I had another great (but much drier) day in London today to meet up with a few people and spent some quality time with Simon at Flat White before having a fantastic buffet for lunch in China Town (YFC ministry is a tough life!)

After meeting with Simon I had arranged another meeting near the Tate Modern which meant I was able to pop in on The Street and Studio exhibition which runs until august 31. This a great exhibition and well worth the visit if you have a chance.

There are a whole series of photos called ‘strangers passing’. Photos have been taken of people walking along the street, some realising that they are being photographed, and some not. I found this room quite stunning in its simplicity. The anonymity of these people was quite intriguing and I found myself wanting to know more about their stories, where they were going, what they had come from, what the smile was about, what had caused them to frown.

This natural human inquisitiveness was awoken by just a few photos. I was struck also by how just the odd visit to London (or is it everywhere) can force us into the anonymity that I was uncomfortable with in the photos. It does only seem to be in London where I can travel in such close proximity with people and yet be universes away from each other as we avoid any eye contact like the plague! It is like we all think we are going to spontaneously combust if we dare to make eye contact with each other.

On the way home today I tried to look at people – but no one was having any of it, people would rather stare at their feet than make eye contact with each other! Seems weird that in the lonely city people chose to protect that loneliness.