Narrow Scape
Flâneur is a French term used by nineteenth-century poet Charles Baudelaire. He identified the flâneur in his essay The Painter of Modern Life (1863) as the dilettante observer, and the term carries a rich set of connotations: the man of leisure, the idler, the urban explorer, the connoisseur of the street.
Four years ago, I began to walk regularly along the Regent's Canal, an urban waterway that I am fortunate to live alongside. I take pleasure in taking my time, idling with no purpose other than to observe. Considering that I’m in the centre of London, I am struck by the unexpected sense of calm and abundance of nature I find in every walk. I feel privileged. I like to believe that I am perhaps experiencing something akin to the old men of leisure described by Baudelaire.
“Narrow Escape” is the result of my observations during my long walks. A 21st-century flaneur experiencing slow living as a reminder of the beauty of everyday life.
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