Divanun Guide/ London

 

This DivaNun Guide is a one pager of everything to do, see, and eat in London.

Historical

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  • Big Ben

    • It was covered in scaffolding when I was there so I never visited but I did see it while on a bus.

  • Tower Bridge

    • Really gorgeous bridge great spot to take photos

  • Buckingham Palace

  • St Dunstan's in the East

    • this really cool dilapadated church which is great for photoshoots

Cultural

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  • Carnival

    • An annual summer celebration towards the end of August. One of the most crowded events I've ever been to. It honestly stressed me out and was very difficult to leave.

  • Tate Modern

    • An amazing museum you need to go

  • RIflemaker

    • a really cool museum in an old rifle making shop

  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

    • If you love botanical gardens like me then this place is a must.

  • Guest Projects

    • a really cool art space that is right off a cute canal

  • Barbican Centre

    • Beautiful brutalist architecture that enclose a cafe, art space, and gorgeous views

  • Black Cultural Archives

    • A National Heritage Center dedicated to telling the stories of African and Caribbean People in Britain

Food

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East London

  • Pivaz

    • A cute little restaurant on Chatsworth Road where I used to live. Great meditterean food for a bomb price

  • Martello Hall

    • PIzza shop right next to London Fields that has a really good brunch special

  • Netil360

    • Rooftop bar with great city views and a good atmosphere

  • The Barge House

    • Brunch spot known for their bread baskets, very delicious

  • Waterhouse

    • Tiny spot on a canal that has amazing sandwiches. Try the fried chicken or mushroom burger.

  • Dishoom Shoreditch

    • really good indian

  • Andina London

    • very good spot for juices or South American themed cocktails

  • PIzza East

    • really delicious pizza spot

  • The Boundary Project

    • rooftop restaurant that might require a reservation. Best time to go is on Sunday night when they have half priced shell fish!

  • Gunpowder

    • Indian

  • Som Saa

    • Thai spot

  • Clapton Craft

    • nice spot to pick up craft beers

  • Damascus Bite

    • amazing middle eastern place in Brick Lane

  • The Boundary Project

    • A chic rooftop restaurant and bar that has great specials on Sundays

  • Pepper & Spice

    • Jamaican food in Dalston

 

West London

  • Shackfuyu

    • Asian fusion place get the sampler platter so you can try everything this place has to offer

  • Bun House

    • get your fill of dumplings at this spot

  • Crosstown Doughnuts & Coffee

    • delicious confectionary goods

South London

  • Mango Indian

    • one of my fav Indian spots in the city

  • Fish, Wings, and Tings

    • get the appetizers which are fried codfish or peas and a cocktail and you have yourself a good afternoon

  • Healthy Eaters

    • my favorite spot to get some goat curry and a beef patty

  • Ghost Whale

    • nice spot to pick up some craft beers

  • Persepolis

    • Vegetarian and Vegan MIddle Eastern food

  • Ganapati

    • the location of some amazing swordfish curry and other south Indian fare

  • Pedler

    • a nice brunch spot

  • Morley’s

    • This fast food chicken shop is only on the south side of the Thames but it’s worth a trip. The best chicken shop chain in London.

Miscellaneous

  • Transportation

    • The Public Transportation in London is amazing. The buses are the best fleet ever, they take you all around the city. The trains have numerous stations and plenty of transfer points which make navigating the city a breeze.

  • Nightlife

    • Dalston Superstore

      • a great queer club, had so many good nights dancing here

    • Eagle London

      • hosts a party every sunday called Horse Meat Disco

    • Pxssy Palace

      • an amazing queer and femme of color centered dance party that happens every couple of weeks

    • BBZ

      • another queer and poc centered art and party space that hosts amazing events

    • 5Miles

      • a cool event space in Tottenham that my friends threw parties at often

 

  • Facebook Groups

    • Hackney Wick Spaces

      • How I searched for housing in East London

    • London Fashion Creatives

      • a facebook event where artists and creatives and models can come together and collbaborate

London/ The End

 

You die once you stop learning. Ever since I came across that phrase its been my mission to make every experience a learning opportunity. So I love when you can break time into discrete pieces to reflect on them. Leaving one city and country for another is such a good demarcation. I spent my last 24 hours in the same room where I spent my first. As I made sure I had all my belongings I wondered what it was that I gained from coming to London? Was it worth it? London for sure was so expensive but it is possible to weight the pounds I spent with all that I learned and gained? 

