Home of Shaun Villiers Everett
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What a golden weekend that was! Whilst I get around to organizing the photos from the Sunday on the Olympic Park, here’s one of a kind group of ticket holders preparing their faces for action in the Olympic Stadium Sunday evening. Just having that Usain Bolt ticket is something and I hope they had a good time. Of course they can have the rights to this photo with my compliments.
Two articles today (links below) show that Gamesmakersare having a real affect on the general public that visit the various venues around London. The most visible are the wayfinders and event services Gamesmakers who stand out in all weathers along with the Gamesmakers on duty front-of-house in venues. As a Gamesmaker back of house, I can only admire their tenacity and patience during some very long shifts (I’m sure there’s a law against that somewhere) and I’m rather jealous to be honest, given I’ve done very little myself during my three weeks of shifts in a Technology role.
I have made up for it by walking the Olympic Park during breaks, etc. and mingling with the other Gamesmakersand visitors to the park where I get asked many questions given I wear the same purple uniform as everyone else on duty. I just trust I get the answers right. Apologies to Common Domain Gamesmakers if I don’t! These photos are some of the results from my Olympic wanderlust on day one of the park opening to ticketholders.
The most pressing and so far unanswered question on Twitter for Gamesmakers is where are the Cadbury’s chocolates?
Given Gamesmakers wear the corporate colour of this Olympic sponsor( purple was not by accident) this question will be increasingly asked of them. Their response so far has been we have no control over the 3,000,000 chocolates we delivered to LOCOG
A real side step there then and implying that LOCOG are the ones withholding these little demons from some very impatient chocaholic Gamesmakers! Revolution must be on the horizon in some venues if LOCOG don’t release them soon I feel.
Copyright the author 2005
he new year sees the start of HD’s countdown to the Olympic Games in July and August 2012. It is a special year for HD since learning that they would be one of the volunteer army known as ‘Gamesmakers’ at the Olympics. HD has known this since June 2010 when they attended an interview in London. Training starts in earnest during February and HD’s blog will be given over virtually completely to the Olympic Games and HD’s role in it.
Born in 1948, the year that the Olympics last came to the UK, it is a fitting way to start HD’s third life so to speak. Volunteering somewhere was always on the cards, but HD did not have this in mind way back in 2005 when he went to Trafalgar Square to see which city was to be chosen to hold the 2012 Games.
This then has been a journey that started way back then, when frankly, HD thought London had little chance of being chosen against the old rival Paris. Even more franker, HD would have preferred that Paris had got the games back then since HD was paying £25/year on top of their Council tax to pay for the games. They would still be paying towards it had HD not moved out of London in 2006.
HD was not alone in thinking we had no chance as the chatter around Trafalgar Square at that time was that it was a ‘no brainer’ and most people I spoke to were well prepared for disappointment (or relief in my case).
Well you can imagine the shock when the name LONDON was uttered at the Olympic Committee unveiling ceremony, which was beamed into the Square via the giant monitor. HD was there really to capture the moment on camera and was not disappointed by the results when in the evening he downloaded the results to the Mac.
He flicked through these at the Lord John Russell pub with HD’s friends as they supped ale just one street away from where the very next day a terrorist bomb would rip the top off a London bus and tear the life out of many innocent passengers on that bus as well as on the three bombed tube trains across London. Little did HD know at the time how profound those pictures were going to have on HD’s life some 6 years later in 2010 when HD decided to apply for Gamesmaker status.
What did dawn on HD was that it could have easily been in Trafalgar Square that terrorists struck during that afternoon of otherwise collective joy and relief of receiving the Games. HD left the pub late that evening and travelled home on the very line from Russell Square to Kings Cross just some 8 hours prior to it being so viciously bombed with a huge loss of innocent life.
HD decided then that although he once regretted the extra £25/annum tax he would ignore his principles and learn to support the Olympics in London in any way they could. He was always in favour of Olympic principles, but just not in HD’s own back yard!
You can then, imagine HD’s joy when the call came through the media for 70,000 volunteers to work for free at the Olympics during the games period (including the Paralympics of course). HD got right down to applying for a part in this process and about a year later here we are at the beginning of 2012 with all to play for!
HD will record their part in the event over the next few months or so as they see it, subject to remaining within the conditions set out by the organising committee given the nature of some of the venues, technology, etc.
The pictures here are from 2005 and have never been published anywhere before. HD was saving these for this very moment. Further pictures will be published as and when they have been snapped along this journey. One that seems to have started what seems so long a go now and one that is bound to stick with HD for the rest of their life.
HD dedicates these and all the photos that appear on here to those that lost their lives back in the terrorist attacks and to their families that HD hopes the Olympics in London will become a symbol of unity and hope.
HD
One of my getaway places is Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, not far off the A10 north of Ely. So many superlatives cover this area of ancient wetland. One of a few left after much drainage throughout the fens. You will see creatures you only imagined existed! Not mythical of course, but a huge range of bugs and dragonflies await the patient observer. Wear insect repellent!!!
These are from a visit to The Mani peninsula in Greece in 2003. If you ever wondered why Greece was having so many problems right now with their status at the EU you just need to visit the Peloponnese in which the Mani sits at its southern tip. It is a relaxed, uncluttered place, has a wonderful population that responds positively to the English like no other place on earth. Planning authorities seem not to have ever discovered it and the law means the family and not some faceless official.
