Vivian Maier profiled on BBC 1 and Ealing's Street Photgrpaher

Did you see the excellent Imagine  Vivian Maier: Who Took Nanny's Pictures?   if you didn’t see it, let me tell you it was very good.

Vivian's life in some respects seems sad but the body of work she left documenting Chicago in the 1950's and 60's is a valuable historic record and by the way she 'worked' the characters reveal so much more than a studied and mannered photgrpaher would have been able to capture.

The Yentob fronted programme delighted from many angles, the history, the mystery and the pictures-   it was in fact inspiring and  if you're in the UK you can see it on BBC iPlayer - what you learn about Vivian is that like Van Gogh she might have been unknown while alive but now she is (rightly) celebrated, one aspect of her work was that by the nature of her camera (she favoured a Twin Lens Reflex for most of her photographs) and they way she shot the images, specifically of people is that the camera was generally looking up at the subject but below eye-line as it would if a standard compact or other camera with an eye level viewfinder was used.

 Ealing Planning and ... Beach

On the day that both the Ealing Gazette and the Economist run obituaries on Sir Peter Hall  I am happy to report that people continue to hold local planning bodies to account.

Victor Mishiku  has lodged the  petition (810 signatures not bad)  in regard to demolition of the Haven Stables with Ealing Council Planning Department - it's great that such opposition can be mobilised.

Sir Peter was president of the Ealing Civic Society for more than 10 years (I recently attended a lecture event of theirs).

You can see the text of Sir Peter Hall's considered and thoughtful  speech to the Arcadia Inquiry (a  development in the centre of Ealing that did not proceed)   here...

The site Victor is protecting 

West Ealing Family Funfair

An area of sand in the Ealing Broadway Centre

 Ice-Cream anyone?