Incognito

London blogger meetup

Sometimes for various reasons the best photo may be the one that conveys the least information. I believe this is the only digital artifact from a May 12 get-together of six bloggers at a London pub which can be shared without upsetting any of the parties involved. I regret that I didn’t also snap a picture of my meal — a fish species whose preparation is a specialty at the pub in question. I was able to remove most of the skeleton intact, and I think that, too, could been shared here for the partial edification of Via Negativa readers. However, at an earlier convocation at another location with just two other bloggers, I did have the presence of mind to photograph the dessert, consumption of which appeared to be something of a hazing ritual for non-native visitors.

bread pudding

Another evening, three of us quaffed beers on a floating pub anchored on the Thames, and at a certain point we all turned and snapped pictures of the lights on the water.

Thames at evening

During a walk on Hampstead Heath, I asked my friend to pose with an especially massive oak tree, just to give a sense of scale.

hugging an English oak, Hampstead Heath

It may seem odd that practitioners of a craft that practically requires shamelessness should be so wary of public exposure, but people have their reasons: everything from simple shyness to an instinct for self-preservation.

shy statue

One thinks of a certain north-England blogger, for example, who, despite blogging under a pseudonym and saying nothing very incriminating, still lost her job when an insecure co-worker tracked down her blog.

Of course, some of us just don’t give a damn — as long as we are wearing some cool shades.

17 Replies to “Incognito”

  1. Dave, Luisa,

    I have come across a couple of books I think you willfind most interesting:
    “Flowers inShadow” – A Photographer Rediscovers a Victorian Botanical Journal” by Zeva Oelbaum (Rizzoli Press)
    and
    “JOE” by Hiroshi Sugimoto and Johnathan Safran Foer (Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts – Prestel)

    trish

  2. Dave, terrific pictures! Don’t remember your taking any at lunch at The Junction but this one was definitely worth snapping. The dish you had was grilled sea-bass, I think.
    That dessert is bread & butter pudding, isn’t it? Delicious!
    Shame about some of us being so camera-shy but I doubt that there’s a cure for it.

    1. It was absolutely not “sea bass” — I refuse to eat that for environmental reasons. I’m blocking on the name of the fish.

      The bread-and-butter pudding wasn’t bad, although it was a little gross when the pourable custard started to congeal.

        1. Ah yes, a mackerel. And now the two most camera-shy participants have outed themselves (and the name of the pub). But I guess we can leave it to people’s imaginations whose hands are whose in the photos.

    1. No, this was one of those pubs with fairly ordinary food but incredibly recondite menu descriptions that led us to believe everything was exotic and gourmet.

  3. The best bread & butter pudding is the one sold by Marks & Spencers, in my opinion. I didn’t know you were supposed to eat custard with b&bp? Ugh! I like it on its own.

    The hands? Well, there are only two hands showing but there were six of us so that makes twelve hands….erm, what am I getting at?

  4. The bread and butter pudding is pretty good, actually, but was clearly wasted on Dave (Sigh. Losing weight. Avoiding puddings).

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