Geez Photowalk #30 (King’s Cross, London)

Every Thursdays, I drop a video on youtube where I’m sharing the street photography experience one shot at a time.

Tuesday 19th July 2022 was the hottest day in British history. I went to Granary Square near King’s Cross St Pancras to capture scenes at the fountains inspired by the classic fire hydrants photographs of New York summers.

Every media outlet and newspapers were claiming that it was the hottest day in British history and boy it was hot. Forty degrees celsius, with that British humidity in the air was something new for sure.

I’m from the Caribbean and I’ve been to Africa, this was crazy heat like I’ve never felt before.

There was transportation disruptions and the Government was asking people to work from home if they could, like a deja vu from the not so distant Covid lockdown days.

Once I managed to adjust to the heat and checked that the gopro (see video at bottom of this page) could handle it, I made it to King’s Cross and walked towards Granary square.

I am familiar with the area and thought about the little plaza with the water jet fountains straight away when I was looking for inspiration. I always thought those New York summer scenes of kids playing in the streets with fire hydrants were amazing and I somehow wanted to find some equivalent vibe here in London.

I think I found it.

Seeing kids playing around with their families smiling on the side, having the water jets moving in waves and doing alternative patterns, playing with the light contrast and the shining water… it was a blast photographically speaking!

You could feel the relief and how much grown ups and kids were enjoying themselves.
I don’t think I can imagine another location better than this one to capture the hottest day in history!

All in all, I’ll remember the 2022 hottest day in history, it was fun and I’m secretly hoping that the record won’t be broken every year from now on.
This was a fun day to photograph but I’m not sure the mood will remain that friendly if global warming is causing havoc every summer.