London Photo Fair

 I was at the the London photo fair today....

Faded waterways

The faded and flawed photographs are often the most tantalising. The top one is Bruges, Belgium. See a modern view here.

British Empire Pavillion. International Colonial Exposition. Antwerp. 1930.

To give it its full name, this was the 'exposition internationale coloniale, maritime et d'art flamand' in Antwerp, Belgium in 1930. The colonial exhibitions were a now-extinct offshoot of the world fairs. This 'British section' was estimated to have received 7 million visitors. It was demolished after the event.

A Flickr user has posted this set of amateur stereographs taken at the exhibition.

The Lion's Mound, Waterloo, Belgium.

The battlefield of Waterloo started attracting curious tourists before the corpses were even cold in 1815. The Lion's Mound, seen in the background here, was erected in 1820 by the King William I of the Netherlands to commemorate the wounding of his son during the battle. You can see tourists at the base of the lion statue enjoying the view. This photograph was probably taken in the 1870s and mounted on a specially printed card, in English, no doubt by a photographer specialising in the tourist trade. Who is this old man? Is he a visiting British veteran or a local guide? Is he old enough to have been present at the battle itself all those decades ago? I wonder.