Photos from London, Friday 8th July

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:07 am

http://www.hostinginseattle.com/bethftp/

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:30 am

Beth, I love those. Thanks! They made me want to be back in London, even in the wake of disaster.
Bit of a jar and a laugh though, to see the grouping of Scientology volunteer ministers. I wonder if they're of any help to anyone.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 9:34 am

Wonderful photos that capture the ordinary in a most extraordinary way.

Thanks for sharing Beth.

Slan,
D.

djm · Post by **djm** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 9:59 am

What? Not blood or guts, or even scorch marks? I was struck by the police's creative use of duct tape.

djm

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:53 am

Wonderful photos, Beth. It's such an inspiration to see how quickly Londoners can put such a horrible tragedy behind them to a certain extent. Thank you for sharing these!

Uilliam · Post by **Uilliam** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 12:47 pm

djm wrote:What? Not blood or guts, or even scorch marks? I was struck by the police's creative use of duct tape.

djm

I find the above quote incredibly insensitive especially the inclusion of a wee smiley ...what are we supposed to laugh at??I have seen blood and guts from these sort of attacks first hand..I wasn't laughing then and I am not laughing now... your ability DJM to post the most innapropriate material .. has,I feel transcended acceptability.
ye should be hanging your head in shame.Ye are not a funny person this is not a funny subject .
Slán Agat
Uilliam

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:31 pm

Edited. This started out as a request to keep arguments and insults in PM and out of threads but frankly it's rarely happened in the past so why should I expect it now. Getting a bit tired of it though, to be honest..

Sunnywindo · Post by **Sunnywindo** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:42 pm

Thanks for posting those photos Beth, never been to London and it's interesting to see photos of the areas people are talking about.

Eeah.... The photo of the upper level of the bus was eerie and the photos of the missing just rip your heart out to see them and think.....

Sara

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm

From ordinary people caught up in it all.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4660563.stm

Slan,
D.

jGilder · Post by **jGilder** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 3:09 pm

Thanks for the interesting photos, Beth, it’s a different glimpse of life there compared to the heavily edited images we’re receiving on TV and such here in SF. It provides a unique impression free of the narrative that often gets in the way.

Even though earthquakes are very different than terrorist attacks, your photos remind me of some of the similarities between the two types of disasters. The earthquake, like the attacks in London, came out of nowhere and disrupted life dramatically. It was what everyone was talking about, and everyone was impacted. People were missing, and the devastation in certain areas was unbelievable. What was remarkable was that, with the exception of the victims and their families etc., people were resilient and tried to return to the business of going to their job, paying bills, cooking meals etc., even though the landscape had changed dramatically. They were anxious to return to normality as quickly as possible. In our case it had a different meaning of course, but I can see the same resolve with the people in your photos along with the horror of it all that lies just below the surface. The truth is – it took a long time to return to normal.

The other thing that strikes me is the way that Londoners seem to have a feeling that something like this is inevitable considering the current state of the world. Here in SF we know that another earthquake is likely to hit, and no one knows when or where exactly that will be – but we go on almost as if we don’t expect it. Of course earthquakes are acts of God, and terrorism is an act of evil, but we still go on about our daily lives despite the risk. We are still spooked by certain things, like freeway overpasses, and in your photo of the empty upper deck of the 30 Bus you can see this. But eventually that will wear off and you’ll find yourself sitting there and not thinking about it… sooner than you’d think.

The victims and their families, on the other hand, will be forever changed. The personal tragedies for them will far surpass the actual events, i.e. terrorism or earthquakes. Their faces will disappear from the front pages, but their wounds never seem to really heal. And deep down inside, particularly when it comes to terrorism, we all remain wounded.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 3:26 pm

Really nice photos. I especially like the one with the cop and the flowers.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:49 pm

Thanks for sharing these, Beth.