London 1978

Peter MARSHALL


Kristine Hair Fashions reflected in window, Pimlico, Westminster, 1978
14k55: westminster, pimlico, reflection, hair salon,

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One of several images from a walk through Pimlico, few of which I am able to locate precisely. But I think that this shop, which I had my back to was possibly in Denbigh Place, where a short row of houses, now all with smart black front doors, shares this rather unusual fenestration, though there are some differences, and it could be another block by the same builder/architect. The houses, like that I was photographing the window of have been rather done up and with some alterations, including metal fences to make those wide shelves under the upper windows into false balconies. The area was originally laid out by Thomas Cubitt for Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster from around 1825, and some parts of the area when I walked through it were distinctly down-at-heel, with large houses in multiple occupation. Many were like these were being given a face-lift in the 1970s and 80s, and property prices around here are now of course astronomical.
 
I had for some years been intrigued by reflections and taken many photographs with them, perhaps encouraged in particular by a number of pictures by Lee Friedlander. Few of them hold a great deal of interest for me now, though sometimes others seem to like them. Here the white-washed cross and tick form a separate layer on top of what seems at first glance simply a not very clear view of the front of a house.