It was long ago, late in 2000 that I started this section of the site. I wrote then " I've come back from each of the last two holidays with 'four favourite' churches written up and with accompanying photographs. Due to various production difficulties and general lethargy, I've not posted either set yet. It also struck me that there are four very different churches I like in the Victoria area of London. I set myself a photo-essay.". It's now early in 2003, and I think I've finally finished. There are only three churches and one's not even remotely close to Victoria. So what happened?
Well, it's a long story, coming close to being a 'blog. Since I dislike 'blogs and said I'd never have one, then you may well be the same. So, if all you want to see is my write-ups on the churches, I suggest just clicking on the links at the bottom. But essentially, after discussing the project with my then lead designer, a superb photographer, I photographed Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, in January 2001 and worked up a page format. I'm not sure whether it was Tim (the designer) or me that came up with the idea of using the same format for all the pages, but it's taught me a lot.
Later that spring I photographed Westminster Cathedral, close to where I worked, and set the page in the same format. I looked at All Saints differently when I approached it from the point of view of "having" to get four shots in a particular style. I recommend trying the approach if you haven't already, because you tend to see the thing as a whole, as a story, and also to notice things you might otherwise miss. It's a new way of seeing and I now realise that it's been creeping up on me ever since I got a digital camera and posted my first images on the web.
I was all set. Now all I had to do was photograph St Margaret's Chapel, just by the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Job Done. Except. Except that St Margaret's has a no photography policy (which I respect fully. I'm always paranoid even without flash that I might disturb someone) and the Abbey charges an entrance fee. The latter I do not respect. I know the argument that the place needs hundreds of thousands in upkeep and that unlike continental churches there's no money from sources other than donations, but I've seen a village of five hundred souls raise £75,000 towards a new village hall, and I simply prefer to make a donation rather than to be charged. So, I was two churches short of a full set, so to speak.
I mooched around looking at some more local ones, but nothing really leapt out and grabbed me. I know that I should have treated them all the same, but this isn't fee-earning work and I need to be motivated. Then came a change of circumstances. I got made redundant, so I couldn't just walk round the area with no excuse, since it was costing me forty pounds a time to get there. However, after a couple of trips to Walsingham, I decided that it was only fair to track down