The State of London

Linking to, and discussing my recent one-hour interview with Chris Cook on his Gorilla Radio show in Victoria, British Columbia, about hopes for the release of prisoners from Guantánamo, and the eventual closure of the prison, under Joe Biden, and the proposed extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. We also spoke about my photo-journalism project ‘The State of London’, and my band The Four Fathers.

Marking 1,300 days since I first began posting a photo a day on Facebook from my photo-journalism project ‘The State of London’, which I began five years earlier, in May 2012, this article provides some of my reflections on the last eight and half years, including, of course, the unprecedented upheavals of the last eight months, since Covid-19 turned the world upside down, and largely shut down the City and the West End.

As the second Covid lockdown bites, I wonder how many “non-essential” businesses will survive, but take heart from the news that office rents are collapsing, and that residential rents in inner London are down by 14.9% on this time last year. I can only hope that the uncontrolled property greed that was so dominant before Covid has finally hit a wall, and will be unable to recover.

Every three months I ask you, if you can, to make a donation to support my ongoing work as a reader-funded journalist, campaigner and photo-journalist, working to get Guantánamo closed, and also recording London on a daily basis via photos and accompanying essays in my project ‘The State of London.’

Marking 3,000 days since I first set out on my bike on a daily basis to take photos of the changing face of the capital for a project that became known as ‘The State of London.’ On the fifth anniversary of the start of the project, I began posting a photo a day on Facebook, where I have now posted 1,176 photos.

An article marking 120 unbroken days in which I’ve been taking photos on daily bike rides throughout the coronavirus lockdown in London, and posting them as part of my ongoing photo-journalism project ‘The State of London.’ This article features my reflections on this extraordinary time, as well as some previously unpublished photos. Enjoy!

Today I’m marking the eighth anniversary of when I set out on my bike, with my camera, to take photos in all of London’s 120 postcodes. Eight years later, I haven’t stopped, and, in the last seven weeks, I’ve been seeing the capital through new eyes during the unprecedented coronavirus lockdown.

Here’s my latest quarterly fundraiser. As an independent journalist and activist, I’m dependent on the support of my readers to enable me to keep writing about Guantánamo, and working to get the prison closed, and also to support my ongoing photo-journalism project ‘The State of London.’ I hope that you can help!

Marking 1,000 days since I began posting a photo a day on Facebook, on a page entitled, ‘The State of London’, drawing from what is now a nearly eight-year archive of photos taken on bike rides around London’s 120 postcodes, in which I record the latest upheavals and changes in the life of this great city, particularly involving the depredations of the housing development industry, the city’s shopfronts and neighbourhoods, its nature, via rivers, canals, trees, parks and hills, and its more ephemeral aspects as reflected in the changing weather and the seasons.

Every three months I ask you, if you can, to make a donation to support my ongoing work on Guantánamo, and my ongoing photo-journalism project ‘The State of London.’ Thanks for your support!