Based on the west coast at Kyparissos, there are numerous small villages to explore at your leisure as well as the extensive rugged coastline. It is a naturalist’s paradise with many freshwater outlets and miles of deserted sandy beaches to explore. After stopping for a few minutes at one inlet I saw a kingfisher and a swimming grass snake(Natrix natrix). No waiting endless hours for nature here. The swallowtail butterfly, sand lizards and gekkos are all in abundance.
Further along the coast lies Gytheio near which lies a splendid turtle beach. Choose the right time of the year and experience the turtles returning to the sea at night. Look for the rusting shipwreck and you are there! Gytheio itself is a great place to stop off to watch the local fishermen and take the sun on the harbour front amongst the many boats and nets. The nearest airport is at Kalamata. It’s also a military airport so do not expect too much in the way of services. From here the Mani is some 2 to 3 hours drive through the mountains.
Here is a great review of the Mani where the late travel writer, Patrick Leigh Fermor, called home.
HD
I’m too old these days to wander round the streets of London. After many years of street photography I have witnessed and recorded much aggression vented. From the BNP Welling riot of 1993 to the snapping of fast cars going around Brands Hatch racing circuit, it has been recorded on celluloid and now gathers dust in a box somewhere in the spare room.
Today I do not even wander round , after say, 6pm at night the streets of the sleepy place in which I have lived for the last 6 years. Not because I fear a riot breaking out here you must understand. It’s more the fear of not finding my way home again given that dementia could set in at any time as I grey and shrivel up in my old age.
The latest riots on the streets of our cities, observed from the comfort of my armchair and plasma TV screen (bought and paid for with hard earned money I might add), reminds me of two former lives whereby I witnessed both riot and youth dissatisfaction, although not always at the same time.
Firstly the Welling disorder that broke out on the Anti-Nazi League march on the BNP headquarters, then in Welling south east London. Determined to make a stance against the BNP’s overtly racist stance, the ANL planned to march to the doors of the BNL. The police on the other hand, had other ideas. If you ever wondered where the notion of ‘kettling’ came from, look no further than the junction about 200 yards from the BNP building further up a hill to the south. Four roads met and three roads became blocked by police determined to not allow the marchers to move any other way than back to their coaches to the north of the junction. Even a memorial garden to the west was blocked off with chicken wire put up to deter protesters the opportunity of finding sanctuary from charging police horses. The wire did not last very long and the garden eventually became a medical point for the treatment of the many gashes and scrapes that occurred during police baton charges. Later in the afternoon I was to use this area for my own purposes, namely to escape the house bricks of the anarchists that had infiltrated the march and the counter measures so effectively carried out by the police lines. ‘Take the high ground’ I was once advised and it certainly worked that afternoon.
Whilst reloading the camera I overheard one black youth shout ‘There’s not enough blacks here. If there were more of ‘us’ we could rush the ‘filth’ and break through. Then in what I can only describe as a fit of sarcasm, he proceeded towards one police line to ask a policeman for the time, gesturing wildly to his wrist in the process.
This cat and mouse affair continued for another two or so hours. At one point during a lull in the fighting, an old man appeared from almost nowhere to take his stance against the police lines as missiles were thrown over his head towards the police. Onlookers were in awe of this man who must have been in his 80s. There was a small contingent of holocaust survivors in the ANL march and I can only assume that he was one of them. His defiant look is inspiring.
From this point on I was getting both tired and bored and in addition was down to my last few rolls of film. Something digital cameras do not have to worry about these days. I made my way to the rear to be greeted by more police lines funnelling the marchers through the graveyard to the north of the junction. There was a reason for this. They had set up a film camera to photograph all marchers passing out of the crossroads. They had previously filmed all the photographers and press prior to the confrontation. This became a milestone in covering riots and confrontations with police. On the following Monday police started to call in all the film and still photography for inspection and if I remember it well enough went to court to get some photographers to give up their film.
This was the point at which I decided I would no longer go to such confrontations. I truly thought that it was the start of a slippery slope to a police state. Up till last week however, this had not happened of course, but I was not to know how that would pan out. With the explosion of digital photography, mobile telephones and social networking, there is no way of knowing how right or wrong I was 17 years ago. The jury is out on that one right now.
The second experience that comes to mind following the London riots, is my youth during the early to mid 1960s. The era of mods and rockers. Not that I think there is remotely anything similar in the disturbances that occurred in the 60s to those of the last week or so. What does resonate with me is the feelings of being young in an ever increasing consumer world. I too wanted that pair of Levis, that button-down shirt, that twin vented mohair suit!
The difference is, I would not have had the remotest idea of wanting to loot the local store to obtain them. I knew that saving up was the way to go. Going without, despite the peer pressure, was the norm in our household. Then my parents had gone without many things during World War Two and after with rationing still being applied during the early years of my life too. We had form in that respect.
So when I observe from the comfort of my armchair I am both angry at the violence and saddened at the absence of discipline in some of our urban youths. Wanton looting and destruction cannot be condoned, but at the same time it also has to be understood in the context of today’s environment both culturally and economically. I do not profess to have the answers, but I suggest a long hard look at our recent history will go some way to understanding where we have come from since WWII. We can only be a better society for it in the months and years ahead.
HD
Chinatown, London, England copyright 2006, Canon IXUS400, vivid
For a long time now HD’s photographs have been gathering dust. Inspired by the great Cartier Bresson here is the first of an occasional series of photographs from the last 20 years. The first was taken in December 1993 on a bleak day near the inn in the Kirkstone Pass between Ulswater and Windermere.