Everyday Moments | Birmingham City Walk Part 1

To gain insight into the idea of visual communication in everyday moments, our first task was to go on an independent city walk around Birmingham and collect photos of everything and anything we saw and even collect objects and tokens to aid us in our research. 

Having only just moved to Birmingham a month before, I was very excited to explore the city I now call home, and I started to really take notice of my surroundings and pick out details of everyday life and the environment around me that I would otherwise have ignored and let it pass by!

I started simple - on my walk home from the University - and made it my mission to take photos of everything in my surroundings, whether that be the people, the interactions between those people, or the buildings and landscape. My walk to and from Uni involves passing through Colmore Row which is full of gorgeous architecture and interesting people from all different walks of life. 

I love the contrast of old and new within the city, and I think Colmore Row has that perfect juxtaposition of grand old buildings with original features, mixed with modern and contemporary high-rise buildings. It's an area buzzing with independent coffee shops and fancy restaurants, as well as being the home to the iconic St. Philip's cathedral. 

Some of my favourite details include the grand old door I found on one of the buildings - I absolutely love the rounded art-deco design and feel it matches the vibe of the area perfectly. 

A similar kind of design is featured on the front of the Great Western Arcade, which is a traditional Victorian shopping arcade housed within a more contemporary art-deco design high rise building and it's another example of old and new meshing together perfectly.

Just around the corner from Colmore Row is Birmingham Magistrates Court - housed in one of the most intricate and architecturally beautiful buildings I've seen first hand and another example of Victorian design at it's finest. 

I can't wait to explore the city more!