A vaguely familiar place

I visited London for the first time in 2010, and despite never having been there before, everything seemed vaguely familiar. The place names, landmarks, even neighbourhood and street names held a sense of recognition. It was a constant feeling of familiarity. Of course, the explanation for this was simple: I grew up in a former English colony.

While I was aware of South Africa's history, I had never fully realised how deeply intertwined South African culture is with England, sharing English cultural artefacts, shared references and architectural design language. So deeply intertwined, in fact, that a place I'd never been to immediately felt like a recognizable cultural extension of my homeland. Or, more accurately, the place I'm from felt like a cultural extension of the place I found myself in.

This familiarity, of course, only goes as far back as the last two centuries. London is an ancient city, founded long before the first white man set foot in Southern Africa. It may not be the most beautiful or charming city, but it is undeniably one of the most interesting and compelling places in the world. The city is like a wall covered with twenty centuries' worth of wallpaper. In some places, it's brand new and modern; in others, it's scuffed and torn, revealing the ancient plasterwork and bricks underneath, with hints of previous generations' fashions and sensibilities making ghostly appearances everywhere.

I've returned to London several times since my initial visit, and with each subsequent trip, I've witnessed how rapidly the city is changing. I've also learned from friends who lived in London and left in recent years that these changes are not always easy or welcomed. The series of photographs in this newsletter captures fragments and impressions of this fascinating place known as London.