Paper short abstract:

In this photo essay, I present a series of accidental evidence of urban life; it is a documentation of the ludic and dramatic found in between the mundane.

Paper long abstract:

I'm chewing on the word wandering … wandering … it tastes almost like wondering… only steps away from bewilderment … the wild? … No, it's not the wild. It's the cracks within the urban. Lost rhythms found… I wandered around and found objects on the way… I encountered unfinished stories… working with traces … the past present … playfully framing a setting… re-constructing a scene… there are clues … materials … things well-placed in their misplacement… wandering, wondering, imagining… the camera my instrument to scribble notes on the landscape… curating temporary worlds…

As the above indicates, I have employed the method of walking to understand and analyse the city of London. On these trips, I was attentive to traces and objects that seem to tell stories of former encounters between people and things. In this paper, I present a series of accidental evidence of urban life; it is a documentation of the ludic and dramatic found in between the mundane. Was I 'irresistibly drawn to the detritus' like a child, as described by Walter Benjamin (1928)? Did I attempt to visualise the temporary worlds of play, as theorised by Johan Huizinga (1948)? Without a doubt, I attempted to analyse, and work with traces of inhabitation, informed by a discussion on what is to be playful in the city. In addition, I tried to engage with questions around the role of the photographer: who has actually made these scenes?