37 AM, Hyde Park Corner, W1

In the early morning darkness, a man sits in the back of a black London cab reading his Financial Times with a torch.

Monday 24 December 2007

7:27 AM, Biggs Row, SW15

A middle-aged man cycles along the road. It is dark, and the road is illuminated by streetlights. He is wearing a crash helmet and a fluorescent bib. Despite being on his own, he speaks out loud, intoning over and over: “...a disregard for education...a disregard for education...a disregard for education.” At the end of the road, he turns right, still proclaiming as he disappears around the corner.

Wednesday 19 December 2007

6:30 PM, Piccadilly, SW1

A young lady enters a branch of Pret A Manger and sits down. She takes a garment of clothing out of her bag and places it on the table in front of her, followed by a sheet of Christmas wrapping paper and a roll of sellotape. She begins wrapping the item, using her teeth to tear off strips of the tape. When finished, she produces a Christmas card from her bag, removes it from its cellophane wrapper, and begins writing her message in it. When this too is completed, she places the items back in her bag, stands up, and leaves, purchasing nothing.

Friday 14 December 2007

12:41 PM, Brompton Road, SW1

Alongside Harrods, someone in a fox costume completes their transformation by pulling on some paws.