Having been up with the lark yesterday we decided to take things a bit slower today and with pre-bought tickets set off to visit two completely different art exhibitions that were on in the capital.
We began our journey by catching the 277 bus just outside the hotel towards Kingsland. Alighting at Stop N on Holcroft Road we then walked to Stop D and picked up the 388 heading towards Stratford City. This stopped directly outside “Here East” where our first exhibition was on display. I’ve included our journey details in order to hopefully give other visitors confidence to travel around London not just on the tube but also on the “big red London buses”. It’s easy to get your journey details on “Google Maps” or on the “Citymapper” app.
Payment is by card, buses are generally clean and services frequent and mostly on time. There is a display board within the bus and a commentary clearly indicating what the next stop is.
If you check out the website for “Here East” you will find a description of this fairly new area located in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
“Here East was designed from the outset to operate as a catalyst for change and a pillar of the post-Olympic East London community.
A dedicated campus, for innovators, disruptors, visionaries and locals to push their professional and personal boundaries; to surround themselves with some of the world’s most inspiring artists and performers; to build on the Olympics’ architectural and cultural legacy.
Already, 6,500-plus people call Here East home, and many more will follow… “
From the bust stop we walked down towards the canal and then branched left alongside a section of restaurants to reach the MPB Gallery
The World Press Photo Exhibition
This is an internationally acclaimed exhibition and as hubby is a keen photographer with photos displayed on “Flicker” –https://www.flickr.com/photos/amidlifeadventure/
and I also enjoy viewing photos at exhibitions this was a good choice for both of us.
Tickets vary in price depending upon the day of attendance but we bought and paid for our tickets on line in advance at £13.50 each.
As is normal in these circumstances we wandered around individually at our own pace.
Since 1955, the World Press Photo Foundation has connected the people to the stories that matter worldwide spending 70 years championing visual journalism. The World Press Photo Contest “is one of the most prestigious competitions in photojournalism and documentary photography, celebrating the most impactful visual storytelling from across the globe.”
It is a non-profit organisation that remains committed to press freedom and provides platforms to visually display the photographs that this powerful style of journalism produces. In 2024, the exhibition reached approximately 4 million visitors across 89 locations worldwide.
When you view the photos at this exhibition there is no doubt that they each have a story to tell but behind each lens is a photographic journalist often risking their life to record these images visually for the whole world to see. I have included this narrative from the exhibition to reflect what this actually means in the real world. Please read it…………………
The photos are powerful, thought-provoking and often spark an emotional response within you that you maybe didn’t expect to get from “just a photo”! Each photo tells a story and gives an insight into the real situation these people find themselves in. With a brief explanation of where and why each photo was taken by each respective journalist I’ve chosen my favourite three alongside the overall winner of the competition and included a question I’d like you to ask yourself?
I’m now going to let the photographs do the talking……………
Paths of Desperate Hope
Taken on September 23rd 2022 in the jungles of the Darian Gap
Luis Miguel Arias (28) takes a break with his daughter Melissa (4) as they climb a hill. They are from Venezuela and joined the over 250,000 migrants who traversed the Darien Gap in 2022.
The Darién Gap is a remote, roadless, and dangerous area of rainforest along the border between Panama and Colombia, acting as a natural barrier between North and South America. The lack of roads, the presence of dangerous animals and insects (including venomous snakes and spiders), and the risk of criminal activity (like robberies and violence) contribute to the region’s dangers.
“Do you live in a safe country with your children? How desperate was this man to make this journey with his little girl?”
The Last Hope
Taken on June 25th 2024 in Merida, Venezuela
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado greets supporters atop a vehicle during a campaign rally for the opposition presidential candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia.
In 2023, María Corina Machado won the opposition primaries to challenge Nicolás Maduro in the presidential elections, but Venezuelan authorities subsequently barred her from running. As a result, she endorsed former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia as the opposition’s candidate and led his political campaign across the country. After the election, authorities declared Maduro the winner, but the opposition contested the results, citing vote tallies that indicated a victory for González. Allegations of electoral irregularities led many countries to question the legitimacy of the outcome.
Although Maduro retained power and González was forced into exile, Machado remains in hiding as the leader of the opposition and a key figure advocating for political change.
Opposition leaders and some international organisations have labeled the Maduro government as a dictatorship due to its authoritarian actions and suppression of opposition.
International bodies have criticised Venezuelan elections for not meeting international standards of fairness and transparency.
There are ongoing concerns about human rights violations, including the suppression of protests and the imprisonment of political opponents.
“Do you live in a country where democracy is real, where you can watch the votes coming in live on TV as they are counted? Could you live under a dictatorship that masks itself as a democratic country or would you leave?”
Beyond the Trenches
Taken on March 7th 2024 in Borshchivka, Ukraine.
Anhelina (6), who is traumatised and suffers panic attacks after having to flee her village, lies in bed in her new home.
Ongoing conflict in their home village near Kupiansk (a frontline city in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) forced Anhelina’s family to seek refuge. She now lives with her grandmother, Larisa, in Borshchivka, 95 kms from Kupiansk, while her mother lives and works in Kharkiv, about an hour’s journey away.
The photographer wished to shed light on children who have grown up surrounded by violence, their innocence fractured but their spirit enduring as they adapt to a new life
As a result of heavy shelling and fighting in the Ukraine, 3.7 million people have been driven from their homes and are internally displaced and 6.9 million people have crossed into neighbouring countries in the region including Poland, Hungary, Moldova or other countries globally.
Do you live in a safe country? What would you do if suddenly your country became unsafe due to conflict, and your home was destroyed?
World Press Photo of the Year 2025
Taken on June 28th 2024 in Doha, Quater
Mahmoud Ajjour (9), who was injured during an Israeli attack on Gaza City in March 2024, finds refuge and medical help in Qatar.
As his family fled an Israeli assault, Mahmoud turned back to urge others onward. An explosion severed one of his arms and mutilated the other. The family were evacuated to Qatar where, after medical treatment, Mahmoud is learning to play games on his phone, write, and open doors with his feet.
Mahmoud’s dream is simple: he wants to get prosthetics and live his life as any other child. Children are disproportionately impacted by the war.
The UN estimates that by December 2024, Gaza had the highest number of child amputees per capita anywhere in the world.
The photographer, who is from Gaza and was herself evacuated in December 2023, lives in the same Doha apartment complex as Mahmoud. She has bonded with families there, and documented the few badly wounded Gazans who made it out for treatment.
This photographic exhibition had a huge effect on me and will remain at the MPB Gallery until August 25th. I urge you to go and look.
Conscious of not monopolising your time to read my post I will write about our second exhibition we visited that day entitled “Frameless” in the next couple of days……………
A Midlife Adventure 