This experience once again allowed me to see the best and worst of myself. Old demons wore new masks and I found light in the places I thought would be dark forever. Unfolding is never easy but London made it feel good. 

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I mainly spent time in and around South and East London. Sadly I didn't spend much time in West London because I continually told myself that it was too far away, which it was. The few times I did go I enjoyed the different vibe and energy it had. One time I was with my friend Alec and we visited his favorite museum the Victoria and Albert. The V&A as its called for short is one of the leading museums on art and design. As I explored the different floors I was transported through so many different time periods getting a peek at the decor and style of different era's. By far my favorite section of the museum beside the amazingly ornate cafe that allows anyone to dine like royalty was the series on cutlery used in homes designed by different styles. I loved seeing a visual timeline through everyday objects and how they evolve with the times. 


Afterwards, we went to the Albert Memorial which is a beautiful statue surrounded by mildly racist statues of the four corners of the earth, above you see the American corner where you can find some Bison and a Native American both of which were almost wiped out due to imperialism. 

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Another thing I wish I had explored more was the museums. I made it to the Tate Modern to see this wonderful exhibition called "Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power." This exhibition provoked so many questions in me about what black art could and should look like. As well as introducing me to new artists that I had never heard of. I also saw a beautiful exhibition of Shikeith's work in this small gallery, but I didn't see nearly enough of all that London had to offer.  What I learned is that I need to be more intentional with my time. If there are things I want to do I need to schedule them. 

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Over these 3 months I learned that some  British accents are actually impenetrable. That liquor stores are called Off Licences and Brits don't season their food. I learned that Brexit has left a wound in the national soul and many people were unsure about how it would be filled. I learned I still have issues balancing a social life with work. But I also learned to develop rituals that once I master will allow me to reach the productivity I know I can. I learned that cities are the most magical when you let them unfold themselves rather than arriving with preconceived notions. Most importantly I learned that the Universe will always provide and that I need to stop the doubt. 

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Korlekie Fashion Story

 

I clicked the shutter and when I looked at the photo that appeared on my screen I wanted to shout for joy. After nearly an hour and a half of shooting in the studio, my first time ever, I was finally getting the kind of pictures that I wanted. I had felt trapped by the flash and the backdrop. I let the studio intimidate me. Instead, I focused on what I knew for certain and ignored the ocean of knowledge I had not yet or ever would learn. I went into my first photoshoot with an agency model and an amazing clothing brand telling myself that the most important thing was to learn and grow. I knew perfection was impossible but growth was well within my reach.  

How do you bring out the best aspects of your subject? How do you frame the scene for the best composition? These are among the most important questions that any photographer asks themselves. I photograph outside because that's where I find the answers to those questions- plus its free. I have experience answering these questions outside of the studio so from the beginning I knew that shooting in a studio was risky but with the weather being so unpredictable in London I couldn't risk getting a day with flat light.  I needed a scene that I could control because from the original plan to final execution it was all me. It was so exhilarating planning out a photoshoot and it truly made me remember why I wanted to be an artist in the first place.

This collaboration originally came about because I reached out to a Facebook group for London Fashion Creatives. This woman named Natalie reached out and she worked for this amazing local brand in south London called Korlekie. After an amazing meeting where it felt like our creative energies really synced, I went off and planned a photoshoot from scratch. It was my job to find the location, models, everything. I know understand why it truly takes a team to make a well put together editorial. Finding models is hard especially for an up and coming photographer. I had to learn how to make mood boards, navigate agencies, and learn the difference between photography categories and use agreements.  

I had hoped that I would be able to get some free models from the agencies because of my work shooting fresh faces. I had created this really elaborate and beautiful idea citing one of Edgar Allen Poe's texts but in the end, I had to pay for the models myself which forced me to scrap my plan and edit it so it would fit within my budget. It seemed like nothing was going the way I planned as we got closer to the shoot. I wasn't able to get all the flowers that I wanted because I miscalculated when the flower shop closing. The mirror I wanted to use was scratched and thus couldn't be used in the final shoot. 

