Carnaby Street

Trust Carnaby Street to have a non-Christmassy theme for its Christmas lights. This year the theme is Carnival, as in South American jungle with Coconut trees and parrots.



Previous years have been:

Outer Space




The Rolling Stones and Rock and Roll

Hanging Shoes of Vauxhall

Hanging Shoes of Vauxhall, London, by Cybermyth13.

It is always good to have a camera with you even on a dull day so that you can capture the odd things you see, such as these three pairs of shoes hanging on telephone wires in Vauxhall, South London.

2012 Xmas lights in London

No snow but the usual diversity of Christmas lights in London for 2012.

Colours and shapes in Neal street and Seven Dials in Covemt Garden

50 years of The Rolling Stones in Carnaby Street

 

Twelve Days of Christmas in Regent Street 

 

Giant Baubles and Mirror Balls in Covent Garden Piazza

 

 Arches of light in South Molton Street 

 

 Lights sponsored by Marmite in Oxford Street 

The Tunnel, Leake Street, London

Airborne Mark and paper planes, The Tunnel, Leake Street, London, by Cybermyth13.

The Tunnel, Leake Street, under the railway lines at Waterloo Station, is an "authorised graffiti area". The tunnel was used in 2008 for a display by Banksy.

Street art need not be ugly

The walls are constantly being resprayed with new art and tags

The walls are open to all

E is for Einstein

Einstein on a Bicycle, Phone Box, The Strand, London - 4, by Cybermyth13.

Einstein on a bicycle, Phone Box, The Strand, London

E in Conor's A-Z.

G is for Giant

Giant Squirrel by ROA - 2, by Cybermyth13.

Giant Squirrel by street artist ROA, near Bethnal Green Road, Tower Hamlets, East London.

H is for Hackney

Mare Street, Hackney, early evening, by Cybermyth13.

Hackney Central at dusk on a Monday in January 2010. The Hackney Empire is the building on the left. The decorative lights are described by Hackney Council as seasonal lights.

M is for Manchester

Approach to Maine Road Stadium, Manchester, 1985,  by Cybermyth13.

The approach to Maine Road Stadium in Manchester in 1985. The stadium has since been demolished. The car in the foreground is a Ford Cortina Mark IV.

M in Conor's A-Z.

N is for Night

Traffic in Regent Street, London, at night with 2010 Xmas Lights, by Cybermyth13.

At night the lights come on. Traffic in a busy Regent Street under the Christmas lights in November 2010.

N in Conor's A-Z.

Chinese New Year, Macclesfield St, Chinatown, London, Feb 2011

Chinese New Year, Macclesfield St, Chinatown, London, Feb 2011, by Cybermyth13.

The decorations for the Chinese New Year brighten up the winter evenings.

2010 Christmas lights, Carnaby Steret

Carnaby Street Xmas Lights - 4, originally uploaded by Cybermyth13.

Carnaby Street has a new theme for its lights, Outer Space. Although it includes santa in a space helmet, it is not particularly Christmassy, but it is colourful with a red saturn and golden rings, a white moon and other planets and stars of many colours.

Oxford Street and Regent Street have similar lights to last year, but Regent Street has added pictures of the main characters in the Chronicles of Narnia films.

My 2010 Christmas pictures on Flickr can be seen by clicking here

Photo of the Week - Giant Rabbit on Hackney Road by ROA

Giant Rabbit on Hackney Road by ROA, originally uploaded by Cybermyth13.

Sometimes a photo takes on a sudden significance that it did not have before. That happened to my picture of the Giant Rabbit on Hackney Road by ROA. It had already had 252 views since I had posted it on Flickr on 2 May 2010 but it then had 8 views last Monday and 79 the folowing day, mostly from searches on Google. My own search on google revealed the news that the painting was under threat from Hackney Council, with an article in the Guardian giving the details of the dispute with the owners of the building. Wednesday saw another 58 views, again mostly through Google. On Thursday evening there were some referrals from an American website metafilter. com. Following the link back I found a news item on the painting, with a link to the Guardian website and a link to my photo given as "a slightly clearer picture". This link alone led to about 1100 views in 24 hours. Overall the photo went from 252 views to 2,112. my first picture over 1500 views.

I then found a copy of the Guardian article on the website of the owners of the building. Strangely unlike the Guardian website it showed my picture at the top of the article. I checked the local library and its copy of the newspaper had the same photo as the website. I think that they had initially used my picture for the article but then realised that they did not have permission to use my photo so used a different photo. So my picture did appear in some copies without permission (or payment).

ROA's graffiti rabbit faces removal by Hackney council, Guardian website, 25 Oct 2010.
Protect the London rabbit, Metafilter article. 28 Oct 2010.
Save The Rabbit!. The Premises website