It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you….I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.
-Crash (2004)
As I walk to class, I am enveloped by the buzzing city around me. London is full of sights, sounds, and people in a way I’ve never experienced before. The city is alive with theatre, museums, and restaurants. London is the glory of England’s arts and culture, but it is also overflowing with global diversity. On the first day, I passed a protest against the influence of Israel in the Gaza Strip in Trafalgar Square. Just yesterday, walking to the shop for groceries, I heard six different languages being spoken. In my studies here in London, I have learnt the history of Global Empire and immigration in the 20th Century. I have read the literature of the Romantic Era which deals with Global issues in complex and divided ways. I have seen a powerful portrayal of the reactionary Nationalists against the “other” in my film class during the film This Is England (2006). This global dynamic makes me see the city come alive in ways I wouldn’t understand unless I had experienced it in my studies through an English perspective.
This global energy in the city enlivened my perspective on London. I began to observe and relish each person’s unique gift of heritage to the city. However, in my many afternoons of people watching, I began to see something new in this view of the individual. Each person walking down the street had a different style, a different culture, and a different presence. There was so much to each person—so much I could see, and so much I couldn’t even begin to know. Countless times, I would notice an individual walking with eyes to the ground, headphones in, and marching a lonely march down the sidewalk. There are so many different people in this city! So much architecture, advertisements, and graffiti art living in each corner of London. There must be something that engages that individual, connects him to the energy I feel in such a city.
Then I understand. There is a disconnect. I can feel it too. The global richness and vibrancy of the city is so strong, so epic, that it overwhelms me. It’s easy to feel alone in a big city. The way to understand the sights, sounds, and people I feel in London is to connect with the people. I feel the most significant part of the liberal arts I’m studying here is the individual connections. In literature, the work resonates more profoundly if the work is finding a connection with nature, or other people. The complexities of that connection create intricate meaning. In a film, the images and language of human connection resonate more than the individual alone in contemplation. In my experiences at Riverside School, I’ve learned so much about relationships, which is more enriching than simply learning the theories of psychological development.
I think I was given the ability to appreciate. I love so much about London. I see great art—in a play like Three Days of Rain, in a film like This is England, or even simply a child taking two steps on the stairs at a time—and I'm overcome with emotion. The ordinary moments in London surround me, envelop me, and give me so much that it becomes impossible to have so much feeling. I feel this in everyday moments in this city.
I’m going to try and document this connection. The pictures you see are random men and women in London. I took a morning to visit Hyde Park and simply feel the energy of human connection. Each picture is of connection. A moment of connection between individuals that encapsulates the complexities of the culture of this city. I am lucky enough to be a part of this culture for four months. I know a picture is a poor excuse for a moment, and that a random person in the Park won’t demonstrate all the art that makes this city so glorious. But the individual is what makes the whole so alive. I see pure beauty in each moment.
I know that by taking a picture, I cannot reach out and touch another person. I cannot know each imperfection or moment of love in that person’s complex and beautiful life. But I can try and capture a moment of their energy and power—their existence. Each moment has touched me and made London the place I have come to love so fiercely.
