JONTILLMAN.COM | part of the problem since 1976

The only way to understand a place is to sit still in it; watch it’s people going here and going there about there business. It is important to sit, perhaps with a coffee or a cigarette, and simply be in that place.

It is important to understand that to be adroit at navigating or manipulating a place is not the same thing as understanding it. That is mere proficiency, not understanding. And, while it may be useful to be able to find one’s way from Kensington to Bethnal Green solely by Night Bus, being able to do so does not signify any actual understanding of Kensington or Bethnal Green, and certainly not of all the places in between the two.

Conversely, sitting on a bench on Green Street all afternoon may give one an idea of how things in Upton Park operate, reveal a bit of the soul of the place, but it won’t help you find your way to Chelsea if you wished to go there. So sometimes, the choice between moving and sitting is a choice between manipulating and understanding.