In the years months days leading up to the Olympics I started blaming everything on them. Everything. If something bad happened to me no matter what it was, it was obviously the Olympics’ fault. In fact, I decided that the Olympics were ruining my life—I mean ruining OUR lives. I even tried to get #olympicsareruiningourlives trending. I was becoming so angry about everything related to the Olympics every time I saw LONDON 2012 (which was/in constantly) I wanted to smash something. Every time I got an email in my inbox from TFL (London’s public transport) saying I can’t cycle in this lane because it’s Olympics this or that, that this tube line was shut, or the overground was shut without notice two times in two days…. FUCKING OLYMPICS!?!^£%$”^$£%”^.
And let me just say, It’s not just oh poor me getting anywhere in London is the worst nightmare right now, it’s that it’s taking massive amounts of public money and turning it to corporate profit (or is it, or are we all going to continue to suffer for corporate loss, in fact) while providing one of the most comprehensive excuses for cynical ‘urban renewal’ ever… plus, coming at a time when the NHS is being taken away, yet there is all this money to spend on everything Olympics?!?! but I digress…
But then, something happened. Well a few things happened. First, there was the torch relay, which, like everything olympics, I was going to avoid at all costs, but how could I; it was taking up every major street where I live to everywhere else. But what’s more, I got a call from Lyall Hakaria of Vogue Fabrics (East London’s hottest nastiest basement venue) asking me to come down to take a “Class Photo” of Vogue’s best dressed family of queers as the Olympic Torch passed by. As disgusted as I had been feeling toward the Olympics, how could I not? And so I did. Unfortunately I was in such a hurry that I turned up with my DSLR without its memory card so all I could do is snap away on my iPhone but, hey, it works.
Here are the biggest stars of the torch relay in Dalston (click on the image for the full album):
After that, I thought, well, that is the closest I’m getting to the Olympics that’s it over and done. And then on the night of the Opening Ceremony, I was minding my own business, hanging out at Stav B’s Darkroom when all of a sudden this group of what looked like nurses on roller skates rolled into the bar. I am not even kidding. Look here:
I didn’t know what to make of them but then my friend Alison (who had just watched most of the opening ceremonies) gasped, “Wait! I’ve just seen them on tv!” and I learned that these nurses on roller skates had just performed in the Opening Ceremony. I watched them roll around the place, pull up their skirts and fall over drunk. It was amazing.
The torch relay and the nurses on roller skates, they are just my minor brushes with the Olympics. Somewhat circumstantial, somehow intentional, always just like a lot of how I work between intention and circumstance (whether I like it or not). And then the first day of the games began. I was doing my usual morning news trolling and I saw these two images first thing, first images I saw of the Olympics.
And I was like oh haaaay, OLYMPICS! And somehow I saw a few more. I can’t remember how I got from these images of the Russian volleyball teammates (left) and the one of the German volleyball teammates (right) but something happened and I couldn’t be stopped. And I can’t be stopped. I’ve let go of most of my anger and blame and otherwise unpleasant attitude toward the Olympics and am now focused on seeing the Olympics just in this particular way full of—well, have a look, this is My London 2012 (click the photo for the full album, which at the time of this writing has over 100 images):
