Heading out on Saturday morning from my hotel on Half Moon Street, just paces north off Piccadilly Street in Mayfair, I was exploring in my favorite big city, London.
Crossing Piccadilly, I entered Green Park, a green expanse just across from Buckingham Palace. Winding through, I crossed The Mall and found myself in St. James Park, a beautiful bit of land, wrapped around a small lake. And it was here that, as I came through a walk next to some flower beds, I encountered a “riot of color.” Hence the title, ‘Tulip Riot.’
The British love their gardens, and after all, it was June, so things were coming into high season, and there was color all round me. I have a few other images of some of the flowers that look almost surreal, the colors are so vibrant. But this was the best, mainly because of the composition that pretty much jumped right at me, with that one flower, the “overachiever,” who was up above all the rest, and conveniently outlined against a darker background.
And all of the stems leaning towards the light, as if trying to soak up as much of the British summer sunshine as they could.
As Jay Maisel would say, “Light, color and gesture.”