The shoot was almost canceled out of fear. I was trying to avoid this emotion so hard. As you can tell from the photos the shoot produced some beautiful images, not the ideal ones that I had hoped for but images that allowed me to grow. Fear did creep through my veins during the shoot. I did fail. I almost walked out of the shoot in tears. I was completely out of my element I let my pride stop me from asking for help. But then in the darkness came a light, a resolution that this wouldn't defeat me. that I knew more then I gave myself credit for. I started to tinker to fix, to manipulate both the settings on my camera and the ones on the flash until I remembered that this is all about light and manipulating the light. The photos went from unrecognizable to something that could be mistaken for a human and from blurry to clear and in focus. 

While I still prefer shooting outside, I definitely want to start doing more studio sessions. Its a weakness and I must learn and ensure that it eventually becomes a strength. You can't run away from fear, because when you do you often miss out on how great you are. 

 

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London/ Fresh Faces

 

When I moved in the three Spaniards promised they wouldn't speak in Spanish so I would never felt left out-  while I appreciated the gesture I knew it was a promise they could never keep. In the mornings I would wake up to Abel talking to his dog Django in Spanish; in the evenings after a hard days work everyone would slip into clothing and a language that was most comfortable. You notice the musicality and beauty of a language when you don't or can't understand its meaning. Seeing how regional speech affected speed or annunciation of words. I never cared because you can learn more about a person listening to them engage in a conversation in their native language then you can speaking one foreign to them. There were different schedules but one place we always congregated was around the kitchen. Often sharing meals at the table by the window.

 

The First Model.

The First Model.

This was the home I had envisioned finding abroad. Despite not living in an artist warehouse I still managed to live with people who created art. One of my roommates is a fashion photographer.  He taught me that agencies are always looking for photographers to test what they call "fresh faces" new models that have just been added to the roster. 

I emailed the giant list he gave me and one of the agencies reached out to me. The day of my first photoshoot I was scared, not just because this was my first time working with agency models but because the weather was overcast with a chance of rain and I planned on doing all my shooting outside. The agency was on the 4th floor of a narrow building in central London. There was a farmers market down the street brimming with food trucks and young smartly dressed Londoners. A very large very old great dane tried to escape when I walked through the doors. As I talked with one of the agents about my ideas for the shoot the sky opened up. Thankfully the model was late so we missed the brief storm. 

During the photoshoot with the second model we talked about the experience of being black in the U.K. versus the U.S. Through it, we found there were similar experiences like the racist treatment which manifest in different ways due to cultural norms.

My final shoot was with Beckett who had just finished his A levels. We talked about what he saw in his future and the possibility of getting a degree in physics. All the photos were taken around the Barbican Center this amazing brutalist housing and community arts space tucked away in central London.

I love shooting outside and interacting with the world. I learned how to think on the fly and create interesting compositions using my models and the urban landscape. 

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London/ The Beginning

 

Lush green fields and tiny cottages gave way to concrete and housing estates as the train neared central London. The sky was overcast and the soft dim light flattened out the horizon so everything out my window took on a painterly quality. The same questions I thought about when I landed in Tokyo came to me again. What would London teach me? How would I grow here? Who was I going to meet? However, unlike Tokyo, I had much less anxiety over them. I was more willing to cede to the Universe and trust that things would work out in the end. 

I transferred to the Victoria line and made my way to Brixton to stay with some friends. Part of what would make London a different experience was the community that I had built into the landscape of the city. The only thing I had to search for was housing and so my first 5 days were spent shuttling from South London to East London to attend roommate interviews. During those brief interactions, I could feel the potential in every living space. While Tokyo was a journey inward I could tell that London would be the beginnings of a more external journey.

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The place I fell in love with was an artist warehouse near Seven Sisters tube station. Despite the lack of good ventilation and two bathrooms for 10 people, I was sold on the idea of living in an artist community. It was all I dreamed about and the chance that it might have come true was something that I wasn't going to give up. Sadly at the last minute, my housing fell through and I scrambled to find a last minute place. I reached out to the very first place that I looked at and by the grace of God was able to secure the room. 

 

As I settled into my new routine in London I realized that I was way to hard on myself about my time in Japan. I thought it was an all or nothing event. That my first time living abroad on my own had to be perfect or it would be a complete failure. What I didn't realize until a couple weeks into my time in London was that Japan was just the first stop of many. The knowledge I would gain from all those events and experiences would compound over time to make me the best version of myself that I could be.

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