I was really lucky this week to be asked to photograph a round table event hosted by British Land, held in the amazing Leadenhall Building, colloquially known as The Cheesegrater.
In the morning as I got the boys ready for school, No 2 asked me what I was doing for work that day. When I replied, photographing a round table event, he suggested I do it at home since our own kitchen table is round. I’m pretty sure the event attendees were happier in the stunning surroundings of the Leadenhall Building, designed by architects, Rogers Stirk Harbour, than they’d have been in my cramped and cluttered kitchen. The views are a little better too – an overgrown magnolia tree vs uninterrupted views of London for miles and miles…. I know which I’d have chosen. (Not sure what Son No 2 would make of the fact they weren’t even sitting at a round table but a long rectangular one instead.)
Although I was mainly concentrating on taking photographs, I did have a listen in and was heartened to hear architects, planners and various sustainability experts discussing the enourmous benefits and importance of building communities, and how integral a strong sense of community is to general well-being. As someone who had a fairly nomadic and transitory start to life, I am deeply committed to my own community and also extremely grateful to the people in it who have supported me in all sorts of ways over the last few years. And despite the high costs of living here, which of course was also discussed at length, I do feel I’d have to be dragged kicking and screaming from my little corner of London.
In fact, without my community my own business wouldn’t be starting to flourish as it is. And I’d not have had opportunities such as the one I had this week, where I got to visit the Leadenhall Building. It really was quite spectacular.
Here are just a few of the many images I took once I was no longer needed to record the meeting – lucky me!
All images (c)Sarah-Jane Field 2015
Sarah Furniss Photography 