The Burlington Arcade
For nearly two centuries the Burlington Arcade between Piccadilly and Burlington Gardens hs been an exclusive shopping destination in the west end of London. It is a relatively narrow covered shopping arcade which is usually busy at weekends but on a Sunday afternoon about a month before Christmas it is jam packed. I took the picture below just after dusk, i wanted to give the impression of a large number of people and use the Christmas decorations to give a sense of the length of the arcade. I also wait for a slight lull in the crowd so that there a some unobstructed views of shop windows on both sides of the frame to show the sort of goods on sale.
I like the sense of depth that the Christmas lights and roof lights give this image and the way these contrast with the scrum of dark figures in the forground. It was not obvious to me that many people were buying anything while I was taking photographs and at the time (around 4:30pm) I took this I thought most people looked like they were pretty fed up and really just wanted to go home.
People and Place 